Eat for Your Goals
You can’t build muscle with exercise alone — at any age. Your body needs enough protein from your diet to build the protein in your muscles. And your protein needs likely increase as you age.
The bare minimum amount of protein sedentary adults need each day is 0.8 grams per kilogram (g/kg) of body weight. But as you start to lose muscle mass with age, that jumps to 1 g/kg of body weight, according to Mayo Clinic. If you’re lifting weights regularly, you probably actually need more like 1.2 to 1.4 g/kg of your body weight.
To figure out your protein needs, divide your weight in pounds by 2.2, then multiply that number by 1.2. That will give you the minimum amount of grams of protein to get each day if you’re strength training regularly.
To meet that goal, focus on eating plenty of high-protein foods like lean meat, eggs, fish, cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, beans, lentils, and quinoa.
