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BMR Calculator

Your Basal Metabolic Rate is the number of calories your body burns just to stay alive at complete rest — breathing, pumping blood, keeping warm. It's the foundation of every calorie target.

The Mifflin-St Jeor formula

BMR vs TDEE

BMR is rest-only. Add your daily activity and you get your TDEE — the calories you actually eat around to maintain weight. BMR typically makes up 60–70% of your total daily burn.

What affects your BMR

More muscle, a larger body, younger age, and being male all raise BMR. It's mostly out of your control day to day, but building muscle over time nudges it up — another reason strength training helps with long-term weight management.

Limitations

This uses the same Mifflin-St Jeor equation as our TDEE calculator (published 1990), generally considered more accurate than the older Harris-Benedict formula, but still an estimate — actual resting burn varies by genetics and body composition beyond what height, weight, age and sex alone can capture.

Frequently asked questions

What is BMR?

Basal Metabolic Rate is the calories your body uses at complete rest to keep vital functions running. It is the biggest part of your daily calorie burn.

Should I eat below my BMR to lose weight?

Generally no. Create a deficit from your TDEE (which is higher than BMR), not by eating below BMR, to protect muscle and energy.

Can I increase my BMR?

Building muscle through strength training raises it modestly over time. Crash dieting can lower it.

Why is my BMR different from what my fitness tracker shows?

Trackers often estimate resting or total burn with different formulas or sensor data, so some variation between tools is normal. Use one method consistently and judge by your own trend rather than comparing across tools.

More calculators

BMITDEE / CaloriesBody FatWater IntakeSleepMacros

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