The short answer
Most adults on a GLP-1 medication should aim for 1.2 to 1.6 g of protein per kg of a sensible reference weight per day, split across three or four eating occasions of 25 to 35 g each. For a 90 kg reference weight, that is roughly 110 to 145 g a day. If your appetite only allows 900 calories on a bad day, the floor matters more than the range: get as close to your minimum as you can, and get it from food you can actually finish.
That is the number. The rest of this page is how to find yours, what to do when you cannot eat enough to reach it, and the signs that you should stop reading and call your clinician.
Why your current weight is the wrong place to start
The standard formula multiplies protein by body weight. During active weight loss that formula quietly overshoots, because part of your weight is fat, and fat does not need protein to maintain itself.
Two adjustments fix this:
- If your BMI is under 30, use your current body weight. The formula works fine.
- If your BMI is 30 or higher, use a reference weight instead. The common approach is to calculate the weight that would put you at a BMI of 25, or to use an adjusted weight that adds 25 to 30 percent of the difference between your current weight and that target. This is the same approach used in clinical nutrition for people with obesity, and it produces targets people can actually hit.
An example. At 120 kg and 1.70 m, BMI is 41.5. A BMI of 25 at that height is 72 kg. Using 72 kg rather than 120 kg gives 86 to 115 g of protein a day instead of 144 to 192 g. The lower number is not a compromise, it is the correct one, and it is achievable on a small appetite.
Your daily target, by reference weight
| Reference weight | Minimum (1.2 g/kg) | Comfortable (1.4 g/kg) | Upper useful (1.6 g/kg) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60 kg (132 lb) | 72 g | 84 g | 96 g |
| 70 kg (154 lb) | 84 g | 98 g | 112 g |
| 80 kg (176 lb) | 96 g | 112 g | 128 g |
| 90 kg (198 lb) | 108 g | 126 g | 144 g |
| 100 kg (220 lb) | 120 g | 140 g | 160 g |
The 0.8 g/kg figure you see everywhere is the minimum to avoid deficiency in a healthy sedentary adult. It is not a target for someone losing weight, and it is not a target for someone eating 1,000 calories a day. Use the table above.
Anyone with kidney disease, liver disease, or a transplant should not use this table. Protein intake in those conditions is set by a clinician, and getting it wrong is harmful. Ask before adjusting.
Why the per-meal split matters as much as the total
Muscle rebuilds in pulses. Research on protein timing suggests a meal of roughly 25 to 35 g of high-quality protein stimulates muscle protein synthesis near its practical maximum, and that spreading intake across the day produces more total rebuilding than the same amount eaten in one sitting.
For someone on a GLP-1, this has a practical consequence: a single large dinner does not rescue a day of 10 g breakfasts. Not because the protein is wasted, but because you will not manage the large dinner in the first place when food sits heavily.
A workable shape for the day:
| Meal | Protein | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Breakfast | 25 to 30 g | Greek yogurt bowl with cottage cheese |
| Lunch | 25 to 30 g | Chicken and rice soup |
| Afternoon | 12 to 20 g | Cottage cheese pudding or edamame |
| Dinner | 25 to 30 g | Baked salmon bites with yogurt sauce |
| Evening, if needed | 12 to 15 g | Protein jello or a boiled egg |
That lands between 100 and 125 g without any single large portion.
What 100 g of protein actually looks like
| Food | Portion | Protein |
|---|---|---|
| Greek yogurt, plain nonfat | 1 cup (245 g) | 24 g |
| Cottage cheese, 1% | 1 cup (226 g) | 28 g |
| Chicken breast, cooked | 120 g | 37 g |
| Salmon, cooked | 120 g | 28 g |
| Canned tuna in water, drained | 1 can (113 g) | 25 g |
| Eggs | 3 large | 19 g |
| Liquid egg whites | 1 cup (243 g) | 26 g |
| Lentils, cooked | 1 cup (198 g) | 18 g |
| Tofu, firm | 150 g | 24 g |
| Edamame, shelled | 1 cup (155 g) | 18 g |
Two cups of dairy, one portion of chicken or fish, and one egg-based breakfast gets you there. Note what is absent: you do not need protein powder, and you do not need a supplement to hit 100 g. Powder is convenient when appetite is very low and volume is the enemy, but it is optional.
When you cannot eat enough: the floor, not the target
On a bad day, a full day of meals is not realistic. The strategy changes from hitting a target to protecting a floor.
Prioritise protein over everything else in the first bite. If you can only finish 300 calories at a meal, make them a protein. Carbohydrate and fat can wait for a better day; protein cannot be banked.
Use liquid and soft textures. A smoothie with Greek yogurt and cottage cheese delivers 28 g in 415 ml, which is far less work than chewing through the equivalent in chicken. Cold and smooth foods are usually easier when nausea is present.
Eat on a schedule, not on hunger. GLP-1 medications reduce appetite signals, so waiting to feel hungry can mean skipping a whole day. Three small protein moments, spaced a few hours apart, work better than one attempt at a proper meal.
Keep the evening protein small but real. A pudding cup of 250 calories with 25 g of protein is a better end to a low day than nothing, and far better than a large meal you cannot finish.
If a whole week passes under 60 g of protein a day, that is the point to raise it with your prescriber or a registered dietitian rather than push through.
The signs that the plan is not working
Protein intake is one variable among several. These are the ones worth acting on quickly:
- Weight falling more than 1 percent of body weight per week after the first two weeks. Faster is not better; it usually means muscle and fluid, not fat.
- Hair shedding, brittle nails, constant cold. Often the first visible signs of eating too little overall, not only too little protein.
- Strength dropping week after week. A sign lean mass is going before fat.
- Dizziness on standing, or unusual fatigue. Worth a conversation, not a protein shake.
- Nausea that stops you eating for more than two days. This is a clinical question about the medication, not a recipe question.
None of these are solved by adding protein alone. They are reasons to talk to the person who prescribed the medication.
Three things that make the target easier
Weigh once, then stop. Weigh the protein food for two weeks to learn what 120 g of chicken looks like on your plate. After that, eyeball it. Weighing every meal forever is a burden that ends in quitting.
Cook protein in batches, portion everything else fresh. Cooked chicken, boiled eggs and portioned yogurt keep for days; vegetables and rice are quick to make fresh. This is the whole logic of our meal prep guide.
Put protein in the first thing you eat each day. Whatever you break your fast with should carry 25 g or more. Days that start with 30 g tend to end above 90; days that start with toast tend not to.
Where to go next
- Work out your own number with the protein calculator, which uses the reference weight method described above.
- If appetite is the limiting factor, start with the small-portion recipes.
- For the per-meal question in more depth, read how much protein your body can absorb per meal.
- To build the week, use the high-protein meal prep guide.
- For 60 small-portion recipes with full macros, see the GLP-1 Friendly High-Protein Cookbook.
Not medical advice. This article is general nutrition information based on published guidance for healthy adults. Protein targets are individual, and they change with kidney function, liver function, pregnancy, age and medication. If you take a GLP-1 medication, are pregnant, have kidney or liver disease, or have a history of an eating disorder, set your target with your prescriber or a registered dietitian before changing how you eat.
Meals that hit the number: once you have your daily target, this list shows twelve meals with 30 g of protein under 400 calories, with the portions and the maths for each.
On the days you cannot eat: when no food appeals at all, this guide covers what to eat on Ozempic when nothing sounds good, step by step.
