FFitCalc

Meal Split Calculator

Divide your daily calories across meals.

Your details

kcal
g
meals

Calories per meal

550kcal/meal

38 g protein per meal (avg)

Meals

4

Total calories

2,200kcal

Total protein

150g

Your meals

Breakfast550 kcal · 38g protein
Lunch550 kcal · 38g protein
Dinner550 kcal · 38g protein
Snack550 kcal · 38g protein

How you spread calories across the day is mostly a matter of preference and adherence. This split keeps your totals intact while giving you concrete per-meal targets to build plates around — with an option to weight larger meals toward the evening.

Recommendations

  • Aim for at least 0.4 g/kg of protein (~20–40 g) in each meal to support muscle.
  • Anchor each meal around a protein source, then fill with carbs and vegetables to taste.

Pro tips

  • Meal frequency itself doesn't 'boost metabolism' — pick the number of meals you can stick to.
  • Prepping protein in bulk makes hitting each meal's target far easier.

Once your daily calories and protein are set, the next practical question is how to split them across meals. This tool turns your totals into clear per-meal targets.

Frequency is personal

Research shows meal frequency has little independent effect on fat loss or metabolism. The best pattern is the one that keeps you full, consistent and hitting your protein at each meal.

Protein per meal

Distributing protein into 3–5 feedings of roughly 0.4 g/kg each maximises the muscle-building signal compared to bunching it into one or two meals.

Frequently asked questions

There's no magic number — 3 to 5 meals suits most people. Choose the frequency you can stay consistent with; total daily calories and protein matter far more than meal count.

Equal meals make protein distribution easy, but weighting larger meals toward times you're hungriest (often the evening) is perfectly fine as long as daily totals stay the same.

No. The thermic effect of food scales with how much you eat, not how often. Meal frequency is about convenience and appetite control, not metabolic rate.

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