Protein gets talked about more than anything else in the gym, and misunderstood more than anything else too. More isn't automatically better, and you don't need powder if your meals already cover it.
The number
Large research reviews put it at 1.6 grams per kilogram of bodyweight a day to get everything you're going to get out of resistance training. If you're cutting and eating in a deficit, push it to 2 or 2.2 to protect your muscle. For someone at 70 kg, that's roughly 110 to 155 grams a day.
How to spread it out
Your body builds muscle best when each meal carries around 0.4 grams per kilogram — that's 25 to 40 grams for most people. Three or four meals, three to five hours apart, beats saving it all for dinner.
Everyday protein in Vietnam
Eggs, chicken breast, fish, lean meat, tofu, yoghurt, milk — all good, all cheap. An egg is about 6 grams, 100 grams of chicken breast about 30, a pot of yoghurt about 5. Powder is just a convenient way to top up what's missing. It doesn't replace a meal.
Being consistent matters more than the number. Hitting your protein six days a week for six months will take you further than eating perfectly for a fortnight and then stopping.
