“How much protein should I be eating?” is one of the most-asked nutrition questions — and the honest answer is “it depends on your weight and your goal”. The official minimum (0.8 g per kg) only prevents deficiency; people who train or diet usually do better higher. This calculator gives your personal target.
This free protein calculator turns that answer into a number you can use today. Enter your weight, pick your goal, and you will see your daily protein target in grams, a sensible range around it, a per-meal amount split across three meals, and how many calories that protein provides. There is no sign-up, no email, and no guesswork — just your weight and your goal, applied to the ranges explained below.
Protein Calculator
How Much Protein Do You Need? (By Goal)
Protein needs are not one number for everyone. A sedentary adult, a lifter chasing new muscle and a dieter trying to lose fat without losing strength are doing three different jobs, so the protein calculator uses a different rate per kilogram for each goal. The table below is the same set of rates the calculator applies, shown for an 80 kg person so you can check the maths yourself in seconds.
| Situation | Protein per kg | For an 80 kg person |
|---|---|---|
| Official minimum (RDA, sedentary) | 0.8 g/kg | 64 g |
| General health & maintaining | 1.2 g/kg | 96 g |
| Building muscle | 1.8 g/kg | 144 g |
| Losing fat, protecting muscle | 2.2 g/kg | 176 g |
In a calorie deficit protein matters most. When calories are low, the body looks for energy wherever it can find it, and without enough protein some of that energy comes from muscle. Higher protein protects muscle and controls hunger, which is why losing fat carries the highest rate in the table, even though total food is lower.
Research on muscle building shows benefits level off around 1.6–2.2 g/kg. Inside that range, training, sleep and total calories decide most of the result. Beyond the range there is little extra gain, just extra calories — protein still provides 4 calories per gram, so overshooting by a lot can quietly eat into the rest of your day.
A Day of Eating 176 g of Protein (Worked Example)
Numbers are easier when you can see them on a plate. This worked example uses the fat-loss target for an 80 kg person — 176 g — and builds it from ordinary meals. Notice that nothing here is exotic, expensive or bought from a supplement shop.
Breakfast: Greek yogurt bowl with oats and berries, about 35 g. A generous bowl of Greek yogurt does most of the work, the oats add a little more, and the berries are there for flavour, fibre and colour rather than protein. It is filling, quick, and easy to repeat on busy mornings without cooking.
Lunch: 150 g chicken breast (about 46 g) with rice and vegetables. The chicken provides the protein, the rice provides energy for training and work, and the vegetables add volume so the plate feels large. Swapping the chicken for fish, paneer or lentils on other days keeps the same pattern without boredom.
Snack: a protein shake or a glass of milk and boiled eggs, about 30 g. This is the flexible meal of the day. On a busy afternoon a shake is convenient; at home, milk and two boiled eggs do the same job with normal food and cost very little.
Dinner: lentil and paneer curry or tuna pasta, about 55–65 g. Both dinners are built around a serious protein portion, not a garnish. Eaten at a normal evening pace, this is the meal that closes most of the remaining gap in one go.
Add those meals up and the total lands around 170–180 g for the day. That is the point of the example: ordinary food reaches the target without supplements, special products or eating chicken at every meal. Copy the pattern, swap the foods, and keep the portions roughly this size.
Best Protein Sources
The best protein source is the one you will actually eat regularly. Use the table below to compare the heavy hitters, and read our Chicken Breast Calories & Nutrition guide for the full breakdown of the food at the top of the list. Values are typical averages, so check labels for the exact product in your kitchen.
| Food | Protein |
|---|---|
| Chicken breast, cooked | 31 g per 100 g |
| Tuna, canned | about 25 g per 100 g |
| Paneer | about 18 g per 100 g |
| Greek yogurt | about 10 g per 100 g |
| Lentils, cooked | about 9 g per 100 g |
| Tofu | about 8 g per 100 g |
| Eggs | about 6 g per large egg |
| Milk | about 3.4 g per 100 ml |
Mixing plant sources across the day covers all essential amino acids. Lentils, tofu, grains, dairy and eggs each bring a different amino acid pattern, and across a varied day those patterns complete each other. Vegetarians do not need to combine them in the same meal — variety across the day is enough.
