Free tool
TDEE Calculator: Your Maintenance Calories After 40
Your total daily energy expenditure: the calories you burn in a day, so you know your maintenance, your gentle fat-loss number and why eating too little backfires.
Your maintenance calories
1,850 a day
Burned at rest (BMR): 1,347
- To lose fat, gently
- 1,575
- To build muscle
- 1,980
| Mostly sitting (desk job, little exercise) | 1,615 |
|---|---|
| Lightly active (walks, 1-3 workouts a week) | 1,850 |
| Moderately active (3-5 workouts a week) | 2,090 |
| Very active (6-7 workouts a week) | 2,325 |
| Athlete or physical job plus training | 2,560 |
Numbers are a starting point. A coach changes them as your body answers.
How your numbers are worked out
- 1First, what you burn at rest (BMR), from your age, height and weight with the Mifflin-St Jeor formula. Why
- 2Times your activity: that's your TDEE, or maintenance. Eating here, you can still lose fat and change your shape. Why
- 3To lose fat, about 15% below maintenance and never below your BMR. 1,200 calories is usually too few. Why
- 4Eating far below this now? Raise calories 50 to 150 a week toward maintenance before cutting again. Why
For education, not medical advice. On a GLP-1 medication, pregnant, or managing a medical condition? Set your numbers with your doctor.
Questions women ask
What is TDEE?
Total daily energy expenditure: everything you burn in a day, from what your body uses at rest (BMR) plus movement, exercise and digestion. Eating at your TDEE maintains your weight; it's your maintenance calories.
How accurate is a TDEE calculator?
It's an estimate: formulas describe an average body, and yours may burn more or less. Eat at the number for two to three weeks, watch your weight trend, energy and hunger, and adjust.
Should I eat at my TDEE or below it to lose weight?
To lose fat, a little below: about 15% under your TDEE and never below your BMR. Big deficits cost muscle and energy, and after 40 they usually stall.
Does menopause lower my TDEE?
Mostly through losing muscle and moving less, which strength training and daily steps can counter. Lowering calories further isn't the fix WarriorBabe recommends.
Go deeper
Metabolism, Eating More & Reverse Dieting
Does metabolism really slow down with age?
Mostly no, according to the show. Guests on The WarriorBabe Show cite research showing metabolism stays fairly steady through midlife. What slows it is losing muscle, which happens quietly from your 30s on unless you strength train and eat enough protein. Nikkiey adds that moving less as we age plays a big part too.
Read the answer →
Metabolism, Eating More & Reverse Dieting
When should I stop dieting and eat at maintenance?
Nikkiey says it's time to move to maintenance when you've reached your goal, hit a plateau that won't budge for weeks, or your body starts pushing back. That means energy and gym performance drop, hunger is constant, mood or sleep suffer, or you're mentally burned out from dieting, often after months in a deficit.
Read the answer →
Diets, Fasting & Diet Culture
Why am I not losing weight on 1,200 calories?
Eating 1,200 calories is often too little, not too much. Dr. Stacy Sims explains it sits around an average resting metabolic rate, so your body treats it as a threat, conserves energy and breaks down lean mass. Long-term dieting also adapts your metabolism down. Before cutting further, check your tracking is accurate.
Read the answer →