NUTRITIONAL SKILL
How to make a meal swap using ChatGPT
If you forget your lunch, get caught late at work or need to grab something while you’re out, use these steps to find a suitable replacement.
1. Screenshot the meal you’re replacing
Include the meal’s calories, protein, carbs and fat. If you’re replacing two meals with one order, include both and tell ChatGPT clearly.
2. Tell ChatGPT where you can eat
Upload the screenshot and name the restaurants available to you. Include your country, as menus and nutrition information can differ between locations.
MEAL SWAP PROMPT
Copy this into ChatGPT, fill in the brackets and attach a screenshot of the meal you’re replacing.
3. Keep refining the options
You can ask for different meats, smaller portions, another sauce or more variety. For example:
Give me more options that aren’t all bowls or footlongs.
Could I make this work with aioli?
What about something from Grill’d instead?
For a local café or restaurant, wherever possible upload a photo, screenshot or PDF of its menu so ChatGPT has something to work from or describe the menu items in detail.
4. Check the full order
Make sure the suggestion includes everything you’ll have, including sides, sauces and drinks. Compare all four numbers with your planned meal.
5. Log your replacement
In the coaching app:
Open the meal you’re replacing.
Swipe left on the foods you won’t eat and tap the bin.
Select Add Food → Create New.
Name the replacement clearly, including the order and size.
Enter its calories, protein, carbs and fat.
Set the serving as one meal and log a quantity of 1 if you ate the full order.
Mark the meal complete once your log reflects what you ate.
The saved order will be available under My Foods next time. If you leave part of the meal, adjust what you log to reflect that. Leaving the chips, for example, changes the macros differently from eating half of every item.
Remember: aim for a reasonable match. Published nutrition information is useful, but preparation and portion sizes can vary. ChatGPT’s estimates help you make an informed choice when exact tracking isn’t possible.
Head to CHAT GPT to give it a try
WHAT IF NEED TO TRACK A MEAL I JUST ATE OUT?
Take a photo of your meal and upload it to ChatGPT.
Add what you know: ingredients, rough portion sizes, oil, sauces and how much you ate.
Ask for an estimate of the calories, protein, carbs and fat. Check its assumptions and correct anything it misunderstood.
In the coaching app, go to Nutrition → Add Food → Create New.
Name the meal, enter the estimated numbers and set the serving as one meal.
Log the amount you ate: 1 for all, 0.5 for half or 0.75 for three-quarters, if you ate that proportion of each ingredient.
Delete any planned food you replaced so it isn’t counted twice.
WHAT IF NEED TO TRACK A MEAL I JUST ATE OUT BUT I DON’T HAVE A PHOTO OR MENU?
Describe the food to ChatGPT in as much detail as you can. Include where it came from, the size, ingredients and anything that changes the macros. For example: “Estimate the calories and macros in a small caramel almond latte from my local café in X country.”
Use everyday portion descriptions when you cannot weigh it. For example: “I had a large handful of roast chicken with the skin on.”
Ask for a practical number to log: “Give me your best estimate for calories, protein, carbs and fat for the amount I ate.”
Add it to the app: Go to Nutrition → Add Food → Create New. Give it a name you will recognise, enter the estimate and set the serving size as a quantity of X.
Find it faster next time. Your saved item will appear under My Foods if you order or eat it again.
MEAL ESTIMATION PROMPT
Copy this into ChatGPT, fill in what you know and add a photo if you have one.
Leave any fields you do not know blank. Check the portion and ingredient assumptions before logging the result.