How much protein do you actually need?

In America? Who, American Gladiators? I'm 5'9 150lb, America* recommends 55g.

*USDA

I usually do about 1.5g per lb. My breakfast was a pound of steak and tomatoes and my lunch was a pound of stake and 300ml of greek yoghurt and my dinner is gonna be a roast chicken and potatoes. Its not that hard to do, just have to eat a lot of meat and very little of anything else really.

It's pretty easy on an isocaloric diet. (ie: 33% for each macro)

Real meat with every meal, and a non-baby proportion of it, should do the trick, or at least get you close enough that one periworkout shake will do the rest.

Now, the USDA/CDA/etc recommend like .8g/kg or something (.36g/lb), and nitrogen balance studies support this number for sedentary people, up to .7g/lb. However, most strength coaches see better success with numbers higher than this - like 1g/lb to 1.5g/lb. So: test which uses a proxy, or results?

Fuji tends to err on the more extreme side since he's an ectomorph trying to put on slabs of mass.

Even if you're not trying to add some lean mass, though, the recommended amount of protein (50 grams) is ridiculously low. People who actually adhere to that are likely getting the rest of their calories from junk. That doesn't mean you have to go a gram of protein per pound of body weight (assuming you're just trying to maintain a decent looking body). Find a middle ground.

Another positive for eating more protein is that it's more satiating than carbs and most fats. A thousand calories in a lean meat is going to fill you up a lot more than a 1,000 calories of bread.

Beans are an overrated source of protein, anyway.

.7g/lb seems about right for civilians.

if you live in a developed country and are not vegan, you shouldn't ever have to worry about how much protein you need.

Seriosuly, eating too much meat (crappy chicken, red meat) makes me feel like shit. I rather do shakes. Chicken Breast/Seafood are perfectly fine, but pretty expensive.

Chicken breasts aren't expensive. Couple bucks a pound at the most around here.

Chicken, beef, cottage cheese, eggs/egg whites. Make friends with your butcher or stock up when the deals come around. Whey shakes are pretty crapulent outside of PWO, and powders (casein or w/e) in general may not agree with people + are expensive + not sustainable. For an average 150lb guy getting 200+g of protein daily to support the demands of lifting and growing is not that hard if you alter what you eat. Considering most people eat at or above maintenance anyways, taking out bad food sources and adding in protein can do great things. Even if you aren't lifting, protein is good.

Sure, you don't "need" excess protein, just like you don't "need" excess carbs. I hate to quote studies, but

http://www.jacn.org/content/23/5/373.abstract

Not a slam dunk but uhh yeah there isn't really a good reason to eat less protein if you are at all concerned with body comp, athletic performance, general well-being or anything past complete apathy towards your body.

My own daily intake not counting dinner:
4 eggs, 1 cup cottage cheese, 8oz any given meat, 2 scoops casein totals roughly 150g of protein, and thats not even counting "coincidental" protein from other food sources ie. cheese, bread, rice etc. throw in a PWO shake and more meat for dinner and you're well over 200g.

Greek yogurt man, ~23g of protein per cup. Soooo tasty.

Quick note: protein gives shit satiation. Protein is filling but not satiating, and fat (especially saturated fats) fill and satiate.