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 Heidi
I have a question… if I drink bulletproof coffee in the morning…. is that counted in my calories or counted as a meal?
Toni
Sent from my iPhone
Hi Toni: Depending on how you make your coffee, it would count as at least one portion of fat, if not more, so you’ll need to adjust your macros accordingly. Compare what’s in your coffee to the “Create Your Own Meals” chart in this post, and that should be very helpful in figuring out how to count it. 🙂
Hi Team Powell!
I have a question I really need help with – I purchased the book and the app, I plan to start a week from tomorrow following your plan. But — I am vegan because I am allergic to animal protein! So, for me, no dairy, no eggs, no fish, no meat – basically vegan. I’m also a whole foods vegan, which isn’t a problem with your program, but I thought it was worth mentioning. My weight is a result of a year of 5 rounds of shingles, lots of weight lost and adrenal failure which resulted in a weight gain of almost 50 lbs more than I weighed before I got sick once I was well. Anyway, I do use some raw protein powders like SunWarrior, but I try not to use it for every meal. I know what I consider protein – lentils is a good source but I read you comment somewhere that beans are a carb for this type of carb cycling. I am very educated when it comes to the body and nutrition, but I am looking to follow your program because I have seen it work! Normally, I would use tempeh, tofu as additional sources of protein (occasionally Gardein or GoVeggie mock meats, but I try not to use those kinds of foods very often) but kale, per 100 oz has more protein than beef, so I eat a LOT of lacinato kale, lol All greens really, typically 4 oz./serving. So my fiber averages close to 50g almost every day. I would just truly appreciate your thoughts on this. All my hormones are now within range (3 years later, finally!) and my doctor knows I am beginning this program 🙂 I’m very excited!
Hi Jennifer: Thank you for your comment, and welcome to the app! There are food filters on the nutrition page (click on the arrows in the top right hand corner), and you can filter all those foods you don’t want included in your program out of your meal plan. We’re also adding more vegan and vegetarian meals every month too. You can also sub your favorite vegan protein for any meat-based protein in any of the meals, so that should be helpful too. We wish you the best – you can do this!
Hey All, I use to do LCHF and i lost @ 30lbs, now i want to start doing Carb Cycling, i work out a good amount and i guess the only thing im confused at is keeping mucles and building them as well. I need to lose these pounds before Sep due to my wedding.
I am so lost though, i am working overnight and its so many days out the week and every other weekend, could you please help me figure this out??
Hi Nita: Congratulations on your upcoming wedding and 30 lb weight loss! Here’s a post that can help you figure out your meal plan on a crazy schedule: https://heidipowell.net/10556. I hope it helps! 🙂
I have a hard schedule. I get up at 1 am to start work by 3am. I work 4 ten hour days and I am lucky to get 2 10 minutes breaks. I stand and walk around 10,000 steps a day at work alone. I am 61 and haver gained 30lbs over the last 3 years. Have a real hard time trying to figure out how to do this with this schedule . And I am so tired when I get home I can’t move. help how can I do this?
Sue in Arizona
Hi Sue: Here’s a post that can help you schedule your meals into a crazy schedule: https://heidipowell.net/10556. And for exercise, even a few minutes at a time can help – remember, nutrition is 80% of weight loss. You can do this!
Hi there. I am doing the Turbo plan and have a question about macros. Is it true that we are supposed to account for all macros when not using the suggested meals and just going by the macros listed for each meal? I am having a hard time find fats that don’t have protein and carbs in them. When I go to add peanut butter for my fats, for example, it bumps up my protein and carbs. In order to get enough fat (22 grams for some meals) it takes up all of my carbs and some of my protein. So I am not able to get any healthy carbs in because they the fats I am choosing have carbs. Therefore, I am not getting all my fats in because it goes over my allowed number of carbs for that meal. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Hi Jill: Are you following the Turbo Cycle from one of Chris and Heidi’s books or the Turbo Cycle in the app? Please reply so that I can answer your questions correctly. Hope to hear from you soon!
