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If you have ever wondered how much protein you actually need, the honest answer is that it depends on your body weight. Protein needs are not one fixed number — they are calculated from how much you weigh and how active you are. The formula is simple: multiply your weight in kilograms by a grams-per-kilogram factor that matches your lifestyle. This guide gives you the formula, the factor to use, and worked examples for the most common body weights, so you can find your daily target in under a minute.
The protein formula
Every protein recommendation starts from the same formula:
Daily protein (grams) = body weight in kg × grams per kg
If you weigh yourself in pounds, divide by 2.2 first to get kilograms. A 150 lb person weighs about 68 kg (150 ÷ 2.2). In pounds, the same ranges work out to roughly 0.36 to 0.9 grams of protein per pound of body weight. The only decision left is which factor to use — and that depends on what your body does all day.
How much protein per kg do you need?
The official Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) from the US National Academies is 0.8 grams per kg per day. That is the minimum an average healthy adult needs to avoid deficiency — for a 70 kg adult, just 56 grams a day. But it is a floor, not a target: it was set to prevent muscle loss, not to support training, weight loss or healthy ageing. Here are the ranges most nutrition and sports-medicine bodies actually recommend:
Sedentary adults: 0.8–1.0 g/kg per day. Lightly active (walking, a casual gym session or two): 1.0–1.2 g/kg. Regular exercise (running, gym 3–4 times a week): 1.2–1.6 g/kg. Building muscle (serious strength training): 1.6–2.2 g/kg — a 2018 meta-analysis of 49 trials found muscle gains level off at about 1.6 g/kg, so more than that rarely adds anything. Losing weight while keeping muscle: 1.2–1.6 g/kg, because protein protects lean tissue in a calorie deficit. Adults over 65: 1.0–1.2 g/kg at least, since the body’s response to protein weakens with age.
Worked examples
Take a 70 kg office worker who barely exercises: 70 × 0.8 = 56 grams a day — the RDA minimum. The same 70 kg person training at the gym four times a week at 1.6 g/kg needs 70 × 1.6 = 112 grams a day. An 85 kg lifter building muscle at 2.0 g/kg needs 85 × 2.0 = 170 grams a day. A 60 kg woman losing weight at 1.4 g/kg needs 60 × 1.4 = 84 grams a day. Notice how the same body weight gives very different answers: the factor matters more than the scale. Once you have your protein target, use our free Calorie Calculator to set your total daily calories around it.
How much protein per meal?
Your body uses protein best when it is spread across the day. Research points to about 0.4 grams per kg per meal — roughly 25–40 grams for most adults — across three or four meals, rather than eating almost nothing all day and then a huge protein-heavy dinner. For our 70 kg gym-goer on 112 grams a day, that means about 28 grams at each of four meals: for example, eggs at breakfast, chicken at lunch, Greek yogurt as a snack, and fish or lentils at dinner.
What if you carry extra weight?
If you carry significant excess weight, calculating from your total body weight can overshoot, because fat tissue needs far less protein than muscle does. A 100 kg person aiming for a healthy weight of 80 kg should calculate from 80 kg, not 100 kg — at 1.2 g/kg that is 96 grams a day instead of 120. Use your target weight, or your lean body mass if you know it, as the starting point. Our Body Fat Calculator can help you estimate lean mass.
Is eating more protein safe?
For healthy adults, yes. Controlled studies running protein intakes well above 2 g/kg for months have shown no harm to kidney function, liver health or bone health in people with healthy kidneys. High-protein diets are also not linked to weaker bones — the opposite is often true, since protein supports bone density. The one real exception is kidney disease: if you have reduced kidney function, extra protein can add strain, so check with your doctor before raising your intake. For everyone else, the practical ceiling is appetite and cost, not safety.
Protein in everyday foods
Hitting 100-plus grams sounds like a lot until you see the numbers. One large egg has about 6 grams of protein, 100 grams of chicken breast about 31 grams, 100 grams of Greek yogurt about 10 grams, 100 grams of cooked lentils about 9 grams, and a 250 ml glass of milk about 8 grams. A day that reaches 112 grams could be as simple as two eggs at breakfast (12 g), a chicken sandwich at lunch (35 g), a yogurt snack (15 g) and a lentil-and-chicken dinner (50 g). You do not need protein shakes to reach these targets — ordinary food gets you there.