Chris and I have worked tireless hours this past year creating the foundation of our vision to help people live happier, healthier lives?our “TRANSFORM with Chris and Heidi” app is more than just an app. It is literally 5 apps-in-one, and it does what no other fitness app can. TRANSFORM focuses on what you really want?to be led, step-by-step, to your lifelong goals. It’s truly the total transformation experience, and we’ve jam packed it with all of the tools you need to be successful: Custom nutrition programs, full workout plans, mental and emotional coaching, and documentation of every step on your journey?from your journal, to post-workout selfies, to your weekly picture timelapse. It is the full experience, guys!! Like having us right in your pocket.
Now to get YOU moving in the right direction?whether you are using “TRANSFORM with Chris and Heidi” or not?here are some of the basics:
Let’s start with Nutrition:
Carb cycling is the foundation of what Chris and I do every day and with every client, and it is the powerful method we prefer to use for all of our nutrition plans. It is a patterned way of alternating between a high carb/low fat diet (to optimize metabolism and muscle development) and a low carb/higher fat diet (to maximize fat loss). Beyond the physiological benefits, it also allows you to eat a lot of different foods and meal combinations so you can create a transformation lifestyle around foods you truly enjoy. There are 7 different variations of Carb Cycles that we use, depending on you and your transformation goals.
To make it even easier for our MyFitnessPal followers (I am one of them!), we?ve added every single meal to MyFitnessPal for you?to lay that out for you, we’ve input over 2,000 recipe variations, by calorie and macros, inside of the database. Simply search for the name of the recipe and the calories listed for that meal (Example: Pepper Jack Chicken (346 cals)), look for the brand ?Chris and Heidi Powell/Transform,? and you?ll know that?s the meal you?re looking for. Part of the app process was asking ourselves, “How can we simplify the steps along the path to transformation for us AND everyone else?” And we feel that this is one huge step, especially for us macro counters!
Some of my favorite prep tools to keep you hydrated and healthy on the go:
Why are water and hydration so important?
Adequate water consumption is so important to achieving your transformation goals for so many reasons. The medical community typically recommends drinking at least HALF of your body weight in ounces daily as an absolute minimum for a sedentary individual. In addition, you should drink 8 ounces for every 15 minutes of exercise you do. These numbers can get tricky, so instead, it is pretty easy to recommend drinking 1 gallon of water daily, and choose whichever method works best for you! And for reference, 1 gallon = 128 ounces.
TIP: Use our ?10-gulp rule?: Every time you take a drink, you must take 10 gulps before putting the bottle down. Learn to breathe through your nose. 😉
How do I curb cravings?
One of the most common issues we see people encounter when transitioning to eating for transformation is that they are surprised at how MUCH food they need to eat every day. However, sometimes there is a craving for old comfort foods. The key is to effectively stay “full” to manage these cravings as you experience them. Here are some of the best?and most powerful?craving curbing tips:
- Tip # 1: Drink LOTS of water, and always aim to drink your prescribed minimums. It’s kind of crazy, but when we feel hungry, we’re often just thirsty, so drink up!
- Tip # 2: Eat foods that are high in fiber. Fiber acts like brakes on your food so it stays in the stomach and small intestine longer, keeping you feeling full. Studies have found that people who eat high fiber foods are far less likely to overeat! High fiber breads, oatmeal, whole grains, sweet potatoes, and beans are excellent sources of high fiber starchy foods. But one of the best methods is to use tons of veggies to volumize ALL of your meals!!!
- Tip # 3: Chew mint-flavored gum, eat a breath mint, or brush your teeth after meals. The mint flavor is great for suppressing your appetite, and it will hold you over until the next meal.
- Tip # 4: Consume a little fat! Good fats, of course. 😉 Simply eat one tablespoon of your favorite healthy fat, set your timer for 15 minutes, and Bam! You will have conquered your sweet and salty craving. Pretty awesome, right? Keep in mind these have a 100 calorie impact, so plan accordingly!
NOTE: If you absolutely need to have something to hold you over, try these liquid craving-curbing tricks:
- Coconut Water (healthy and effective): Add 1 tablespoon of coconut oil to a cup of warm water. Sip and enjoy! In 20 minutes, you should feel fuller!
