Free Tool
Protein Needs Calculator: How Much Protein Do You Need?
The 0.8 grams per kilogram number most people half-remember is the minimum to avoid deficiency, not a target worth aiming for. This calculator uses ranges from sports nutrition research, adjusted for your age and what you are actually training for. No email needed.
By Luke Thomas, NASM-CPT. Updated August 2026.
Calculate your daily protein target
Protein is the one nutrient that protects your muscle as you age, and most people are quietly undershooting it. Answer three quick things and you will get a daily target range plus what it looks like meal by meal.
Your daily protein target
What that looks like day to day:
High-protein meals from my kitchen, with protein per serving:
Closing the gap on busy days
You can hit this entirely with food, and plenty of people do. If some days get away from you, a scoop is about 20 g in about 30 seconds.
My honest look at LiveGood Whey Protein Isolate — or if you avoid dairy, the organic plant-based option.
Not sure which supplement actually fits you? Take my free 60-second quiz.
Next step: check your daily hydration target too
Why 0.8 grams per kilogram was never the target
That figure comes from the RDA, and it is worth knowing what an RDA actually is: the minimum needed to keep a mostly sedentary adult from becoming deficient. It is a floor, not a goal. Nobody ever set it as the amount that keeps you strong at 60.
Once researchers started asking a different question, how much protein preserves muscle, supports training, and protects lean mass during weight loss, the answers came back consistently higher.
That is what this calculator gives you: a range rather than one tidy number, because a range is the honest answer. Staying healthy without much training sits around 1.0 to 1.4 grams per kilogram. Active sits at 1.4 to 1.8. Building muscle runs 1.6 to 2.2, and losing fat while protecting muscle is highest at 1.8 to 2.4, because a calorie deficit makes your body far more willing to break down muscle for fuel.
Three truths about protein
More is not endlessly better
Research on resistance training suggests the added benefit largely levels off around 1.6 grams per kilogram for most people. Past that point more protein is not harmful, but it is not doing much the training is not already doing. The top of your range is insurance, not magic.
Spread beats stacking
Roughly 25 to 40 grams per meal works better than 15 grams at breakfast and 80 at dinner. Your body handles protein better in reasonable doses across the day, and hitting the total gets far easier when it is split three or four ways.
Breakfast is where it leaks
This is where almost everyone loses ground. Toast and coffee is close to zero grams. Eggs, Greek yogurt, or cottage cheese changes the whole day's math before you have made a single other decision.
Protein questions, answered
How much protein do I actually need a day?
There is no universal number, which is why this calculator uses your body weight, your age, and your goal. As a rough orientation: a 150-pound moderately active person lands somewhere near 95 to 122 grams a day, while that same person in a fat loss phase would aim closer to 122 to 163. Run your own numbers above rather than borrowing someone else's.
Is high protein bad for your kidneys?
For people with healthy kidneys, intakes in these ranges have not been shown to cause kidney damage. That worry traces back to advice given to people who already have kidney disease, where protein genuinely does need managing. If you have diagnosed kidney disease, your target should come from your doctor or a renal dietitian, not from a calculator.
Should I use my current weight or my goal weight?
The calculator uses the weight you enter, which works well for most people. If you are carrying a significant amount of extra weight, that can push the target higher than you need. In that case, running the numbers with a weight closer to your goal gives you a more realistic figure to aim at.
Does protein timing matter?
Less than the internet would have you believe. The old anabolic window panic about eating within 30 minutes of training has not held up well. Total daily protein matters most by a wide margin. Spreading it across meals helps at the edges, but if you hit your total you have done the important part.
Why does the target go up after 40?
It is called anabolic resistance. As you age, muscle responds less efficiently to the same dose of protein, so the threshold to trigger muscle building moves higher. This calculator adds roughly 0.10 grams per kilogram from 40 to 54, and 0.20 from 55 on. It is a modest adjustment, and it is the difference between slowly losing ground and holding it.
Can I hit this without supplements?
Yes, completely. Powder is convenience, not necessity. It is a fast way to close a gap on a busy day and nothing more. If you would rather get every gram from food, that works perfectly well and always has. Plant-based eaters should aim toward the upper end of their range and eat a variety of sources, since most plant proteins are lower in leucine.
Your Next Step
Eat enough. Lose the right weight.
Your protein target covers the muscle side. The free 14-Day No-Gimmicks Weight-Loss Reset covers the rest of the plate, one simple habit a day. Same coach, same no-gimmicks approach.
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Questions? Learn how to use this calculator and read your results in the Help Docs.
Practical health and fitness for women who want to feel strong at any age. Coached by Luke — NASM-certified (CPT, CES, PES) with 20+ years in the field.