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If you're constantly saying, "I can't believe it's already May," you're not alone. It seems to be the collective consensus. It can feel like we're in an arm's race with time. Goals set in January are still yet to be realized, but May is as good a month as any to start.
You don't have to hire a personal trainer, nutritionist or health coach just to come up with a potential plan for making progress (especially in this economy). You can use AI to generate recipes, audit your grocery receipts and get specific nutrition advice for your lifestyle, which you can then bring to your doctor.
While they're not a replacement for health care professionals, AI chatbots can be handy tools to turn to for advice and accountability. Just be wary that AI models are trained on internet data, and we all know Dr. Google loves to catastrophize. Note that you should always consult your doctor before making any changes to your diet or lifestyle.
Think of a chatbot as another tool that can help you reach health goals. You can use tools like MyFitnessPal and ChatGPT to ask questions, upload menus when you're eating out to find out what to order, plan a training program and make a shopping list. However, before you make any changes, confirm with your doctor that this advice is right for you and your body. After all, everyone's health is different and an AI chatbot doesn't know your body like your doctor does.
And you could use ChatGPT on a daily basis by logging workouts, creating meal plans, counting calories and telling the chatbot how you feel.
It's best to use the Projects feature on the paid plan to keep conversations, files and instructions in one place. Find the Projects tab in the left-hand column.
Open a new project and call it something like "AI Health Coach."
Review the health goals you set at the start of the year and create a prompt. For example, "I'm a 37-year-old woman and I want to lose weight. I'm 162 pounds and 5.6 feet tall. What is the best weight for me? I want to ask you questions every day about my calories, food, training, etc."
In one prompt, I was able to set the target for 135-145 pounds. I told it I wanted to reach 145 pounds by the end of the year by focusing 80% on food and 20% on exercise.
I told ChatGPT that I walk 7,000 steps per day and do one yoga class per week - and that I have no dietary restrictions but I'm undergoing IVF, so Mediterranean meals are my preference.
We landed on a daily calorie count of 1,800, which I thought was a little low and didn't leave much room for cheat meals. I asked for a lower count on weekdays so I can have cheat meals on weekends.
ChatGPT revised its plan to this:
My priority is weight loss, but I can adjust this plan in the future when I want to switch to strength building. I plan to open up this chat every day and use it for real-time support, rather than a fixed plan. If I go over my calories one day, I can ask ChatGPT the next morning how much I should reduce my calories to stay in a deficit.
Pretty cool stuff.
I then asked for a sample meal plan to follow from Monday to Thursday, because sticking to 1,600 calories will help me enjoy my weekends. It gave me a generic plan, so I asked it to just allocate an apple and two coffees for breakfast.
With a daily plan, I can reduce decision-making, especially when I'm busy with work. I can also easily bring it to my doctor for their expert insights.
On the weekends, when I wanted to order takeout, I could feed the menu to ChatGPT to get suggestions. I could upload my food diary for the day and ask what macros I'm missing, not just so I can stay within my calories.
Here's an example prompt:
"This is the menu for the Chinese restaurant we're ordering from. It's Saturday, so I have 2,100 calories. What should I order to stay within my calories and hit my macros? Here's the breakdown of the food I've consumed today:
I had to refine its suggestions by telling it that I'm splitting it with my wife and we don't need an appetizer. It suggested this:
I always calculate calories from the higher end of the estimate, as well as weigh the food. I could even take it one step further and tell ChatGPT the specific portion size, to make sure the calories are within that range.
If you have that Projects page handy via the ChatGPT app, you can make these requests as you go about your day.
ChatGPT can help you make daily progress on your health goals by gamifying it and making it fun. Just consult your doctor before changing your diet and to make sure AI is creating the right plan for your body.