- Root Beer Float (not-so-healthy and effective…but delicious!): Add 1 tablespoon of heavy cream to a chilled diet root beer. Sip and enjoy! In 20 minutes, you should feel fuller!
Fitness and Daily Workouts:
Some of our go-to workout gear:
We understand that each person comes with a different story that requires customization along the way. For every movement, we give modifiers and/or alternate movements to substitute into your workout, and the modifiers and alternates can be found at the bottom of every movement description. If you are dealing with an injury, we encourage you to work around injuries, not through them. Feel free to substitute any movement into the workout that does not aggravate your injury.
NOTE: If you are experiencing an injury, please be sure to discuss your exercise regimen with your healthcare team before beginning any program, and then be sure to follow any modifications they might recommend while recovering from your injury. If you are experiencing any new injuries, be sure to discuss these with your healthcare team if the injury persists past a few days.
Should I still work out if I’m really sore?
Soreness is very common the first few weeks of beginning a new program. If it is extremely painful, then 1) do your Accelerators/light cardio instead of your workout until the soreness goes away, or 2) do your workouts focusing on body parts that are not sore.
Massage, Epsom salt baths, and ice baths have also been shown to help reduce muscle soreness and speed recovery so you can get back into the groove as soon as possible!
When should I weigh myself?
Weigh yourself as much as you like, but your official weigh ins should be done once a week (after a low carb day), first thing in the morning before eating or drinking. Keep in mind that it takes roughly one to two weeks to get a truly accurate change on the scale, so this is why weighing at the end of each week can keep the number much more consistent and reliable.
Other than pounds on the scale, what are the ?signs? I need to watch for when losing weight?
- Clothing and inches: Pay attention to how your clothes are fitting?they are an incredible gauge of your progress!
- Energy levels and body temperature: These will fluctuate as we cycle our nutrition from high to low carb days. You will notice a nice boost of energy and a body temperature rise on high carb days as your body consumes higher quantities of ?fuel.? Low carb days (low ?fuel? days) will result in decreased energy and decreased body temperature. Don?t be alarmed if you feel your energy zapped and a bit foggy-minded without all of those carbs. This is normal, and it?s only temporary!
- Water retention and flushing: Here?s one more reason NOT to rely only on the scale. If you insist upon weighing daily, you will notice that your weight fluctuates with your high and low carb days. Our bodies will naturally retain water during high carb days, and they?ll flush water during low carb days. As a result, there will be some noticeable fluctuations on the scale. You may find yourself up 4 pounds after a high carb day, then down 5 pounds after the following low carb day.
Do I have to take pictures during my transformation?
While you don?t HAVE to, we highly recommend it. One of the most wonderful gifts you can give yourself during this transformation is the proof of progression. Not only will this memorialize where exactly you came from (and it will serve as a constant reminder to never go back), but it will also give you a more ?objective? perspective of your own body so you can see the true results. Naturally, our eyes play tricks on us?what we see in the mirror is NOT reality!
If you choose to, you can share your transformation pictures across any of your social networking platforms (Instagram, Facebook, etc.) from the TRANSFORM app. Your transformation will give hope and inspiration to everyone around you, and it can help them choose to change their lives for the better too!
Now, if you are following the app, you don’t have to worry about much of this at all. We will guide you every step of the way…even sharing our tried and true Life Lessons that have proven to be the magic ingredient to thousands of lasting transformations over the years.
On that note…come TRANSFORM with us! Click below to Download:
Xoxo,
Heidi
Related reading:
10 Tips to Crush those Cravings?For Good!
It Really Is All About the Promise
Meal Prep Tips and Tricks You Need to Know
A Weight Loss Win: It?s More Than That Number on the Scale
Our Transformation Mantras + Top Tips for Success
6 Secrets to Success: How to Reach Your Goals This Year
Avoiding Road Trip Road Blocks!
601 Responses
I’m sorry I can’t find a place to ask this questions. Can I quit Transform? I am 75yo and managing the food is no problem, but with 2 knee replacements and extensive surgery on my back, I can not do the physical part of the program. I am so disapointed that I cant keep up but I did really try.
