Find your ideal daily protein in grams — for general health, building muscle, fat loss, or preserving muscle on a GLP-1 like Ozempic or Zepbound. ⚕️ Evidence-based
Daily grams • By goal
⚕️ General guidance, not medical advice. People with kidney disease should consult a doctor before raising protein.
Protein needs scale with body weight and goal. The bare-minimum RDA is 0.8 g per kg, but active people, those building muscle, anyone in a calorie deficit, and especially people on GLP-1 medications benefit from much more — roughly 1.6–2.4 g/kg (about 0.7–1.1 g per pound).
Why higher on a GLP-1? These drugs suppress appetite, so total intake drops — and without enough protein, a large share of weight lost can be muscle. Prioritizing protein and resistance training preserves lean mass and keeps metabolism up. Spreading protein across 3–5 meals (20–40 g each) maximizes muscle protein synthesis. General guidance, not medical advice.
Protein requirements scale with body mass and, more sharply, with goal. The US RDA of 0.8 g per kilogram is a floor set to prevent deficiency in sedentary adults, not a target for anyone training. Resistance-trained athletes need roughly double that, and the requirement rises further during a calorie deficit, when adequate protein is what preserves lean mass while fat is lost. Above about 2.2 g/kg the evidence for additional benefit thins out considerably. Distribution matters too: muscle protein synthesis responds to per-meal doses of roughly 0.4 g/kg, so spreading intake across three or four meals outperforms one large serving.
Protein (g) = body weight (kg) × factorSedentary 0.8 · Active 1.2–1.4 · Strength training 1.6–2.2 · Cutting 2.0–2.4Per meal ≈ 0.4 g/kg for maximal synthesiswhere:
Assumptions: Guidance for healthy adults. Chronic kidney disease requires medically supervised protein restriction. Figures are total daily protein from all sources, not supplements alone.
Compare the sedentary floor with a strength-training target, then split it across the day.
Result164 g a day while cutting — about 41 g across each of four meals
That is two and a half times the RDA, which is the point: the RDA answers "what prevents deficiency", not "what supports training in a deficit". At maintenance rather than cutting, 131 g would be sufficient.