Protein Intake for Cutting at 90 kg — Daily Target
For a person weighing 90 kg, the 1.6–2.2 g/kg range for cutting gives 144–198 g of protein per day, with a practical middle target of around 180 g. The recommended dietary allowance (RDA) of 0.8 g/kg would be 72 g — enough to avoid deficiency in a healthy adult, but not the amount that maintains muscle, supports training recovery, or keeps you full through the day.
At 90 kg, the difference between the RDA column and the cutting column in the table below is the whole story: the RDA of 0.8 g/kg is a floor set to avoid deficiency, while the cutting range of 1.6–2.2 g/kg is the amount that protects muscle while you cutting. Every figure here is an estimate for a healthy adult. Protein needs change with training, body composition and health, and the single most important exception is kidney disease, which changes the answer completely and needs individual medical advice rather than any online figure.
Use the protein calculator
Work out your own numbers with our protein calculator or the daily protein needs calculator — enter your weight, goal and activity level and it applies the same ranges used on this page. The tables below show the worked example for 90 kg, so you can check the calculator's output against the maths by hand.
Related reading: Protein Intake for Maintenance at 90 kg — Daily Target, Protein Intake for Bulking at 90 kg — Daily Target, protein calculator, daily protein needs calculator, full protein section, macro calculator
The formula, shown and cited
There is no single protein formula the way there is a single BMI formula. Instead, the evidence gives us a set of ranges in grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day, and the target is:
Daily protein (g) = body weight (kg) × grams per kilo (g/kg)
The ranges come from two sources. The RDA of 0.8 g/kg per day is the intake set to meet the needs of nearly all healthy adults — a floor, not an optimum. The sports-nutrition evidence, most clearly the meta-analysis by Morton et al. (2018) in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, which pooled 49 studies, found that muscle gains from resistance training maximise at around 1.6 g/kg per day, with intakes above that adding little for most people. Between those poles sit the practical ranges used on this page: 0.8 g/kg for sedentary maintenance, 1.0–1.2 g/kg for older adults preserving muscle, 1.2–1.6 g/kg for active maintenance, and 1.6–2.2 g/kg for people lifting weights or dieting.
For this page, the worked example is:
90 kg × 1.6 g/kg = 144 g per day (bottom of the range)
90 kg × 2.2 g/kg = 198 g per day (top of the range)
90 kg × 2.0 g/kg = 180 g per day (the practical middle target)
90 kg × 0.8 g/kg = 72 g per day (the RDA floor, for comparison)
That is the whole calculation — no hidden steps, no black box. What matters is choosing the right range for your goal and activity, which is what the next section does. Protein also carries energy: at 4 kcal per gram (the Atwater factor), the middle target of 180 g contributes about 720 kcal a day — roughly a fifth to a quarter of a typical day's calories — which is one reason a higher-protein diet is more filling than the same calories from carbohydrate or fat alone.
Calories around the protein target
Protein does not work in isolation; it works inside a calorie budget. Using the Mifflin-St Jeor equation (Mifflin et al., American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 1990) for the worked example — 90 kg, 175 cm, age 35 — the basal metabolic rate is about 1824 kcal a day, and with the activity multiplier of 1.55 (moderately active) the total daily energy expenditure is about 2827 kcal a day. From there, a deficit of about 400 kcal a day — inside the usual 300–500 kcal deficit — gives a target of about 2427 kcal a day. That target stays above the safety floor of 1,500 kcal a day for men; for a woman at the same weight the floor is 1,200 kcal a day, and no target on this site is ever set below those floors.
Two guardrails apply to every calorie figure on this site. First, the safety floors: 1,200 kcal a day for women and 1,500 kcal a day for men — no target is ever set below those without medical supervision, and a very-low-calorie diet needs a healthcare professional involved. Second, weight change should be slow: a loss of 0.5–1% of body weight a week is the sustainable range, which for 90 kg is roughly 0.5–0.9 kg a week. Faster than that usually costs muscle as well as fat, which is exactly what the protein target on this page is trying to prevent.
Your daily target at every body weight
The table below applies the same ranges at body weights from 50 kg to 140 kg, so you can see how the target moves if your weight changes. Find your weight, read across to the column that matches your goal, and you have your range.
| Body weight | At 0.8 g/kg (RDA) | At 1.6 g/kg | At 2.2 g/kg |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50 kg | 40 g | 80 g | 110 g |
| 60 kg | 48 g | 96 g | 132 g |
| 70 kg | 56 g | 112 g | 154 g |
| 80 kg | 64 g | 128 g | 176 g |
| 90 kg | 72 g | 144 g | 198 g |
| 100 kg | 80 g | 160 g | 220 g |
| 120 kg | 96 g | 192 g | 264 g |
| 140 kg | 112 g | 224 g | 308 g |
Two things stand out in that table. First, the gap between the RDA column and the training columns is large — roughly double — which is why "how much protein?" has no single answer without knowing what you do. Second, the gap between 1.6 and 2.2 g/kg is much smaller in practical terms than the gap between 0.8 and 1.6 g/kg: going from sedentary to active changes the answer far more than fine-tuning within the athletic range. If your weight is above 100 kg, remember the range is calculated on total body weight, which overstates needs for people carrying a lot of body fat; in that case, calculating from a target weight or from lean mass is more honest, and a clinician or dietitian can help with that.
Splitting protein across the day
A daily total is only half the job. Muscle protein synthesis — the process of building and repairing muscle — responds to each meal separately, and research suggests a per-meal dose of around 0.3 g/kg is enough to maximise the response in younger adults, rising to around 0.35–0.4 g/kg in older adults whose muscles respond less strongly to a given dose. For this page that means roughly 27 g of protein per meal.
