Answering the narrow version, because the broad one does not have a single answer. Distribution matters less than total but it is not nothing. Roughly 25 to 40g per sitting with enough leucine to trigger synthesis, three or four times a day, is more effective than the same total in one enormous evening meal — and on a suppressed appetite the enormous evening meal is the one you will not finish anyway.
My appetite is suppressed enough that hitting a protein target is now the hardest part of the day, and everything I read assumes I can simply eat more.
The question I want answered is whether the RDA is the wrong reference entirely during rapid weight loss, and what the actual target should be.
Not looking for reassurance. Looking for the part I have got wrong.
LipidDoc_ATL said:Distribution matters less than total but it is not nothing.
Agreed on the target, with the caveat that reference weight and current weight are different numbers. Using current weight at the start of a large loss produces a target that is both unachievable and unnecessary.
That is the short version; the long version is somebody else's post.
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View Resultsnick_newbie said:My appetite is suppressed enough that hitting a protein target is now the hardest part of the day, and everything I read assumes I can simply eat…
This matches mine closely enough to be worth saying so. On a suppressed appetite the winning strategy is protein density per unit of volume, not per calorie. Isolate powders, Greek yoghurt and cottage cheese, egg whites, lean fish, and tinned tuna all deliver a lot of protein in a small physical volume. Front-load it: appetite is usually least suppressed in the first hours after waking and worst on the day or two after dosing, so get the majority in early in the day and early in the week.
Adding the clinical framing, because it changes how the question reads.
DEXA scan update relevant to protein intake:
Scanned at months 0, 6, and 12. Here are the body comp numbers:
| Baseline | Month 6 | Month 12 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total mass | 273 lbs | 213 lbs | 200 lbs |
| Fat mass | 103 lbs | 73 lbs | 50 lbs |
| Lean mass | 156 lbs | 152 lbs | 157 lbs |
| Body fat % | 42% | 32% | 24% |
Lean mass preserved — actually GAINED 1-2 lbs thanks to progressive overload + 1.6g/kg protein. The protein intake discussion needs to include body comp data, not just scale weight.