How Much Protein Do You Really Need?
One of the biggest misconceptions in the industry right now is that you need to eat your goal body weight in grams of protein. So if your goal is 150 lb, you should eat 150 grams of protein.
This sounds simple, but is NOT how protein needs are calculated.
Protein recommendations are based on your body weight in kilograms, not pounds.
For example:
If your goal weight is 150 lb, you first convert to kilograms:
150 ÷ 2.2 = 68.2 kg
From there, your protein needs depend on your activity level and goals:
To maintain body weight: The minimum protein intake is about 0.8 × body weight (kg)
For general health or light activity: 1.2–1.6 × body weight (kg)
For more intense training or muscle building: 1.6–2.2 × body weight (kg)
So if you were aiming for 150 lb (68.2 kg) and eating at the higher end for intense training, you’d be around:
68.2 × 2.2 = ~150 g of protein
That’s the upper end, and it’s appropriate for people training hard. Most people don’t need to be there every day. Research on muscle building shows most of the benefit leveling off around 1.6g/kg, even with hard training. Going up to 2.0 or 2.2 isn’t necessary for most people, even if you are trying to lose fat.
Also, that intake needs to be balanced with enough carbs and fats. Protein isn’t the only thing your body needs to function well.
150 g protein × 4 calories = 600 calories from protein alone
That’s a significant portion of your intake, which is why over-prioritizing protein can sometimes crowd out other important nutrients like fiber, healthy fats, and carbohydrates that support energy, digestion, and overall health.
At the same time, a lot of people aren’t getting enough protein. So it can still be helpful to have a general target, just not an extreme one.
The goal is to get enough protein to support muscle, recovery, and metabolism while also making room for fruits, vegetables, and especially fiber. This balance matters for energy too, which you can learn about in my post about blood sugar: Your First Bite Matters More Than You Think
Let me know how much protein you’re eating in a day, whether you track, or what your go-to sources are!
Some of my favorites are eggs or egg whites, yogurt, turkey sausage, salmon, chicken thighs, and steak. I’ve also been trying to include more non-animal sources like black beans, chickpeas, cannellini beans, and tofu. Once you learn how to prepare it, it’s actually really good. My current favorite is Ilana Muhlstein's Sticky Tofu & Cabbage recipe.
References
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Dietary Reference Intakes for Energy, Carbohydrate, Fiber, Fat, Fatty Acids, Cholesterol, Protein, and Amino Acids.
https://www.nationalacademies.org/projects/HMD-FNB-18-P-119/publication/10490
Jäger, R., Kerksick, C. M., Campbell, B. I., et al. (2017). International Society of Sports Nutrition Position Stand: protein and exercise.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12970-017-0177-8
Morton, R. W., Murphy, K. T., McKellar, S. R., et al. (2018). A systematic review, meta-analysis and meta-regression of the effect of protein supplementation on resistance training-induced gains in muscle mass and strength in healthy adults.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28698222/