How Many Calories Do You Typically Burn in a Day?

Your body never stops burning calories. That fire is lit every second of every day.

Your daily calorie burn from simply existing can range from about 1,300 calories to more than 2,000 calories (depending on your age and sex). Add any movement or activity and the total rises.

So, what does all that calorie math really add up to? Let’s run some numbers with endocrinologist and weight management specialist Marcio Griebeler, MD.

Understanding calorie burn

Your body’s constant calorie burning is based upon one thing — survival. Even as you’re sitting around doing absolutely nothing, your body is busy burning calories for energy to keep all systems operational.

“To live, you have to burn calories,” says Dr. Griebeler. “Your body burns calories to pump your heart, to breathe, to think … to do everything.”

That ongoing burn is known as your metabolism. To get a little more specific, your basal metabolic rate (BMR) refers to the minimum number of calories your body needs for basic functions.

But that’s just the start of your daily calorie burn. You do more than just exist, after all — and every action you take stokes a calorie-torching fire. Exercise, and it crackles like a five-alarm blaze. Sit on the couch to read, and it flickers like a candle.

To put that in perspective, here’s the expected calorie burn from 30 minutes of the following activities. (All calculations are based on a 150-pound person.)

• Running 8 miles per hour (mph): 443 calories
• Biking 10 to 11.9 mph: 205 calories
• Raking leaves: 136 calories
• Grocery shopping: 102 calories
• Ironing: 68 calories

“The more energy you need for an activity, the more calories your body burns,” explains Dr. Griebeler.

Calculating your daily calorie burn

Calculating your daily calorie burn starts with figuring out your BMR. That can be tricky, as it varies widely person to person based on factors like:

• Age
• Height
• Weight
• Sex
• Muscle-to-fat ratio
• Genetics

Lots of online BMR calculators use the Harris-Benedict equation to provide a rough estimate of your body’s base calorie burn. The formula is a bit complicated — but if you’re interested, here it is:

• For males: BMR = 88.362 + (13.397 x weight in kilograms) + (4.799 x height in centimeters) - (5.677 x age in years)
• For females: BMR = 447.593 + (9.247 x weight in kilograms) + (3.098 x height in centimeters) - (4.330 x age in years)

A BMR calculator can be found here if you don’t want to do all that adding and multiplying.

The calculator can also provide data on your resting metabolic rate (RMR). That’s basically an expanded version of BMR that includes some low-effort daily activities, like going to the bathroom. RMR is usually slightly higher than BMR.

Smartwatches that track fitness use BMR plus your movement and activities to spit out a daily “calories burned” number. But again, it’s a bit of a best guess given all the factors that come into play.

“These online tools and watches can give you an idea about your calorie burn, but they are by no means perfect,” clarifies Dr. Griebeler.

Calorie-burn estimates

Even though daily calorie-burning totals can be tough to generalize given all the variables, let’s try to come up with a few ballpark numbers. (That’s why you started reading this article after all, right?)

To start, let’s look at the BMR of an average-sized adult man and woman in the United States at different ages.

In the U.S., the average adult male stands about 5 feet, 9 inches tall (175.3 centimeters) and weighs 199 pounds (90.3 kg). For women, the average is 5 feet, 3 1/2 inches tall (161.3 cm) and 171.8 pounds (77.9 kg).

Punch those measurements into a BMR calculator, and here is the basic metabolism calorie burn by age:

• Age 20: 2,025 calories (men)/1,581 calories (women)
• Age 30: 1,968 calories (men)/1,538 calories (women)
• Age 40: 1,912 calories (men)/1,495 calories (women)
• Age 50: 1,855 calories (men)/1,451 calories (women)
• Age 60: 1,798 calories (men)/1,408 calories (women)
• Age 70: 1,741 calories (men)/1,365 calories (women)
• Age 80: 1,685 calories (men)/1,321 calories (women)

Basically, you burn about a calorie a minute just being you. (At that rate, it should be noted that you’ve burned about 2 calories reading to this point!)

For most people, your BMR accounts for about 60% to 70% of your total daily calorie burn, notes Dr. Griebeler. The remaining calories are used when you start moving around and doing things. The more you do, the more calories you burn.

How to change how many calories you burn

Want to increase your body’s base calorie burn? The easiest way to do that is by adding muscle. That’s because muscle mass requires your body to use more energy even while it’s at rest.

“If you build muscle, you increase your basal metabolic rate,” says Dr. Griebeler.

That’s why it’s so important to be active if you’re trying to lose weight — and not just focus on cutting calorie consumption. Exercise can help you burn off more calories and build calorie-needy muscles. (Win-win!)

Eating a nutritious diet is also essential to keeping your calorie-burning fires consistently roaring. (“Make sure you’re getting enough protein, which you need to build muscle,” notes Dr. Griebeler.)

Don’t overlook the importance of stress and sleep management either, as both can affect your overall calorie burn.

Final thoughts

So, what’s the biggest takeaway when it comes to calorie-burning math? Basically, it’s that you don’t need to punch numbers into a calculator day after day. Instead, concentrate more on lifestyle habits that lead to more calorie burn.

“Counting calories burned through your metabolic rate is not where we should be aiming,” says Dr. Griebeler. “Focus on physical activity, controlling your stress, sleeping well and eating right. Find your balance there.”