How much protein to eat to lose weight, and how to reach it

When you eat less, protein is the part of the plate most worth keeping. It helps meals feel satisfying, and it helps you hold on to muscle while the scale moves. Here’s how much to aim for and how to fit it in.

How much protein should I eat while losing weight?

About 1.2 to 1.6 grams per kilogram of body weight a day.

The 2025–2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans give this range for adults. A 2025 joint advisory from four nutrition and obesity medicine groups names the same range during active weight loss.

Why does protein matter more on a deficit?

It helps protect muscle and it helps you feel full.

A 2015 review in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that higher-protein, lower-calorie diets kept more lean mass in shorter, tightly controlled studies. It also found a modest boost in fullness after higher-protein meals. The authors pointed to 1.2 to 1.6 g per kg a day, with about 25 to 30 g at each meal.

Which body weight should I use?

Your current weight, unless you have a higher body weight.

For people with more weight to lose, the advisory prefers an adjusted or ideal body weight, so the number stays realistic. Imi does something simpler: it uses your weight up to 100 kg (220 lb). Above that, it uses 100 kg.

The protein calculator does this for you.

Should I eat it all at dinner?

No. Spread it across the day.

A dinner that has to carry 100 grams on its own is hard to finish. Yogurt at breakfast, tuna or tofu at lunch and chicken at dinner reach the same number with less effort.

Which foods carry the most protein for their calories?

Lean poultry, fish, Greek yogurt, cottage cheese and tofu, with lentils close behind.

Rounded USDA FoodData Central values. Your label is the final word.

Lentils also bring 8 g of fiber in that half cup, which helps with fullness too.

How do I make it easy?

Pick one protein for each meal and keep a few ready to eat.

• Breakfast is the gap. Toast or cereal alone is light on protein. Add eggs, Greek yogurt or cottage cheese.
• Cook once, eat twice. Roast extra chicken or bake a tray of tofu for tomorrow’s lunch.
• Keep the shelf stocked. Canned tuna, canned beans and lentils last for months.
• Protein first. If you fill up halfway through a meal, the most important part is already eaten.

How does Imi help?

Imi sets your protein at 1.4 g per kg a day on the lose weight goal and plans some into every meal.

That sits inside the 1.2 to 1.6 g range. Your calories come from your daily burn minus no more than 25%, and never drop below 1,200 for women or 1,800 for men, the point where a 2025 joint advisory says vitamins and minerals get hard to cover. You choose a pace from 0.25 to 1 kg a week. The lose weight goal is turned off for anyone under 18, anyone with a BMI under 18.5, and during pregnancy.

Try the protein calculator, or see how Imi plans for weight loss. For full meals built this way, read calorie deficit meals that keep you full.