Protein calculator
Enter your bodyweight and goal to get a daily protein target in grams, what that works out to per meal, and the reasoning behind the number.
Your details
Your daily protein
1.8 g per kg of bodyweight · 0.82 g per lb of bodyweight
bodyweight in kg × 1.8, or × 2.0 when the goal is muscle building
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How the target is set
Protein is prescribed per kilogram of bodyweight rather than as a share of calories, because the amount of tissue you are feeding does not change when you eat more or less of something else.
General fitness and fat loss = 1.8 g per kg
Muscle building = 2.0 g per kg
Both sit inside the 1.4 to 2.0 g per kg range the International Society of Sports Nutrition gives for physically active people. Phasebuilt sits at the top of that range on purpose: protein is the macronutrient people most often undershoot, and the cost of slightly too much is low.
Same figures as the plan generator. A plan built at this bodyweight will show the same protein target.
Why protein matters most in a deficit
When you are eating less than you burn, your body can cover the shortfall from fat or from lean tissue. Adequate protein plus resistance training is what pushes that balance toward fat. This is why the target does not drop when calories do, and why the fat loss and general fitness figures are identical.
Spreading it across the day
Total daily intake does most of the work, but an even spread is easier to hit and easier to digest than one enormous evening meal. The panel above divides your target across three, four and five eating occasions. Pick whichever matches how you actually eat.
Phasebuilt's own plans build meals around chicken, fish, lean meat, eggs, Greek yoghurt and tofu, or tofu, tempeh, seitan, lentils and plant protein on the vegan template. A plant-based diet reaches the same target, it just needs a wider spread of sources across the day.
Is more than this better?
Beyond roughly 2.0 g per kg the evidence for additional muscle gain in healthy adults thins out considerably, and the calories are usually better spent on carbohydrate to fuel training. More protein is not harmful for healthy people, it simply stops buying much. If you have kidney disease or another condition affecting protein handling, this is a question for your doctor rather than a calculator.
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