The short answer
A 200 lb man who lifts needs 140 to 200 grams of protein a day.
The easy rule: eat 1 gram per pound of your goal body weight. Happy at 200? Eat 200 grams. Sitting at 200 but want to be a lean 180? Eat 180.
The government's number, the RDA, works out to about 73 grams for a 200 lb man. That's the minimum wage of protein. It keeps the lights on. It doesn't build anything.
The 3 numbers for a 200 lb man
Level | Grams a day | What it gets you |
|---|---|---|
RDA minimum | 73 g | Keeps you from coming up short. Builds nothing. |
Research sweet spot | About 140 g | Where muscle gains start to level off |
Dad OS target | 180 to 200 g | Covers the top of the range, plus the days you miss |
Why aim for 1 gram per pound instead of 0.7
A 2018 review of 49 studies found muscle gains leveled off around 0.7 grams per pound of body weight. The top of the range landed near 1 gram per pound. So why aim for the top? Two reasons.
Muscle gets harder of hearing with age. One study found older men needed about 70 percent more protein per meal than young men to get the same muscle-building response. That's the direction every dad is headed, so build the habit now.
Nobody hits the number every day. It works like the thermostat in a drafty house. Set it to 72 and the room lands at 68. Aim for 200 grams, land at 170, and you're still in the zone. Aim for 140, land at 110, and you're not.
What 200 grams looks like on a plate
Forget the food scale. Use your hand. A palm of chicken or steak is about 30 grams. Two eggs, about 12. A cup of Greek yogurt, about 20. A scoop of whey, about 25.
Breakfast: 4 eggs and a cup of Greek yogurt. About 44 grams.
Lunch: Two palms of chicken. About 60 grams.
3 PM: A scoop of whey in water or milk. About 25 grams.
Dinner: Two palms of steak, chicken, or pork. About 60 grams.
Before bed: A cup of cottage cheese. About 25 grams.
That's about 214 grams. Drop the cottage cheese and you land at 189, right where a guy aiming for 180 to 190 wants to be.
The 3 moves
Move 1: Use your goal weight, not your current weight. Extra body fat doesn't need feeding. Pick the number you're headed toward and eat for that guy.
Move 2: Anchor every meal with 40 grams. Three meals at 40 gets you to 120 before you think about snacks. A shake and a cup of cottage cheese add 50 more. The last 30 is one extra palm of meat at dinner.
Move 3: Count for one week. Just one. Log everything in any app for seven days. Plenty of guys who swear they eat 150 grams find out they're eating 80. You can't fix a number you've never looked at.
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I'm Jason, a dad of two in my 40s. Every Tuesday and Thursday I send one idea and three moves for dads who want to drop body fat and build muscle at the same time. Five minutes to read. Free.
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Common questions
Is 200 grams of protein a day too much?
Not for a healthy 200 lb man who lifts. Reviews of high-protein diets in healthy adults haven't found kidney damage. If you already have kidney disease, that's a conversation for your doctor, not a newsletter.
Does it matter when I eat it?
Your daily total matters most. Spreading it over 3 or 4 meals just makes the total easier to hit.
Do I need protein powder?
No. Powder is a dishwasher. You can do the job by hand. Most busy dads just don't want to.
Keep reading
I'm not a doctor. If you have kidney disease or another medical condition, check with yours before changing how much protein you eat.