The Extreme Cycle is the newest addition to our carb cycling family and is the result of our years of experience helping our peeps successfully transform their lives on Extreme Weight Loss. If you?re already a carb cycler, then a lot about this new cycle will seem familiar. If you’re new to carb cycling, check out the carb cycling basics first, and then get cycling!
Here’s what an Extreme Cycle week looks like:
- Monday: High carb day
- Tuesday: High carb day
- Wednesday: High carb day
- Thursday: High carb day
- Friday: Low carb day
- Saturday: Low carb day
- Sunday: Reset Day (and weigh-in day)
Those four consecutive high carb days will give your body a sense of normalcy and let you get into a routine with meal planning. Switching to two low carb days flips your weight loss into turbo mode, allowing you to burn the maximum fat, which is what we want, right?! And your weekly Reset Day (known as your Reward Day in other cycles), lets you eat all those foods you crave, boosts your metabolic rate, and actually helps you lose weight!
Just like with the other cycles, you’ll eat breakfast within 30 minutes of waking and every 3 hours thereafter for a total of 5 meals a day. When it comes to putting your meals together, this is what you’ll do:
- Every breakfast—on both low and high carb days—contains a protein, a carb, and a fat.
- On high carb days, for meals 2, 3, and 4, you’ll be eating a protein, a carb, and veggies. For meal 5, you’ll be eating a protein, a fat, and veggies.
- On low carb days, all 4 meals after breakfast will contain a protein, a fat, and veggies.
- And veggies—the non-root/non-starchy type—are totally “free” in the Extreme Cycle! You can enjoy them in limitless portions, and they are a huge key to helping you feel full throughout your day.
If you’re using our book, Extreme Transformation, where we talk about the Extreme Cycle and a lot of other amazing transformation-related things, all your meals are planned out for you for all 21 days of the cycle! We’ve created 21 days? worth of amazing meals for you, including Cheat Meals for your Reset Days. We’ve also included other options to make meal planning as simple and flexible as possible. And you can repeat the Extreme Cycle as many times as you want, or you can change to the Turbo Cycle if you need to shake things up a bit. And for all you macro counters (*hand raised*), calories and macros are figured out and listed for you with every single recipe. 🙂 If you’d like to put your own meals together, or are out and about and can’t meal prep ahead of time, follow this handy portion size guide:
- Proteins: Palm-size portion
- Carbs (grainy, starchy, and fruit): 1 clenched fist
- Veggies: 2 clenched fists
- Fats: 1 thumb
- Sauces: 1 thumb
Are you ready to take your transformation to the extreme and lose those extra pounds in the fastest and safest way possible? Then grab a copy of Extreme Transformation, and let’s go!
661 Responses
Hi I’ve really wanted to try carb cycling but I’m just not sure where to start with calories and macros. I’m in nursing school with three kids so I don’t work out a lot. I sit in class most of the day, four days a week. I do 3-4 at home HIIT style work outs per week. My goal is to lose fat and inches. Which cycle should I start with and how many calories? I’m afraid of going too high with my calories because of my lack of working out. Thanks, Kathryn.
Hi Kathryn: The Extreme Cycle is a great place to start, and everything is already figured out for you! And here’s a post with some great tips for meal planning on the Extreme Cycle: https://heidipowell.net/10617. You can totally do this!
Is it okay to not have our cheat meal or reward day on Sunday? It’s extremely difficult for me to have it that day. Can we do it another day during the week?
Hi Brittany: Your reward day can be on any day you’d like, but it needs to be the same day each week. Then your day 1 will be the next day and you’ll go from there. 🙂
Thank you for your reply.
Actually before Extreme cycle I tried a low carb diet for 2 months and lost 10 lbs. then it started to be not so effective and I switched to Extreme cycle.
Do you think this might be the reason for my weight gain for the 1st week ?
should I go on ?
Hi Mel: If you’re introducing carbs – even the healthy ones – into your diet, it can cause a bit of a weight gain since carbs do retain water. But it’s nothing to worry about! We need the right mix of proteins, carbs, and fats in our diet, and this is taken care of for you in the Extreme Cycle, so you should be good to go!
Hi Heidi Team
I read all your books. I did classic cycle before had good results but gained the weight back. Now I am on my 1st day of the 2nd week of the first extreme cycle. yesterday was my reward day , I weighed my self today and boom- 2lbs up?? I am so discouraged. please tell me what I have done wrong? And after 1st week of extreme cycle my waist was 1 inch up??
is it something normal? or not?
:((((
Hi Mel: It’s best to only weigh yourself on the morning of your reward day each week. After reward day, it’s very common for your weight to be up a bit due to what you ate during that day. Keep following the Extreme Cycle, only weigh on the morning of day 7, and you should be good to go! 🙂
How do we figure out the amount of carbs and fats that we should consuming on high/low carb days?
Hi Brittany: Here are the macro percentages for the meals on the Extreme Cycle: Extreme Cycle: Breakfast (EVERY day): Protein: 30%, Carb: 40%, Fat: 30%, High Carb Meal: Protein: 40%, Carb: 50%, Fat: 10%, Low Carb Meal: Protein: 40%, Carb: 10%, Fat: 50%. 🙂
Hey guys!
I weigh 265 and am 26 years old. I am also type 2 diabetic and was told to stick to lowering my carb intake being diabetic. I woukd like to loose 110 lbs. Which plan would work best for me?
Hi Stephanie: Here’s a post that might help you figure out which cycle to choose: https://heidipowell.net/5078. You can do this!
I’m 5’2 114 pounds . I workout hard 6 days a week. ( HIIT, weight lifting, and crossfit) I am looking to loose a little far percentage but don’t want to loose any muscle mass. It seems like I store alot of fat on my armsite. What would be the best cycle for me to start with. Is it OK to do intense workouts on my low carb days ?
Hi Vanessa: This cycle could definitely work for you, and workouts are built into Monday-Saturday of each, so you should be good to go!
Hi I have a Question I am 5′ 9′ and I weigh 227 pounds was over weight for a long time I have lost some weight but how many Calories should I be eating in a day and what should I be eating after lunch because it says no carbs after lunch can you give me some snacks and some healthy meals so I can lose weight
Hi Lisa: Here’s a post that can help you with meal planning on the Extreme Cycle: https://heidipowell.net/10617. And aim for around 1500 calories a day. There are 21 days’ worth of meals as well as even more snack and meal ideas in the book – “Extreme Transformation,” as well as a complete exercise program and many other helpful tips and tools. http://amzn.to/1RKDIgo.
Hi! I have recently read both books and I am excited to start however I am really confused about which cycle to use. I have had success with low carb diets in the past but never stuck with them & I am very Leary about carbs so I am thinking the Turbo cycle would be better as the Extreme Cycle has more high carb days. I have about 150lbs to lose and I am wanting to stick to the one that will give me the best results in the least amount of time. So any and all advice would be appreciated.
Hi Ashley: I’d start with the Extreme Cycle. It offers the right amount of carbs to help your body burn fat and give you the energy you need for workouts. You can do this!
Hi Heidi: I am starting the Extreme Cycle today and have a few questions:
1) I wake up later in the day and my first meal is usually not until 9 AM. Do I still need to get 5 meals in even though I am winding down at night and eating at 9 PM seems late? Are there any negative consequences of only having 4 meals?
2) Since I do better with numbers, what should my caloric maximums be for high and low carb days?
Thanks for all the help and encouragement!
-Erika
Hi Erika: It is best to eat 5 meals a day, and aim for around 1500 calories a day on both low and high carb days. You can do this! 🙂