Why protein targets are set per kilogram
Protein needs scale with body size, which is why every credible recommendation is written as grams per kilogram of body weight rather than a single number. A 60 kg runner and a 100 kg rugby player have very different requirements, even with the same goal.
The ranges in this calculator follow the guidance used by sports dietitians: around 0.75 to 1.2 g per kg for general health, 1.2 to 1.6 g per kg for endurance training, 1.6 to 2.2 g per kg for building muscle, and 1.8 to 2.4 g per kg when dieting, where higher protein helps you hold on to muscle while calories are low.
Protein with a calorie deficit or surplus
If you are cutting, set calories first with the calorie deficit calculator or maintenance calorie calculator, then lock protein here. If you want full gram targets for carbs and fat as well, continue to the macro calculator.
Hitting the target in real food
A target of 140 g sounds abstract until you translate it into meals. A chicken breast is roughly 35 g of protein, a tin of tuna about 27 g, three eggs around 19 g, and a 250 g pot of Greek yoghurt about 25 g. Spread across four meals, 140 g becomes four servings of about 35 g each, which is very achievable.
The hard part is knowing where you actually stand by mid-afternoon. That is where tracking earns its keep: once you can see a running total, adjusting dinner to close the gap becomes trivial.
