Carb Cycling: The Extreme Cycle

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!

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660 Responses

  1. Hi! I’m just a little confused about the new Extreme cycle. Previously, the Turbo cycle was billed as the fastest way to drop weight because it only contains two high carb days. Now, the Extreme cycle is billed as an even faster way to drop weight (as noted in a comment reply above) because it includes more high carb days. Can you please help me reconcile the two cycle plans? Thanks very much in advance.

    1. Hi Mark: The new Extreme Cycle is the result of Chris and Heidi’s experience working with their contestants on the show over the past few years. There are a couple of tweeks to the program as compared to the Turbo Cycle because of what they’ve learned (as with anything, there’s always more to learn!), and they’ve incorporated these into the new cycle. Any of the cycles can work, and the Turbo Cycle is a cycle that can work to mix things up within the Extreme Cycle. And you can change cycles at any time, so the program is very flexible. I hope this answers your question. Good luck – you got this!

    2. So if you were doing turbo and extreme would you do extreme for 3 weeks then turbo for a week to not plateau?

  2. Hi! So with any of the cycles they have you eat veggies with most of the meals and they say the green non starchy veggies are unlimited as far as how much you’re allowed to eat. So, since they’re unlimited, can I literally eat AS MUCH as I want without concern of the calories of the veggies or should I count them as part of my daily caloric intake?

    Thanks, y’all! You always answer my questions fully and well. I appreciate it 🙂 God bless.

    1. Hi Grace: Yes, veggies (the non-root/non-starchy type) are “unlimited” in the Extreme Cycle. As with anything, you don’t want to over do it – eat til you’re full, then eat your next meal in 3 hours with a veggie snack if you get hungry in between. Good luck!

  3. Hi Powell family! I’m currently reading your newest book and am very excited about the day to day focus that is provided. I’m a little confused about the newest carb cycle. How is it faster than the turbo cycle if it has more carb days?

    Also, I’m starting a high intensity program called Freeletics that is calling for low carb meals. I’m not sure what is the best approach of eating for this program. I was thinking about using the turbo cycle?

  4. Also, I go to the gym very early in the morning (before 6am) and usually don’t eat breakfast until after my workout. What should I be having before my workout? Regularly, I have a scoop of protein powder and a pre-workout supplement. Thank you.

  5. Is there a specific percentage for the macronutrients that we should be aiming for every day? For example, if my caloric intake should be 1500 calories, what percentage would fat, protein, and carbs be for those calories? Currently, I have it set to 40% protein, 40% carbs, and 20% fat on high carb days. On the low carb days, I changed it to 50% protein, 30% fat, and 20% carbs. Please advise. Thank you.

    1. Hi Patricia: In the Extreme Cycle, all the macros are figured out for you, you simply have to follow the plan. If you’re putting your own meals together, then follow the portion size guide in this post and you should be good to go!

  6. I just bought Extreme Transformation and I have never done carb cycling, but have been doing a lot of research on it. Is it OK for me to start with the extreme carb cycle or do I need to start with easy or classic?

  7. Hello there, Starting EXTREME today. I have done classic and egg yolks were listed as a fat then. Noticed 2 egg yolks are listed as protein on the food list along with 5 egg whites as protein. But saw at beginning if book when they were explaining proteins, carbs, fats, veggies that they had egg yolks as fat. Confused. Also if egg whites and yolks are protein how do I eat both together as a serving? AND do women do 1500 calories on LC days on extreme cycle? Seems like a lot. Thank you so much!!

  8. Hi! Happy New Year! I’ve been doing the Turbo Cycle from the previous books and had a couple of questions. I like the Extreme Transformation book & lessons. With the new the “Slingshot” still mandatory or now optional? It seemed like a necessity in the previous books, and now sounds optional. Also, for women is it still 1500 & 1200 calories for high & low carb days?

    1. Hi Jolynn: It would be best to discuss this with your healthcare team and then follow any modifications they suggest.

    2. Hi Jolynn! I have Hashimotos too and this program worked SO well for me. I lost 60 lbs. I am back to pick up where I fell off (after some big life changes) and this time, I’m gluten free. You’ll love this diet. It’s easy and it’s so great for inflammation. Always talk to your doctor, but you’ll find this diet is really great as long as you are being mindful of the goitrogenic foods you are eating, the only modifications you’ll need to make along the way are those that are right for you. Hashimotos makes those of us who suffer from it a bit of an anomaly because we are affected by things so differently. Just listen to your body, you’ll know when something you are doing isn’t working. If you aren’t gluten free, I would highly recommend it, it changed so much for me and I am excited to see how this diet goes for me now that I have made this change. Good luck!

    1. Hi Wendy: 1 tablespoon of peanut butter is a fat portion, and 4 1/2 tablespoons of peanut butter powder is a fat portion. Peanut butter has a greater fat content, so it’s a bit difficult to use it in place of peanut butter powder.

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