Maintenance calories for a 120 lb woman

A 30-year-old woman weighing 120 lb at 5′4″ burns about 1,875 calories a day lifting four days a week with 7,500 to 10,000 daily steps, and about 1,500 with a desk job and little activity. To lose about 0.6 lb a week, eat around 1,575 a day.

Updated

About you

Body fat is optional.

Sex
years
lb
Height
ft
in
Training sessions a week

Your phone's weekly average is the honest number. Steps move your TDEE more than gym days do.

%

Adds Katch-McArdle and Cunningham, which work from lean mass instead of total weight.

Your TDEE

1,875kcal/day
BMR at rest (Mifflin-St Jeor)
1,250 kcal
Activity factor
×1.50

Calorie targets

Macros for cut

Protein
120 g
Carbs
175 g
Fat
44 g

Your BMR by formula

Without a body fat %, only Mifflin-St Jeor can run. With one, the lean mass formulas join in and Katch-McArdle sets your TDEE.

Mifflin-St Jeor1,250 kcal
Katch-McArdleNeeds body fat %
CunninghamNeeds body fat %

Your TDEE at each activity level

The classic multipliers most calculators use, applied to your BMR. Use it to sanity check the steps and sessions estimate above.

Activity levelMultiplierTDEE
SedentaryDesk job, little exercise×1.21,500 kcal
Lightly activeExercise 1 to 3 days a week×1.3751,720 kcal
Moderately activeExercise 3 to 5 days a week×1.551,935 kcal
Very activeHard exercise 6 to 7 days a week×1.7252,155 kcal
Extremely activePhysical job plus hard training×1.92,375 kcal

The calculator above starts at 120 lb. Change your age, height, steps and training days for your own number.

TDEE by height and activity at 120 lb

Worked out with Mifflin-St Jeor for a 30-year-old woman. Find your height, then read across to how active you are.

TDEE by height and activity at 120 lb
HeightSedentaryLightly activeModerately activeVery activeExtremely active
4′11″1,4051,6101,8152,0202,225
5′1″1,4401,6501,8652,0752,285
5′3″1,4801,6951,9102,1302,345
5′5″1,5201,7401,9602,1802,405
5′7″1,5551,7852,0102,2352,465
5′9″1,5951,8252,0602,2902,525
5′11″1,6351,8702,1102,3452,585

Calories to cut, maintain or bulk at 120 lb

Targets for a 30-year-old woman at 5′4″ who lifts four days a week and walks 7,500 to 10,000 steps a day, with the pace set as a share of bodyweight.

Calories to cut, maintain or bulk at 120 lb
GoalCalories a dayWeekly change
Fast cut1,425−0.9 lb
Cut1,575−0.6 lb
Slow cut1,725−0.3 lb
Maintain1,875None
Lean bulk2,025+0.3 lb

TDEE by age at 120 lb

The formula takes 5 calories a day off resting energy for every year of age, so the same body burns a little less each decade. Worked out at 5′4″.

TDEE by age at 120 lb
AgeBMRSedentaryModerately active
20 years1,3001,5602,015
30 years1,2501,5001,935
40 years1,2001,4401,860
50 years1,1501,3801,780
60 years1,1001,3201,705

How much protein at 120 lb

Most of the research on lifters lands between 1.6 and 2.2 g of protein per kilogram of bodyweight a day. At 120 lb that is 87 to 120 g a day, with the top of the range most useful during a cut.

Other bodyweights

TDEE Calculator

Frequently asked questions

How many calories should a 120 lb woman eat to lose weight?

Start from maintenance and take off enough to lose about 0.5% of bodyweight a week. For a 30-year-old woman at 5′4″ who lifts four days a week, maintenance is about 1,875 calories, so a cut sits near 1,575 a day. Weigh in daily, compare weekly averages, and adjust by 100 to 150 calories if the trend is off after two to three weeks.

How many calories should a 120 lb woman eat to build muscle?

A lean bulk gains about 0.25% of bodyweight a week, which at 120 lb is a surplus of about 150 calories a day. That puts a woman at 5′4″ who lifts four days a week near 2,025 calories a day, with 87 to 120 g of protein.

How many calories does a 120 lb woman burn at rest?

At rest, a 30-year-old woman at 5′4″ and 120 lb burns about 1,250 calories a day: that is the BMR. With a desk job and little exercise, the total for the day is about 1,500 calories.