A protein calculator turns body weight and a training goal into a daily gram target. The useful unit is grams per kilogram, not a percentage of calories and not a flat 200 g because a forum said so. For people who lift, a large meta-analysis put the point of diminishing returns for muscle gain near 1.6 g per kilogram of body weight per day, with a confidence interval that still leaves room up to about 2.2 g/kg. Cutting is when the higher end earns its keep, because a deficit is when muscle loss is the actual risk.
This page follows those ranges: about 1.6 g/kg as a floor for active adults who train, about 2.0 g/kg as a default for building muscle, and about 2.2 to 2.3 g/kg while losing fat. Endurance-only weeks can sit nearer 1.4 to 1.6 g/kg if calories are adequate. The calculator above applies a multiplier to the body weight in your profile. Read the examples before you round a 90 kg target up to a 250 g supplement plan.
The daily protein formula
Daily protein (g) = body weight (kg) × grams per kilogram for the goal
Morton et al., British Journal of Sports Medicine, 2018, found protein supplementation and intakes beyond about 1.6 g/kg added little extra fat-free mass on average. The International Society of Sports Nutrition’s position stand describes roughly 1.4–2.0 g/kg for exercising people, with higher intakes often used in a deficit (Helms et al. discuss up to about 2.3–3.1 g/kg of fat-free mass while cutting). PlateFit’s tool uses total body weight, which is simpler and slightly more generous than a lean-mass multiplier.
At 75 kg, 1.6 g/kg is 120 g, 2.0 g/kg is 150 g, and 2.3 g/kg is 173 g. Each gram is 4 kcal, so 150 g is 600 kcal — a large share of a small cut and a modest share of a bulk. If you only hit protein by drinking two shakes and skipping meals, the gram target is met and the diet is still thin. Spread the grams.
A practical per-meal target is 0.4 g/kg, or about 30 to 45 g of high-quality protein, three to five times per day. That serving size is what people mean by a leucine threshold for a mixed meal: enough essential amino acids to stimulate muscle protein synthesis, then a few hours before the next meal. One 150 g dinner does not replace three 40 g meals as cleanly as the daily total suggests, though the daily total still matters more than perfect spacing.
Use total body weight if you are not carrying a large amount of fat. If body fat is very high, a lean-mass or “height-and-goal” target avoids an inflated number. A 140 kg person at 40% body fat does not need 140 × 2.2 = 308 g to protect muscle. Protein scaled to a healthier weight, or to fat-free mass from the body fat calculator, is the more sensible input. Kidney disease is a medical limit this page cannot set. Follow the nephrologist, not the gym range.
Worked examples
Example 1 — 82 kg, lifting, maintenance
- Multiplier 2.0 g/kg. Daily protein = 164 g. Calories from protein = 656 kcal.
- Four meals: 41 g each. That is about 170 g raw chicken breast, 200 g Greek yogurt plus a scoop, a tin of tuna with beans, and a salmon fillet — not four shakes.
- If TDEE is 2,700 kcal, protein is about 24% of calories. Carbohydrate and fat fill the rest in the macro calculator.
- Going to 2.6 g/kg (213 g) adds cost and squeezes carbohydrate. The Morton analysis does not promise extra muscle for that add-on at maintenance.
Example 2 — 82 kg, cutting
- Multiplier 2.3 g/kg. Daily protein = 189 g. That is the tool’s cut default, inside the “higher while dieting” range.
- 189 × 4 = 756 kcal. On a 2,100 kcal cut, about 36% of calories are protein. Fat and carbohydrate share 1,344 kcal.
- Three meals of 45 g and one of 54 g fits a 16:8 window if dinner is the larger serving. Missing breakfast is fine only if the grams still land.
- If strength is falling and waist is not, the deficit is too steep. Protein is not the knob to twist past 2.3 g/kg before you fix calories.
Example 3 — 60 kg, new to lifting
- 1.6 g/kg = 96 g. 2.0 g/kg = 120 g. Either is a complete target. The jump from a typical 60 g intake to 110 g is the change that matters.
- Per meal at four sittings: 25 to 30 g. A small person does not need a 50 g shake to “trigger” anything if the day already totals 1.6 g/kg or more.
- Add one Greek yogurt and one extra egg or two at meals you already eat before you redesign the kitchen.
- Recalculate when body weight moves 3 kg. The multiplier stays; the grams follow the new weight.
