How much protein per day

Pick the number

80 kg and lifting? 130-175 g is the useful band. Very lean and in a hard cut? Stay toward the top. A lot of body fat? You can use a leaner estimate so you are not forcing 220 g of chicken.

Hit it without being a martyr

A protein food at each meal. One dairy or shake. That is most people’s gap closed. If you want the portions written, take the quiz and use the meal plan in the blueprint.

Hit it with meals you already eat

Eggs or yoghurt at breakfast, a proper lunch, a dinner with a palm or two of protein. That gets most people to the range without a chicken-and-misery identity. Powder is the patch, not the personality.

The quiz will print a number for your size. The meal plan will place it. You do not need a debate club about 1.6 vs 2.2 if you are currently eating 70 grams and hoping for abs.

Lean mass, not a fantasy body weight

Set protein off the body you have, or off a leaner estimate if a large share of your weight is fat. An 80 kg lifter often sits at 130-175 g. A 60 kg lifter often sits at 100-130 g. Forcing 220 g because a forum said 1 g per lb is how dinner becomes a chicken contest you abandon.

Very lean and in a hard cut? Stay toward the top of 1.6-2.2 g per kg. New to lifting and carrying more fat? The middle of the range is enough. You do not earn extra fat loss by choking down a fifth yogurt you hate.

If you do not know lean mass, do not invent it. Use total body weight and sit in the middle of 1.6-2.2 g per kg, or drop 10% if you have a lot of fat to lose and the grams look cartoonish. Recalculate when you have lost a chunk like 5-8 kg, not every time the scale blinks.

Distribution beats one heroic steak

25-50 g at each meal, three to five times, is easier than 80 g at 9pm. Muscle protein synthesis likes a repeated signal. Your gut likes it too. Breakfast is the meal most people skip and then wonder why the daily number looks impossible.

Eggs, yogurt, or a shake in the morning closes the gap. Lunch needs a palm or two of protein you can see. Dinner finishes the day. That pattern hits the target without a blender personality.

Set a floor of 25 g at breakfast for 14 days and watch the evening. Most people who cannot hit protein are eating 8 g before 4pm. A work yogurt pot is not glamorous. It is how the steak at dinner becomes a normal portion instead of a dare. If you lift at lunch, put 30-40 g in that meal so the session is not running on toast.

Plant-heavy days still need a number

Tofu, tempeh, seitan, lentils, beans, and a plant powder can hit the same grams. Portions are larger and carbs come along for the ride. That is fine. Count the protein, not the ideology. Combining legumes and grains is a completeness habit, not a fat-loss trick.

If you eat mixed meals with dairy or eggs, the maths is easier. If you do not, weigh the tofu and use powder when a workday would otherwise land at 70 g. The target does not vanish because the protein is beige.

Read labels on tofu and tempeh once. Some packs are 12 g per 100 g, some are 17. Your big portion might still be 20 g short. Lentil pasta helps if you like it, but it is still mostly carb, so do not count it like chicken. A scoop of powder on plant-heavy days is ordinary logistics, not a failure to be pure.

Kidneys, myths, and who actually needs a doctor

For healthy kidneys, intakes in the 1.6-2.2 g per kg band are well studied in people who lift. That is not a licence to ignore medical history. Kidney disease, certain prescriptions, and clinician advice sit above a blog. This is education, not a diagnosis.

The myth to drop is that protein is dangerous, so 50 g will do in a deficit. The myth on the other side is that 300 g is required or nothing grows. Sit in the middle. Hit it with food you like.

Drink water because you are a person who eats, not because protein is a toxin. High protein plus a deep deficit plus no vegetables is a miserable week, not a kidney test. If you have swelling, a known kidney issue, or a clinician already limited your protein, you follow that. Everyone else can stop using internet kidney fear as an excuse to eat 60 g in a cut.

FAQ

Is 1 g per lb required?

It is a simple rule that overshoots for some people. 1.6-2.2 g/kg covers the research without turning dinner into a contest.

When should I drink the shake?

Whenever you would otherwise miss the number. Timing is a small detail.

Should I eat more protein on rest days?

Keep it about the same. Rest days are when you still want the muscle you already have. You can pull carbs down. Do not pull protein to make the day look light.

Is collagen a useful way to hit my protein number?

Collagen is not a complete muscle-building protein in the way whey, eggs, meat, dairy, or soy are. Use it for joints if you like. Do not count it as the day's main protein strategy.

What if protein food kills my appetite?

Spread it out and use easier textures: yogurt, mince, fish, a shake. Very dry chicken breast three times a day is a compliance problem. Palatable protein still counts.