By now, you’ve heard about the power of protein. It’s the magic macronutrient that helps keep you full and preserve muscle mass as you lose weight. And you’re probably wondering, “How much protein do I need?” Well, we can help you figure it out.
The MyFitnessPal Protein Calculator is a simple, user-friendly tool designed to help you determine your approximate daily protein needs based on your unique lifestyle and health goals.
How to Use the MyFitnessPal Protein Calculator
This tool takes away some of the guesswork about how much protein you should aim for. All need to do is enter a few basic pieces of information about yourself, including:
- Age: Protein needs can vary by age, especially as muscle mass naturally declines over time.
- Sex: Though it’s just one consideration, men and women tend to have different protein needs.
- Weight: Your weight helps determine your protein needs. It directly affects the amount your body requires for maintenance and growth.
- Activity Level: Whether you’re sedentary or highly active, your activity level plays a big role in determining how much protein your body uses.
- Fitness Goals: Whether you’re aiming to lose weight, build muscle, or maintain your current health, the calculator adjusts your recommendations accordingly.
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Protein is essential for building and repairing tissues, producing enzymes and hormones, and maintaining muscle mass. The calculator uses evidence-based guidelines to ensure your protein intake supports your goals without going overboard (1).
As always though, the recommendations are just guidelines provided for your information. You should always talk to your doctor or registered dietician for personalized advice or if you have any medical conditions.
Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) of Protein
The RDA for protein is 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight for most adults. However, this amount is the minimum amount needed to support basic bodily functions and prevent muscle loss (7).
The RDA amount is likely not enough to meet the needs of active people or those with specific fitness goals. How much protein you need to gain muscle or preserve muscle mass is another matter.
Guidelines for Protein Intake
Other organizations that issue recommendations, such as the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and the International Society of Sports Nutrition, recommend 1.2 to 2 grams of protein for every kilogram of body weight per day. (1)
For a 150-pound person, that’s between 82 and 136 grams of protein per day. Plug your own numbers into the calculator to get a better sense of what would be a good protein goal for you.
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How to Calculate Protein Intake in Meals
Your protein goal for the day might seem like a high number when you first see it. It can be helpful to work toward that goal one meal and snack at a time.
Here are two good strategies for figuring out how much protein is in each meal:
Read Nutrition Labels
Nutrition labels list protein content per serving. Multiply this number by the number of servings you consume to calculate your total protein intake from packaged foods.
Use MyFitnessPal
With MyFitnessPal, tracking protein is easy. Simply log your meals in the app, and it will calculate your daily protein intake, helping you stay on track with your goals.
High-Protein Food Sources
Many everyday foods are high in protein. Here are some the most common foods that can help you reach your protein and overall nutrition goals:
Meat and Poultry Protein Sources
- Beef (lean cuts like sirloin, tenderloin): 3oz, 21-23 grams protein.
- Venison (deer meat): 3 oz, 23 grams protein.
- Bison: 3 onzas, 22-24 grams protein.
- Chicken (skinless, boneless breast): 3 oz, 24 grams protein.
- Turkey (skinless, boneless breast): 3 oz, 26 grams protein.
Seafood Protein Sources
- Salmon: 3oz, 22-25 grams protein.
- Tuna (canned, drained): 3 oz, 22 grams protein.
- Cod: 3 oz, 19 grams protein.
- Trout: 3 oz, 19 grams protein.
- Shrimp: 3 oz, 18 grams protein.
Egg and Dairy Protein Sources
- Milk: 1 cup, 8 grams protein.
- Cheese (cheddar, mozzarella, parmesan, etc): 1 oz, 6–7 grams protein.
- Plain, low-fat yogurt: 1 cup, 10 grams protein.
- Cottage cheese: 1/2 cup, 12 grams protein.
- Plain, low-fat Greek yogurt: 1 cup, 20 grams protein.
Gran Protein Sources
- Quinoa: 1 cooked cup, 8 grams protein.
- Brown rice: 1 cooked cup, 5 grams protein
- Oats: 1 cooked cup, 6 grams protein.
- Barley: 1 cooked cup, 4 grams protein.
- Wheat (Bulgur, Farro): 1 cooked cup, 8 grams protein.
Nuts and Seeds Protein Sources
- Almonds: 6 grams protein.
- Peanuts: 7 grams protein.
- Hemp Seeds: 9 grams protein.
- Pumpkin Seeds: 7 grams protein.
- Sunflower Seeds: 6 grams protein.
Legume Protein Sources
- Lentils: 1/2 cooked cup, 9 grams protein.
- Chikpeas: 1/2 cooked cup, 7 grams protein.
- Black Beans: 1/2 cooked cup, 8 grams protein.
- Kidney Beans: 1/2 cooked cup, 8 grams protein.
- Soybeans (Edemame): 1/2 cooked cup, 8 grams protein.
Plant-based Protein Sources
- Firm Tofu: 3 oz, 6.8 grams protein.
- Tempeh: 3 oz, 16 grams protein.
- Seitan: 3 oz, 21 grams protein.
- Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP): 3 oz (dry weight), 42 grams protein.
Risks of Insufficient or Excessive Protein Intake
Protein is needed by every cell in our bodies. Without it, muscle growth, development, and tissue repair don’t happen the way they should (2).
But there can be too much of a good thing. When you’re laser-focused on eating protein, it can crowd out other nutritious foods. “It gets harder to include all your food groups, it gets harder to get variety in your meals and to construct your meals, it gets harder to balance your carb and fat needs,” says Stephanie Nelson, MyFitnessPal’s lead nutrition scientist.
Striking the right balance is key to avoiding these issues while optimizing your health.
Calculating Protein FAQs
Use the MyFitnessPal Protein Calculator by entering your weight, age, activity level, and goals.
Build your meals on protein-rich foods like eggs for breakfast, grilled chicken for lunch, and tofu stir-fry for dinner.
Most people benefit from 1.2–1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight while losing weight (1).
Building new muscle and maintaining muscle mass require a positive muscle protein balance. Research shows that resistance exercise coupled with protein consumption stimulates muscle protein synthesis (muscle growth) (3).
That means it is important to consume adequate protein amounts when lifting weights to gain muscle but also to retain current muscle mass. Although the body can technically build muscle from amino acid reserves it is not ideal and has not shown to be as effective, therefore protein intake recommendations for physically active individuals is higher than for sedentary people (4).
While not getting enough protein is not ideal, consuming too much protein can also have adverse effects. The kidneys filter the byproducts of ingested protein so anyone with altered kidney function should refrain from consuming high amounts of protein. Fluids are also required to breakdown and flush out these byproducts so occasionally hydration status is affected when over consuming protein (5).
Remember that the source of protein is equally as important as the amount, research has shown that over consumption of red meat and processed meats can increase overall mortality risk. You may want to choose protein sources like fish, poultry, nuts, legumes, and low fat dairy more often (6).
