Protein Intake for Maintenance — Women Age 45-49
For a woman aged 45-49 (70 kg, 165 cm, moderately active), the daily protein target is 98 g a day, inside a range of 84–112 g a day. That range comes from 1.2–1.6 g of protein per kilogram of body weight per day, applied to 70 kg of body weight, and the target of 98 g uses 1.4 g/kg — the middle of the range for maintenance. That is the headline number, and the rest of this page explains where the range comes from, how to split it across meals, and what foods actually deliver it.
At maintenance calories, 1.2–1.6 g/kg covers the needs of most active adults. This page uses 1.4 g/kg, the middle of that range, which supports training recovery without turning every meal into a protein project.
The numbers on this page are estimates, not medical advice. Protein needs vary with training volume, age, body composition and health, and one figure cannot capture all of that. What the published evidence does give us is a range — 0.8 g/kg a day for sedentary adults at the bottom, up to 1.6–2.2 g/kg for lifters and dieters at the top (Morton et al. 2018) — and this page places women age 45-49 inside that range rather than pretending to a false precision.
Use the protein calculator for your own numbers
The figure here is for 70 kg of body weight. Your target scales with your weight, so use the Protein Calculator with your own body weight, goal and activity level to get your personal range. For a per-meal breakdown, the Daily Protein Needs Calculator tool splits the daily total across your meals. If you want the full calorie picture alongside the protein — the total calories and the carbohydrate and fat that go with them — the Macro Calculator tool works that out too.
Related protein pages in this batch, covering the same calculation for other goals, ages and body weights:
- Protein Intake for Cutting — Women Age 25-29
- Protein Intake for Cutting — Women Age 30-34
- Protein Intake for Cutting — Women Age 35-39
- Macros for Bulking — Men Age 45-49 (High-Protein)
The formula, shown and cited
The protein calculation is a simple multiplication, but the range it multiplies by is where the science lives:
Daily protein (g) = body weight (kg) × protein factor (g/kg)
The factors come from the published evidence. The recommended dietary allowance for sedentary adults is 0.8 g/kg a day — the amount that avoids deficiency in most people. For active people, and especially for people lifting weights or dieting, a systematic review and meta-analysis (Morton et al. 2018, British Journal of Sports Medicine) found that intakes up to 1.6 g/kg a day maximise muscle gain and retention, with higher intakes up to 2.2 g/kg a day commonly used by dieters to protect muscle in a deficit. That is the evidence base for the ranges used on this page.
Worked through for 70 kg at maintenance:
- Lower end: 70 kg × 1.2 g/kg = 84 g a day
- Target used on this page: 70 kg × 1.4 g/kg = 98 g a day
- Upper end: 70 kg × 1.6 g/kg = 112 g a day
| Intake level | g/kg | Grams per day at 70 kg |
|---|---|---|
| Sedentary minimum (RDA) | 0.8 | 56 g |
| Lower end of the maintenance range | 1.2 | 84 g |
| Target on this page | 1.4 | 98 g |
| Upper end of the maintenance range | 1.6 | 112 g |
The gap between the sedentary minimum (56 g) and the target (98 g) is the gap between avoiding deficiency and actively supporting training and maintenance. Both numbers are "correct" — they answer different questions. If you are not training and not dieting, the lower figure is enough. If you are training hard and maintaining, the higher figure is the one that matches the evidence.
One caveat that applies to every protein page on this site: kidney disease changes the answer. People with reduced kidney function should not follow a high-protein target without a clinician's guidance, because the kidneys clear the waste products of protein metabolism. If that applies to you, treat the numbers on this page as a starting point for a conversation with your doctor or dietitian, not as a target to follow.
How to split 98 g across the day
Protein is used best when it is spread across the day rather than eaten mostly in one meal. The research on muscle protein synthesis suggests that 25–50 g per meal, across three to five meals, is the sweet spot for most adults — enough to trigger a full response at each meal, without wasting protein in a single oversized sitting. For a 98 g daily target, that looks like this:
| Meal | Protein target | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Breakfast | 25 g | Greek yoghurt with oats, or two eggs with beans |
| Lunch | 25 g | Chicken or lentil salad, or a tofu stir-fry |
| Dinner | 24 g | Salmon or chicken breast with vegetables and potatoes |
| Snack / post-training | 24 g | Cottage cheese, a whey shake, or milk with a handful of nuts |
The exact split matters less than the daily total and the habit of including protein at every meal. Many people eat a near-protein-free breakfast — toast and jam, or cereal with a splash of milk — and then try to make up the whole day's protein at dinner. That does not work as well as spreading it out, and it makes dinner uncomfortably large. Moving 20–25 g of protein into breakfast is often the single easiest improvement a person can make to their diet: it costs nothing, it keeps you full until lunch, and it makes the daily target far easier to reach.
After training, the meal matters a little more than the others. A post-training meal with 25–40 g of protein and some carbohydrate supports recovery, and it is worth planning rather than leaving to chance. The famous "anabolic window" is less narrow than gym lore suggests — total daily protein matters far more than the exact minute you eat after training — but eating a proper meal within a couple of hours of a hard session is still good practice.
