Prompt Experiments

Dannan Larksy -

Blog Post: What Makes a Prompt Too Long or Too Short?

I’ve been experimenting with prompts since back when ChatGPT was a twitchy beta model that couldn’t remember its own name — and in that time, I’ve discovered something weird:
Sometimes you give it a prompt that’s just too short to get what you want. Other times, you write it like a hostage negotiation letter and it responds with “OK.”
So this post is me trying to figure out: how long is too long? How short is too short? And does size even matter if your prompt makes sense?
I ran a few tests — same goal, different prompt lengths — to see if there’s a sweet spot for talking to the world’s most polite robot.

Experiment: Write Me a Meal Plan

Prompt 1 (Short):

Write me a meal plan.

Result: Very generic 5-day plan with standard meals like cereal, chicken salad, and spaghetti. No regional focus, no prep time, and zero personalisation.

Prompt 2 (Medium):

Create a 5-day meal plan that’s affordable and healthy.

Result: A better effort — cleaner meals, some variety, but still vague. Lacked any Aussie references and didn’t include cost, prep time or calorie insight.

Prompt 3 (Detailed, Effective):

I hate cooking but want to eat better. Can you create a 5-day meal plan using simple recipes that don’t take more than 20 minutes, cost less than $10 per meal, and use ingredients I can find at Aldi in Australia? Include breakfast, lunch and dinner, and don’t repeat meals.

Result: ✅ Specific. ✅ Practical. ✅ Localised. ✅ Usable.

This prompt returned a full, easy-to-make plan using Aussie supermarket items, cooking times under 30 mins, and included Aldi references.

💥 BONUS: Tactical Prompt Upgrade

Here’s the high-level version I used to push the AI to give me real, usable results with calorie control and weekly variety:

I need a 7-day meal plan that provides around 1,800 calories per day. Please:
– Use common ingredients available at Aldi in Australia
– Avoid seafood entirely (no fish, prawns, etc.)
– Include breakfast, lunch, dinner, and one snack per day
– Make meals simple and easy to prepare (ideally under 30 mins)
– Show approximate quantities for each ingredient per meal
– Include estimated calories per meal and per day

Keep the ingredients realistic for someone who doesn’t enjoy cooking much. You can reuse ingredients throughout the week but avoid repeating full meals.

🧾 7-Day Aldi Meal Plan – ~1,800 Calories/day (No Seafood)

Day-by-day breakdown of meals, quantities, and estimated calories:

Day 1

  • Breakfast: 2 Weet-Bix + 1 cup milk + 1 banana = 330 cal
  • Snack: 30g almonds = 180 cal
  • Lunch: Chicken wrap (80g chicken, wrap, lettuce, mayo) = 400 cal
  • Dinner: Stir-fry beef, veg, rice = 870 cal
    Total: ~1,780 cal

Day 2

  • Breakfast: Toast + 2 scrambled eggs + butter = 350 cal
  • Snack: 150g Greek yoghurt = 160 cal
  • Lunch: Ham & salad sandwich = 380 cal
  • Dinner: Chicken thigh, roast pumpkin & zucchini = 890 cal
    Total: ~1,780 cal

Day 3

  • Breakfast: Smoothie (oats, banana, milk, peanut butter) = 370 cal
  • Snack: Boiled egg + apple = 160 cal
  • Lunch: Chickpea pasta salad = 430 cal
  • Dinner: Beef mince & sweet potato = 830 cal
    Total: ~1,790 cal

Day 4

  • Breakfast: Crumpets + butter + honey = 330 cal
  • Snack: Cottage cheese + pear = 180 cal
  • Lunch: Wrap with leftover beef mince = 400 cal
  • Dinner: Chicken stir-fry + rice = 890 cal
    Total: ~1,800 cal

Day 5

  • Breakfast: Yoghurt + muesli + berries = 360 cal
  • Snack: 2 boiled eggs = 150 cal
  • Lunch: Toastie (ham, cheese, tomato) = 420 cal
  • Dinner: Crumbed chicken, oven chips, salad = 870 cal
    Total: ~1,800 cal

Day 6

  • Breakfast: Porridge = 350 cal
  • Snack: Banana + peanut butter = 200 cal
  • Lunch: Chicken Caesar salad = 430 cal
  • Dinner: Lentil curry + rice = 820 cal
    Total: ~1,800 cal

Day 7

  • Breakfast: Eggs + toast + tomato = 350 cal
  • Snack: Yoghurt + muesli = 180 cal
  • Lunch: Leftover lentil curry = 450 cal
  • Dinner: Beef burger + chips = 820 cal
    Total: ~1,800 cal

💡 Useful Tips

Exporting Your Meal Plan or Shopping List:

  1. Copy to Google Sheets or Excel for easy editing.

You can also request:

“Convert this to a meal-prep checklist including cooking instructions.”

For printable plans, ask:

“Format this into a weekly PDF with checkboxes.”

Ask ChatGPT to create a shopping list from your meal plan:

“Create a shopping list for this 7-day meal plan grouped by food category.”

These extra AI-powered prompts turn your meal plan into something practical and easy to action, especially if you’re juggling other tasks.

🛒 Prompt takeaway: More detail = less chaos. Don't be afraid to tell ChatGPT exactly how lazy, busy, or broke you are. It actually listens.