ChatRPE works as a protein tracker you talk to. Tell it your daily target once, then log meals as you eat them: typed, spoken, as a photo of the plate, or as a photo of a barcode. Each meal can be saved with its protein as a number of grams, and one question before your last meal returns the running total and the gap: "How much protein have I logged today, and what would dinner need to cover?"
That timing is the point of tracking protein, and it is why the workflow differs from calorie counting. A calorie budget is a ceiling, so finding out at bedtime that you went over is still useful. A protein target is a floor. Finding out at bedtime that you finished 50 grams short describes a day you can no longer change, so a rough total you can see while dinner is still undecided beats a precise diary reconstructed at night.
If you don't have a number yet, the protein calculator scales the published ranges to your bodyweight and goal. Use clinical advice where it applies, especially with a condition that affects protein intake.
How close does the estimate have to be?
It depends on the food, and the difference between foods is large. Protein is concentrated, so most of your estimating error lands on things that were never going to move the total. USDA FoodData Central puts roasted skinless chicken breast at roughly 31 grams of protein per 100 grams and cooked white rice at roughly 2.7 grams per 100 grams. Misjudge a chicken portion by 60 grams and you are out by about 19 grams of protein. Misjudge the rice beside it by the same 60 grams and you are out by less than two.
So put the effort where the protein is. Confirm the serving once for the handful of foods carrying your protein: your usual yogurt, your shake, the chicken portion you cook most often, the block of tofu. Estimate everything else and stop thinking about it. For meat, record whether the weight is raw or cooked: cooking drives off water, so the same breast weighs noticeably less on the second reading.
For packaged food, photograph the barcode. Lookups return nutrition both per 100 grams and per the manufacturer's declared serving, so the figure that lands in your log follows the amount you say you ate rather than the serving printed on the box. The barcode scanner guide covers the databases behind that, and the calorie tracker guide walks the full range from exact lookup down to labelled estimate.
Log protein as a number, not a paragraph
Anything that watches the total on your behalf looks up one named field on your meal entries. A dashboard card counting down what is left, and a reminder that fires only on the days you are behind, both read protein as a plain number attached to the entry. If your meals go in as prose, ChatRPE can still read them back to you in conversation, but neither of those can count them.
This is worth settling in one message: ask it to record protein in grams as a number on every meal entry, and to keep using the same entry type for meals. A day's total is then the sum of that day's entries, which is what the chart, the card, and the reminder all read.
You can check that the total is built from what you think it is. When ChatRPE reports the day's protein in chat, it names the meals it counted as links, and tapping one opens the saved entry with its fields. A meal missing from the list, logged twice, or saved without a protein number shows up there before it skews the gap. Siri answers in plain text without those links, so do this check in the app.
Three ways to find out where you stand
The right one depends on which part of the day you tend to forget.
Asking costs one sentence and works if you remember to ask. On iPhone you can do it by voice through Siri logging without opening anything.
For the days you don't think to ask but do open the app, put the number on a dashboard card. Give the card your target and ask it for what remains rather than the raw total, and the day's gap arrives as "42 g to go" instead of a chart you have to read a value off. A remaining card counts today unless you ask for another period, so it starts fresh each morning. The dashboard guide covers the rest of the widget types.
For the days you do neither, there is a reminder that checks the total before it fires. Ask for a daily one that goes off only when the day's logged protein is still under your target: it reads the total at delivery time and stays quiet when you're already there. Delivery needs the iPhone app installed with notifications turned on. A day with nothing logged counts as zero, so it will also fire on a day you ate well and forgot to record it.
Pick the time by the last moment you can still change the outcome. For most people that is before dinner gets decided rather than after it's eaten. The daily coaching guide covers check-ins more generally.
Once you know the gap, the useful next message names it:
"I'm about 55 grams short with dinner left. Suggest options from foods I've logged before, and save the meal after I confirm what I ate."
Keeping two or three convenient options on hand beats solving the problem from scratch every evening. If hunger rather than the number is what you're trying to fix, night snacking covers comparing meals, sleep, and the circumstances around the snack instead of assuming a protein shortfall explains it. If the opposite is true and a GLP-1 medicine has you barely hungry, the GLP-1 tracker guide covers keeping protein up alongside your doses and side effects.
Reading the week without fooling yourself
Ask for daily protein totals against your target over a named period. On a chart, same-day meal entries are summed into one point per day for a protein field, and a target line drawn at your number turns a week into a readable run of hits and misses.
Two things about the numbers are worth knowing before you trust them. A request for your "average protein" over a month averages per entry, so if you log meal by meal you will get an average meal rather than an average day: ask for daily totals instead. And a numeric review usually reads at most the 500 most recent entries of that type, which at four meals a day covers about four months. A month is covered in full; a year is not, so ask about a longer stretch a few months at a time.
The chart has its own trap: a gap in it is a day you did not log, not a day you ate no protein. Check for missing entries before concluding that a thin week was a thin week.
When workdays come in consistently below weekends, look at the meal you tend to skip or replace rather than at the daily total. Adding a familiar protein source to a thin breakfast is usually easier to sustain than making dinner much larger.
Protein reads alongside training and bodyweight when you review a muscle-building plan, though a stronger lift does not establish that a particular protein target caused it, and the results timeline guide explains why visible change needs a longer view. If you want calories, carbs, and fat tracked too, the macro workflow covers running all four, and the macro calculator shows how the targets fit together.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best way to track protein intake?
The method that gives you a usable total before your last meal of the day. A rough log kept as you eat beats a precise one reconstructed at night, because only the first one leaves you time to act on a shortfall. Accuracy matters most on the few foods that carry your protein.
Do I have to weigh my food to track protein?
No. Weigh or confirm the serving on the two or three foods supplying most of your protein, and estimate the rest. Sixty grams of chicken breast is about 19 grams of protein; 60 grams of the rice beside it is under two, so the care belongs on one of those plates and not the other.
Can ChatRPE remind me only when I'm behind on protein?
Yes. A daily reminder can carry a condition on the day's logged protein total, so the notification fires at your chosen time only when you're still under target and stays silent otherwise. Delivery requires the iPhone app with notifications enabled, and a day with no logs counts as zero.
Can ChatRPE estimate protein from a photo?
Yes, as an estimate. The photo itself is visible while you're discussing it and for one follow-up message, so correct the portion in your next message rather than several messages later. Confirm the main protein source and the amount when the difference would change your plan.
Can I see which meals went into my protein total?
Yes, in the app. Ask for today's total and the reply links each meal it counted; tapping a link opens that saved entry, including its protein field. That is the quickest way to catch a meal logged twice or saved without a protein number. Siri replies are plain text and carry no links.
Do I need to track calories to track protein?
No. Tell ChatRPE which number needs precision and report the rest as context if it's useful. An accurate portion for the main protein source matters more than adding detail you'll never look at.
How much protein do I need to build muscle?
The protein calculator gives a starting range from bodyweight and goal, with the research behind it and the cases where bodyweight is the wrong input. Use it alongside your circumstances and any applicable clinical advice.
Does it matter how I spread protein across meals?
The daily total is the useful starting point, and distribution mostly makes that total easier to reach. The protein-per-meal guide covers the evidence and the 30-gram absorption misconception. For timing around training, see what to eat before a workout.