How to Use This Protein Calculator for Weight Loss

Our protein calculator for weight loss is designed for women looking to find out how much protein they should eat to promote healthy weight loss. 

To calculate your protein goal for weight loss, our calculator considers factors like your height, activity levels, and fitness goals. Based on this info, you’ll get recommendations for your total daily protein intake and the amount of protein you should eat with each meal. 

Adding more protein to your diet can help you feel full longer and and make it easier to consume fewer calories. Increasing your protein intake can also help you maintain muscle as you lose fat.

Choosing an Activity Level to Calculate Your Protein Needs

To estimate how much protein you should be eating, we need to know a little bit about your lifestyle. The more active you are, the more protein you need for muscle growth and recovery.

To figure out your activity level, consider how many times a week you get your heart rate up for at least 15 to 30 minutes — whether it’s from walking, dancing, doing chores around the house, or taking an exercise class. 

Not sure what activity level to punch into the protein calculator for weight loss? Here’s a rough guide to figure out where you stand:

• Sedentary: You do little to no exercise.

• Light: You exercise one to two days a week.

• Moderate: You exercise three to five days a week.

• Heavy: You exercise six to seven days a week.

• Very heavy: You exercise intensely every day.

Knowing your basal metabolic rate (BMR) and total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) can also be helpful when figuring out a nutrition plan for weight loss.

How Does Protein Help You Lose Weight? 

Protein is a powerhouse of a macronutrient when it comes to reaching and maintaining a healthy weight.

According to research, a high-protein diet can:

• Reduce your appetite

• Help you feel fuller

• Reduce cravings

• Help you hold onto muscle while losing fat

• Help you build muscle (which helps with weight management)

The research also shows that it can help prevent weight regain after weight loss.

The benefits of protein go beyond weight loss, too. It’s a building block for your body’s cells, helping with recovery, hormone regulation, and even fighting infections.

You can toggle the goal to change the protein calculator for weight loss to maintain weight or build muscle if you have other goals in mind.

Check out our guide to protein for weight loss to learn more.

Daily Protein Intake for Women

Everyone needs a different amount of protein, and your ideal daily protein intake can change over your lifetime.

Your protein needs depend on factors like:

• Activity level. The more activity you get, the more protein you’ll need, especially if you’re strength training and trying to put on muscle.

• Age. Women naturally lose muscle as they age. Eating more protein can help offset this.

• Pregnancy or breastfeeding. You need more protein when pregnant and breastfeeding, as your body is growing and feeding another human.

• Liver or kidney disease. You may need to decrease your protein intake if you have one of these health conditions.

• Perimenopause or menopause. You may need more protein to offset the muscle loss and weight gain that can happen during perimenopause and menopause.

Let’s dig a little deeper into those hormonal factors.

Perimenopause Weight Gain

Perimenopause — the transition period before menopause — can lead to weight gain. There are lots of factors at play, but hormonal changes are the main culprit. And — you guessed it — eating more protein can help support weight loss goals.

Prioritizing protein during perimenopause can help control your appetite, which may be higher than usual due to a drop in estrogen.

Plus, research indicates that hormone changes during this time can indirectly increase your appetite for protein. If you don’t increase your protein intake, you might end up eating too many carbs or other foods in an attempt to fill that need.

The good news? The research suggests that even small increases in the percent of your diet that is made up of protein may help prevent menopause weight gain.

Menopause Weight Gain 

Protein remains just as important once you reach menopause. 

During this time, hormone changes can increase your appetite, slow your metabolism, and cause a shift in body fat distribution from your thighs and butt toward your midsection. You might also lose muscle.

Protein can help keep your appetite in check, promote fat loss, and help you hold onto muscle. Post-menopausal women are at risk of further muscle and bone loss, and protein can help offset that decline.

Check out our guide to menopause weight gain to learn more about why it happens, and see our article on how to lose weight during menopause for tips on what to do about it.

The Hers Holistic Approach to Weight Loss

Hers offers access to prescription weight loss medication, but our programs focus on whole-body health. We believe protein is a core pillar of healthy weight loss. When your appetite is suppressed on medication, what you eat matters even more than usual. And when you lose weight quickly, you risk losing muscle alongside fat.

To help, our weight loss plans prioritize protein so you can target fat loss while holding onto muscle. To help you eat more protein, Weight Loss by Hers offers: 

• A personalized protein-intake recommendation based on your age, body composition, health concerns, and weight loss goals

• Over 100 nutritionist-developed recipes that are quick, easy, and protein-packed

• A seven-day, doctor-approved meal plan

• An in-app protein tracker to make hitting your intake goal a habit

• Nutrition advice based on your eating profile (to help you break patterns and build a better relationship with food)

You can also purchase meal-replacement bars and shakes through Hers. They’re high in protein and essential vitamins and minerals, and they’re recommended by doctors for people on weight loss medication. These protein bars and shakes are an easy way to fit more protein into your diet, whether you’re on the go or just too tired to cook.

Nutrition is one pillar of our holistic weight loss plan, which also includes:

• Weight loss medication. Target underlying factors affecting weight — like appetite and cravings — with a personalized dosage plan to suit your body and ongoing access to healthcare providers.

• Behavior change tools. Follow psychologist-developed cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) lessons and sleep programs to build healthy habits for long-term weight loss.

