Maintenance calories for a 280 lb woman

A 30-year-old woman weighing 280 lb at 5′4″ burns about 2,965 calories a day lifting four days a week with 7,500 to 10,000 daily steps, and about 2,370 with a desk job and little activity. To lose about 1.4 lb a week, eat around 2,265 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

2,965kcal/day
BMR at rest (Mifflin-St Jeor)
1,975 kcal
Activity factor
×1.50

Calorie targets

Macros for cut

Protein
279 g
Carbs
145 g
Fat
63 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 Jeor1,975 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×1.22,370 kcal
Lightly activeExercise 1 to 3 days a week×1.3752,715 kcal
Moderately activeExercise 3 to 5 days a week×1.553,060 kcal
Very activeHard exercise 6 to 7 days a week×1.7253,405 kcal
Extremely activePhysical job plus hard training×1.93,755 kcal

The calculator above starts at 280 lb. Change your age, height, steps and training days for your own number.

TDEE by height and activity at 280 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 280 lb
HeightSedentaryLightly activeModerately activeVery activeExtremely active
4′11″2,2752,6052,9403,2703,600
5′1″2,3152,6502,9903,3253,660
5′3″2,3502,6953,0353,3803,720
5′5″2,3902,7403,0853,4353,785
5′7″2,4252,7803,1353,4903,845
5′9″2,4652,8253,1853,5453,905
5′11″2,5052,8703,2353,6003,965

Calories to cut, maintain or bulk at 280 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 280 lb
GoalCalories a dayWeekly change
Fast cut1,915−2.1 lb
Cut2,265−1.4 lb
Slow cut2,615−0.7 lb
Maintain2,965None
Lean bulk3,310+0.7 lb

TDEE by age at 280 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 280 lb
AgeBMRSedentaryModerately active
20 years2,0252,4303,140
30 years1,9752,3703,060
40 years1,9252,3102,985
50 years1,8752,2502,905
60 years1,8252,1902,830

How much protein at 280 lb

Most of the research on lifters lands between 1.6 and 2.2 g of protein per kilogram of bodyweight a day. At 280 lb that is 203 to 279 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 280 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 2,965 calories, so a cut sits near 2,265 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 280 lb woman eat to build muscle?

A lean bulk gains about 0.25% of bodyweight a week, which at 280 lb is a surplus of about 345 calories a day. That puts a woman at 5′4″ who lifts four days a week near 3,310 calories a day, with 203 to 279 g of protein.

How many calories does a 280 lb woman burn at rest?

At rest, a 30-year-old woman at 5′4″ and 280 lb burns about 1,975 calories a day: that is the BMR. With a desk job and little exercise, the total for the day is about 2,370 calories.