Spread across four meals, the middle target of 180 g looks like this:
| Meal | Protein |
|---|---|
| Breakfast | 45 g |
| Lunch | 54 g |
| Dinner | 63 g |
| Snack or fourth meal | 18 g |
| Daily total | about 180 g |
In practice, hitting the per-meal dose matters more than hitting the split exactly. Three meals of 27 g will do more for muscle than one 180 g dinner and two protein-free meals, even if the daily total is identical. The easiest way to get there is to anchor every meal with one clear protein food — eggs, yoghurt, meat, fish, tofu, beans — rather than treating protein as something that only happens at dinner. A protein shake is a convenience for hitting the per-meal dose on busy days, not a requirement: the same grams from food work the same way.
What 180 g of protein looks like as food
| Food (typical serving) | Protein |
|---|---|
| Chicken breast, 150 g cooked | 46 g |
| Salmon fillet, 150 g | 33 g |
| Greek yoghurt, 200 g | 20 g |
| Eggs, 3 large | 18 g |
| Cottage cheese, 200 g | 22 g |
| Tofu, 200 g | 16 g |
| Lentils, 1 cup cooked | 18 g |
| Tinned tuna, 1 tin (145 g) | 25 g |
| Milk, 500 ml | 17 g |
| Whey protein, 1 scoop (30 g) | 24 g |
A day built from those foods reaches the target without heroics: A whey shake or yoghurt bowl at breakfast (about 45 g), a tofu stir-fry or chicken wrap at lunch (about 54 g), salmon or lentil stew at dinner (about 63 g), and a small cheese or egg snack in the afternoon (about 18 g). Protein powder is a convenience, not a requirement — one scoop is 24 g, useful on rushed days or around training, but it builds no more muscle than the same grams from food. If you eat a plant-based diet, combine sources across the day (beans with grains, tofu with vegetables) and aim for the top of your range, since plant proteins are slightly lower in leucine, the amino acid that triggers muscle building. Soy is the exception: it is a complete protein on its own.
What cutting means for protein at 90 kg
Cutting is where protein earns its keep. In a calorie deficit the body is more likely to break down muscle for energy, and the main defence is a high protein intake plus resistance training. At 90 kg, the 144–198 g a day on this page is deliberately high — the 1.6–2.2 g/kg range for dieters — because the cost of under-eating protein while cutting is lost muscle, which lowers your metabolism and makes the next cut harder. Keep the deficit modest (about 300–500 kcal a day, giving a target near 2427 kcal), lose 0.5–1% of body weight a week, and keep lifting: protein without training preserves far less muscle than protein with it.
What this number does NOT tell you
A grams-per-kilo target is an estimate built on population averages, and it has real limits. First, it uses total body weight, which overstates needs for people carrying a lot of body fat and understates them for very lean, heavily muscled people — at the extremes, a figure based on lean mass or target weight is more honest. Second, it says nothing about protein quality: 180 g of protein from varied whole foods, with enough leucine at each meal, is not the same as 180 g from a single poor-quality source. Third, it assumes your calories are adequate — in a large calorie deficit, protein needs rise (towards 1.6–2.2 g/kg) because the body is more likely to break down muscle, and in a surplus they matter slightly less. Fourth, it is not a medical recommendation: kidney disease, liver disease and some metabolic conditions change protein advice entirely, and no online range replaces individual advice from a clinician or dietitian. Finally, a protein target is not a diet: hitting 180 g a day does not by itself build muscle, lose fat or improve health — training, sleep, total calories and overall food quality do that, and protein supports them.
Frequently asked questions
How much protein do I need for cutting at 90 kg?
At 90 kg, the 1.6–2.2 g/kg range for cutting gives 144–198 g of protein a day, with about 180 g as a practical middle target. That is 90 × 1.6 = 144 g at the bottom and 90 × 2.2 = 198 g at the top. The RDA of 0.8 g/kg would be only 72 g — a floor to avoid deficiency, not an amount that protects muscle while you cutting.
Is 198 g of protein a day too much at 90 kg?
For a healthy adult, 198 g a day at 90 kg — 2.2 g/kg — is inside the published 1.6–2.2 g/kg range for lifters and dieters and is not considered excessive. The exception is kidney disease, where protein may need to be limited and the right amount must be set by a clinician. If you have any kidney or liver condition, do not use the numbers on this page.
How should I split 180 g of protein across the day?
Across four meals, about 45 g each is the pattern on this page, with a per-meal dose of around 0.3 g/kg (27 g at 90 kg) enough to maximise muscle protein synthesis in younger adults. Three solid protein meals beat one huge protein dinner, even if the daily total is the same.
What calories go with 180 g of protein for cutting?
Protein is only part of the budget: at 4 kcal per gram, 180 g contributes about 720 kcal. For cutting at 90 kg the worked calorie target on this page is about 2427 kcal a day, and it stays above the safety floors of 1,200 kcal a day for women and 1,500 kcal a day for men.
Can I hit 180 g of protein without supplements?
Yes. A day of eggs and yoghurt at breakfast, chicken or lentils at lunch, fish or tofu at dinner and a cottage-cheese snack reaches 180 g comfortably. Protein powder is a convenience — one scoop is 24 g — not a requirement, and it builds no more muscle than the same grams from food.
Does the target change if I weigh more or less than 90 kg?
Yes, because the target is weight times grams per kilo. The table on this page shows the 1.6–2.2 g/kg range at every weight from 50 kg to 140 kg — find your weight and read across. If you are well above 100 kg, consider calculating from a target weight rather than your current weight, since the range uses total body weight.
Estimates only, not medical advice. Minimum safe intakes: 1,200 kcal/day women, 1,500 kcal/day men — consult a healthcare professional before a very-low-calorie diet.