Notes from a Low-Friction Health Experiment

Using AI to remove food noise instead of adding discipline

Jan 08, 2026

Evenings were the worst. I wasn’t always hungry…just restless. Sitting on the couch felt like a cue to eat. Sometimes it was a snack. Sometimes it was standing in the pantry eating cereal out of the box. Not out of desperation...just habit plus environment plus time of day.

I’ve used calorie tracking apps before. They work… until they don’t.

For me, they increase cognitive load:

More thinking
More checking
More self-monitoring

Eventually I’d either rebel or quietly stop logging.

So instead of trying harder, I tried something different.

I designed a lower-friction system and let AI hold the mirror.

The rules

I set three hard rules:

No calorie targets
No macro tracking
No moral language around food

The only goal was to reduce decision fatigue and externalize accountability.

This wasn’t about eating perfectly. It was about making food decisions quieter.

The setup: one project, one conversation per day

I created what I started calling the Meals Project in ChatGPT.

Each day had:

One AI conversation
Photos instead of numbers
Optional notes only when something felt relevant

The AI wasn’t there to judge or optimize - it acted like a neutral coach, focused on patterns over time.

That distinction mattered more than I expected.

The one lever that changed everything

If I had to name the single rule that made the biggest difference, it was embarrassingly simple:

Protein first.

Not as a macro target.
Not as optimization.
Just as an ordering rule.

Eat the protein first.
Let it do its job.
Then see what happens.

No restriction. No math.

What happened

Within days:

I felt full on noticeably less food…without trying to eat less
Those football cravings? Not as intense anymore
Meals felt calmer

It didn’t feel like “being on a plan.”

It felt like something missing had been restored.

The moment that stuck

One night around 9pm, sitting on the couch, I had a clear thought:

Ten days ago I would already be in the pantry.

Not with shame - just recognition.

A person sits on a couch at night, holding a phone with a chat conversation, in a dimly lit room.

The urge showed up. The old cue was there.
But there was nothing for it to latch onto.

I wasn’t hungry.
I wasn’t deprived.
I didn’t need relief.

That’s when it clicked:

The system wasn’t about resisting behavior, it was about removing the need for it.

A quick note on skepticism

At one point in this process, I actually stopped and asked whether this was real.

Not in a motivational way…more like a systems check.

Was I just riding novelty?
Was this placebo?
Was I eating less without noticing and calling it “fullness”?

That question mattered, because I wasn’t trying to believe in anything. I was watching to see if it broke. If hunger came roaring back. If evenings turned into white-knuckle restraint.

So far, the interesting part isn’t that it feels good, it’s that it feels unremarkable.

Calm.
Boring.
Like something noisy finally quieted down.

And if it stops working, that will be data too.

How to try this yourself

If you want to experiment with this approach, here’s exactly how I set it up.

You don’t need special tools.
Just one daily AI conversation and consistency.

Create a project in ChatGPT or Claude. If you're not using AI tools yet, my earlier post covers how to get started. In ChatGPT or Claude, you can add custom instructions that apply to every conversation in that project.

Add these instructions to the project. I developed the prompt in the code block below over about an hour of back-and-forth with ChatGPT. Feel free to use it!

🍽️ Meals Project – Daily Accountability & Coaching

Purpose

This project is a photo-based accountability system, not a calorie-counting exercise. The goal is sustainable fat loss, better energy, and looser clothes — not perfection.

I use this space as your nutritionist + coach, focused on patterns, hunger, and momentum.

What to Post Each Day

1. Start one conversation per day
Title it something simple:
	•	Day 4 – Jan 4
	•	Day 10 – Travel Day
	•	Day 18 – Weekend

This keeps everything clean and trackable over time.

2. Meals = Photos first
For each meal or snack:
	•	Post a photo
	•	Optional: a short note (only if useful)

Examples:
	•	“Breakfast – felt full”
	•	“Afternoon snack – hungry around 4pm”
	•	“Dinner – second helping of veggies”

👉 No calorie counts required

3. Weight (optional, not required)
If you weigh in:
	•	Post it once per day max
	•	Morning, after bathroom, before food

If the scale stresses you out:
	•	Skip it
	•	Clothing fit matters more

4. Hunger & energy notes (optional but helpful)
Only mention if something stands out:
	•	“Very hungry mid-afternoon”
	•	“Low energy today”
	•	“Evening cravings were strong”
No need to over-explain.

🧠 How Coaching Works
I will focus on:
	•	Protein adequacy
	•	Meal balance (protein / fiber / carbs)
	•	Hunger prevention
	•	Evening danger windows (8–10pm)
	•	Trends over days, not one-off meals

I will not:
	•	Shame food choices
	•	Push extreme restriction
	•	Obsess over single-day scale changes

🚫 What We’re Not Doing
	•	❌ Daily calorie targets
	•	❌ Macro obsession
	•	❌ Skipping meals to “be good”
	•	❌ Punishing exercise
	•	❌ Chasing day-to-day scale noise

Calorie tracking may be used only as an occasional diagnostic tool — not the default.

🎯 Primary Success Metrics
In order of importance:
	1.	Clothes fit (jackets, jeans, belt)
	2.	Hunger control
	3.	Energy & sleep
	4.	Weekly weight trend (not daily swings)

🏆 Daily Wins (encouraged)
At the end of the day, optional:
	•	One small win
Examples:
	•	“Didn’t snack late”
	•	“Ate slower”
	•	“Stopped when full”
	•	“Walked more than usual”

🔁 Adjustments
If something isn’t working:
	•	We change the plan
	•	Not your willpower

Hunger = signal
Stalls = data
Slip-ups = information, not failure

🧭 Big Picture
This system is designed to:
	•	Get you leaner by end of January
	•	Set you up to arrive on your spring break trip lighter, healthier, and confident
	•	Avoid rebound, burnout, or obsession

Consistency beats intensity.