"How much daily protein you need depends on your weight, goal, and level of physical activity: from 1.2 g/kg if you’re sedentary all the way up to 3.3 g/kg if you’re trying to minimize fat gain while bulking."
• If you’re sedentary, aim for at least 1.2 g/kg (0.54 g/lb). Keep in mind that your body composition will improve more if you add consistent activity, especially resistance training, than if you merely hit a protein target.
• If you’re of healthy weight, active, and wish to keep your weight, aim for 1.4–1.6 g/kg (0.64–0.73 g/lb). People who are trying to keep the same weight but improve their body composition (more muscle, less fat) may benefit from the higher end of the range.
• If you’re of healthy weight, active, and wish to build muscle, aim for 1.4–2.4 g/kg (0.64–1.09 g/lb). If you’re an experienced lifter and bulking, intakes of up to 3.3 g/kg (1.50 g/lb) may help you minimize fat gain.
• If you’re of healthy weight, active, and wish to lose fat, aim for 1.8–2.7 g/kg (0.82–1.23 g/lb), skewing toward the higher end of this range as you become leaner or if you increase your caloric deficit (by eating less or exercising more).
• If you’re overweight or obese, aim for 1.2–1.5 g/kg (0.54–0.68 g/lb). This range, like all the others in this list, is based on your total body weight (most studies on people who are overweight or obese report their findings based on total body weight, but you’ll find some calcu-lators that determine your optimal protein intake based on your lean mass or your ideal body weight).
• If you’re vegan or obtain most of your protein from plants, then your pro-tein requirements may be higher because plant-based proteins are usually inferior to animal-based proteins with regard to both bioavailability and amino acid profile.
