Find your ideal daily protein in grams based on your body weight and goal — whether you're cutting, building muscle, or maintaining.
Protein needs depend mostly on your body weight and how active you are. General health requires less; building muscle or losing fat while preserving lean mass requires more. This calculator uses grams per pound of body weight, the standard sports-nutrition approach.
A sedentary adult needs roughly 0.5 g of protein per pound of body weight. Active people and general gym-goers do well around 0.7 g/lb. To build muscle, aim for about 0.9 g/lb, and when cutting calories for fat loss, 1.0 g/lb helps preserve muscle and keep you full. Endurance athletes land near 0.8 g/lb.
Protein is the most satiating macronutrient and has the highest thermic effect, meaning your body burns more calories digesting it. During a calorie deficit, adequate protein is what tells your body to burn fat rather than muscle. When bulking, protein supplies the raw material for new muscle tissue.
Your body uses protein most efficiently when it's spread across the day rather than eaten in one sitting. Aim for 20–40 g per meal across 3–5 meals. The per-meal number above divides your target evenly so you can plan portions.
Tip: Hitting your protein target is the single highest-impact nutrition habit for body composition. If the number feels high, build each meal around a palm-sized (or larger) portion of a protein source first, then add carbs and fats.