How to log food with Grok

Grok can log a meal in your Zolt diary, read the macros already there, and answer questions about the week. How to log food with Grok is a connector setup: open grok.com/connectors, choose New Connector, then Custom, and paste https://mcp.zolthealth.com/mcp. Sign in with your Zolt account, describe the meal, and confirm the draft before it saves.

Oil, brand, and portion change the calories, and a model working from a short sentence has to invent the ones you left out. After the connector is on, Grok looks foods up in Zolt and shows you the match. The calories and macros on a confirmed log are the database values for that food and that serving.

Connect Grok

  1. 01Open grok.com/connectors
  2. 02Choose New Connector, then Custom
  3. 03Paste https://mcp.zolthealth.com/mcp
  4. 04Sign in with your Zolt account
Grok's custom connector takes Zolt's MCP URL. Sign in with the same account you use in the Zolt app. An organization may need an admin to allow the connector first.

What you are connecting

Zolt's MCP (Model Context Protocol) server is the link between Grok and your account. The address is always:

https://mcp.zolthealth.com/mcp

xAI's connector docs describe the same screen the Zolt app sends you to: open grok.com/connectors, choose New Connector, then Custom, and enter the server URL (Connectors). Grok can then resolve foods, including custom foods and recipes you saved, stage a meal, log water and body weight, and read the history your plan includes.

Free tier covers food, water, and weight logging, 30 distinct food lookups a day (the counter resets at midnight UTC), and 3 months of history. Pro adds analytics, full history, database search, and 3,000 lookups a day. Browser sign-in works on the free tier. A manual API key is a separate path, and that key requires Pro. Grok uses the browser sign-in.

When a connector is worth it, and what to check before you trust a draft, is in Food logging MCP. The tool list is on the MCP page.

How to connect Grok

You need a Grok account and a Zolt account. When the sign-in window opens, use the Apple, Google, or email login you already use in Zolt, and read the account and permissions before you approve them.

If you use Grok through an organization, an admin may need to set the connector up before Custom is available. The Zolt app includes that in the Grok steps. There is nothing extra to change in Zolt while you wait.

On the web

  1. Sign in to Grok and open grok.com/connectors.
  2. Choose New Connector, then Custom.
  3. Paste the server URL:
https://mcp.zolthealth.com/mcp
  1. Complete sign-in with your Zolt account.
  2. Go back to a Grok chat. Ask it to log a meal.

From the Zolt iPhone app

The app can copy the URL on the way to Grok, which saves a mistyped address.

  1. Open the Coach tab and start a new chat so the welcome screen is showing.
  2. Tap Use Zolt with Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, or Grok.
  3. Choose Grok.
  4. Tap Copy link and open Grok. Zolt copies the MCP URL and opens grok.com/connectors.
  5. Choose New Connector, then Custom, and paste the link. The app's note after a successful copy is: paste it when Grok asks for the URL.
  6. Sign in with your Zolt account.

If the copy fails, the URL is still on that screen. Select it and copy it yourself.

How to log a meal

Say what you ate, including the details that change the entry: a count, the drink, a cooking fat, the chain, the meal.

  • "Log 2 eggs, cooked in butter, and a coffee with whole milk for breakfast."
  • "I had a Chipotle chicken burrito bowl with brown rice, black beans, cheese, and mild salsa."
  • "Copy yesterday's lunch to today and use half the rice."
  • "Log 500 mL of water."

Grok should look the foods up, show servings, meal, and date, and wait. Correct it in the same thread before you confirm: "The coffee was oat milk" or "That was lunch." Confirm when the draft matches what you had. Confirming twice can write two entries, so check the diary in the Zolt app if you are unsure whether the first one landed.

A meal stays a draft until you confirm

  1. You describe the meal
  2. Grok resolves foods in Zolt
  3. You confirm the draft
  4. Zolt saves the meal
Mentioning food does not write the diary. Grok shows the foods and servings, and Zolt saves them after you approve that draft.

A meal photo

If the Grok chat you are in accepts a picture, attach the meal and ask Grok to log it as lunch, or ask what is in it. Grok names the foods it can see. Zolt searches those names and returns a draft. The photo stays in Grok. Zolt receives the food queries, not the image. A portion guessed from a photo is still a guess, so fix the servings you can see before you confirm.

Check your macros

Today's totals, and food logged in the last three months, are on the free tier.

  • "How are my macros looking today?"
  • "How much protein do I have left?"
  • "What did I eat yesterday?"
  • "Am I close to my calorie target?"

Every saved Zolt food log includes protein, carbohydrates, and fat. If you have not set a goal in the app yet, Grok can still read what you logged. It will have no target to compare against until that goal exists.

Averages across a long stretch, micronutrients, and open database search (search_foods) are Pro. On the free tier, Grok should say the tool is locked. If it quotes a weekly average and never shows your logged days, ask it to read the food log through Zolt.

Ask about progress

Weight and the goal use the same connection.

  • "What's my weight trend over the last month?"
  • "What's my current weight goal, and how far away am I?"
  • "Log my weight at 182 lb."

Adaptive TDEE is the maintenance estimate Zolt learns from logged intake and your weight trend. Reading it through the connector is a Pro analytics tool. On Pro you can ask "What's my current TDEE?" and follow up with why the target moved. On the free tier, use the weight trend and the food log, and set the target in the app. Understanding adaptive TDEE is the explanation of that number.