Thanks for responding! I am doing the Turbo cycle in the app. Any help is appreciated.
🙂
Hi Jill: Thank you for responding! Yes, you need to account for all macros you eat and try and match your own meals to those in the app. There is a bit of a learning curve to macro tracking, but once you learn how to do it, it gets much easier. And if you can repeat meals during the week, that will help also. And yes, foods like peanut butter that have all 3 macros can make it even trickier. Try choosing foods that are more straight protein + fat or protein + carb, and that can make things easier also. One other thing that can help is to remember that breakfast is a protein + carb + fat, high carb meals are a protein + carb, and low carb meals are a protein + fat. Yes, there will be a few carbs in what you choose for low carb meals, and a bit of fat in what you choose for high carb meals, but these formulas might be helpful as you’re getting started. And we’re adding more meals to the app all of the time, and these are all figured out for you macro-wise. I hope this helps, and please let us know if you have further questions. You can do this!
Thank you. I have tracked macros before so am pretty comfortable with that. There are some plans where healthy fats are just considered fats (like peanut butter or avocado) and you do not account for the carbs or protein. And some proteins are just considered part of your protein macros and you do not count the minimal fats. So I just wanted to be sure that I was supposed to count everything in all my foods. I appreciate you getting back to me! 🙂
Hi Jill: You are so welcome, and happy macro tracking! 🙂
Hi Heidi! Just wanted to know what protein powder you recommend? If not a particular brand what important things should I look for in a protein powder? (Ex: fat, carbs, sugars etc)
Thanks so much
Christj
Hi Christ: We recommend low fat (less than 3g), low carb (less than 7g), with around 20-25g of protein per serving. Other than that, go with what you like best! 🙂
I would like to know the daily carb, protein, fat limit per high carb and low carb days in grams instead of calories[woman]. So that I can count them accurately. I am new and dont understand them as calories. Also, not sure what a macro is? Thank you.
Hi Cleeo: To figure out the grams of macros used for the meals in the Extreme Cycle, each gram of protein or carb = 4 calories, and each gram of fat = 9 calories. This should help you figure out the number of grams of macros that you’ll need for each meal. 🙂
Hi,
I downloaded the transform app and I love it! My only concern is that the calories in the plan that I chose is higher than the calories in the extreme carb cycling plan. Can you tell me which calorie count I should follow? Thank you!
Hi Andrea: The calorie recommendations in the book, while they do work, are very general. The calorie recommendations in the app are totally customized to you and your goals, so you can be confident they will work for you! You’ll definitely want to follow the recommendations in the app. You got this!
Hi Team Powell . I just got the extreme makeover book and I am so excited to start this transformation. I have been counting macros for a while and didn’t see any significant results. I’m jot sure what macros I should be consuming and never tried carb cycling so I am excited to see what this will do to my body. I recently got a bod pod test done and was saddened by the result ? (38%bf)
I workout 40 mins of cardio and 1.5 hours of strength workouts everyday and haven’t gotten any type of fat loss, apparently.
upon reading the book, I’m on page 28. It says that women will consume 1500 cal per day on this plan, I am 6 feet tall and my RMR is 1700 cal, so was wondering if the 1500 cals is too low for me?( I had a metabolic testing done last week along with the bod pod.)
So my question is can I eat the recommended calories for the men recommendations in the book which is 2000 cal a day and still see results?
Hi Amanda: I’d start with the Women’s calories, and if you’re not seeing the results you’d like to see, then switch to the Men’s calories. You might also be interested in checking out Chris and Heidi’s new app, which will totally customize your nutrition to you and your goals: http://thetransformapp.com. And you first 7 days are free so you can check everything out! 🙂
Hi team Powell! I was wondering where the best place to get a question answered about the Extreme Transformation book? Here, Facebook, or instagram?
Hi Amanda: Ask your questions right here! 🙂