Your daily protein target depends on your body weight, activity level, and goals. The simplest formula: multiply your weight in pounds by a factor between 0.36 and 0.73, depending on how active you are. For a 160-pound person, that works out to somewhere between 58 and 117 grams per day. Below is everything you need to calculate your own number.
The Basic Formula
Every protein calculation starts with the same structure: your body weight multiplied by a protein factor. The official Recommended Dietary Allowance is 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight, or 0.36 grams per pound. That’s the minimum to prevent deficiency in a generally healthy, sedentary adult. For a 150-pound person, that’s about 54 grams. For a 200-pound person, 72 grams.
To do the math yourself:
- In pounds: Your weight × protein factor (in g/lb) = daily grams of protein
- In kilograms: Your weight × protein factor (in g/kg) = daily grams of protein
If you know your weight in pounds and want to use the kilogram-based ranges below, divide your weight by 2.2 first. A 180-pound person is about 82 kilograms.
Protein Factors by Activity Level and Goal
The 0.8 g/kg baseline is a floor, not a target. The 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans now suggest that most adults aim for 1.2 to 1.6 grams per kilogram daily, which is meaningfully higher than the old RDA. Here’s how the ranges break down:
- Sedentary adults: 0.8 g/kg (0.36 g/lb). This covers basic bodily functions but leaves little margin for muscle maintenance.
- Recreationally active adults: 1.1–1.5 g/kg (0.50–0.68 g/lb). If you walk regularly, do yoga, or play sports casually, this range fits.
- Strength training or endurance sports: 1.2–1.7 g/kg (0.55–0.77 g/lb). This covers people who lift weights consistently or train for running and cycling events.
- Fat loss while preserving muscle: 1.6–2.4 g/kg (0.73–1.09 g/lb). When you’re eating fewer calories than you burn, your body is more likely to break down muscle for energy. Higher protein intake counteracts that. Research suggests going above 2.4 g/kg during a calorie deficit offers no additional muscle-sparing benefit.
Quick Reference Examples
Here’s what these ranges look like for three common body weights:
- 140 lbs (64 kg): Sedentary: 51 g. Active: 70–96 g. Strength training: 77–109 g. Fat loss: 102–154 g.
- 170 lbs (77 kg): Sedentary: 62 g. Active: 85–116 g. Strength training: 92–131 g. Fat loss: 123–185 g.
- 200 lbs (91 kg): Sedentary: 73 g. Active: 100–137 g. Strength training: 109–155 g. Fat loss: 146–218 g.
Total Body Weight vs. Lean Body Mass
Most guidelines use total body weight for the calculation, and that works well for people at a moderate body fat percentage. But if you carry a significant amount of body fat, total weight can overestimate your needs because fat tissue doesn’t use protein the way muscle does. In that case, calculating based on lean body mass gives a more accurate number.
Lean body mass is everything in your body that isn’t fat: muscle, bone, organs, water. You can estimate it with a body composition scan, a smart scale (less accurate), or online calculators that use your height, weight, and waist measurement. For athletes maintaining their weight, research suggests 1.6 to 2.2 grams of protein per kilogram of lean mass. For athletes cutting calories to lose fat, the recommendation rises to 2.3 to 3.1 grams per kilogram of lean mass.
If you don’t know your lean body mass and don’t want to estimate it, using your goal weight instead of your current weight is a reasonable shortcut when you’re significantly overweight.
Adjustments for Age
Muscle loss accelerates after age 50 and picks up speed around 65. Your body becomes less efficient at turning dietary protein into new muscle tissue, a phenomenon researchers call anabolic resistance. The practical result: older adults need more protein per meal to trigger the same muscle-building response a younger person gets.
While the official RDA stays at 0.8 g/kg regardless of age, most sports nutrition and geriatric researchers consider that too low for people over 60. Aiming for 1.0 to 1.2 g/kg is a more commonly cited target for older adults who want to maintain strength and independence. Pairing that intake with some form of resistance exercise, even bodyweight exercises, makes the protein significantly more effective at preserving muscle.
Adjustments for Pregnancy
Before conception, the standard 0.8 g/kg recommendation applies, with a floor of 40 grams per day. During pregnancy, the minimum rises to 60 grams daily, which typically accounts for 20 to 25 percent of total calories. That increase supports fetal tissue growth, expanded blood volume, and changes in breast and uterine tissue. Most pregnant women don’t need to obsess over exact grams if they’re consistently including a protein source at each meal and snack.
How Much Is Too Much?
For people with healthy kidneys, higher protein intake is generally safe. Your kidneys filter the nitrogen waste that protein metabolism produces, and they handle moderate increases without trouble. Problems can arise at extreme levels. Intakes above roughly 0.9 grams per pound of body weight (about 150 grams for a 165-pound person) can cause dehydration and may stress the kidneys over time.
Animal proteins tend to produce more acid byproducts than plant proteins, which adds to the kidney workload. If you’re eating a very high protein diet, mixing in plant-based sources like lentils, beans, tofu, and quinoa can ease that burden. People with existing kidney conditions, including a history of kidney stones, should be especially cautious about large protein increases.
The World Health Organization frames adequate protein as 10 to 15 percent of total daily calories for most adults, roughly 50 to 75 grams on a 2,000-calorie diet. That range works as a sanity check. If your calculated target falls well above 35 percent of your calories, you’re likely in extreme territory that most people don’t need.
Spreading Protein Throughout the Day
Your body can only use so much protein at once for muscle building. Eating 130 grams at dinner and 10 grams the rest of the day is less effective than splitting intake relatively evenly across three or four meals. Aiming for 25 to 40 grams per meal is a practical target for most active adults. A chicken breast has about 30 grams, a cup of Greek yogurt around 15 to 20, three eggs about 18, and a cup of cooked lentils roughly 18.
If your daily target is high enough that fitting it into three meals feels difficult, a protein-rich snack between meals or a shake after training helps fill the gap without requiring enormous portions at the table.