Chris and I have been so excited and touched by the positive feedback we’ve received on our new book, Extreme Transformation! We seriously poured our lives—and lots of blood, sweat, and tears—into this book with the hope that it would help you begin and achieve your transformation goals, whatever they may be. And…we included 21 days? worth of amazing meals in this book after so many of you asked for a daily meal plan. We aim to please! 😉
Many of you have loved the daily meal plans, but we’ve heard that some of you are a little overwhelmed with all of the shopping, prepping, and cooking involved with some of the amazing recipes in the Extreme Cycle. We know it is a lot to take in all at once, and we did not mean for this new way of doing things to be a “do it all now” type of experience. We recognize that it takes just small baby steps to begin to incorporate new healthy habits into your lifestyle, and that’s exactly how we expect it to be with this new carb cycle. That being said, here are five options we’ve laid out for you to help simplify your meal planning on the Extreme Cycle:
Option 1: Follow the 21 day’s worth of meal plans as outlined in Extreme Transformation.
We’ve outlined the shopping list, meal prep, and other tips for you to use to prepare and cook your meals for 21 days. We tried our best to include a variety of recipes each week, because variety is huge when you’re trying to incorporate new habits into your life.
Option 2: Follow the daily outline of low- or high-carb meals in Extreme Transformation with some substitutions.
If you find a day’s plan that works well for you, do it again! You can double up the same meals during the week to cut down on meal prep (eat the same dinner on Monday and Thursday, for example), or swap meals (high-carb for high carb, low-carb for low-carb, clean cheat for clean cheat, breakfast for breakfast) to make meal planning and prep easier. If you find that some recipes are easier to prepare than others, then go for those!
Option 3: Use other high-and low-carb recipes.
If you have our other books, Choose to Lose and/or Choose More, Lose More for Life, you can use any of the high-carb and low-carb meals from these books in the Extreme Cycle. And if you have your own low- and high carb recipes, you can use those too.
Option 4: Put your own meals together.
We know there are times when you’re out and about and need a quick, healthy meal. Or you need a fast ‘n easy meal made in 5 minutes or less, and simply don’t have time to put one of our recipes together. Be sure to scroll to the end of this post for some guides straight from Extreme Transformation that will help you design your own meals!
Option 5: A combination of the other 4 options.
We want this meal plan to be very user friendly, which is crucial to long-term carb cycling success, so do what works best for you and your schedule! If cooking is your thing, we’ve got you covered for 21 days! If meal prepping and cooking different meals doesn’t fit into your life, then bulk prep meals. You can even freeze many of our meals for a quick option later. If you like to put your own meals together, that works too. And it’s always a good idea to keep quick options with you wherever you go so that you don’t derail your eating plan because you don’t have healthy options available. And what about eating out? Our guides in option 4 will help you navigate any menu so you can make the best choices for your goals.
And no matter which option you choose, remember that this is a life-long journey! You’re not expected to do everything at once—perfectly. One of the best things about any transformation journey is all the things we learn along the way, so it’s 100% okay—and absolutely normal—to encounter some bumps on the path. With practice and patience, you will figure out what works best for you!
If you have any other questions about meal planning on the Extreme Cycle, please leave me a comment below. And please share what’s worked for you so we can all learn from each other!
Xoxo,
Heidi
Related reading:
Carb Confusion
The Power of Protein
Protein Powder: It’s Not Just for Shakes Anymore!
Ask the Powells: How Can I Structure My Meals?
Pre-Workout Problem: To Eat or Not To Eat?
Avoiding Road Trip Road Blocks!
Are you ready to begin your own Extreme Transformation? Grab a copy of our book today, and let’s go!
640 Responses
I know that the book indicates Dinner should always be Low Carb but if that is not possible, would eating before 6pm and doing an extra workout after be enough to counter the small amount of carb at dinner ? I am incorporating someone who will not follow some of the meal plan, any advise would help. Thank you
Hi Caroline: Would it be possible to include a carb for dinner for the person you’re eating with, and not eat that carb yourself? For every dinner, you’ll need a portion each of protein, fat, and veggies, so just make sure that’s what you’re eating. Hope that helps!
Hi, trying to leave out the carb — is Quinoa considered a carb ? Thanks
Hi Caroline: Yes, quinoa is a carb.
Hi 🙂 I just ordered the Extreme Transformation book and am really looking forward to it arriving. I have a question about the Week 1 shopping list at the top of this page. I want to get both my husband and I started on this. Do I have to get everything for both Women and Men? In other words pretty much double up my groceries? Or can I just buy the “Men” side and that should be enough for the 2 of us?
Hi Susan: Since you’ll be buying for both of you, I’d look through the recipes for the week and see how much of the ingredients you’ll need for both of you. I know this can be time consuming, so you can repeat recipes during the week to make things simpler or follow any of the other tips in this post. If you simply double what men need for the week, you’ll be buying foods you probably won’t use. Hopefully this will make more sense once you receive your book. Good luck – you can do this!
Thanks TP! I’ll take the time I need to read through and start this right 🙂
Looking at the calories per meal per macro chart, women are eating just around 1,000 calories, per day. Is that correct? So that would apply if a woman is 175 pounds or 400 pounds? Regardless of exercise done each day? The calories would remain the same?