Cost and convenience matter too. Eggs, milk, lentils and yogurt are usually the cheapest protein per gram, while chicken, tuna and paneer are easy to cook in batches for the week ahead. Build two or three defaults you enjoy, rotate them, and hitting your number becomes routine rather than a daily puzzle.
Protein and Weight Loss
Dieters get the highest target on this page for three connected reasons. Protein is the most filling macro, so a high-protein meal leaves you satisfied for longer on the same calories. It also defends muscle in a deficit, which keeps you stronger, keeps your shape, and helps the weight you lose come from fat instead.
Protein also has the highest thermic effect of the macros: digesting it burns roughly 20–30% of its own calories, far more than carbohydrate or fat. That bonus is useful, not magical, so pair your protein target with a calorie target from our Macros Calculator for Weight Loss page, and the two numbers will work together properly.
A practical way to hold the target is to anchor every meal to a protein food first, then add vegetables, grains and fats around it. Plan breakfast around yogurt or eggs, lunch around chicken, fish or paneer, and dinner around lentils, tofu, tuna or meat. When protein is planned first, it rarely gets forgotten, and the day usually reaches its target without a large catch-up meal late at night or a feeling that you are constantly chasing grams.
Three Protein Myths, Settled Honestly
Protein attracts confident myths. Here are the three we hear most, settled as honestly as the evidence allows.
(1) “High protein damages kidneys”: in people with healthy kidneys, studies at these intakes have not shown harm. That sentence matters word for word — healthy kidneys are the case studied here. People with existing kidney disease are a different case: they must follow their doctor, not a general calculator or a table on the internet.
(2) “You can only absorb 30 g per meal”: the body does not waste the rest of a large meal. It uses protein from a large meal over more hours, digesting it slowly. Total daily intake matters far more than per-meal caps — spreading protein across 3–4 meals is still a practical, comfortable pattern, just not a strict rule.
(3) “You need protein powder”: powder is just convenient food, dried and flavoured for speed. It is not stronger, cleaner or more effective than the foods in the sources table above, and that table reaches any target on this page without it. Keep powder if you like it; never feel you must buy it.
Who Needs More (or Advice First)
Adults over about 60 generally do better at 1.2 g/kg or above, because muscle is harder to keep with age and appetite often falls just when protein matters more. Athletes in heavy training sit at the top of the ranges for the opposite reason: they break down more muscle tissue, more often, and need the material to rebuild it.
Pregnancy and breastfeeding raise needs too, but that is a time for personal guidance, not general tables. This page gives general guidance only — personalised advice comes from a clinician who knows your history. And if you are building muscle, a plan works best checked against your body composition with our Body Recomp Calculator, so you can see fat and muscle moving, not just weight.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much protein should I eat a day?
By weight and goal: about 1.2 g per kg to maintain health, 1.8 g per kg to build muscle, and 2.2 g per kg when losing fat to protect muscle. For an 80 kg person that is roughly 96 g, 144 g or 176 g a day.
Can too much protein harm my kidneys?
For healthy kidneys, research at the intakes this page recommends has not shown harm. If you have kidney disease or any kidney condition, that is a medical situation — follow your doctor’s protein guidance, not a calculator.
Why is protein higher when losing weight?
Because in a calorie deficit your body would happily burn muscle along with fat. High protein protects the muscle, keeps hunger lower, and costs extra energy to digest — it is the dieter’s most useful macro.
Do I need protein powder to hit my target?
No. Chicken, eggs, yogurt, lentils, paneer, tuna and milk reach any target on this page. Powder is only a convenience for busy days — helpful, never required.
When should I eat protein — does timing matter?
Much less than the daily total. Eat protein at each meal in amounts you enjoy (roughly 25–40% of your day per meal), train consistently, and the timing details become a minor detail.
In short, this protein calculator gives you a target you can trust and a pattern you can repeat: weigh yourself, pick your goal, eat that much protein from foods you enjoy, and check your progress every few weeks. Simple, honest and enough — that is how protein should feel.