Hi Delores: Please contact our app support team, and they can answer any app-related questions you might have. [email protected]
Hi! I just started the plan and wanted to ask a question regarding working out with the low/high carb days. Am I supposed to save my low carb days for my rest days and my high carb for my workout days? Right now I workout 6 days/week so I would be eating a low carb meal on one of my workout days, but wanted to know if that mattered?
Is there a way to rearrange the days in the app to fit my schedule? Also, will it sync with my fitness pal so i dont have to enter everything twice? Thanks!
Hi Bethany: As far as workouts and LC and HC days, what works best can be different for each person, so I’d do some trial and error to find what works best for you. Some people have no problem working out on LC days, others do. You can set your own LC and HC days in the app if you do custom macros, but you’re not able to rearrange the LC and HC days in the set carb cycles. As of now, the app doesn’t sync with MFP, but that could be an option in the future! Hope that helps! 🙂
I am in my mid 70’s and have had surgery and can’t do the exercises at this time and even when well can’t do the heavy exercises like when I was young and very active. I usually swim 5x a week but can’t at this time. The meals seem huge to me and I am always over my carbs even when picking the transformation meals. Do you have an easier workout for older women and how do I keep my carbs in tune with the app even when I am picking the transform meals as they seem huge to me. Thanks. If it simply doesn’t work for me, is there a refund. Thanks again. Peggy
Hi Peggy: If you’re unable to workout due to your surgery, you can still progress towards your goals through nutrition alone. I’d recommend you discuss what workouts and exercises you can do while you’re recovering with your healthcare team so we can get you healed and back to working out as soon as possible. To make sure your nutrition is in line while you’re healing and can’t work out, make sure you’re doing your weekly updates, and if you’re asked if you’d like to take an adjustment, go ahead and do so. You can reset your program once you can work out more regularly again. This adjustment should bring your calories down to a more manageable level. If you’re following one of the carb cycles in the app AND choosing meals from the app meals, you don’t need to worry about counting any macros…we’ve done it all for you! Once you’re recovered, do the workout program you choose at your own pace and comfort level. No need to go too heavy! I hope this helps, and I hope you recover quickly!
I want to cancel my membership. How do I do that? Can you give me a phone number to call? Thank you.
I’m doing women’s physique, level 3 and started last week and did all the strength workouts. This week’s video talks about the cardio but I don’t see it in my workout page. Where do I find the cardio workouts? Thanks!
Hi Cheri: In the app, and in all of our programs, we call cardio “Accelerators.” They’ll be at the bottom of your weekly workout screen. 🙂
They aren’t there though. 🙂 I have a 6 day strength workout, i.e. ending on legs this Saturday and there is nothing below it. Is it because I said gain weight? Right now I want to focus more on adding lean muscle mass and leaning up a bit.
I had a hard time picking a program and couldn’t find detailed explanations anywhere. Are those somewhere?
Thanks!
Hi Cheri: Yes, you are correct. If you choose “Gain Weight” as your goal, there isn’t any cardio in that plan since cardio can tend to have an adverse result from gaining muscle since you’re burning all those calories. When Heidi’s prepping for a show, she doesn’t do any cardio for this reason. If you’re wanting to add muscle mass and lean up, I’d choose the “Maintain” option as your goal. Here’s a post that can help with what program to choose: https://heidipowell.net/15538 Hope this helps! 🙂
I?ve finally decided to put the app to good use after purchasing it a while ago. I really enjoy the meals and having it all at my finger tips. I?ve been doing CrossFit 3-5x/week and I really enjoy it. My question is, I?ve chosen the turbo program and I want to know if the Marcos that were calculated for me are still sufficient even if I?m doing a different exercise program or are the macros based on the app exercise.
Hi Adriana: Great questions! If you’re doing a different workout program or additional workouts than are what in the app, make sure you’re doing your weekly progress update so the app will know if it needs to adjust your nutrition program. That’s the easiest way to make sure you’re getting the correct amount of food/fuel to achieve your goals. 🙂
Hello, can you enter your own meals as long as they fit the calories/macros for the day? Also what is the average lbs per week lost on the program?
