How much protein do you need a day?
The recommended dietary allowance for adults is 0.36 grams of protein per pound of body weight a day. That's a minimum to avoid running short, not a target for every goal. If you're losing weight or building muscle, the research points higher.
| Goal | Per pound | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Lose weight | 0.54–0.73 g | 80–95 g |
| Maintain | 0.36–0.54 g | 55–70 g |
| Build muscle | 0.73–0.91 g | 110–120 g |
Grams of protein a day. The example is a lightly active woman who is 5 ft 5 in with a goal weight of 145 lb, rounded to the nearest 5 grams.
How to calculate your protein intake
Multiply your goal weight in pounds by the range for your goal. Studies state these ranges per kilogram (1.2 to 1.6 grams for weight loss); the table above is the same ranges per pound.
Daily protein (g) = goal weight (lb) × grams per pound for your goal
The calculator then does three more things:
- Your activity level sets where you land in the range: the lower half if you're sedentary, the upper half if you're extra active, and the levels in between step evenly. That's this calculator's rule; the studies give one range per goal.
- Your sex sets the floor. The recommended dietary allowance works out to 46 grams a day for a woman of average size and 56 for a man, and the range never starts lower.
- Your height caps the weight. Protein needs follow muscle, not body fat, so a weight above the healthy range for your height counts as the top of that range.
A worked example
A lightly active woman who is 5 ft 5 in with a goal weight of 145 lb lands at about 0.567 to 0.658 grams per pound: 145 × 0.567 = 82 and 145 × 0.658 = 95, rounded to the nearest 5: 80 to 95 grams a day.
With a goal weight of 130 lb at 5 ft 4 in and the same activity level, it's about 75 to 85 grams a day.
How much protein do you need to lose weight?
About 0.54 to 0.73 grams per pound a day; this calculator goes higher in that range the more active you are. That's more than the everyday minimum, for two reasons.
- It helps protect muscle. In a calorie deficit your body draws on its own stores, and some of what you lose is lean mass. Enough protein, along with strength training, helps tip the balance toward losing fat.
- It's filling. Protein tends to keep you full longer than the same calories from carbohydrates or fat, which makes a deficit easier to keep.
Protein works alongside your calories, not instead of them. To find how many calories to eat, use the calorie deficit calculator.
How much protein on a GLP-1: semaglutide and tirzepatide
The target on a GLP-1 is the weight-loss range: about 0.5 to 0.7 grams per pound a day. A 2025 advisory from four U.S. nutrition and obesity medicine organizations cites that range for people losing weight on these medications, and offers a flat 80 to 120 grams a day as a simpler target.
It doesn't depend on which medication you take. That holds for semaglutide and tirzepatide alike, including the FDA-approved brands (Ozempic® and Wegovy® for semaglutide, Mounjaro® and Zepbound® for tirzepatide). What a GLP-1 changes is how hungry you feel, which makes the target harder to reach, not different.
A few habits help when your appetite is low:
- Eat the protein first. Start each meal with the protein on your plate, before you fill up.
- Go smaller and more often. If a full plate is too much, 15 to 20 grams at a time, four or five times a day, still adds up.
- Count the easy ones. Yogurt, milk, eggs, cottage cheese and protein shakes take little appetite.
- Add strength training. Protein and resistance exercise work together. Here's a beginner's plan for weight lifting on a GLP-1.
Medication is prescribed by a licensed clinician, who is the right person to ask if you're struggling to eat enough.
Protein by goal weight: chart for weight loss
How much protein do you need if your goal is 150, 180 or 200 pounds? It depends on your height too. This chart shows the daily weight-loss range for a lightly active person at common goal weights and heights, calculated with the same function as the tool above.
| Goal weight | 5 ft 0 in | 5 ft 4 in | 5 ft 8 in | 6 ft 0 in |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 140 lb | 70–85 g | 80–90 g | 80–90 g | 80–90 g |
| 150 lb | 70–85 g | 80–95 g | 85–100 g | 85–100 g |
| 160 lb | 70–85 g | 80–95 g | 90–105 g | 90–105 g |
| 180 lb | 70–85 g | 80–95 g | 95–110 g | 100–120 g |
| 200 lb | 70–85 g | 80–95 g | 95–110 g | 105–120 g |
| 225 lb | 70–85 g | 80–95 g | 95–110 g | 105–120 g |
| 250 lb | 70–85 g | 80–95 g | 95–110 g | 105–120 g |
Grams of protein a day for weight loss, lightly active, rounded to the nearest 5. Once a goal weight is above the healthy range for the height, the range stops rising.
