Protein Calculator
Estimate your daily protein target in grams from your body weight and goal — from the sedentary RDA up to high-intake levels for building muscle or dieting on a calorie deficit. Includes a reference table of protein-rich foods.
How to Use
- Enter your body weight in kilograms.
- Choose the goal that matches your activity and aim: sedentary (0.8 g/kg RDA), active (1.2), strength/hypertrophy (1.6), bodybuilder (2.0), or cut/lean (2.4).
- Read your daily protein target in grams.
- Use the food reference table to plan meals that reach that total across the day.
- Try the presets for common scenarios such as a 75 kg lifter or a 70 kg person cutting.
Show Work
Sources (g protein per 100 g)
About the Protein Calculator
Working on health and fitness tracking? The Protein Calculator is a free browser tool that gives you the answer in seconds. Estimate your daily protein target in grams from your body weight and goal — from the sedentary RDA up to high-intake levels for building muscle or dieting on a calorie deficit. Includes a reference table of protein-rich foods.
How it works
Put each value in its box and read the answer as you go. Because it recalculates live, you can play with the inputs to see how each one moves the result — handy for checking your own working or planning ahead. Everything happens on your device, so it is fast and private.
Want the deeper story? The Knowledge Base explains the ideas behind the tools in more detail.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much protein do I actually need?
The official RDA is about 0.8 g per kg of body weight per day, which is enough to prevent deficiency in sedentary adults. Active people, and especially those building or preserving muscle, generally benefit from more — commonly 1.2 to 2.0 g/kg, and up to around 2.4 g/kg when dieting hard to protect muscle. This calculator multiplies your weight by the factor you choose.
Why eat more protein when cutting calories?
When you're in a calorie deficit, higher protein helps preserve lean muscle that the body might otherwise break down, and it's the most satiating macronutrient, which makes a diet easier to stick to. That's why the 'cut/lean' setting uses a higher figure (around 2.4 g/kg) than the maintenance and muscle-building options.
Can you eat too much protein?
For healthy people, intakes in the ranges this tool suggests are considered safe, and there's little evidence that high protein harms normal kidneys. Very high intakes simply tend to displace other nutrients and offer diminishing returns for muscle building beyond roughly 1.6–2.2 g/kg. People with existing kidney disease should follow medical guidance on protein.
Should I use total body weight or lean mass?
This calculator uses total body weight, which is the simplest and most common approach. Some lifters with high body-fat percentages prefer to base the target on lean body mass or goal weight to avoid overestimating. If that applies to you, enter your lean or target weight instead of your current scale weight.
Does the timing of protein matter?
Total daily intake is by far the most important factor, but spreading protein fairly evenly across three to five meals (roughly 20–40 g each) appears to support muscle protein synthesis slightly better than loading it all into one meal. Getting some protein around your workouts is a reasonable habit, though the daily total still matters most.
How do I use the Protein Calculator?
Just type your numbers. The answer shows up right away — there is no button to press. Change anything and it updates by itself.
Do I need to install or sign up for anything?
Not at all — it runs in the browser with nothing to install and no account. After it loads once, it even works without an internet connection.
Is my information private?
Yes. Everything happens in your browser. Nothing you type is sent to a server or saved anywhere.
Common Use Cases
Building muscle
Set a higher protein target to support strength training and hypertrophy.
Dieting without losing muscle
Use a higher g/kg figure while in a calorie deficit to protect lean mass.
Meal planning
Turn your daily gram target into portions using the protein-per-100g food table.
Checking a general diet
Confirm whether a sedentary or lightly active diet meets the basic RDA.
Tracking macros
Establish the protein leg of a macro plan before filling in carbs and fat.
Last updated: