For a healthy but mostly sedentary adult, the baseline recommendation is 0.36 grams of protein per pound of body weight per day. That means a 160-pound person needs about 58 grams. But this number is a minimum to prevent deficiency, not an optimal target, and most people benefit from eating significantly more.
Your ideal intake depends on your goals, your activity level, and your age. Here’s how to find your number.
The Baseline: 0.36 Grams per Pound
The official Recommended Dietary Allowance for protein is 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight, which converts to 0.36 grams per pound. This figure was established to meet the minimum needs of 97.5% of the healthy adult population. It keeps you from losing muscle under normal conditions, but it wasn’t designed for people who exercise regularly, want to lose fat, or are over 65. Think of it as a floor, not a ceiling.
For Building Muscle: 0.55 to 0.77 Grams per Pound
If you lift weights or train seriously for endurance sports like running or cycling, your protein needs roughly double compared to a sedentary person. Sports nutrition guidelines recommend 1.2 to 1.7 grams per kilogram, which works out to about 0.55 to 0.77 grams per pound of body weight. For a 180-pound person, that’s roughly 99 to 139 grams per day.
Where you fall within that range depends on how hard and how often you train. Someone doing three moderate lifting sessions a week can aim for the lower end. A competitive athlete training five or six days a week with heavy volume will benefit from the higher end. Most recreational lifters do well around 0.7 grams per pound, which is easy to remember and lands in the sweet spot for muscle growth.
For Losing Fat Without Losing Muscle: 0.73 to 1.1 Grams per Pound
When you eat fewer calories than you burn, your body doesn’t just pull energy from fat. It also breaks down muscle for fuel. Eating more protein is the single most effective way to protect your muscle mass during a calorie deficit. Research on athletes cutting weight recommends 1.6 to 2.4 grams per kilogram (0.73 to 1.1 grams per pound), with some studies on resistance-trained individuals suggesting intakes as high as 1.2 grams per pound in aggressive diets.
The practical takeaway: the leaner you already are and the larger your calorie deficit, the more protein you need to hold onto muscle. Someone with 30 pounds to lose on a moderate diet can aim for 0.8 grams per pound. Someone already lean who’s trying to get very lean, like a physique competitor, should push closer to 1.0 to 1.1 grams per pound. Going above roughly 1.1 grams per pound doesn’t appear to provide additional muscle-sparing benefits.
For Adults Over 65: 0.45 to 0.55 Grams per Pound
Nearly half of all protein in the body is stored in muscle, and muscle mass naturally declines with age. This gradual loss, called sarcopenia, accelerates after 65 and increases the risk of falls, fractures, and loss of independence. To counteract this, researchers recommend older adults consume 1.0 to 1.2 grams per kilogram (0.45 to 0.55 grams per pound) daily. That’s 25 to 50% more than the standard RDA.
One exception: people with kidney disease often need to limit protein intake. If that applies to you, your intake target should come from your care team rather than general guidelines.
Quick Reference by Goal
- Sedentary adult (minimum): 0.36 g per pound
- Active adult or moderate exerciser: 0.55–0.7 g per pound
- Muscle building with regular weight training: 0.7–0.77 g per pound
- Fat loss while preserving muscle: 0.73–1.1 g per pound
- Adults over 65: 0.45–0.55 g per pound
Total Weight vs. Lean Body Mass
All of the figures above are based on total body weight, which works well for most people. But if you carry a significant amount of extra body fat (roughly a BMI of 30 or higher), calculating protein based on total weight can overshoot your actual needs. A 300-pound person at 40% body fat doesn’t have the same protein requirements as a 300-pound person at 15% body fat.
Research comparing protein calculations based on total weight versus fat-free mass found clinically meaningful differences in 78 to 100% of people with obesity. The more body fat you carry, the bigger the gap between the two calculations. For people in this category, a more accurate approach is to estimate your lean body mass (total weight minus fat weight) and apply the per-pound targets to that number instead. If you don’t know your body fat percentage, a rough method is to calculate protein based on your goal weight rather than your current weight.
How to Spread Protein Across Meals
Your body can only use so much protein at once for building and repairing muscle tissue. Research shows that roughly 30 grams of protein in a single meal is enough to maximize the muscle-building response, and eating significantly more than that in one sitting doesn’t amplify the effect further. This doesn’t mean extra protein is wasted (it still contributes to overall calorie intake and satiety), but it does mean that spreading your intake across three to four meals is more effective for muscle maintenance and growth than loading it all into one or two meals.
If your daily target is 140 grams, for example, four meals with 35 grams each will likely serve you better than two meals of 70 grams. Each meal triggers a fresh round of muscle repair. This matters most for older adults and anyone actively trying to build or preserve muscle tissue.
Putting Your Number Into Practice
To find your daily target, multiply your body weight in pounds by the number that matches your goal from the table above. A 170-pound person who lifts weights three to four times a week would multiply 170 by 0.7, landing at about 119 grams per day. Divided across four meals, that’s roughly 30 grams per meal, which is achievable with a palm-sized portion of meat, fish, or legumes at each sitting.
Protein targets don’t need to be exact every day. Hitting your number within 10 to 15 grams consistently matters more than nailing it precisely at every meal. Track loosely for a week or two to build intuition about portion sizes, and it becomes second nature without a food scale.