How many calories should a meal be?
Split your day over your meals and give it a quarter either way. That's the window for each plate, with its protein and fiber.
500to830calories a plate
- Middle
- 670 cal
- Protein
- 30 to 40 g
- Fiber
- 9 g or more
- Vegetables and fruit
- 1¾ cups
- Calories: 2,000 a day over 3 meals is 670 a plate. Give or take a quarter is 500 to 830.
- Protein: the typical range is 1.2 to 1.6 g per kilogram of body weight a day, 95 to 125 g for you. Over 3 meals that's 30 to 40 g a plate. The Gyroscope app personalizes yours.
- Fiber: 14 g for every 1,000 calories. A 670 calorie plate needs about 9 g.
- Vegetables and fruit: the guidelines set 5 servings a day at 2,000 calories (3 of vegetables, 2 of fruit). Over 3 meals that's about 1¾ cups a plate.
What your plate size means and what to do next
The window is where one plate should land on most days. A plate under it is fine now and then, and you'll be hungry sooner. A plate over it uses up part of the rest of your day. The protein number is the one to hit at every meal, breakfast included, and the fiber number tells you how many vegetables, beans or whole grains the plate needs.
Next, put your usual dinner into the meal checker and tap Make it yours, so it grades the plate against these numbers. If you don't know your calories a day, tdee.guide works it out.
The plate window, by day and meals
Each cell is the calorie window for one plate: the day over the meals, give or take a quarter.
| Calories a day | 2 meals | 3 meals | 4 meals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1,600 | 600 to 1,000 | 400 to 670 | 300 to 500 |
| 2,000 | 750 to 1,250 | 500 to 830 | 380 to 630 |
| 2,400 | 900 to 1,500 | 600 to 1,000 | 450 to 750 |
| 2,800 | 1,050 to 1,750 | 700 to 1,170 | 530 to 880 |
Protein on each plate
The 2025 to 2030 US guidelines set 1.2 to 1.6 g of protein per kilogram of body weight a day and say to put protein at every meal. Split over three meals:
| Weight | A day | Each of 3 plates |
|---|---|---|
| 130 lb | 70 to 95 g | 25 to 30 g |
| 170 lb | 95 to 125 g | 30 to 40 g |
| 210 lb | 115 to 150 g | 40 to 50 g |
These are typical ranges, to see whether you're low (many people are). The Gyroscope app personalizes yours. For muscle, a 2018 review by Schoenfeld and Aragon put the useful amount at about 0.4 g per kg at each of four meals.
Fiber and plants
Fiber is 14 g for every 1,000 calories, the standard the US guidelines use, so a 650 calorie plate needs about 9 g. The 2025 to 2030 guidelines set 3 servings of vegetables and 2 of fruit a day at 2,000 calories (a serving is a cup, or 2 cups of leafy greens), which is about 1¾ cups a plate over three meals.
4 sources
- US Department of Agriculture and US Department of Health and Human Services. Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2025 to 2030. January 2026cdn.realfood.gov
- Daily Servings by Calorie Level, Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2025 to 2030cdn.realfood.gov
- Institute of Medicine. Dietary Reference Intakes for Energy, Carbohydrate, Fiber, Fat, Fatty Acids, Cholesterol, Protein, and Amino Acids. National Academies Press, 2005doi.org
- Schoenfeld BJ, Aragon AA. How much protein can the body use in a single meal for muscle-building? Implications for daily protein distribution. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 2018pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
