Maintenance calories for a 150 lb woman

A 30-year-old woman weighing 150 lb at 5′4″ burns about 2,080 calories a day lifting four days a week with 7,500 to 10,000 daily steps, and about 1,660 with a desk job and little activity. To lose about 0.75 lb a week, eat around 1,705 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

2,080kcal/day
BMR at rest (Mifflin-St Jeor)
1,385 kcal
Activity factor
×1.50

Calorie targets

Macros for cut

Protein
150 g
Carbs
170 g
Fat
47 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 Jeor1,385 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×1.21,660 kcal
Lightly activeExercise 1 to 3 days a week×1.3751,905 kcal
Moderately activeExercise 3 to 5 days a week×1.552,145 kcal
Very activeHard exercise 6 to 7 days a week×1.7252,390 kcal
Extremely activePhysical job plus hard training×1.92,630 kcal

The calculator above starts at 150 lb. Change your age, height, steps and training days for your own number.

TDEE by height and activity at 150 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 150 lb
HeightSedentaryLightly activeModerately activeVery activeExtremely active
4′11″1,5651,7952,0252,2552,480
5′1″1,6051,8402,0752,3102,540
5′3″1,6451,8852,1252,3602,600
5′5″1,6801,9252,1702,4152,660
5′7″1,7201,9702,2202,4702,725
5′9″1,7602,0152,2702,5252,785
5′11″1,7952,0602,3202,5802,845

Calories to cut, maintain or bulk at 150 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 150 lb
GoalCalories a dayWeekly change
Fast cut1,515−1.13 lb
Cut1,705−0.75 lb
Slow cut1,890−0.38 lb
Maintain2,080None
Lean bulk2,265+0.38 lb

TDEE by age at 150 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 150 lb
AgeBMRSedentaryModerately active
20 years1,4351,7202,225
30 years1,3851,6602,145
40 years1,3351,6002,070
50 years1,2851,5401,990
60 years1,2351,4801,915

How much protein at 150 lb

Most of the research on lifters lands between 1.6 and 2.2 g of protein per kilogram of bodyweight a day. At 150 lb that is 109 to 150 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 150 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 2,080 calories, so a cut sits near 1,705 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 150 lb woman eat to build muscle?

A lean bulk gains about 0.25% of bodyweight a week, which at 150 lb is a surplus of about 185 calories a day. That puts a woman at 5′4″ who lifts four days a week near 2,265 calories a day, with 109 to 150 g of protein.

How many calories does a 150 lb woman burn at rest?

At rest, a 30-year-old woman at 5′4″ and 150 lb burns about 1,385 calories a day: that is the BMR. With a desk job and little exercise, the total for the day is about 1,660 calories.