I Asked ChatGPT to Plan My Meals for Three Days – The Result Was...
As a vegetarian, I have long struggled to come up with meal plans that are both budget-friendly and nutritious. So, when I heard about ChatGPT's AI-powered meal planning capabilities, I was excited to give it a try. I provided the AI with my personal information and dietary preferences and waited for my three-day meal plan to come together.
Day One
My first meal, breakfast, was one cup of porridge with a sliced banana and a tablespoon of honey. While I usually use milk in my porridge, the AI instructed me to use water instead. The meal was filling and enjoyable, with a total of 350 calories.
Lunch was a lentil soup made with one cup of lentils, one diced onion, two diced carrots, two diced celery sticks, and four cups of water. I was instructed to fry the vegetables before adding the lentils and then allowed to eat two slices of wholegrain bread with the soup. The soup was a bit bland for my taste, but it was still edible. The meal had a total of 300 calories.
For a snack, I was allowed one apple, which contained 95 calories. Unfortunately, dinner was not as enjoyable. It consisted of one cup of cooked quinoa and one cup of roasted bell peppers, courgettes, and onions. There was no cheese or salt allowed, making the meal extremely bland. The dinner had a total of 400 calories.
Day Two
Breakfast was a spinach smoothie made with one cup of almond milk and a tablespoon of almond butter. Since I couldn't find almond butter, I substituted it with Greek yoghurt. Unfortunately, the smoothie was not very appetizing and ended up in the bin. The meal had a total of 320 calories.
Lunch was a chickpea salad made with a can of chickpeas, a diced red onion, a diced tomato, and a diced cucumber. I was allowed to drizzle olive oil on top and had two slices of brown bread with the salad. The meal was filling but lacked any real flavor. It had a total of 460 calories.
For a snack, I was allowed 12 almonds which contained 100 calories. Dinner was a cup of brown rice with fried broccoli and carrots. Unfortunately, there was no salt or soy sauce allowed, making the meal once again extremely bland. I ended up picking up some crisps on the way home. The meal had a total of 400 calories.
Day Three
My final breakfast was a cup of Greek yoghurt with mixed berries and a tablespoon of honey. It was the most enjoyable meal of the three days with a total of 330 calories.
Lunch was a black bean soup made with black beans, a diced onion, two diced carrots, and two diced celery sticks. The soup was not very appetizing, but it was filling. I had two slices of brown bread with the soup, which had a total of 300 calories.
For a snack, I had a tangerine which contained 60 calories. The final meal was pasta with tomato sauce, garlic, and herbs. Unfortunately, no cheese was allowed, making the meal once again bland and uninspiring. The meal had a total of 400 calories.
The Verdict
While ChatGPT's meal planning capabilities were impressive, the meals themselves were not very enjoyable. The lack of salt and cheese made the meals extremely bland, and the calorie count was not enough to sustain an adult throughout the day. However, the total cost of the ingredients was only around £15 for three days, making it a budget-friendly option. Overall, while the AI was helpful in providing meal plans, I think I will stick to planning my own meals in the future.
