This week, I dived into a little experiment that could honestly be straight out of Black Mirror – I let an AI generate my meal plan. Yes, that's right, for an entire week, AI was my personal nutritionist. Let's dive right into this culinary and technological adventure!

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been all the rage recently, from creating artwork to writing essays and even editing videos. So, I thought, "why not ask AI to help me out in the kitchen?" Being a new mom comes with the added challenge of figuring out not only my own meals but also introducing solids to my tiny human. Between meal prep for the little one and feeding myself, I realized I was spending a ton of time in the kitchen and yet often ended up ordering food – not healthy or budget-friendly!

Enter ChatGPT, the popular language model AI. I tasked it to create a high protein, low carb meal plan with a specific daily calorie intake, and also to generate a handy grocery list. Not only did ChatGPT churn out a meal plan with breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks, but it also provided step-by-step cooking instructions and an accurate grocery list, eliminating my struggle with figuring out quantities and measurements.

It wasn't all smooth sailing though. While the AI was astonishingly precise most of the time, it did miss out on some items from the weekly plan in the grocery list. Additionally, it seemed to have misinterpreted my request for "carbs at night", leading to some dinners being surprisingly carb-free! Plus, I quickly learned that cooking every single meal from scratch was an intense task.

Our week kicked off with a mushroom and spinach omelette for breakfast, followed by a chicken salad lunch, and ended with a salmon, cauliflower rice, and broccoli dinner. Throughout the week, we had some hits and misses. I won't deny that I had my fair share of frustration, and some of the AI-created meals did feel a tad robotic. However, in the end, I felt that this experiment was a fantastic learning curve.

While we didn't stick to the AI plan strictly, we did cook all our meals for the entire week, except Friday dinner – because, let's be real, we all need pizza! Despite the bumps along the road, I'd still recommend giving this a go. The experience has completely shifted my approach to meal planning. The next week, my husband and I planned our meals, did meal prep for big portions one day, and leftovers the next. By cooking twice a week and planning it out, we saved so much time and effort.

In summary, this experiment was an intriguing blend of AI tech and food adventures. While it had its fair share of hiccups, I appreciated the convenience of the grocery list, tried new recipes, and even found a few keepers (hello, turkey wraps!). I am convinced that an AI meal plan is a great starting point for those looking to venture into the world of meal prepping, and helps you step out of your comfort zone in the kitchen.

That's it for this unusual AI meal plan journey! Do let me know if you've tried it out or plan to do so, and how it went. Also, let me know if you'd like to see more of AI and food experiments in the future! Until next time, happy cooking and bye-bye!

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