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,
I’ve purchased the book on my Kindle and love it. I’m excited to start on Monday.
Is there a pdf or something that should have come with my Kindle version to include the weekly shopping lists? It’s really challenging to try and copy and paste them to email so that I can print them out.
Thank you in advance for your help.
Susan
Hi Susan: I’m so sorry, but we don’t have pdfs available. 🙁
I started the turbo cycle last week and I am very pleased with the results. That being said I see changes for the extreme cycle and I am wondering if I still follow the turbo cycle can I map my high carb and low carb days using the same formula as the extreme plan (meaning stick to the lc, lc, hc, lc, lc, hc, reward but do the meal plan for lc and hc based on the extreme plan)? I think the new formulas open up a lot more recipe options but I don’t want to mess up my plan and I don’t want to switch to the extreme plan due to my family all doing the turbo plan and meal options are much easier if we stick to the same plan.
Hi Candy: You won’t want to mix up the cycles – each is put together the way it is for specific reasons. 🙂
I made the Strawberry and Banana Quinoa Muffins (High Carb Meal) from Extreme Transformation, and I’m wondering if I did something wrong or if there might be a misprint in the book. The “batter” was so thick I couldn’t stir it at all, and I had to use my Kitchen Aid mixer to incorporate the wet and dry ingredients. Even then, it didn’t blend into a batter until after I added the mashed banana. After baking them, the taste is good, but the texture is terrible. They are super dense, and it’s kind of like eating a strawberry and banana flavored hockey puck. Any suggestions? Did I miss something? Or do you have any suggestions of add-ins that would keep this meal on-plan and fluff my muffins up a bit?
Hi Nicci: I’m so sorry you had this issue. I haven’t heard of anyone else having this problem, but I’ll check into it. Thank you!
Do my food days: “low carb days & reset day” need to coordinate with workout days my days 5 & 6 and rest day?
I ask because that is my Friday/sat/sun
My sweet hubby loves to take us out to eat! I’m considering changing up my days. But wondered if (workout/ correspond with food. Or if they are separate cycles? Thanks so much !
Forgot to add finding low carb replacement on weekends has been difficult. So thinking about changing up entire start day.
Hi Annie: Since workouts are included in Monday-Saturdays on the Extreme Cycle, you should be good to go. You can change your reset day, but always keep the days (low and high carb) in the same order. So if your reset day is Friday, for example, then day 1 would be Saturday and you’d go from there. Hope that helps!
Hi! I’m confused about the calorie counting. When you say 100 or 150 calories of protein . Are we looking at the total amount of calories that’s serving has for everything? Or are we looking at the protein n grams n multiplying grams times 4?
I right now meal prep n measure everything I eat by grams n ounces according to the serving size the label states. I count calories. I scan the labels of all I eat. Is this different? I do cardio kickboxing a 4-6 times a week and burn anywhere from 400-800 calories. Is 1500 calories enough? I also lift. I have gained in the past before meal prepping because I was not eating enough. I’m trying to lose 15-20 lbs. I workout 6 days a week.
Hi Vanessa: Yes, 1500 calories a day should work great for your weight loss goals! 🙂
Hi Vanessa: Yes, you are correct. To find the number of calories from protein, you’ll take the number of grams of protein and multiply that number by 4. The same is true for carbs. For fats, you’ll take the number of grams of fat and multiply that number by 9. Hope that helps! 🙂
When looking at the list of foods, i see a list of “sauces”. So if i use a sauce what does that count under? fats?
Hi Lauren: The list of sauces and condiments are extras. Just keep an eye on portion sizes and be sure and track those calories too. They can add up quickly if you’re not careful!
I did turbo cycle mid 2014 – mid 2015 and lost 5 stone in weight. I have started again (on turbo again) as wanting to lose more, having managed to maintain the weight loss.
I live in the UK and its hard to get hold of ezkiel bread. Is it ok to use warburton thins instead as a carb portion:
Per thin:
Energy 423 kJ 100 kcal
Fat 1.1g
– of which saturates 0.4g
Carbohydrate 18.1g
– of which sugars 1.6g
Fibre 1.4g
Protein 4.0g
Salt 0.39g
Hi Becci: Yes, this bread is good!
Hi,
What would you recommend? Turbo plan or Extreme? I am female 5’1 28 years old and 180 lbs. Also following these plans, how much weight can I be expected to lose in the next two months?
Hi Raquel: I’d start with the Extreme Cycle. And your rate of weight loss depends on your current body composition, how well you stick to your nutrition program, exercise regularity, intensity and duration, and other factors unique to you, so it’s difficult to answer your question. Chris and Heidi recommend a 10% weight loss goal for the first 90 days, so that’s a great place to start. You can do this! 🙂
Hi Heidi! I got the Extreme Cycle book and am looking forward to starting it but I have quite a few food allergies and am trying to figure out substitutions. I can’t have dairy and a lot of the meals in the book use Greek yogurt. Is there anything you know of that is comparable in protein yet dairy free? I’ve done a lot of research and can’t come up with much. Thanks for any help!
Hi Stacy: It definitely makes meal planning trickier with food allergies. I’m not aware of a dairy-free option for Greek yogurt, but you can substitute any like meal for those with anything you’re allergic to. Just make sure you sub high carb for high carb, low carb for low carb, etc. You can do this! 🙂
hi guys..i was watching a lot the extreme transformation..i ‘m trying to get as healthy and fit as possible..now i m doing 4-5 times /week exercising at home nd tried a lot of ways to loose my last pounds.i m around 147 pounds now..but i still have a lot of fat in my abdominal area..:( i calculated my macros…nd came out i shall eat around 70 grams of carbs per day..how could i do the carb cycling ? like in the high days i should eat 70 g or 140 g? thanks a lot and good luck guys ..:*
Hi Clara: All your macros are figured out for you on the Extreme Cycle, however, if you?d like to put your own meals together, this post has several options, including the ?Create Your Own Meals? chart at the bottom. The calories recommendations/macro/meal in this chart can be very helpful! ?