Protein per Day: Burning fat and getting lean

August 25, 2025

Welcome to Part 2 of our blog on Protein Intake: How Many Grams of Protein per Day?

In case you missed Part 1, where we discussed protein in the context of general health and gaining muscle mass, check it out here.

If your goal is to look as toned as possible, without being too skinny (either skinny fat or bony, as shown below), you typically want to stick with a higher amount of protein intake.

Skinny fat often occurs when there is a low muscle mass, high fat mass, and low BMI (body mass index). If you have high fat, high muscle mass, and high BMI, you’ll have a more bearish frame (shown below).

Photo by Celestino Arce/NurPhoto via Getty Images

A bony physique, where an individual is skinny, and a significant amount of bone is showing, happens when the BMI is low, combined with both low body fat and muscle mass. The result is a disproportionately high bone mass compared to other masses.

The sweet spot for many gym-goers is the lean/toned physique, where you have a moderate amount of muscle, with a low-body fat and a reasonable BMI [1].

If you do not have enough muscle mass, you may need to bulk up slightly. A slight calorie surplus for a clean bulk is sufficient, as it is much harder to get back into a low body-fat percentage later on. Large weight fluctuations are generally also advised against, due to the fact that fat cells, once developed, do not disappear, but shrink in size to mobilize energy stores on a caloric deficit. Since fat cells change their metabolic profile to increase capacity for ingesting and storing excess energy during weight loss, an individual can regain their previous weight if long-term weight maintenance strategies are not used [2].

Now to answer the question of how much protein is needed to lose fat and preserve muscle. It is recommended that about 1.4-1.6g protein per kg of body weight is consumed everyday to improve muscle preservation during a caloric deficit [3][4].

To give an idea of how important protein is during a deficit, a comparison is shown below on the relative loss of Fat-Free Mass (FFM), as a percentage of the total mass lost,, on a high-protein versus a low-protein diet [5].

On a low-protein diet, you will lose significantly more lean muscle, or FFM. This may lead to the bony or skinny fat physique mentioned earlier.

The amount of caloric deficit that should be aimed at is 500-750calories [6]. However, weight loss can be dangerous if not done correctly. If you are going to embark on a weight loss journey, even if you are trying to maintain muscle mass, it is important to do it in a healthy manner [7].

[Protein-density is important too]

Technically, you can find protein in any foods, but the density of protein (meaning the ratio of protein to calories) is much more important. Confusing? Don’t worry, here’s an example.

Any foods, even something as unhealthy as fries, contains protein. From the picture above, we can see that to consume 4.3g of protein, you would need to consume about 100g of fries, which has 313kcal, but you can gain the same protein amount from 50g of tofu for 7 times less calories [8][9].

If you go with the tofu option and increase your protein intake, you’ll be more likely to eat at a calorie deficit and maintain your muscles (learn more about how calorie deficits can help you get lean HERE [10]). If you go with the fries option on the other hand, you’ll likely be at a caloric surplus, gaining more weight and potentially muscle if you eat enough protein at the same time. But if your goal is to bulk, we still recommend whole healthy foods high in calories and protein, rather than fried foods that would cause other long-term health issues [11]. (To learn more about how to bulk with a caloric surplus, click HERE [12]).

Oftentimes, individuals trying to lose weight have to sacrifice high-carb foods like noodles, as they are not protein-dense. This is why we have spent years in development and over 100-200 recipes to create a protein-dense noodle alternative, SHLUUUP!一聲 noodles. Our SHLUUUP noodles have twice the protein content packed in the same amount of calories as regular rice noodles [13]. This way, we can all achieve our fitness goals without giving up noodles.

[Conclusion]

Now that you know the basics, you’re ready to start incorporating enough protein into your meal. Feel free to also check out our high-protein noodle recipes on Instagram, made from SHLUUUP!一聲 noodles. We understand how difficult it can be to eat enough protein, so we specifically focused more effort into helping you incorporate more protein in your meals.

If you want to target a specific body goal, whether it's to put on as much muscle as possible, or to get shredded with dense rather than large muscles, we’ve got you covered. Check out our basics of exercise in our upcoming blog.

In the case that you are embarking on a weight loss diet, it is important to make sure you are doing it healthy and safely. Otherwise, there will be long-term side effects, that may also cause your weight to bounce back. To understand how to lose weight properly, check out this article [14].

[References]

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Protein per Day: Burning fat and getting lean

Welcome to Part 2 of our blog on Protein Intake: How Many Grams of Protein per Day?

[Protein-density is important too]

[Conclusion]

[References]

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Welcome to Part 2 of our blog on Protein Intake: How Many Grams of Protein per Day?

[Protein-density is important too]

[Conclusion]

[References]

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