Hi Christine: Women eat around 1500 calories a day on the Extreme Cycle, and those recommendations are for all women and all exercise programs. Hope that helps!
Hi! What types or brands of low fat granola should I be looking for?
Hi Aleah: Any type of low-fat granola can work on the program, so find those you like, and you’re good to go!
Also when switching to turbo can I still use the recipes from extreme as long as I follow the lc/hc categories? Are daily calories 1200 for lc and 1500 for hc?
I’m switching to turbo tomorrow and i saw the previous post someone said that the breakfast are different from extreme plan? Is that true? If so how r the breakfast different!
Hi Carol: Learn more about the differences in this post: https://heidipowell.net/10503/carb-cycling-the-extreme-cycle/. Hope that helps!
I tried extreme cycling but didn’t get the results I got with the turbo cycle so I am about to restart turbo again. My question is:
I know that the breakfasts are different for turbo and extreme cycles but for other meals, can I apply the “create your own meals” table for calorie proportions to turbo cycle rather than use the thumb of fat/fist of carbs/palm of protein method for meals?
Hi Becci: Great question! Since the calorie and macro recommendations are a bit different for the Extreme Cycle, here are some macro percentages to aim for for the Easy, Classic, Turbo, and Fit Cycles: High-Carb Meal: Protein: 40%, Carbs: 40%, Fats: 20%, Low-Carb Meal:
Protein: 40%, Carbs: 20%, Fats: 40%. I hope this helps!
hi im at 170 and did extreme and only lost 5lbs ( im 45 yrs old and do piyo beachbody workout 7 days a week plus i run 3 miles a day) i know everyone is different but can you tell me what the average weight loss for this program? what about the average for turbo? i know its difficult to say how much to expect to lose i just need a ballpark for the average person, would i lose more with Turbo? im so frustrated i workout so hard and its not coming off despite everything i try and my bloodwork came back fine too so its not thyroid either!
Hi Carol: I’m so sorry for your frustrations. I don’t have an average weight loss figure for carb cycling since each person’s body composition, exercise intensity, how well they stick to the plan, etc., is different. A 2 pound/per week weight loss can be very normal, and it can take your body a bit of time to adjust to a new way of doing things. And make sure you’re getting enough sleep and that your water consumption is spot on too. You might do a Slingshot Week, then try the Turbo Cycle for a few weeks, then go back to the Extreme Cycle. Hang in there – you are definitely on the right track!
Just wondering the difference between the extremes carb cycle and the others? I am 5 foot 3 inches and 139 lbs. I excercise 4-5 days/ week and the pounds aren’t coming off quick enough. Do you suggest the extreme cycle? I want to lose 15 lbs in about 1-2 months?
Hi Christina: You can definitely try the Extreme Cycle! Here’s a post that discuss this new cycle, including differences between it and the other four cycles: https://heidipowell.net/10503/carb-cycling-the-extreme-cycle/. You can do this!
Hello. I have a couple more questions regarding the Extreme cycle. Thanks
*If I have a tablespoon of tomato sauce, do I count that as a sauce or I minus the calories out of my allotted fat calories?
*I have been using low-fat cottage cheese. Should I be using the non-fat or does it really matter?
*I understand I can’t work out as much as the people on the show, however how long do they typically work out to lose that weight?
*I wear a fit-bit HR. It tells me total calories burned for the day including my workout. If I burned 1000 calories when working out, however with my steps, sleep, normal activity burned 3000 total, does that still count towards calories burned (Basically do the contestants work out to burn 3500 calories in a workout or do they use their total activity etc., on their workout bracelets?)
*Can I have low fat special K granola as a carb?
*If greek yogurt doesn’t taste the greatest (lol) am I okay to have Danon light & fit yogurt, or Danon light & fit yogurt smoothies?
Hi Jennifer: Let’s get you some answers to your questions: 1. A tablespoon of sauce would count towards a sauce (1 cup of sauce is a full sauce serving), and you’ll want to keep track of those calories. 2. You can use whichever type of cottage cheese you’d like. 3. Each contestant’s workout program is specifically tailored to him/her, so there’s really not one answer to your question. Chris and Heidi recommend up to 60 minutes of cardio 6 days a week. 4. Yes, this would be fine, but keep an eye on the serving size. 5. These yogurts would count towards a carb serving, but they don’t have enough protein to be considered a protein serving as is the case with Greek yogurt. Hope this helps!
What about the fit but question and calorie burn. Thanks
I’m so sorry, I missed that question, and unfortunately, I’m not sure how this works on the show. In general, you want to have a calorie deficit every day if you’re trying to lose weight (you burn more calories throughout the day than you consume). Each pound of fat is 3500 calories, so you after a combined calorie deficit of 3500 calories, you should lose a pound. Hope that helps!
greek yoghurt doesnt taste the best! I used stevia vanilla flavoured drops in mine which made it much more palatable. the stevia drops come in lots of different flavours so if you prefer a different flavour then you can add that instead. I bought mine online as the drops are not widely available in UK shops