For most healthy adults: about 0.8 g of protein per kilogram of body weight maintains basic health, 1.2–1.6 g/kg supports fat loss and general training, and 1.6–2.2 g/kg maximises muscle growth. A 70 kg person aiming to build muscle should therefore target roughly 110–150 g per day — far more than a typical unplanned diet delivers, and very achievable once you plan for it.
Targets by goal
| Goal | Daily protein | For a 70 kg adult |
|---|---|---|
| General health (sedentary) | 0.8–1.0 g/kg | 56–70 g |
| Fat loss (preserve muscle) | 1.2–1.6 g/kg | 84–112 g |
| Muscle gain (training) | 1.6–2.2 g/kg | 112–154 g |
| Older adults (60+) | 1.0–1.2 g/kg minimum | 70–84 g |
Two notes that save confusion: targets scale with body weight, not calories — a small person cutting and a big person bulking can need the same grams. And more than ~2.2 g/kg shows no extra muscle benefit in research; it just crowds out carbs and fibre you'd enjoy.
Why spacing matters almost as much as totals
Muscle protein synthesis responds meal by meal, and each meal's effect caps out around 25–40 g for most people. 120 g crammed into dinner works measurably worse than 4 × 30 g across the day — which is why dietitian charts space protein deliberately, and why following the chart's timings (not just its totals) matters.
Hitting targets on an Indian diet (vegetarian included)
- Dals & legumes: ~7–9 g per cooked katori — necessary but rarely sufficient alone.
- Paneer: ~18 g per 100 g. Curd/dahi: ~3–4 g per katori; Greek-style curd roughly doubles that.
- Soya chunks: ~52 g per 100 g dry — the densest vegetarian source in the Indian kitchen.
- Eggs: ~6–7 g each. Chicken breast: ~31 g per 100 g cooked.
- Milk: ~8 g per glass; a practical bookend for breakfast and bedtime.
The honest vegetarian math: without planning, a typical dal-rice-roti day lands near 40–50 g. Getting to 100+ g needs deliberate anchors — soya, paneer, curd and milk placed into specific meals. That's a planning problem, which is exactly what a good meal plan (or a scanned dietitian chart) solves for you.
MealWarden estimates protein for every meal it schedules — from your dietitian's chart or a generated plan — and shows your daily protein ring filling in real time, so "did I hit 120 g?" stops being a guess.