MariaRD said:

The RDA is the wrong reference and it is worth understanding why.

DEXA scan update relevant to protein intake:

Scanned at months 0, 6, and 12. Here are the body comp numbers:

Lean mass preserved — actually GAINED 1-2 lbs thanks to progressive overload + 1.5g/kg protein. The protein intake discussion needs to include body comp data, not just scale weight.

One thing that is still open after traveltech_sara’s answer:

How people are hitting a protein target on a genuinely suppressed appetite, because volume is the binding constraint rather than willingness?

PeptideSynthNJ said:

DEXA scan update relevant to protein intake: Scanned at months 0, 6, and 12.

Coming at PeptideSynthNJ’s question from a different direction. Take it one variable at a time. Almost every unanswerable question in these threads is unanswerable because three things changed in the same fortnight, and no amount of subsequent argument can untangle them after the fact.

OP back with an update, since a thread like this is useless without one.

Reporting back — setting the target on reference weight rather than current weight turned an impossible number into a boring one.

MASHdoc_SA said:

Almost every unanswerable question in these threads is unanswerable because three things changed in the same fortnight, and no amount of subsequent…

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.