What this calculator does
It takes four things about you and turns them into two ranges: grams of protein a day, and grams of protein in each meal. Nothing else. It does not know what you eat, how you sleep, what medication you take or what your bloods say, and it does not pretend to.
Your height is in there for one reason. Protein needs follow lean tissue more closely than they follow total body weight, so above a certain point the arithmetic on your full weight stops describing a real person. Where that happens, the calculator says so on screen and shows you the weight it used instead.
How to read a range
A range is not a margin of error. Both ends are reasonable places to land, and where you sit inside them depends on how hard you are training, how much muscle you already carry and how well you are eating otherwise. The lower end is a floor worth holding rather than a target to beat.
The daily figure is the one that matters. The per-meal figure is that daily figure divided by the meals you told us about, which is why the meals do not always add back exactly. We round to whole grams twice. Chasing the last gram is not what changes anything.
Choosing your goal
Maintain weight is for holding roughly where you are. Lose weight is for eating less overall while keeping the muscle you have. Build muscle is for training with the intention of adding tissue.
If you want to lose fat and gain muscle at the same time, choose Lose weight. The protein figure it gives you is already high enough to protect muscle in a deficit, and eating in a deficit is the harder half of that job.
What counts as activity
Count the days in a normal week when you raise your heart rate for at least 15 to 30 minutes. Walking briskly, swimming, cycling and a session in the gym all count. Housework and a busy shift on your feet do not, however tiring they are.
Sedentary is little or no exercise. Light is one to two days a week. Moderate is three to five. Heavy is six or seven. Very heavy is intense training every day. Most people who train seriously still sit at moderate, and the honest answer gives you the more useful number.
Why we ask about meals
Because your body cannot bank protein. Spreading the total across the day is easier to eat and easier to keep up than putting most of it in one sitting, and it is the pattern most guidance is written around.
If your per-meal figure comes out under 20 grams, you have probably chosen more meals than you need. If it comes out at 40 grams or more, adding a meal usually makes the day easier than forcing the total into three.
Where protein comes from
Whole food first, and most of it is already in a Maltese kitchen. Chicken, turkey, lean beef and rabbit. Fish, including the tinned tuna and sardines that keep in a cupboard. Eggs. Yoghurt, ricotta and gbejniet. Lentils, chickpeas, beans, tofu and tempeh.
Roughly, 100 grams of cooked chicken carries about 22 grams of protein, 100 grams of lentils about 24, two eggs about 12. Reading labels for a week teaches you more about your own diet than any calculator will.
When a calculator is not enough
If you have a kidney or liver condition, protein is set differently and the figure should come from the doctor looking after you. The same is true in pregnancy and while breastfeeding, where needs change at every stage.
If your weight sits below the healthy range for your height, or if food and eating feel difficult at the moment, a number is not what helps. Your GP is the right first door. We would rather say that than hand you a target.
Common questions
Is more protein always better?
No. Above the top of your range there is no extra benefit for most people, and the calories still count. The highest rate this calculator will ever show is 2,2 grams per kilogram, which is the upper end of the guidance for someone training hard. If protein crowds out vegetables, fibre and the rest of your diet, the total has stopped helping.
Does the range change on rest days?
Not in a way worth acting on. Muscle is repaired over days, not hours, so the simplest approach is to keep the same daily figure on training days and rest days alike. Choose the activity level that describes your normal week rather than your hardest one.
Do drinks and snacks count towards the total?
Yes. Every gram of protein counts, whatever it arrives in. If a snack carries real protein, count it as one of your meals in the calculator, because the per-meal figure is simply your daily total divided by the number you choose.
What if I am vegetarian or vegan?
The daily figure is the same. Reaching it takes a little more planning, because plant sources are generally less protein dense, so most people spread it across more of the day. Lentils, chickpeas, beans, tofu, tempeh, and dairy or eggs if you eat them, do most of the work.
Can I use this if I am pregnant or breastfeeding?
No, and the calculator will not show you a figure if you tell us that applies to you. Protein needs change through pregnancy and again while breastfeeding, and they change at each stage. A clinician can give you a figure that fits where you are.
Why does the calculator ask for my height?
To check that the grams make sense for your body, and for nothing else. Protein needs follow lean tissue more closely than they follow total body weight, so above a certain point multiplying by your full weight overstates them. Where that applies, the calculator says so and shows you the weight it used instead. Your height is never shown as a result.
Why do the meals not add back to the daily total?
Because we round to whole grams twice. The daily figure is rounded first, then divided by the meals you chose and rounded again, so three meals of 38 grams come to 114 rather than the 115 shown above them. Keeping the two figures consistent with each other matters more than the last gram.
Is anything I type here sent to Carisma Medical?
The maths runs in your browser and nothing leaves it until you choose to send your details. If you do send them, your answers are handled as health data under Article 9 of the GDPR, held in medical confidence, never sold and never used for advertising, and you can withdraw your consent at any time.
Who is this calculator for?
Adults aged 18 and over in Malta. It is not suitable if you have a kidney or liver condition, or if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, and it is not a diagnosis of anything. If your weight sits below the healthy range for your height, or if food and eating feel difficult at the moment, please speak to your doctor rather than following a figure.
Talk to a Malta-registered doctor
The assessment takes a few minutes. A Malta-registered doctor reads it, and you get a plan that accounts for your history, not just your weight.
Start Your Free AssessmentFree to start. No obligation. Malta only. 18 and over.
This calculator gives an estimate of daily protein based on weight, height, activity level and goal. It cannot account for high muscle mass, medication you are taking, or a condition that affects how your body handles protein, and it is not a diagnostic tool. It does not determine eligibility for any treatment.
For adults aged 18 and over, in Malta. If you have a kidney or liver condition, or you are pregnant or breastfeeding, your protein figure should come from the doctor looking after you.
Carisma Medical is not for emergencies. If you are unwell now, call 112.