Hi Kristin: Yes, you can enter own meals, and the app will add them to your running daily totals. As far as the average lbs lost per week, that’s a big question. Some users have a lot of weight to lose, so they’ll lose more lbs, others don’t have much to lose, so their rate of weight loss will be slower. Others are trying to gain muscle, so they’ll actually gain lbs, even those lbs are muscle and not fat. We recommend aiming for 1% of your body weight per week OR 1-2 lbs per week. Both are rates of weight loss that are sustainable and healthy long-term. We hope you love the app!
Hello Team Powell!
I have had the app for a couple of weeks now and decided to switch from the low carb plan back to Keto (i was successful with this before). But when i plug in keto it ist still giving me the low carb macros and meal suggestions. I have even reset the plan and then set it to keto. i have tried closing and re-opening and still nothing. What am i doing wrong?
thanks!
Hi Giovanna: What we offer in the app is a ?modified? Keto program; basically, something considered a cyclical ketogenic diet. We front-load carbs in the morning, then the rest of the days? meals are all low carb. This will kick people out of ketosis every morning, then most will end up in ketosis later on in the day (depending on biochemistry and activity levels). Then once per week we have a high carb ?refeed? to boost metabolism, load glycogen stores, etc.
Our main purposes for the ULTRA and KETO programs are:
1) to slowly re-introduce carbs to extreme low carb dieters
AND
2) to provide a program for those whose body responds favorably to consistent low carb diets.
Hope this helps! 🙂
I have chosen to start my plan on 4/15/19 and it happens to be a reset day. I am not sure what that means.
Hi Susan: Your reset day is the day where your calorie are higher and you can enjoy those foods that might not fit into your plan during the week. You can change your reset day to any day you’d like. Go to Me, Program, then scroll down to change your reset day. If you’ve already chosen your meals, it will reset your meal planner since the days will change. I hope this helps!:)
I just signed up. I chose the extreme plan but was confused on what to chose under the exercise page. I currently belong to a gym that offers so many classes beyond just self-guided weight lifting and cardio machines. Most classes I attend are HIIT style and last about 50-60 minutes. Other classes I attend are called, Stack. They are group weightlifting classes led by one of the trainers. Two morning s a week, I am involved in group training which is about 12-14 people with one trainer and we do a little of everything (cardio/weights), but in the style of working as a team to accomplish a huge goal. I work out 5 days a week, sometimes 6. What exercise style should I choose to fit these workouts and How do I log this information each day?
Hi Jen: In the app, you can choose any workout program, and you can also follow your own program as long as it contains resistance training and cardio (called accelerators in the app). You can also change workout programs at any time too. If you like doing resistance workouts in the gym, then choose the “Iron Gym” program, and if you like more CrossFit-type workouts, choose the “Cross Training” program. As far as logging your workouts, even if you don’t follow the exact workout in the app, you can still check off each day’s workout as finished/completed, and you’ll be good to go!
Hi! I have the app and am on the Keto plan. My macros allow me 6g of carbs. I don?t feel like I?m eating enough veg, 6g isnt an awful lot, and there?s only so much spinach and cucumber I can stand at dinner! I?ve read somewhere that you shouldn?t count veg with your macros, but I?m not sure what their source was.
Should have made that a bit clearer, the 6g of carbs are on every meal bar breakfast which allows me 30g, which I get is so you can burn the carbs through the day
Hi Stefanie: I’m replying to both of your comments here. You can have unlimited non-starchy, non-root vegetables on the plan, and if you’re a member of the app users FB group, there’s a list in the Files section with these unlimited vegetables. You don’t have to track these, but you’re totally okay to track them if you’d like to also. And just be sure to include vegetables as much as possible in the carbs you are allowed each day. You got this! 🙂
I want to sign up for this app, but during the free trial I can?t see how to customize the diet to Paelo? Is there like a toggle button that I missed? Customizing each day just seems exhausting…
Hi JQ: We don’t have a Paleo program in the app, but you can set up up to 3 customized macro days that you can save and them plug in to each day. We hope you love the app!