Keto made easy

Protein by Body Weight or Lean Mass? Which Number to Use

Quick answer: Most protein recommendations are written per kilogram of body weight. If you carry a lot of extra weight, multiplying by your total weight gives a number that's bigger than you need, because fat tissue doesn't need feeding with protein the way muscle does. Use your goal weight, or your lean mass if you know it, and you'll land on a target you can actually eat.

In this article

Why the multiplier matters less than what you multiply

People argue about whether the right figure is 1.2, 1.6 or 2.0 grams per kilo. That's a real question, but there's a bigger one hiding underneath it: per kilo of what?

Here's the logic. Protein is mostly about keeping and building lean tissue, which means muscle, organs and the rest of you that isn't stored fat. Two people with the same muscle can have very different total weights. If one of them carries an extra 30 kg of fat, a per-kilo formula hands her a much bigger protein target, even though her muscle hasn't changed.

KetoDick puts it the same way: your protein requirement is based on your lean muscle mass, and that doesn't change when your hunger drops (video 8Jk5ShSUpFY). That's why, in his telling, protein stays steady while fat is the number that moves.

The same woman, three different answers

Let's run one made-up example. She weighs 100 kg (220 lb), her goal is 70 kg (154 lb), and say she's around 40% body fat, which puts her lean mass at about 60 kg. Use 1.2 g/kg, the low end of the range a weight-management review associated with better appetite and weight control.

What you multiply Kilos × 1.2 g/kg Per meal (3 meals)
Current weight 100 120 g 40 g
Goal weight 70 84 g 28 g
Lean mass (estimated) 60 72 g 24 g

Run it at 1.6 g/kg and the current-weight answer becomes 160 g a day. That's more than 50 g a meal over three meals, which is a lot of chicken for someone who's also trying to eat less. The goal-weight answer at 1.6 is 112 g, and that's a target real people hit.

Notice the goal-weight and lean-mass lines are close together. That's the useful part: you don't need a body-fat scan to get in the right zone.

Goal weight, lean mass or a simple rule

You have three reasonable options:

So what you do is pick one, use it for a few weeks, and adjust based on hunger, energy and how your measurements move.

Why calculators get this wrong

Many keto calculators set protein as a percentage of your calories, or as a multiple of whatever weight you type in. KetoDick's point is that calculators run on ratios, so a wrong calorie or weight input gives a wrong protein number (video xyEZL0HuejI; video cTGYIFOTPl8). He also calls keto calculators false precision, since the food data going in are estimates too (video UygKGoP_BtA).

If a calculator gives you a protein target that feels impossible to eat, check what weight it used before you blame yourself.

What the research says

What the evidence notes don't settle is which weight to plug in for someone with a lot of weight to lose. None of these sources, as summarised, gives a separate rule for that, and none was specific to women aged 30 to 60 on a low-carb diet. Goal weight or lean mass is the practical fix, not a finding.

If you have kidney disease, don't set protein from any of these formulas on your own. Work it out with your doctor.

KetoDick's take

He ties protein to lean mass and treats it as the steady number in the diet: carbs are a limit, protein is set by your lean muscle mass, and fat fills hunger, so fat is what comes down as your hunger drops (video 8Jk5ShSUpFY). In his 2018 rules he pushes people to err on the high side, because cutting protein to "break a stall" often means losing muscle (video UygKGoP_BtA).

His simple numbers and the goal-weight method agree well for most women. Where they'd differ is for very tall or very athletic people, which is exactly what his plus-20 modifiers are for.

Key takeaways