Food, not just the gram target
A gram from chicken, yogurt, tofu, eggs, fish, lean beef, cottage cheese, or soy is what the studies fed. A gram from a label that rounds up is a smaller amount. Weigh the dense sources for a week: cooked meat is not the raw weight on the package. 100 g cooked chicken breast is about 30 g of protein. 200 g nonfat Greek yogurt is about 20 g. A scoop of whey is whatever the tub says, often 20 to 25 g. Add those until the day matches the calculator, then stop buying a second tub.
Plant-forward days still hit the target if you combine legumes, soy, dairy or a soy protein, and you do not rely on bread as the protein. You may need slightly more total protein if most sources are low in leucine. The calculator does not cut the target because you are vegan. It raises the planning burden. Generate meals that repeat, so you are not solving 160 g from scratch at 9 pm.
Who should not use the gym range
Chronic kidney disease, some liver disease, and certain metabolic conditions come with prescribed protein ceilings. Those ceilings win. Adolescents, pregnancy, and lactation have their own requirements; this page is an adult training tool. If you have an eating disorder history, a gram target can become another rule to punish. In that case the calculator is the wrong object. A clinician sets the floor.
More than about 2.2 g/kg is not dangerous for healthy kidneys in the short trials people cite, but it is rarely the missing piece. If you are not growing and you are already at 1.8 g/kg, look at sleep, progressive overload, and whether calories are actually a surplus. Protein is the nutrient to stop under-eating. It is not a substitute for the rest of the plan.
Frequently asked questions
How much protein do I need to build muscle?
About 1.6 to 2.2 grams per kilogram of body weight per day is the range this calculator is built on, with 2.0 g/kg a sensible default if you lift and eat at maintenance or in a small surplus. At 80 kg that is 128 to 176 g, and 160 g at the default. Intakes above that rarely add more muscle in the Morton 2018 meta-analysis. Spread the grams over three to five meals of roughly 30 to 45 g rather than one evening binge.
How much protein do I need to lose fat?
Use the high end, about 2.0 to 2.3 g/kg of body weight, sometimes discussed as even higher per kilogram of fat-free mass. The extra protein helps satiety and gives muscle a reason to stay while calories are down. It does not replace the deficit. Set calories in the TDEE calculator, set protein here, and fill the rest with carbohydrate and fat you will actually cook.
Is 1 gram of protein per pound too much?
One gram per pound of body weight is about 2.2 g/kg. That is the top of the usual muscle-building range, not a myth and not a minimum. It is reasonable while cutting. At maintenance it is more than the average amount that maximized gains in the big meta-analysis. If 1 g per pound makes you skip carbohydrate and hate dinner, drop to 1.6–1.8 g/kg and put the calories back into food you train on.
Do I calculate protein from total weight or lean mass?
Total body weight is what this tool multiplies, and it is fine for people who are not carrying a lot of extra fat. If body fat is high, scaling to fat-free mass or to a goal weight avoids a target over 250 g that you will not eat. Get fat-free mass from the body fat calculator, then a range of about 1.8 to 2.4 g per kilogram of fat-free mass is a cross-check. Do not stack both multipliers on total weight.
How much protein can I absorb in one meal?
You absorb almost all of a large meal; absorption is not the limit people think it is. The limit is that a single meal stimulates muscle protein synthesis for a few hours and then the signal falls, so a second meal later does more for muscle than pushing the first meal from 40 g to 100 g. Digestive comfort is the other limit. 30 to 45 g per meal, three to five times, matches the daily total for most adults on this calculator.
Are protein shakes necessary?
No. They are a convenient 20 to 25 g when a meal is short on protein. Food sources — dairy, eggs, meat, fish, soy, legumes — should do most of the work because they come with meals you were going to eat. If you already hit the gram target with food, a second shake only adds calories. If you are 40 g short at the end of the day, one shake is a tool, not a personality.
Does protein timing matter more than the daily total?
The daily total is the first constraint. Timing is the second. Hitting 1.6 g/kg with a random schedule beats a perfect post-workout shake on a 70 g day. Once the total is in range, put a protein-rich meal within a few hours after lifting and avoid stacking the entire target into one dinner. The calculator’s per-meal line is there so the daily number survives contact with a real schedule.
Will high protein hurt my kidneys?
In healthy adults, the intakes in this range have not been shown to damage normal kidneys in the trials sports-nutrition groups summarize. That does not extend to people who already have kidney disease, who may have a prescribed cap well below 1.6 g/kg. If you have reduced kidney function, do not use this calculator. If you are healthy and the target is simply more yogurt and chicken than last month, the risk being discussed online is overstated.
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