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
Just have a question ! Recently purchased extreme transformation and have been reading up and using some tips here and there. Wanted to start the actually diet starting Monday but I’m reluctant because I have been on a completely low carb diet for around 3 months, maybe more , and have lost around 20 pounds. Wanted to lose around 10 more and thought this might help but since it incorporates high carb dates I’m scared I might gain instead of lose. A friend will be starting the same journey and is in the same boat worried about gaining. Do you think that will happen or do you think it is just what I need to get my metabolism going and lose the rest of the weight? Thanks!!!!
Hi Ashley: It’s possible you might gain a bit of weight back as your body adjusts to a new way of doing things, but any weight gain should be temporary. Healthy carbs are so important to not only overall good health, but for weight loss as well. Your body burns fat better with the right amount of carbs, like in carb cycling. I’d definitely give the Extreme Cycle a try, and we wish you both the best!
So I think I figured it out; using the calories per HC and LC meal. So let me run this by you if you do not mind. If doing the turbo cycle.
Every breakfast will look like this: 1cup fat free greek yogurt, 1/2 scoop protein powder, 1.5cup berries and 2cup almond milk
HC meal – 4oz chicken, 1/2 cup brown rice, 3/4 cup sweet potatoes and 1tsp butter + veggies
LC meal – 4.5 oz ground turkey, 1 cup popcorn and 1/2 avocado + veggies
I would need to do this for each of the 4 other meals throughout the day. with only Wednesday and Saturday being high carb?
If this is right I am so excited; if not I am back at square 1, I read the book but the meal plan is not really working for my schedule so I am thinking of an easier quicker meals.
Thank you
Hi Jessica: It looks like you’re getting close! Make sure the calorie counts for each macro fit the calorie recommendations for each meal, and you should be good to go. A couple of things: No matter what carb cycle you’re following, popcorn is a carb option for a high carb meal since we don’t eat carbs for low carb meals, and you’ll want to only try and use spray butter for high carb meals since butter is a fat and we don’t eat fats for high carb meals. Even though this amount of butter does fit into the calorie recommendations, there are also fats in the other foods you’re eating that you need to take into account. You can do this!
Helloo!
Im confused how to make my own snack for when im on the go. I need something quick and simple like a shake. Is this a good idea: water and a scoop of protein powder with a fruit? If not, Do you know any please?
Also i noticed some of the recipes in the Extreme Transformation Book include fats like almond milk on high carb days. But i thought we dont consume fats on high carb days. Can you explain this please?
Hi Carby: Yes, that’s a great option for a high carb meal, and there are more options at the end of this post in the “Quick and Easy Meal Ideas” chart. As for your second question, in any high carb recipes where almond milk is included, there’s not enough of this used in these recipes for it to count as a fat. It only counts as a fat if you use 2 cups or more at one time. Hope that helps!
I have purchased the Extreme Transformation and love everything that I am reading so far. I would like to start carb cycling but I am vegetarian and unsure what to substitute for the animal protein? What would be a good alternative? I would really appreciate any advice.
Hi Marissa: There’s a list of vegetarian options on page 19. Welcome to carb cycling – you can do this!
Hi there…I have a question about substitution in the recipes. I make the banana strawberry quinoa muffins for my breakfasts. With fall coming, I am thinking of subbing pumpkin in the recipe instead of the banana. I’m just wondering if I eliminate the 2 BanaNas in the recipe, what would I need to add to the muffins to make it a high carb breakfast? Would I add one carb, say a fruit to the two muffins? I’m just not sure how to figure out how many carbs I need to make up for..or not. I thought of just adding another cup of blueberries, but that may throw the recipe off too much… ?? Any advice you have would be much appreciated?
Thanks!
I think i figured it out. I figured out the g of carbs i will be pulling out of the recipe and will make up for that by adding another 1/2 cup of quinoa and an extra cup of blueberries. Ill just up the pumpkin if its too dry and make sure i still put it all into 12 muffin cups.
Im also going to try them without the berries and then just eat fruit on the side with them, ill just figure out how many carbs i need to add to it ?
Ill let you know how they turn out !!
I AM ON A KETOGENIC DIET.IS IT OKAY TO MOVE TO CARB CYCLING?
WHICH IS BETTER? CARB CYCLING OR KETO?
PLEASE CLEAR THE CONFUSION
Hi Loma: Chris and Heidi are partial to carb cycling, but always do whatever will work best for you and your goals.
I am loving the extreme plan so far.I am on week one, but I am unable to workout at this time do to two herniated discs in my back. I am walking and hope to get cleared in 2 weeks to resume working out. I have a few questions I am hoping you can help with!
I adjusted the schedule so I begin my week on Sundays.
Sun-Wed: HC
Thurs-Fri: LC
Sat: Reward/Weigh-In
I have limited my alcohol intake significantly, I used to have 1-2 drinks 3-4 days a week. I typically drink dry wine or vodka/club soda with lime. I am attending an event on Friday, but that happens to be my low carb day. I didn’t know if my results would be affected if I had 1-2 vodka/club sodas? Should I omit something to balance this out? I realize alcohol has empty calories, but I would like to find moderation so I can still enjoy a drink or two.
Lastly, since I can’t workout currently is there a cycle that would be better for me? I am 5’8 and 140 lbs, I would like to get back down to 128-130ish.
Thanks!
Hi Michelle: You’re doing awesome, and we hope you recover quickly! And this cycle is a good one to stick to. As for your event, just do the best you can and make good choices the rest of the day. 🙂
Is coffee okay every day? I typically drink black flavored coffee (no syrup), but every once in a while I like to have coconut oil or half n half in it. Is that permitted? Do I just adjust my fat for meal one?
Hi Michelle: If you add a portion of fat to your coffee, that would count as the fat portion for that meal. And remember, we only eat a portion of fat for breakfast and low carb meals. Hope that helps!
Hiya!!!
Just want to double check with you about something please. I know egg white is a protein but what about the egg yolk? Is that protein or fat? Coz i noticed some recipes in the book require that we boil eggs and dont use the egg yolk but i find it a waste and dont know what to do with it. Theres a recipe that says scramble 4 egg white so cant i just scramble 2 whole eggs if its a protein?
Thank you!!!
Hi H: Appendix D at the back of the book has an awesome and extensive list of approved foods and which categories they fit into. It can answer all your questions about where to categorize your foods for carb cycling!
I really want to try to get into this carb cycling – but I’m having trouble finding protein that I like. I eat the same thing over and over and then when I get to where I can’t swallow it one more time I go off because I’m sick of that food! I can’t swallow fish of any kind so mainly eat chicken, turkey & eggs all the time for my protein. Is there anywhere I can get some new flavorful recipes that are low carb/high fiber – especially that contain chicken or turkey?
Hi Julia: Chris and Heidi have many more recipes in their other books, “Choose to Lose” and “Choose More, Lose More for Life.” Check them out!