How Many Grams of Protein Should I Be Consuming Daily?

Protein is one of the most talked-about nutrients in the fitness world, yet it remains one of the most misunderstood. Depending on where you get your information, you might hear that most people eat far too much protein or that you should be consuming enormous amounts to build muscle.

The reality lies somewhere in the middle.

Your ideal protein intake depends on your body size, activity levels, training goals and overall lifestyle. Someone who strength trains four times per week will have different requirements from someone who is largely sedentary, while someone trying to lose body fat has different nutritional priorities than someone looking to maximise muscle growth.

At Foundry, protein is one of the first areas we help our members improve because it supports almost every fitness goal. Whether you’re looking to get leaner and stronger, improve your recovery, or feel fuller between meals, eating enough protein makes a significant difference. In fact, optimising protein is a cornerstone of the Foundry Food Pyramid because of its impact on results.

Protein Is Important

Protein provides your body with amino acids, which are used to repair and maintain muscles, produce hormones and enzymes, support your immune system and keep tissues healthy.

Every time you complete a strength training session, your muscles experience small amounts of stress. Your body repairs this damage using dietary protein, allowing the muscles to recover stronger than before.

Protein also helps:

Preserve lean muscle during weight loss
Support strength development
Improve recovery between training sessions
Keep you feeling fuller for longer
Support healthy bones
Maintain healthy skin, hair and nails

Without sufficient protein, your body cannot recover or adapt as effectively to your training.

Your Protein Needs Depend on Your Goal

There isn’t one perfect number that works for everyone.

Your ideal intake changes depending on what you’re trying to achieve.

General Health

For healthy adults who perform little structured exercise, the current Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) is approximately 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight per day.

This amount is designed to prevent deficiency rather than optimise performance, recovery or body composition.

If you exercise regularly, particularly resistance training, you’ll almost certainly benefit from eating more than this minimum recommendation.

For Building Muscle

If your goal is to increase muscle mass or improve strength, protein intake becomes far more important.

Current sports nutrition research consistently suggests that around 1.6 to 2.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day supports muscle growth when combined with progressive strength training.

Eating beyond this range generally provides little additional benefit for most recreational lifters.

Remember, protein doesn’t build muscle on its own.

Consistent training, adequate calories, quality sleep and progressive overload all work together.

For Fat Loss

One of the biggest mistakes people make when dieting is reducing calories without increasing protein.

During weight loss, your body doesn’t just lose fat. Without sufficient protein and resistance training, you also risk losing valuable muscle tissue.

A higher protein intake helps by:

Preserving lean muscle mass
Improving recovery during a calorie deficit
Increasing feelings of fullness
Helping reduce unnecessary snacking
Supporting weight maintenance

For most people trying to lose body fat, aiming for 1.4 to 2.0 grams per kilogram of body weight per day works well when paired with a structured training programme.

It’s worth remembering that protein isn’t a magic fat-loss food.

Overall calorie balance still determines whether you gain or lose weight. However, protein makes it much easier to maintain that calorie deficit because it’s highly satisfying and has a higher thermic effect than carbohydrates or fats.

For Endurance Athletes

Strength athletes aren’t the only people who benefit from eating more protein.

Runners, cyclists, swimmers and other endurance athletes place repeated stress on their muscles during long training sessions.

Protein supports muscle repair and recovery while helping maintain lean tissue during periods of high training volume.

Most endurance athletes generally benefit from around 1.2 to 1.6 grams per kilogram of body weight each day, depending on training intensity.

Is More Protein Always Better?

Not necessarily.

Once you’ve reached an appropriate intake for your training goals, continually increasing protein won’t automatically lead to more muscle or faster fat loss.

Instead, it often makes more sense to ensure the rest of your nutrition is balanced.

At Foundry, we encourage members to focus on building meals that include:

A quality protein source
Plenty of vegetables
Appropriate portions of carbohydrates
Healthy fats

This creates meals that support recovery while remaining practical and sustainable over the long term.

Does Protein Timing Matter?

Meeting your daily protein target is far more important than obsessing over exact meal timing.

That said, spreading protein intake across three or four meals each day appears to support muscle protein synthesis more effectively than consuming most of it in one large meal.

Aim to include approximately 20 to 40 grams of protein at each meal, depending on your body size and daily target.

This also tends to improve satiety and energy levels throughout the day.

Animal vs Plant Protein

Both animal and plant proteins can support excellent health and performance.

Animal proteins such as lean meat, fish, eggs and dairy naturally contain all nine essential amino acids in sufficient quantities and are generally highly digestible.

Plant proteins can absolutely meet your requirements too, although some individual sources contain lower amounts of certain amino acids.

Good plant-based options include:

Tofu
Tempeh
Lentils
Chickpeas
Edamame beans
Quinoa
Beans
Soy yoghurt

Eating a varied plant-based diet throughout the day easily provides all essential amino acids for most people.

The most important factor isn’t whether your protein comes from animals or plants.

It’s whether you’re consistently eating enough high-quality protein while following a balanced diet rich in whole foods.

The Best High Protein Foods

Some of the easiest ways to increase protein intake include:

Animal Sources

Chicken breast
Turkey
Lean beef
Eggs
Salmon
Tuna
Greek yoghurt
Cottage cheese
Skyr yoghurt

Plant-Based Sources

Tofu
Tempeh
Edamame beans
Lentils
Chickpeas
Black beans
Mixed beans
Quinoa

Convenient Snacks

Boiled eggs
Greek yoghurt with berries
Cottage cheese and fruit
Protein smoothies
Roasted chickpeas
Smoked salmon with avocado

Should You Use Protein Powder?

Protein powder can be a useful convenience, but it isn’t essential.

If you’re consistently reaching your daily protein target through food, there’s no physiological need for a supplement.

However, busy work schedules, travel or limited meal preparation sometimes make protein shakes a practical option.

As we explain in our nutrition guidance, supplements should never replace good nutrition habits.

Food comes first. Supplements come second. Always.

Stop Chasing the Perfect Number

Many people spend too much time worrying about whether they should eat 132 grams or 138 grams of protein each day.

The truth is that consistency matters far more than precision.

If you consistently eat enough quality protein, train progressively, sleep well and maintain sensible portion sizes, you’ll make excellent progress without obsessively tracking every gram.

At Foundry, we encourage members to focus on building habits they can maintain for years rather than following extreme nutritional approaches that only last a few weeks.

Small Group Personal Training at Foundry Gyms

Nutrition doesn’t have to be complicated. Our coaching focuses on the habits that produce the biggest improvements, and protein intake is one of them. Whether your goal is fat loss, building strength, improving performance or simply feeling healthier, we’ll help you understand how much protein you actually need and show you practical ways to achieve it without restrictive dieting.

Combined with expert small group personal training, our nutrition coaching helps members develop sustainable eating habits that support long-term results. Rather than chasing nutrition trends or complicated meal plans, we teach straightforward strategies built around quality food, appropriate portions and consistency, helping you achieve results that last.

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