Online Tool Store
Protein Intake Calculator
Estimate a daily protein range from your body weight, training level, and age, with a per-meal target. Runs entirely in your browser — nothing is uploaded.
🔒 This tool runs entirely in your browser. Your files are never uploaded to a server.
Suggested daily protein
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Example shown — enter your own details.
- Per meal target
- Basis used
- Weight in kilograms
- Minimum to avoid deficiency (0.8 g/kg)
What roughly 30g of protein looks like
- • About 100g cooked chicken breast
- • About 5 large eggs
- • About 300g Greek yoghurt
- • About 170g firm tofu
- • About 350g cooked lentils
- • About 40g whey powder
Approximate figures — check the label on what you actually buy.
General guidance for healthy adults, not medical advice. If you are pregnant, have kidney or liver disease, or are managing a medical condition, your protein target should come from your doctor or dietitian — some conditions require a deliberately restricted intake.
How it works
- Enter your body weight in kilograms or pounds.
- Pick the activity level and goal that matches what you actually do most weeks.
- Set how many meals you eat, to get a per-meal target rather than just a daily one.
- Read the range — and treat it as a range, not a precise prescription.
Why protein is scaled to body weight
Protein needs track roughly with how much of you there is to maintain, so guidance is expressed per kilogram rather than as a flat figure:
daily protein = body weight in kg × grams per kg
per meal = daily total ÷ number of meals
For a 70 kg adult that means 56 g at the 0.8 g/kg minimum, 84–112 g when training a few times a week, and 112–154 g while strength training. Weight in pounds is converted using the exact definition of 0.45359237 kg per pound, so 154 lb becomes 69.9 kg.
The ranges, and what separates them
- 0.8–1.0 g/kg — sedentary. The lower figure is the reference intake: enough to avoid deficiency.
- 1.2–1.6 g/kg — training a few times a week, or endurance work.
- 1.6–2.2 g/kg — strength training with the aim of adding muscle.
- 1.8–2.4 g/kg — losing fat while training, where a higher intake helps protect lean mass in a calorie deficit.
The pattern behind those numbers is worth understanding: more protein helps most when there is either damage to repair (training) or a shortage of energy (dieting). Where neither applies, extra protein has less to do, which is why the sedentary range is so much lower.
Distribution matters as well as the total. Muscle protein synthesis rises after a protein-containing meal and then levels off, so three or four meals of 25–40 g generally does more than the same total taken mostly at dinner. That is what the per-meal figure is for.
FAQ
Where do these numbers come from?
The 0.8 g/kg figure is the dietary reference intake for adults used in the US and Canada. The higher training ranges follow the published position stands of the International Society of Sports Nutrition and the American College of Sports Medicine, which put exercising adults in the 1.2–2.0 g/kg region depending on the sport. They are stated as ranges in the source guidance, so they are shown as ranges here.
Why is the result a range rather than one number?
Because the honest answer is a range. Requirements vary with training load, how much muscle you carry, your calorie intake, and the protein quality in your diet. Anything presenting a single precise gram figure is implying accuracy that the underlying research does not support.
Is the RDA the amount I should aim for?
No — 0.8 g/kg is the amount that prevents deficiency in most healthy sedentary adults, which is a floor rather than a target. If you train, the research consistently shows more is better for maintaining and building muscle, which is why it is shown separately as a minimum.
Why does the per-meal figure matter?
Muscle protein synthesis responds to a meal and then plateaus, so spreading intake across the day tends to be more effective than taking most of it in one sitting. Roughly 20–40g per meal for most adults is the usual practical advice, which is what the per-meal number is aiming at.
Why does being over 65 raise the figure?
Because older adults respond less strongly to the same amount of protein, and lose muscle more readily. Guidance aimed at older adults typically starts around 1.0–1.2 g/kg rather than 0.8, so ticking that box lifts the lower end of your range.
Can I eat too much protein?
For healthy adults, intakes in these ranges are generally regarded as safe, and the commonly repeated claim that protein damages healthy kidneys is not supported by the evidence. But if you have existing kidney or liver disease the situation is genuinely different, and a restricted intake may be prescribed — that decision belongs with your doctor, not a calculator.
How we compare
| Feature | Online Tool Store | Fitness site calculators | A dietitian |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gives a range and says why | ✓ | Usually one confident number | ✓ |
| Names the guidance behind the figures | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ |
| No sign-up, no supplements being sold to you | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Your weight and details stay on your device | ✓ | Often behind an email signup | Confidential, but recorded |
| Accounts for body composition and medical history | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Safe for kidney or liver conditions | Explicitly out of scope — ask your doctor | Rarely mentioned | ✓ |
This gives you a sensible starting range from published guidance, with the reasoning shown and nothing being sold to you alongside it. It knows only your weight, activity, and age — it cannot account for body composition, medication, or a medical condition, and if you have kidney or liver disease your target should come from a clinician instead.