How much protein
do I need?
How much protein should I eat is the question people ask straight after calories, and it has a better answer. Protein is the macronutrient worth getting right first, because it is the one doing the repairing. The good news is that the useful range is well established and wide enough that you do not need to be precise about it.
The range worth aiming for
The International Society of Sports Nutrition places the useful intake for building and maintaining muscle at roughly 1.4 to 2.0 grams per kilogram of bodyweight per day for active people. That is a range, not a target, and where you sit inside it depends on what you are doing.
- General training
- Around 1.6 to 1.8 g per kg
- Building muscle
- Toward the top, around 2.0 g per kg
- In a calorie deficit
- Keep it high, protein is what protects muscle while you lose fat
Phasebuilt uses 1.8 g per kg by default and raises it to 2.0 g per kg when your goal is building muscle.
What that looks like in grams
For an 82 kg person: about 148 g a day at 1.8 g per kg, or 164 g when building. For a 60 kg person: about 108 g, or 120 g when building. Multiply your bodyweight in kilograms by the figure, that is the whole calculation.
Spread it across the day
Reaching 150 g in one sitting is unpleasant and unnecessary. Splitting the total across three or four meals is easier to eat and easier to sustain, which matters far more over ninety days than the exact distribution.
Where it comes from
Meat, fish, eggs and dairy are the most concentrated sources. Legumes, tofu, tempeh, seitan and higher protein grains cover a vegetarian or vegan intake, though you generally need a bit more volume and more variety across the day to reach the same total. Phasebuilt builds the meal guidance around whichever of those you selected.
Does more than 2.0 g per kg help?
For most people training normally, the evidence does not support pushing much beyond the top of that range for additional muscle. Extra protein is not harmful for healthy adults, it is just calories that could have come from elsewhere. If you have kidney disease or another medical condition affecting protein intake, that is a conversation for your doctor rather than a fitness site.
Powder is convenient, not required
A shake is a fast way to add 25 g when food is inconvenient. It has no advantage over food that reaches the same total, and no supplement compensates for a total you are not hitting.
Getting the rest of it right
Protein sits inside a calorie target, not beside it. If you do not yet have one, work through how many calories you need first, then set protein, then let fat and carbohydrate fill the remainder.
Turn grams per kilogram into a usable day
For a constructed 75 kg example, 1.4 to 2.0 g/kg corresponds to 105 to 150 g per day. The Phasebuilt detailed builder selects 135 g for general fitness and fat loss, or 150 g for muscle building. It selects a point within a research range; it does not measure your individual requirement.
At 135 g, four eating occasions average roughly 34 g each. That division is a planning aid, not a requirement that every meal match perfectly. Check the nutrition label and portion actually eaten. A serving of yoghurt, tofu or a protein powder is not a standard unit of protein across products.
Fix a shortfall without rebuilding every meal
If your usual breakfast has very little protein, address breakfast first rather than making dinner much larger. Add a food that fits your diet and appetite, then recheck the daily total. For plant-based meals, compare the protein provided by the whole portion rather than assuming every meat replacement is equivalent. Beans contribute carbohydrate and fibre too; tofu, tempeh and soy foods offer different combinations.
When the formula needs individual advice
A weight-based formula becomes less useful at body weights far outside the research populations, and it is not a substitute for advice about kidney disease or another diagnosed condition. Do not use a higher protein target to justify an excessively low energy intake. Supplements are an optional convenience; the calculator does not establish that you need one.
Evidence and scope
These are educational examples for healthy adults, not individual prescriptions. The examples are constructed to explain decisions, not reports of user results. Phasebuilt publishes this guidance; no clinical review is claimed. See our method and limitations and report a correction.
Updated 5 October 2026. Examples and implementation notes by Phasebuilt.
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