How to Calculate Your Protein Needs

Published – September 30th 2020

Do you know how much protein you should be eating? Here’s how you can calculate your protein needs, as well as a list of how much protein some common foods contain.

Your daily protein needs depend on many factors, like how much you weigh and how much muscle you have—not just whether you’re male or female. 

Does a ‘one size fits all’ model for protein make sense? Calorie needs differ from person to person, so why not protein? After all, people come in all different sizes, and their body composition is highly variable. It stands to reason that protein needs could vary a lot, too. It doesn’t seem right that a 100 kg guy who works in construction and is into bodybuilding would have the same protein needs as a 68 kg male bank teller who sits most of the day and spends his evenings on the couch.

How much protein is right for you?

So, how can you estimate out how much protein your own body needs?

Since protein is so important in maintaining your lean body mass (basically, everything in your body that isn’t fat), the suggested amount that you should eat every day depends, in part, on how much lean mass you have. Ideally, you’d get a body composition measurement done (ask us about our FREE Body Analysis), which would tell you how much lean body mass you have. Then you could easily determine the amount of protein suggested for you. That would be about 1-2 grams of protein per kilogram of lean body mass.

Here’s how to calculate your protein needs:

– Kilograms: Multiply your body weight by 1.5

– Pounds: Multiply your body weight by 0.7

The number you get is a reasonable target for the amount of protein, in grams, that you should eat each day. So, a woman who weighs 64 kg should aim for about 100g of protein a day. A 110 kg male should shoot for at least 150g of protein.

Amount of protein in typical foods

Now that you’ve got a rough idea of how much protein you should be eating every day, you’ll want to estimate how much you’re actually eating. I find it easiest to estimate the amount of protein in a meal in 25g units, and the amount for snacks in about 10g units.

Here’s why. Common portions of many protein foods we eat at meals conveniently have about 25g of protein, and protein snacks tend to fall in the 10g range. So, it makes it easy to keep track. If you’re a woman aiming for about 100g of protein a day, you can easily do that by taking in 25g (one unit) at each meal, and have a couple protein snacks. If you’re a male aiming for about 150g a day, you can simply double up your protein units at a couple of meals in order to hit your target.

Amount of protein in meal items

Amount of protein in typical snacks

Written by Susan Bowerman.
Susan is Director of Worldwide Nutrition Education and Training at Herbalife Nutrition.
Susan is a Registered Dietitian and a board-certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics.