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
I have just completed my first week of the program and I have lost three pounds! I am, however, having stomach issues on my low carb days which I think might be the amount of fat from nuts, etc. Will this correct itself? I have been on a pretty low diet prior to starting carb cycling.
Hi Patricia: Yay! This is awesome! Yes, your body can react in unusual ways at the beginning of a new program, and it should get better. If not, feel free to comment again and we’ll go from there. You got this!
I just got your new book,and I have a question. Can you change up the. High carb meals from different days? I am a nurse, work 12-hour shifts, and I don’t have access to a blender at work. Thanks!
Hi Jennifer: Yes, you can substitute any high-carb meal for a high-carb meal, and the same goes for low-carb meals. Good luck – you can do this!
Jennifer- I also work shift work and don’t have access to a blender at work. I usually cook everything a day a head and then make my shakes the morning before work, and put them in a cup with a lid and just put them in the fridge at work, they taste just as good as when I make them and drink them right then. I also cook a day a head and that has really helped me stay on track, and when I work multiple overtime days in a row I cook on my day off for several days to help stay on track. This may help you also.
just curious, I see different meals have different carb/protein gram counts. Will this affect the end results? I also need to substitute but want to make sure I am doing what is best.
Hi Bertha: If you’d like to put your own meals together, there are some awesome options in this post: https://heidipowell.net/10617. Look especially for the “Create Your Own Meals” graphic at the end. 🙂
I just read extreme transformation and I am excited to get started but I have a lot of food allergies. How can I follow the plan if I can not use the recipes? Is there a specific count of carbs, proteins etc..?
Hi Theresa: You can put your own meals together, and there’s a guide on how to do that in this post. If you follow the recipes and/or the portion guide, you’ll get all the macros you need. It’s simple! Hope that helps!
Hi, snacks in the low carbs days I can use a protein shake?. Fats that can be used to accompany?
Hi Team Powell,
I absolutely the the carb cycle program with which you have helped so many people. I tried the turbo cycle, and now am trying your new extreme carb cycle. I want everyone to know that just since starting the diet bet with you a few days ago is when I began the newest car cycle. I lose something every single day on this new cycle, whether it’s .6 pound or 1.2 pounds. I am very excited to be on this plan with you.
I am 69 years of age, and have been “dieting” all my life. I have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and am on oxygen at night. I weighed 188.2 about 7-8 days before I began your diet bet. Today, January 7, I am down to 182.8. My goal is to lose down to 149. My “why” is to lower my cholesterol, lower my blood pressure, raise my oxygen level and get off my CPAP.
I want to thank you for helping so many people throughout the last years. To see in this newest book Extreme Transformation that everything you do to help all those contestants on Extreme Weight Loss is in this book is incredible. Most people want to keep their successes a secret, while you truly want to help all of us. Thank you, thank you!
I will be following you each day in the book, as well as on these chats. As I said I have been a follower of Chris and Heidi for a couple of years.
My question to you is this: When do I eat fruit?
“Extremely Thankful”
Hi! I have a question about carbs. Are beans (black beans and kidney beans) a carb or protein source? I don’t want to necessarily eat pasta and brown rice for carbs because I’d rather burn energy from healthy fats. Can my carbs be beans on high carb days?
I’m wanting to build lean muscle and it seems like the Turbo cycle is the best because there are more low carb than high carb days.
Hi Monica: Beans are considered carbs in carb cycling, so they can be your carb portion of any high-carb meal. 🙂
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?
I just posted the same question on dietbet. The person above you in comments seems to have had success however I’m just trying to learn which plan is the best/fastest.
Hi Kathleen: The new Extreme Cycle is the fastest because of the arrangement of low- and high carb days, as well as the small changes in the breakfasts and dinners. However, you can use whichever cycle fits your schedule and goals the best, and you can change cycles at any time.
Hi Monica: It’s not about the number of carbs, it’s about the arrangement of the low- and high-carb days that makes the Extreme Cycle the fastest weight loss cycle. If you’re wanting to do more low-carb days, then begin with the Turbo Cycle, and you can change cycles at any time.
What can I use in place of banana’s? I am allergic to them and there are a few recipe’s that call for banana’s. I really want to follow the Extreme Carb Cycle with the plan in the book, just need some tips on what to swap out. Thanks!
Hi Brandi: You could use other fruits that have a banana-like texture. Maybe mango would be a good option to start with?
Where would I find more answers to questions about the nutrition. I already have the Extreme Transformation, just have finished it yet. Is there a continuation of these chats back and forth somewhere else?
I just wanted to encourage everyone beginning Chris and Heidi’s Carb Cycling plan! I have read through both previous books, and I started carb cycling in mid-October of 2015 with a beginning weight of 172 pounds. The month before that in September, I was basically very crabby (ask my dear husband and children) and trying to starve myself while attempting to also exercise. (This is NOT Chris and Heidi’s Carb Cycling plan, just to make that clear). I lost a measly 4 lbs, but I knew I could never keep that up, and besides, I actually wanted to be HEALTHY!!! Not just skinnier. Chris and Heidi’s books helped me set realistic goals, helped me make a plan I could follow, and ultimately helped me see that I can DO THIS, probably forever! As of last Saturday, I weighed 149 pounds. HOORAY! A few other things that helped me – I watched Extreme Weight Loss episodes on ABC using Apple TV every time I walked/ran on the treadmill. I’ve watched EVERY single episode, and they are so incredibly motivational! I’ve walked, ran, laughed, and cried on the treadmill, but no matter what, I’ve always been encouraged by what I’ve watched on Extreme Weight Loss. I also made myself a little white markerboard of goals, like Chris and Heidi do, and I hung it by my treadmill. I made monthly goals, and I wrote rewards for each goal. I got a manicure for my first 8 lbs lost, a new Christmas dress for my next 8 lbs lost, I’m 1 lb away from my next 8 lbs lost, and I’ll get another manicure for that, but after my last 8 lbs, my reward is my husband and I having a night away together alone for Valentine’s Day!!! I love the kiddos, but I can’t wait for a night with just my hubby either! Then, I plan to have goals to maintain… maybe a 1/2 marathon? Zumba? Hiking? Dance lessons? Whitewater rafting? A vacation somewhere tropical where I am enjoying strutting my stuff on a beach maybe?!? OOOOOOOOh! I’m getting excited about those goals already! Carb cycling isn’t that hard once you get going, and it is the first thing I feel happy about doing the rest of my life. I feel the best I’ve felt in forever. I am 44 years old, I’ve been married 20 years, and I have 3 kiddos I homeschool and work from home as well. Everyone is busy! If you wait to not be busy to get healthy, you may never get healthy. At some point, health has to be a priority, or you find yourself unhealthy, unhappy, and missing the full life you are meant to have. Thanks, Heidi and Chris! You are a blessing to so many, such an inspiration to me personally, and I can’t thank you enough!!! God bless! Julie
Hi Julie: We can’t thank you enough for your post! If you’d like Heidi to consider your at-home transformation story for a post right here on the blog, please send your complete story (and we’d love you to include everything about how carb cycling helped you!) to [email protected]. Your story could be so inspiring to those who are just beginning or who are struggling on their own transformation journeys. And congratulations!!! You definitely got this!!!