how many grams of protein should i have

Most adults land in a range for daily protein rather than one perfect number, and it depends on your weight, goals, and activity level.

Quick Scoop

For healthy adults, common evidence-based ranges look like this:

• General health, not very active: about 0.8 g of protein per kg of body weight per day.
• Active / trying to maintain or slightly build muscle: about 1.0–1.3 g/kg.
• Very active / heavy training, or focused on muscle gain: about 1.3–1.6 g/kg.
• Weight loss with strength training: often around 1.2–1.6 g/kg to help protect muscle.

For a simple example:

• If you weigh 70 kg (about 154 lb):
  • General health: roughly 56 g/day.
  • Muscle gain / hard training: roughly 90–110 g/day.

Many public health guidelines also describe protein as 10–35% of your daily calories , which, on a 2,000‑calorie diet, works out to roughly 50–175 g per day , with most average adults falling near the lower end if they’re not very active.

How to pick your number

If you tell me:

• Your body weight
• Your typical activity level (mostly sitting, light exercise, heavy lifting/athletics)
• Your main goal (lose fat, maintain, build muscle)

I can give you a tailored grams-per-day target and a rough grams-per- meal breakdown within these safe ranges.