High-Protein Macro Calculator
A protein target built for muscle preservation or growth, not just a general minimum.
Daily calories for maintain weight
2668 cal
Protein
170g
Carbs
330g
Fat
74g
Worked example, step by step
Two reference people, run through exactly the same formulas as the calculator above. Swap in your own numbers and the steps are identical.
Alex
Male · 30 · 5'9" · 170 lb · moderately active
- Weight
- 170 lb × 0.4536
- 77.1 kg
- Height
- 5'9" = 69 in × 2.54
- 175.3 cm
- BMR
- 10 × 77.1 + 6.25 × 175.3 − 5 × 30 + 5
- 1,721 cal
- TDEE
- 1,721 × 1.55 (moderately active)
- 2,668 cal
2,668 cal as high-protein
| Protein | 170 lb × 1 g | 170 g | 25% |
| Fat | 25% of 2,668 ÷ 9 | 74 g | 25% |
| Carbs | the rest ÷ 4 | 330 g | 50% |
Sam
Female · 30 · 5'5" · 140 lb · lightly active
- Weight
- 140 lb × 0.4536
- 63.5 kg
- Height
- 5'5" = 65 in × 2.54
- 165.1 cm
- BMR
- 10 × 63.5 + 6.25 × 165.1 − 5 × 30 − 161
- 1,356 cal
- TDEE
- 1,356 × 1.375 (lightly active)
- 1,864 cal
1,864 cal as high-protein
| Protein | 140 lb × 1 g | 140 g | 30% |
| Fat | 25% of 1,864 ÷ 9 | 52 g | 25% |
| Carbs | the rest ÷ 4 | 210 g | 45% |
Maintaining weight, so the calorie target is the TDEE itself; a cut or bulk would subtract or add its adjustment first.
What the activity levels actually mean
The multiplier is where most people go wrong, usually by picking a level too high. A desk job plus three gym sessions a week is "lightly active", not "moderately active" -- the gym hour is real, but the other 23 are sitting. Here is Alex's TDEE at every level, from the same 1,721-calorie BMR:
| Level | Who it fits | Multiplier | Alex's TDEE |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sedentary | Little to no exercise, desk job | × 1.2 | 2,066 cal |
| Lightly active | Light exercise 1-3 days/week | × 1.375 | 2,367 cal |
| Moderately active | Moderate exercise 3-5 days/week | × 1.55 | 2,668 cal |
| Very active | Hard exercise 6-7 days/week | × 1.725 | 2,970 cal |
| Extra active | Very hard exercise and a physical job | × 1.9 | 3,271 cal |
The gap between sedentary and very active is 904 calories a day for the same person -- more than a whole meal. When in doubt, pick the lower level and let the two-week weigh-in correct you.
Gram targets by calorie level
With this split, protein is fixed by bodyweight (170 g for a 170 lb person, shown here) and fat is 25% of calories, so only carbs move as calories change. That is deliberate: when you cut, carbs absorb the deficit and protein stays put.
Gram targets assume you weigh food. If a recipe is in cups and tablespoons, CookSubs converts cups to grams by ingredient so the number you log matches the number here.
| Calories | Protein | Carbs | Fat |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1,600 | 170 g | 130 g | 44 g |
| 1,800 | 170 g | 168 g | 50 g |
| 2,000 | 170 g | 205 g | 56 g |
| 2,200 | 170 g | 243 g | 61 g |
| 2,500 | 170 g | 299 g | 69 g |
| 2,800 | 170 g | 355 g | 78 g |
| 3,200 | 170 g | 430 g | 89 g |
After two weeks: how to adjust
Every number on this page is an estimate of the average person with your stats. You are not the average person, and the only way to find your real number is to eat at the estimate and watch the scale. The rules that make that work:
- Weigh daily, judge weekly. Same scale, same time, after the bathroom, before food. Daily readings swing 2-4 lb on water alone; compare weekly averages, not days.
- Give it 14 days. The first week of any change is mostly water and glycogen. The second week is the first honest read.
- Then move 100-200 calories, not 500. Trending down when you meant to hold? Add 100-200. Trending up? Subtract 100-200. Small moves, then another two weeks.
- Recalculate when your weight changes by 10-15 lb. Your BMR moves with your bodyweight, so a target set months ago is stale.
- Keep protein fixed, flex carbs and fat. Protein is the one macro tied to keeping muscle; it is the last thing to cut and the first to hit.
Common mistakes
- Counting the workout twice. The activity multiplier already includes your training. Adding the calories your watch says you burned on top of it double-counts, often by 300-600 a day.
- Treating the number as exact. Mifflin-St Jeor is accurate to within about 10% for most healthy adults. For Alex that is a 267-calorie band either side of 2,668.
- Eating at BMR. BMR is what you burn asleep and fasting. Eating that little for long is a crash diet with a scientific-sounding name; the deficit belongs under TDEE, not under BMR.
- Rounding macros to the gram. Food labels are legally allowed to be 20% off. Hitting protein within 10-15 g and calories within 100 is precise enough; anything tighter is false accuracy.
Keep going
- For a fixed percentage split instead of a bodyweight-based protein target, the 40/30/30 calculator runs the same calories through different math. 40/30/30 Macro Calculator
- A high protein target matters most while building muscle in a surplus; the macros-for-bulking page locks in that goal directly. Macros for Bulking
Frequently Asked Questions
How much protein counts as "high-protein" here?
About 1g per pound of bodyweight -- on the higher end of common recommendations, sized for people actively trying to build or preserve muscle rather than just hit a general health minimum.
Is more protein always better?
Not indefinitely -- past a certain point (roughly 1g per pound for most people), extra protein doesn't add meaningfully more muscle-building benefit. This target is already near that upper useful range, not a starting floor.
Does a high-protein target work for cutting and bulking both?
Yes -- protein scaled to bodyweight stays the same whether your overall calories are up or down, which is exactly why it matters most in a cut (protecting muscle) and a bulk (building it).
Is 1 g per pound too much if I carry extra weight?
It can be: 1 g per pound of a 260 lb bodyweight is 260 g, more than needed. The research support is roughly 0.7-1 g per pound of lean mass or goal weight. If you are well above your goal weight, run the calculator with your goal weight instead, or aim for 0.8 g per pound of current weight.
Does it matter how the protein is spread across the day?
Somewhat. Muscle protein synthesis responds to doses of roughly 25-40 g, and there is a ceiling per meal, so 150 g in four servings of 35-40 g does more than 150 g in one dinner. Three to five protein-containing meals is the practical target; exact timing around training matters far less than the daily total.
Which foods give the most protein per calorie?
Per 100 calories: egg whites (~25 g), non-fat Greek yoghurt (~17 g), chicken breast (~18 g), white fish like cod (~20 g), shrimp (~20 g), whey isolate (~22 g), extra-firm tofu (~9 g), lentils (~7 g). A high-protein day is mostly built from the top of that list, with fats and carbs coming from elsewhere.