The targets · Decision 6 of 15

Why your targets change at 65

From age 65, the app changes three numbers. Protein is 1.2 g per kilogram whatever you do, the calorie deficit is smaller, and the lowest goal weight is higher. If you choose to lose weight, it may first suggest keeping your weight, and it asks you to talk to your doctor.

Last updated 15 October 2026.

Why the numbers change

Three findings from different sources. They describe groups of older people, not you.

1.0–1.2 g/kg protein a day that experts advise for healthy people over 65 PROT-AGE (Bauer et al., 2013) · expert position paper

34% of US adults aged 65 or older have chronic kidney disease. Most adults who have it do not know CDC · NHANES, August 2021 to August 2023

+12% higher risk of dying at a BMI of 21 to 22, compared with 23 to 24, in people aged 65 and over Winter et al. (2014) · 32 studies, 197,940 people · 95% CI 10% to 13%

The rules for everybody under 65 are on how we calculate your calorie target and how fast the app will let you lose weight. This page covers what changes as you get older.

Protein: 1.2 g per kilogram for everybody

Under 65, the app asks for 1.2 g of protein per kilogram if you do not do strength training. If you do it at least twice a week, it asks for 1.6 g when you keep or gain weight, and 2.0 g when you lose weight (why those numbers). The higher numbers rest mostly on trials in younger adults. From 65, every goal gets 1.2 g, with or without strength training. So if you do not train, nothing changes at 65. The weight it multiplies is still capped at a BMI of 27.5, as it is for everybody. The grams that leave protein go to carbohydrate and fat.

A slope from 50, not a step at 65

Every guideline we read gives one protein number for all adults, and another one from 65. None of them gives a slope. With a step, the woman below would go from 140 g on the day before her 65th birthday to 85 g on the day after. That is about 40% less overnight, and nothing in her body changed that day. So from 50, the strength-training numbers go down in a straight line, to 1.2 g at 65.

This slope is our own choice. It joins two ends that each have a source. We start at 50 because kidney disease gets more common in middle age. The CDC found it in 6% of US adults aged 18 to 44, 13% at 45 to 64, and 34% at 65 or older.

The same woman at different ages, if she does strength training Calculated example: woman, 160 cm, 71.5 kg, inactive, losing 0.2 kg a week, strength training twice a week.

Age	Protein per kg	Protein a day	Calories a day
50	2.0 g	140 g	1,550 kcal
55	1.73 g	120 g	1,500 kcal
60	1.47 g	105 g	1,450 kcal
64	1.25 g	90 g	1,450 kcal
65	1.2 g	85 g	1,450 kcal
68	1.2 g	85 g	1,400 kcal

Three expert groups name a range for healthy older people. PROT-AGE (Bauer et al., 2013) says “at least in the range of 1.0 to 1.2 g protein per kilogram of body weight per day” for people over 65. It advises 1.2 g or more for people who exercise, and 1.2 to 1.5 g for most people with an acute or chronic disease. The ESPEN expert group (Deutz et al., 2014) says the same: at least 1.0 to 1.2 g for healthy older people, 1.2 to 1.5 g for older people who are underfed, or at risk of it, because of an illness. The ESPEN guideline for older people (Volkert et al., 2022) asks for at least 1 g, also during weight loss.

Where 1.2 g sits among the guidelines Grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day.

EFSA, every adult 0.83 g

The amount that covers almost every healthy adult. EFSA says twice this is safe in adults

Healthy people over 65, PROT-AGE and ESPEN 1.0 to 1.2 g

At least this much

Snapkin, from 65 1.2 g

For every goal, with or without strength training. Under 65, the same without strength training

Kidney disease that may get worse, KDIGO 1.3 g

Avoid more than this

Older people with a disease, PROT-AGE 1.2 to 1.5 g

Most people with an acute or chronic disease

Snapkin, under 50, strength training, losing weight 2.0 g

Goes down in a straight line from 50, to 1.2 g at 65

0 2.2 g per kg a day

Why not more: kidneys

The KDIGO 2024 kidney guideline says: “Avoid high protein intake (>1.3 g/kg body weight/d) in adults with CKD at risk of progression.” CKD is chronic kidney disease. For stages 3 to 5 it suggests 0.8 g. PROT-AGE also says people with severe kidney disease who are not on dialysis may need to eat less protein.

Kidney disease is common at this age, and mostly hidden. In the US, the CDC found it in 34% of people aged 65 or older, against 13% at 45 to 64. About 9 in 10 adults with kidney disease (87%), at any age, did not know they had it. We do not ask about your kidneys. So the app cannot know who is in that third. The 1.6 g and 2.0 g for strength training are above the 1.3 g limit. 1.2 g is under it.

