How Many Calories Do I Burn a Day?
Most adults burn between 1,600 and 2,400 calories a day if they are women and 2,000 to 3,000 if they are men, according to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Your own number depends on your size, age and how much you move. The largest share is resting metabolism, which you burn even when doing nothing. An Apple Watch can measure your real total by adding active and resting energy.
The short list of what you burn
Your daily burn has four parts. Most of it is your resting metabolism, the energy your body spends just keeping you alive. The rest is digestion, everyday movement such as walking and fidgeting, and deliberate exercise. Nutrition researchers call the total TDEE, total daily energy expenditure. If your weight is steady, the calories you eat each day are roughly equal to it.
Average calories burned per day by age and sex
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans (2020-2025 edition, Appendix 2) publish estimated daily calorie needs for adults to maintain weight. The figures assume a reference man who is 5 ft 10 in and 154 lb, and a reference woman who is 5 ft 4 in and 126 lb. Across all adult ages, the range is 1,600 to 2,400 calories for women and 2,000 to 3,000 for men.
| Age | Men: sedentary / moderate / active | Women: sedentary / moderate / active |
|---|---|---|
| 21 to 25 | 2,400 / 2,800 / 3,000 | 2,000 / 2,200 / 2,400 |
| 31 to 35 | 2,400 / 2,600 / 3,000 | 1,800 / 2,000 / 2,200 |
| 41 to 45 | 2,200 / 2,600 / 2,800 | 1,800 / 2,000 / 2,200 |
| 51 to 55 | 2,200 / 2,400 / 2,800 | 1,600 / 1,800 / 2,200 |
| 61 to 65 | 2,000 / 2,400 / 2,600 | 1,600 / 1,800 / 2,000 |
| 76 and up | 2,000 / 2,200 / 2,400 | 1,600 / 1,800 / 2,000 |
The activity levels are narrower than they sound. Sedentary means only the activity of independent living. Moderately active adds the equivalent of walking about 1.5 to 3 miles a day at 3 to 4 miles an hour. Active is more than 3 miles a day. The Guidelines note that needs generally fall with age because basal metabolic rate declines, and that these are only estimates.
How many calories do you burn doing nothing?
The resting part is your basal metabolic rate (BMR). The Mifflin-St Jeor equation, published in 1990 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, estimates it from weight, height and age:
- Men: 10 x kg + 6.25 x cm - 5 x age + 5
- Women: 10 x kg + 6.25 x cm - 5 x age - 161
Worked example: the reference woman above (57.2 kg, 162.6 cm) at age 35 comes to about 1,250 calories a day at rest. The reference man (69.9 kg, 177.8 cm) at 35 comes to about 1,640. That is roughly 52 and 68 calories an hour of lying still. Both are below the sedentary figures in the table, because even a sedentary day includes digestion and getting around.
Why your number differs from the average
- Size. Bigger bodies burn more, which is why the formula uses weight and height.
- Age. The Guidelines tie falling needs in adulthood to a lower BMR.
- Movement you do not count as exercise. Steps, standing and chores shift the total. A person who walks 14,000 steps a day and one who walks 4,000 can pick the same activity level and burn different amounts.
- Method. The formula gave about 1,250 at rest for a reference woman, while the Guidelines table gave 1,800 for a sedentary 35-year-old. Different methods land a few hundred calories apart.
The NIH's Body Weight Planner, from NIDDK, takes your age, sex, height, weight and activity level and returns the calories to maintain your weight. It cautions that its estimate may run high for people with a very sedentary lifestyle.
Measuring your own number
An Apple Watch records two figures in Apple Health every day: active energy (calories above resting, estimated from heart rate and motion) and resting energy. Add them for a measured total for that day. The Move ring shows only the active part, so it reads far lower than any table above. A 7 to 30 day average of the total is a better personal baseline than a formula, because it includes your real steps, workouts and slow Sundays. See the guides on TDEE, BMR and active versus resting calories on Apple Watch for the details and a calculator.
How Total Calories helps
Total Calories reads active and resting energy from Apple Health, adds them, and shows the daily total on your Apple Watch face, widgets and iPhone, with trends over time. It is not a food logger, so it measures the burn side only. Vitals+ adds TDEE and BMR reference figures taken from your own 30-day Health averages. The app does not give medical or dietary advice.
Free to start. Your Health data stays on your device.
Download Total CaloriesFrequently asked questions
How many calories does the average person burn a day?
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans estimate that adult women need 1,600 to 2,400 calories a day and adult men need 2,000 to 3,000 to maintain weight, depending on age and activity. These are estimates for reference-size adults.
How many calories do I burn doing nothing?
That is your basal metabolic rate. The Mifflin-St Jeor equation gives about 1,250 calories a day for a 35-year-old reference woman and about 1,640 for a 35-year-old reference man, or roughly 52 and 68 calories an hour.
Why does my Apple Watch show fewer calories than these averages?
The Move ring and the Watch's headline number count only active energy. Your total burn is active energy plus resting energy, both of which the Watch records in Apple Health.
Do you burn fewer calories as you get older?
Generally yes. The Dietary Guidelines say adult calorie needs tend to decrease with age because basal metabolic rate declines.
How accurate are calorie burn estimates?
They are approximations. The Dietary Guidelines call their figures only estimates, and different methods can differ by a few hundred calories. A measured average over several weeks reflects you better than a formula.