Weekly check-ins and workouts go through the same draft. Ask for the preview, read it, then confirm.

How a confirmed log is saved

  1. You ask Grok to log a meal.
  2. Grok calls Zolt's resolve_food_log_draft tool.
  3. Zolt returns food matches and serving options.
  4. Grok shows the foods, servings, section (breakfast, lunch, dinner, or snack), date, and macros.
  5. You confirm, correct, or cancel.
  6. If you confirm, Grok calls prepare_food_log, then confirm_action.
  7. Zolt saves that meal in one write.

Mentioning a food does not store it. Pending confirmations expire after ten minutes. Editing or deleting a log, logging weight or water, saving a custom food or recipe, and staging a workout use the same pause.

Troubleshooting

Custom is missing

Open grok.com/connectors in the Grok account you actually chat with. Choose New Connector, then Custom. If Custom is not offered and you use Grok through an organization, an admin has to set the connector up first. That is the case the Zolt app calls out.

The URL will not connect

Paste the full address, with https:// and the /mcp path:

https://mcp.zolthealth.com/mcp

That server is already public. Paste the URL, then finish browser sign-in. Leave the URL as the address. API keys are the Pro setup for Claude Desktop, and those steps are on the MCP page.

Sign-in uses the wrong account

Use the Apple, Google, or email login that owns the diary you want Grok to see. A connector on a different Zolt login cannot read the other diary. Approve the permissions, then return to Grok. If it still fails, remove the connector and add it again with the same URL.

The meal never shows up in Zolt

The draft was not confirmed, or Grok answered from memory. Ask it to show the foods and servings again, then tell it to confirm. If the reply is a calorie estimate with no foods from your account, check that the custom connector is still connected and try a new chat.

The calories are wrong

The database number matches the food and serving you accepted. Eggs can be the right food and still miss the butter. "A bowl of rice" is not a serving. Give a count, cups, ounces, or grams when you know them. For a chain, name the restaurant and the modifiers. Zolt has verified menu data for 60+ chains, including Chipotle, Cava, and Chick-fil-A. The restaurant calculators are there when you want to build the bowl before you log it.

Lookups stop later in the day

The free tier allows 30 distinct food resolutions per UTC day. Repeating a query you already ran does not spend another one. Confirming a draft does not either. A search that matches nothing still counts. The counter resets at midnight UTC. Pro raises the cap to 3,000.

Log with Claude or ChatGPT instead

Claude and ChatGPT use this same server. Claude is a custom connector, like Grok. ChatGPT is an app in the ChatGPT directory, so there is no URL to paste.

Cursor setup is on the MCP page.

Frequently asked questions

How do I log food with Grok?

Open grok.com/connectors, choose New Connector, then Custom, and paste https://mcp.zolthealth.com/mcp. Sign in with your Zolt account. In a Grok chat, describe the meal and confirm the draft Grok shows you. The Zolt iPhone app can copy that URL and open the connectors page from the Coach welcome screen.

Is logging food with Grok free?

Zolt's food, water, and weight logging is free, with 30 daily food lookups and 3 months of history. Connecting Grok uses browser sign-in, which works on that free tier. Pro adds analytics, full history, database search, and 3,000 daily lookups. If your Grok account belongs to an organization, an admin may need to allow the connector.

What if my organization uses Grok?

An admin may need to set the connector up before you can add a custom one. That note is in Zolt's Grok setup steps. Once the connector is allowed, paste the same URL and sign in with your Zolt account.

Does Grok see my whole Zolt account?

Grok receives what it asks the server for during the conversation. A request to log lunch should stay on that meal. A broad question about how you are doing can pull several reads, including weight, and on Pro the analytics tools. Apple Health records are available only on Pro, and only after you allow AI processing for that source. Disconnect Zolt in Grok's connector settings when you want to stop new requests. Disconnecting does not delete what Grok already processed.

Can Grok log restaurant meals?

Yes. Tell Grok the chain and what you ordered. Zolt's database includes verified menu data for 60+ chains, including Chipotle, Cava, Chick-fil-A, Panda Express, Subway, and In-N-Out. The restaurant nutrition calculators list what is covered.

Does Grok track macros?

Yes. Each saved food log has protein, carbohydrates, and fat. Ask how your macros look today, or how much protein is left. Long-range analytics are a Pro feature.

Can I log a meal photo with Grok?

If your Grok chat accepts a photo, attach the meal and ask Grok to log it. Grok names the foods. Zolt matches those names and waits for you to confirm the draft. The image stays in Grok.

Where do I disconnect Grok from Zolt?

Remove or disconnect Zolt in Grok's connector settings. Your Zolt diary stays. Data Grok already received follows Grok's privacy policy. Zolt's privacy policy covers the account.

One diary, whichever way you log

Meals you confirm in Grok land in the same Zolt diary as meals you log in the app or by iMessage. Zolt uses that intake, plus your weight trend, to learn a maintenance estimate and adjust calorie and protein targets as the goal changes.

Download Zolt free on the App Store for iPhone.

The model behind the targets is in Understanding adaptive TDEE. A starting number, before any of that learning, is the TDEE calculator.