In healthy people, more protein does not seem to harm the kidneys. Devries et al. (2018) pooled 28 trials with 1,358 adults. They found that “HP intakes do not adversely influence kidney function on GFR in healthy adults”. HP means high protein. But those trials left out people with kidney disease, and that is the group the 1.3 g limit is for. The authors also rated the quality of the evidence “low to very low”.

A deficit of 500 kcal a day at most

From 65, the app takes at most 500 kcal a day off what we estimate you burn. With 7,700 kcal per kilogram, that is about 0.45 kg a week. The other limits still apply: 0.8% of your weight a week, and 35% of what you burn. Whichever is smallest wins.

This follows the ESPEN guideline. For obese older people who do lose weight, it advises “a maximally moderate caloric restriction (~500 kcal/d less than estimated needs and maintaining a minimum intake of 1000–1200 kcal/d)”. It aims at 0.25 to 1 kg a week, with at least 1 g of protein per kilogram. Our calorie minimum stays at 1,200 kcal for women and 1,500 for men, which is at or above that floor.

ESPEN also says the diet should be combined with exercise whenever possible, to keep muscle. That advice has its highest grade, A. In its trials, diet plus exercise often kept lean mass better than diet alone. The app cannot make you exercise. It can say so, and the warning does.

Not everything supports this. Most people in those trials were 60 to 70, ESPEN notes, not very old or frail people. And ESPEN wrote this advice for obese older people. For people who are only overweight, it says something else. That is next.

Below a BMI of 30, and from 80, we suggest keeping your weight

When somebody aged 65 or older with a BMI under 30 chooses to lose weight, setup does not show the pace choice straight away. It says that we suggest keeping your weight, and why. Then it offers two buttons: “Keep my weight” and “Lose weight anyway”. From 80, it does this at every BMI. “Lose weight anyway” gives a normal loss plan, with every limit on this page.

Who sees the suggestion When somebody picks losing weight in setup.

Age	BMI	What setup does
Under 65	18.5 or less	No weight-loss plan: plans keeping weight
Under 65	Over 18.5	Shows the pace choice
65 or older	23 or less	No weight-loss plan: plans keeping weight
65 to 79	Over 23, under 30	Suggests keeping weight first
65 to 79	30 or more	Shows the pace choice
80 or older	Over 23	Suggests keeping weight first

Under a BMI of 30, this follows the ESPEN guideline. Its recommendation 79 says: “In overweight older persons, weight-reducing diets shall be avoided in order to prevent loss of muscle mass and accompanying functional decline.” Overweight is a BMI of 25 to 30. Below 25, the case for losing weight is weaker still.

From 80, BMI does not change the advice. Most people in the trials ESPEN relies on for obese older people were much younger. It writes that their participants “were mostly ‘young-old’ (60–70 years) not representing a typical geriatric population”. And: “As very old and frail persons are more vulnerable to any kind of stress, decisions for or against weight loss require particular care in this population”. In those trials, diet plus exercise often kept muscle better than diet alone. But few people this old move much. Westerterp (2003) reviewed measurements of daily activity and found: “Most subjects > 80 years have an activity level well below the level defined for sedentary middle-aged adults.” So the exercise that protects muscle during a diet is least likely to happen at this age.

The lowest goal weight is a BMI of 23

Under 65, no goal weight goes below a BMI of 18.5. That is the WHO line for underweight. From 65, the lowest goal is a BMI of 23. For somebody 160 cm tall, that is about 59 kg instead of 47 kg.

Winter et al. (2014) pooled 32 studies of 197,940 people aged 65 and over, followed for 12 years on average. Risk of dying went up below a BMI of 23. It only began to go up above a BMI of 33. In their words: “For older populations, being overweight was not found to be associated with an increased risk of mortality.”

Risk of dying by BMI, in people aged 65 and over Compared with a BMI of 23.0 to 23.9. Estimates with 95% confidence intervals, from 32 studies.

no difference

BMI 20.0 to 20.9 +19%

95% CI 17% to 22%

BMI 21.0 to 21.9 +12%

95% CI 10% to 13%

BMI 23.0 to 23.9 comparison

Every other row is measured against this one

BMI 33.0 to 33.9 +8%

95% CI 0% to 15%. Where the risk began to rise

−5% +25% risk

Thin older people may be thin because they are already ill. That can make low weight look worse than it is. The authors left out early deaths and people with disease at the start, and the result did not change much. Even so, studies that watch people cannot prove that weight causes the risk.

The warning before weight loss

When somebody aged 65 or older goes ahead with losing weight, setup shows a warning. It says to talk to your doctor before you start. It says that losing weight can cost muscle and bone. It says to ask most of all if you have kidney problems. And it says strength exercise helps keep muscle.

Each line comes from the sources above. ESPEN writes that weight loss, “whether intentional or not”, speeds up the loss of muscle with age. That raises the risk of frailty, loss of function, fractures and malnutrition. Weight that comes back after a diet is mostly fat, not muscle.