How should I distribute protein across the day?

Spread protein across three or four anchor meals at 25 to 40 grams each. Muscle protein synthesis, the process that builds and preserves muscle, is most strongly stimulated in that range per meal in adults, with older adults landing toward the higher end. Eat 100 grams in one meal and a yogurt, and your body uses less of it for muscle than the same total spread across the day. For a 150-gram daily target that looks like 35 grams at breakfast, 40 at lunch, 40 at dinner, and 35 in a fourth feeding, often a shake or evening cottage cheese. Front-loading at breakfast helps when appetite is usually highest in the morning and quietly fades by 7 pm.