• Movement guidance. Get gentle beginner-friendly tutorials, guided yoga flows, and tips from a licensed personal trainer.

To learn more about our holistic approach to weight loss, start an online assessment to connect with a provider.

How Much Protein Should I Eat to Lose Weight?

There’s no hard-and-fast rule for how much protein to eat to lose weight.

According to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA), women should eat 46 grams of protein a day. But that’s the minimum you should aim for to avoid losing lean muscle mass. If you’re looking for protein to supplement your weight loss goals, you’ll need to consume more than this.

To give you an idea, a high-protein diet is usually defined as getting 1 to 1.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. And more may be better. 

Doctor Craig Primack, a physician specializing in obesity medicine and the SVP of weight loss at Hims & Hers, recommends aiming for 100 grams of protein.

“I tell my patients, as they cut back on the amount of food they eat, it's so important to prioritize protein so that if they just aren't hungry, they at least get their protein in,” says Dr. Primack. 

“Protein is, for sure, the most important macronutrient for health.“

Can You Eat Too Much Protein?

Yes, you can eat too much protein, say, if you’re knocking back protein shakes and adding scoops upon scoops of protein powder to every meal. This can lead to digestive issues or to exceeding your calorie deficit if you’re trying to lose weight.

But realistically, you probably won’t eat too much protein, especially if you have a reduced appetite while on weight loss medication. In fact, you might find the opposite — that you’re not getting enough dietary protein because you’re not as hungry.

One common concern is that eating too much protein can cause weight gain. But as we’ve hopefully demonstrated, a high protein intake can actually help with weight loss and weight maintenance.

Having said that, if you’re adding tons of extra protein to your diet and not making other changes — like swapping other foods for protein and getting more physical activity — you may experience weight gain over time. This might happen if you’re using protein supplements, like powders, that are easy to add to foods and can contain a lot of added sugars.

Our guide to protein powder weight gain has more insight.

Protein-to-Calorie Ratio

There are no set guidelines for a protein-to-calorie ratio. But a high-protein diet is often defined as getting 30 percent of your daily calories from protein.

So, if you’re eating 2,000 calories a day, you’d aim to get 600 calories from protein..

Our calorie deficit calculator can help you estimate how many calories to consume to reach your weight loss goals.

Protein and Low-Carb Diets 

We can’t talk about protein without mentioning carbohydrates. Carbs are another macronutrient that make up a big chunk of people’s diets. 

Though overeating some types of carbs — like simple carbs — can lead to weight gain, that doesn’t mean you need to quit carbs completely.

In fact, aggressively avoiding carbs or following a keto or no-carb diet isn’t always sustainable. It can lead to overeating if you’re not getting enough fuel from nutrient-dense foods, and cutting out entire food groups isn’t recommended.

Carbs are needed as an energy source, and they’re part of a balanced diet. What’s more, complex carbs — like oats, brown rice, and legumes — provide fiber and help you feel full and satisfied.

Are carbs bad for weight loss? Our guide goes into more detail and covers the keto, paleo, and Atkins diets, which contain different levels of carbs.

Healthy Snacks for Weight Loss

One way to eat more protein is to go for high-protein snacks. You’ve got a lot of options here.

High-protein snacks include:

• Greek yogurt

• Nuts and seeds

• Hard-boiled eggs

• Edamame

• Protein bars and shakes

• Beef jerky

We rounded up our favorite healthy snacks for weight loss if you need more ideas.

High-Protein Recipes for Weight Loss

To hit your protein and wellness goals, find high-protein recipes for weight loss that you enjoy making (and eating!).

Here are a handful of ideas to get you started:

• Healthy chicken salad

• Caprese egg bites

• Coffee protein shake

• Air-fryer salmon bites 

• Egg white bites

• Sheet-pan chicken

These recipes deliver all nine of the essential amino acids (the “building blocks of protein” that your body can’t make on its own).

Vegetarian, vegan, or just trying to cut down on meat? Don’t worry — there are plenty of non-meat protein sources, including tofu, tempeh, chickpeas, and cottage cheese.

BTW, we’ve got over 100 easy-to-follow recipes on the Hers app to keep your cooking game strong.

Strength Training for Women

Strength training includes exercises that can help with muscle gain and maintaining lean muscle mass. That includes:

• Bodyweight exercises

• Using dumbbells or resistance bands

• Using resistance machines at the gym

• Weightlifting

As you’re losing body fat, you might lose some muscle, too. Strength training — along with upping your protein — helps minimize this.

Strength training isn’t just for bodybuilders. There are tons of benefits of strength training for women. Beyond weight loss, it can help increase muscle strength and bone density, improve insulin sensitivity, and even reduce cholesterol.

If you’re adding strength training to your workout routine, eating enough protein is even more vital to help your muscles repair and grow.

New to all this? Check out our guide on how to start working out.

How to Get 100 Grams of Protein a Day

Here’s what you can do to hit your daily protein intake:

• Add a fist-sized portion of protein to every meal

• Incorporate high-protein snacks throughout the day

• Add meal-replacement bars and shakes for busy days

• Keep high-protein snacks available, like boiled eggs, string cheese, meat jerky, or canned tuna

Curious about medical weight loss? Take our free online weight loss assessment. A licensed healthcare provider will go over your answers and recommend the best treatment plan based on your current weight, BMI (body mass index), health status, and fitness goals.