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
Hi!
Quick question – for the grain portions in Appendix D, are these measured cooked or raw?
With thnx!
Caryn
Hi Caryn: Those amounts are for cooked grains. 🙂
I have a question about measurement s of protein in the recipes. Some recipes call for 1/4 cup or 1/2 cup protein. That seems like a lot to me. Is it really a measurement cup or is this referring to 1/4 scoop or 1/2 scoop?
Hi Karen: Each recipe should specify if you’re to use a scoop or cup measurement. Enjoy!
Hello. I just purchased the Extreme transformation. i have recently lost 80 pounds using a carb- restrictive diet. i am looking to add muscle and maximize fat loss (keep it off) and stay lean while building muscle. Are there any modifications to the program for that or follow it as prescribed. again i am only in the first chapter so maybe you address this in the book. 😉
Hi Jason: You should be good to go with the program as outlined in the book. However, if you find the program isn’t working as you’d like since you’ve already lost a ton of weight (congratulations!!!), you can add about 100 additional carbohydrates each day. This equals 400 additional calories.You can split this evenly into 20 extra carbs at each of the 5 meals. It’s somewhat aggressive for muscle growth. And you can also add these carbs in even on low carb days. Try this for a week or two, and if you feel like you are gaining too quickly, I would just cut back on low carb days only…keeping your high days high! Hope this helps. 🙂
Hello…
Can you give me a daily total macros for the extreme cycle on high carb and low carb and rest days please? I assume at the 1500 calories per day on both days. When I try to figure it out myself there are more calories on the high carb day.
Like…
High carb days in the end will total….____ grams carbs_____grams protein______grams fat….etc, etc….
Thank you so much!! That will make my meal planning much easier…I can follow the 40/40/20 in my sleep and want to try the cycling instead…I feel what I have been doing is too low in carbs for me. Female/41/5’6″/need to lose fat
I am wondering also…on your “create your own meals” chart…I believe according to the 30% prot/40% carb/30% fat guideline, the calorie amounts for the womens breakfast are backwards…shouldn’t it be 100 cals prot-150 cals carb and 100 fats…
Please let me know which one is correct. I just want to be sure to get it right.
Thanks again,
Mackensie Polys
Hi Mackensie: Yes, you’re correct, the breakfast on the Extreme Cycle should be 100 cals protein, 150 cals carbs, and 100 cals from fats. That is a typo in the book. As for a daily macros total, you can take each of the meals in the chart and divide proteins and carbs by 4 and fats by 9 to get those macros for each meal, and then total them up for each day. Hope that helps!
Hello and thank you for getting back to me so quickly!! I just bought the book so I haven’t read everything yet but I had added them up and the calories come out 1670 for high carb and 1470 for low carb…should I go with those calories as opposed to it saying that you should do 1500 for both days?
And for the reset day is there a macro guide to follow for that…I know no carbs for dinner and 1000 extra calories but there isn’t a macro total for that day.
Thanks again and I know I am being nit picky here…sorry.
Hi Mackensie: For your reset day, you can eat anything you want up to 1000 extra calories on the Extreme cycle. For your daily calories, it will change a bit either way due to what you eat, so just aim for around 1500 calories and that will make things easier for you. 🙂
The way I figure it….it comes out to 50% carb – 40% – 10% fat for the totals on high carb days
Am I right here…the fat % seems very low to follow for 4 days in a row. That hardly leaves any room for healthy fats and is pretty difficult to do. Maybe I figured it wrong…please let me know. Thanks!
If that is correct would it hurt to up the fats to at least 15%? I don’t know if I can live with the fats being that low.
Hi Mackensie: Remember, you’ll have a low carb meal for dinner on all of your high carb days, so that adds the needed fat into your days. You can do this!
Thank you for clarifying that! That makes much more sense and makes it much more doable…great! I can definitely do that…lol
Does the new book incorporate both carb cycling and macro tracking option?
Hi Connie: All your macros are figured out for you in the book, including 21 days’ worth of meal plans. It makes it super easy!
I am interested in doing the Extreme Cycle and am wondering if this will work following a vegan diet? Thanks!
Hi Kara: Yes, there are vegan options for the Extreme Cycle! 🙂
It would be so awesome to find a track to follow for a carb cycling vegan diet 🙁
Hi Steph: There are vegan options you can choose in all of the carb cycling programs. 🙂
Confused and have 2 questions on the extreme cycle and sling shot week
1. Do I go 6 days and then a reward day or is it all 7 days with double carbs? (No reward day)
2. Do I eat carbs at dinner during sling shot. I thought I just follow a high carb day and double the carbs? There are no carbs at dinner on extreme high carb meals right? If I eat carbs at dinner, then how much?
Hi Chery: Let’s get you some answers! 1. Yes, day 7 of the slingshot week is double carbs just like days 1-6. 2. You’ll treat these days just as any other high carb day with double carbs for breakfast through meal #4. Dinner is still a low carb meal. Hope that helps!
Hi Heidi!
when measuring berries or spinach should I use a scale or measuring cup? It look like so much more food when using the scale, almost too much.
Hi Jen: When possible, it’s best to use a food scale since it’s more accurate. 🙂
It’s one thing to get into fitness, but eating right is what is such a struggle for me. I’m fortunate in that I’m small framed, but too often people (myself included) forget that it doesn’t mean I’m healthy. I think how simple you’ve made this to follow can be key to being successful in the kitchen or even restaurant when that happens. My husband and I used to do so much better, and we’ve just let ourselves go and let ease and cravings take over, and for ours and our kids sakes we need to make a change. We are both very picky eaters, only thin sliced white chicken and basic veggies, and I’m on a low sodium diet, but you’ve made it possible to follow these guidelines and still be successful for us and so many. I will work hard and get my husband on board to make our health a priority!
Hello I am looking over day 5 and needed a little clarification for the following:
Metabolic Mission:
Air squats
Sit ups
Push Ups
Accelerator <—– in this accelerator would i be doing lets say jump rope tabata style as part of the circuit???
and still do an accelerator such as (running or stair master for 30-60 Min)???
Thanks!
Hi Daisy: Your Accelerator can be any form(s) of cardio you’d like to do. You can do the one that is suggested, a different form of cardio, or both. 🙂