How much protein per meal?
The calculator splits your daily range over three meals. For the example above, that's about 27 to 32 grams at each meal.
Spreading protein through the day, instead of saving most of it for dinner, is the usual advice for keeping muscle. Research on weight loss and on muscle suggests about 25 to 30 grams at a meal is a practical target for most adults.
You don't have to hit the same number every time. If breakfast is small, make it up at lunch or with a snack. What counts is the daily total.
Goal weight, current weight or lean body mass?
It's the question that makes protein calculators disagree. Experts haven't settled on one answer for people with a lot of weight to lose, and each choice has a cost:
- Your full current weight can overshoot. For a woman who is 5 ft 5 in and weighs 200 lb, it gives 115–130 grams a day for weight loss, which is hard to eat, and harder on a GLP-1.
- A goal weight follows the body you're aiming for, as long as the goal is realistic.
- Lean body mass is the most precise, but few people know theirs.
This calculator uses your goal weight when you're losing weight or building muscle, and your weight now when you're maintaining. Either way it never counts more than the top of the healthy range for your height: a 200 lb goal at 5 ft 5 in counts as 149 lb, which gives 85–100 grams a day. The BMI calculator shows the healthy range for your height.
You may have heard "1 gram of protein per pound of body weight". That's above the top of the range studies support for most people, which is about 0.9 grams per pound. At 200 lb it would mean 200 grams a day.
How to hit your protein goal when you're not hungry
Build each meal around one protein food, then add the rest. These common foods make it easier:
| Food | Protein (about) |
|---|---|
| Chicken breast, cooked, 3 oz | 26 g |
| Plain nonfat Greek yogurt, 1 cup | 23 g |
| Salmon, cooked, 3 oz | 22 g |
| Firm tofu, ½ cup | 20 g |
| Lentils, cooked, 1 cup | 18 g |
| Low-fat cottage cheese, ½ cup | 12 g |
| Eggs, 2 large | 12 g |
Approximate values from the USDA FoodData Central database. Check labels for packaged foods.
A protein shake can fill a gap on days when solid food is hard. For more ideas, see our guides to protein on GLP-1s and easy ways to hit it and the best foods to eat on semaglutide.
Protein for women, men and older adults
The calculator asks for your sex for one reason: the floor. The recommended dietary allowance works out to 46 grams of protein a day for a woman of average size and 56 for a man, so your range never starts below that. Above the floor, the ranges are per pound and apply to women and men alike. Women's totals usually come out lower because women are, on average, shorter and lighter.
Age matters a little more. Muscle gets harder to keep as we get older, and an expert group on protein in older adults recommends at least 0.45 to 0.54 grams per pound a day for people over 65. If you're over 65 and maintaining your weight, aim for at least 0.45 grams per pound a day, whatever your activity level.
Sources
8 references
- Institute of Medicine. Dietary Reference Intakes for Energy, Carbohydrate, Fiber, Fat, Fatty Acids, Cholesterol, Protein, and Amino Acids. 2005.
- Leidy HJ, et al. The role of protein in weight loss and maintenance. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2015;101:1320S–1329S.
- Mozaffarian D, et al. Nutritional priorities to support GLP-1 therapy for obesity: a joint advisory from the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, the American Society for Nutrition, the Obesity Medicine Association, and The Obesity Society. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2025;122:344–367.
- Jäger R, et al. International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: protein and exercise. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition. 2017;14:20.
- Morton RW, et al. 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. British Journal of Sports Medicine. 2018;52:376–384.
- Bauer J, et al. Evidence-based recommendations for optimal dietary protein intake in older people: a position paper from the PROT-AGE Study Group. Journal of the American Medical Directors Association. 2013;14:542–559.
- Paddon-Jones D, Rasmussen BB. Dietary protein recommendations and the prevention of sarcopenia. Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition and Metabolic Care. 2009;12:86–90.
- U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central.
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