Foods that deliver the target
The table below gives the protein in common foods, so you can build the 98 g target from real meals rather than from supplements. A varied diet built on these foods will also supply the micronutrients, fibre and fats that a powder cannot.
| Food | Portion | Protein |
|---|---|---|
| Chicken breast, cooked | 100 g | 31 g |
| Salmon fillet, cooked | 150 g | 30 g |
| Greek yoghurt, plain | 200 g | 20 g |
| Cottage cheese | 150 g | 17 g |
| Lentils, cooked | 200 g | 18 g |
| Tofu, firm | 150 g | 15 g |
| Two large eggs | 2 eggs | 12 g |
| Whey protein powder | 1 scoop (30 g) | 25 g |
| Semi-skimmed milk | 300 ml | 10 g |
| Almonds | 30 g | 6 g |
A few combinations that get close to the daily target: a chicken breast at lunch (31 g) plus salmon at dinner (30 g) plus Greek yoghurt at breakfast (20 g) plus two eggs (12 g) totals 93 g before snacks — already most of the way to 98 g for a 70 kg adult at maintenance. For plant-based eaters, the maths works too, but it needs more attention: lentils (18 g per 200 g cooked), tofu (15 g per 150 g), beans, tempeh and soya yoghurt are the workhorses, and combining different plant proteins across the day covers the amino acid profile.
Supplements have a place, but it is a small one. A scoop of whey (25 g) is a convenient way to close a gap on a busy day, and it is useful after training when a full meal is not practical. It is not better than food, and a diet that depends on three shakes a day is a diet with a food problem, not a protein problem. Fix the meals first; use the shake for the gaps that remain.
How to use the result, and how to adjust it
Start at 98 g a day and hold it for three to four weeks alongside your training and your calorie target. Judge it by what happens, not by how the number feels. For maintenance, the signs that the protein is doing its job are: strength holding or rising in training, recovery feeling normal rather than constantly sore, and — for cutting — weight falling while strength stays put, which suggests the loss is mostly fat.
If strength is falling and recovery is poor, the first things to check are sleep and total calories, not protein — but if those are in order, moving towards the upper end of the range (112 g) is reasonable. If the target feels unmanageable — if you are force-feeding chicken at every meal and dreading it — moving towards the lower end (84 g) is fine, because a target you can sustain for months beats a higher target you abandon in two weeks.
At 45–49, many women are in perimenopause, when hormonal changes make muscle harder to keep and fat easier to gain around the middle. Resistance training and a proper protein target are the two levers that still work reliably, and this page's per-meal split — 25–50 g of protein at each meal — is designed for exactly that situation.
Body composition matters too. These figures are based on total body weight, which is the standard approach, but for someone carrying a lot of body fat, protein needs track lean mass more closely than total weight. A very rough adjustment is to calculate the target on a leaner weight — but for most people at 70 kg, the total-weight calculation on this page is a sound starting point, and the range (84–112 g) gives room to adjust by feel.
What the protein number does NOT tell you
A daily gram target is a useful framework with real limits. First, it says nothing about protein quality. The body needs nine essential amino acids, and animal proteins and soya supply all nine in good proportions, while most single plant proteins are low in one or two. A varied plant-based diet covers this, but a diet built on a single plant protein does not — the gram total looks identical on paper, and the nutrition is not.
Second, the target says nothing about total calories. Protein at 98 g a day is 392 kcal of the day's intake — a modest fraction of the total — and the outcome of maintenance depends on the total calories and the training, not on the protein alone. Eating 98 g of protein while eating far too many total calories will not produce fat loss, and eating 98 g of protein without resistance training will not build muscle.
Third, more is not always better. Beyond about 1.6 g/kg a day, the extra muscle gain from additional protein is small to negligible for most people (Morton et al. 2018), and very high intakes displace other foods, cost money, and can cause digestive discomfort. The upper end of this page's range (112 g) is a ceiling for maintenance, not a starting point to exceed.
Finally, the number is a population estimate applied to one person. Individual needs vary with training volume, age, sex, body composition and health. The range exists precisely because of that variation — use the target as a starting point, watch the results for a month, and adjust within the range based on what actually happens.
Frequently asked questions
How much protein do I need per day at 70 kg for maintenance?
The range is 84–112 g a day (1.2–1.6 g/kg), with a target of 98 g a day at 1.4 g/kg. That target sits inside the published 1.6–2.2 g/kg range for lifters and dieters (Morton et al. 2018). For your own weight, use the Protein Calculator.
Is 98 g of protein a day too much?
For a 70 kg adult who trains and is maintaining, no — it is inside the published evidence range, and healthy kidneys handle it without difficulty. The figure that would be excessive is far higher than this. The exception is kidney disease: anyone with reduced kidney function should get a personalised target from a clinician rather than following a general page like this one.
How much protein should I eat per meal?
Aim for 25–50 g per meal across three to five meals. For a 98 g daily target, four meals of about 25 g each works well. Eating most of your protein in one meal is less effective than spreading it out, because muscle protein synthesis responds to each meal's dose separately.
Can I hit 98 g of protein without supplements?
Yes, comfortably. A chicken breast (31 g), a salmon fillet (30 g), a pot of Greek yoghurt (20 g) and two eggs (12 g) already total 93 g, and the rest comes from the smaller protein contributions of bread, rice, vegetables and milk across the day. Supplements are a convenience for busy days, not a requirement.
Does protein timing matter, or just the daily total?
The daily total matters most by a wide margin. Timing is a small refinement: spreading protein across meals helps, and a protein-rich meal within a couple of hours of training supports recovery. But a person who hits 98 g a day with poor timing will outperform a person who times every meal perfectly and only eats half the target.
What happens if I eat less protein than 84 g a day while maintaining?
Below the range, the risks are slower recovery, more muscle loss during a diet, and less muscle gain during a bulk. The sedentary minimum of 0.8 g/kg (56 g at 70 kg) avoids deficiency, but it is not enough to support hard training. If you cannot reach the target with food alone, a daily whey shake or an extra serving of yoghurt or eggs is the simplest fix.
Related pages
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.