Rapid weight loss has a quiet downside: up to one-third of what you lose can be muscle mass, not fat. On GLP-1, where weight comes off fast, this matters more than usual. Lose muscle, and your metabolism slows; the weight you keep off becomes harder to maintain.

The single best thing you can do to prevent it is also the simplest: eat enough protein. Here's the number and how to hit it.

The number
1.4 g / kg
Grams of protein per kg of body weight per day. For an 80 kg person, that's about 112 g — roughly double the typical Indian intake.

Why this number, not the WHO 0.8 g/kg

The WHO recommendation of 0.8 g/kg is a minimumto prevent deficiency in a healthy, weight-stable adult. People actively losing weight need more — 1.2–1.6 g/kg — to spare muscle during the calorie deficit. This is consistent across nutrition guidelines from the International Society of Sports Nutrition, ESPEN, and the American Society for Nutrition.

How to hit it on a vegetarian Indian plate

The protein content of common Indian foods:

  • Paneer 100 g — 18 g
  • Dal (cooked) 1 katori — 7 g
  • Rajma / chana 1 katori — 9 g
  • Curd / dahi 1 katori — 7 g
  • Sprouts 1 katori — 7 g
  • Eggs (2) — 12 g
  • Whey / soya protein scoop — 24 g
  • Roti or rice — about 3 g per serving (you don't hit your number with carbs)

The strategy: aim for 30–35 g per mealacross three meals, plus a snack. That means stacking two protein sources per meal — dal + paneer, sprouts + curd, eggs + dal — rather than relying on one.

When and how

  • Front-load.Start the day with 30 g of protein. Eggs, besan chilla, or a protein shake. Skipping breakfast is the most common cause of falling short.
  • Don't save it for dinner.A 50 g protein dinner sounds great but absorption maxes out at ~30 g per meal — the rest is wasted.
  • Supplement when you can't eat. Bad nausea day? A scoop of whey in milk does the work of a meal without sitting heavy.

Resistance training: the other half

Protein gives muscle the raw material. Resistance training tells the body to actually use it. Three sessions a week, 30–45 minutes, focused on compound movements (squats, presses, rows) is the minimum effective dose.

You don't need a gym — bodyweight or simple home equipment works. What matters is consistency and progressive overload.