Carb cycling is the foundation of what I do every day and with every client. I know through years of experience with many different clients that carb cycling works, so I’m going to introduce you to the basics and the five different carb cycling plans—Easy, Classic, Turbo, and Fit, and Extreme. I’m stripping it down to the basics to get you started:
What is Carb Cycling + How Does it Work?
Carb cycling is an eating plan with alternating high carb and low carb days. It’s that simple. It also has built-in reward days or reward meals (depending on the plan you’re following), so you can still eat your favorite foods on a regular basis. Sounds pretty much perfect, right? You can eat healthy foods, enjoy foods you love, and still lose weight.
While each plan has a different mix of high carb and low carb days, each day works basically the same:
- Eat five meals—no more, no less.
- Eat breakfast within 60 minutes of waking or whenever your feeding window opens if you’re an intermittent faster.
- For breakfast, you’ll eat a portion of protein, carbs, and fat.
- For your next 3 meals (snack, lunch, snack), you’ll eat either a low or high carb meal depending on which day you’re on. So, if you’re on a low carb day, those three meals will be low carb. If you’re on a high carb day, those three meals will be high carb.
- Your last meal of the day will ALWAYS be a low carb meal. Always.
- Choose approved foods.
- Drink ½ your body weight in ounces of water every day. So, if you weigh 150 lbs, you’ll drink 75 ounces a day.
How Does Carb Cycling Work?
Carb cycling is based on the right combination of proteins, carbs, and healthy fats. In order to lose weight, our bodies need the right combination. Here’s why:
- Protein builds and maintains muscles and these muscles burn calories like an inferno. Protein also breaks down more slowly than carbs and fat, which burns even more calories and helps you feel fuller longer.
- Carbs are the preferred fuel source for your muscles and organs, and they come in healthy versions (vegetables, fruits, grains, and legumes), and not-so-healthy versions (cakes, cookies, soda, doughnuts, candy, and many processed foods). Healthy carbs are also crucial for burning calories, and since they break down more slowly than those not-so-healthy carbs, they keep your blood sugar and energy levels steady, and they also keep your calorie-burning furnace hot so it burns more calories!
- Healthy fats (unsaturated fats) eaten in moderation help the development and function of your eyes and brain and help prevent heart disease, stroke, depression, and arthritis. Healthy fats also help keep your energy levels steady and keep you from feeling hungry.
Why do we alternate high carb + low carb days in carb cycling?
On high carb days you’re stocking your calorie-burning furnace so that on low carb days your furnace burns fat, and lots of it! This pattern tricks your metabolism into burning a lot of calories, even on those low carb days. It’s an amazing and well-proven process.
What are the Benefits of Carb Cycling?
Carb cycling has many benefits:
- It fits any lifestyle.
- You’ll learn how to shed weight and body fat and how to make smart lifestyle choices for the rest of your life. This puts YOU in control.
- You’ll feel better and have more energy.
- You’ll eat the foods you love.
- You’ll build lean, strong muscles.
- You’ll be empowered physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.
I’ve only skimmed the surface of carb cycling, so learn more about our five carb cycling plans to find your ideal cycle, and let’s get cycling!
Get even more information on carb cycling in both or our books: Extreme Transformation (the newest edition to our carb cycline lineup featuring the Extreme Cycle) and Choose More, Lose More for Life (which features our other four cycles).
If you’d like some help creating your own meals, there’s a handy “Create Your Own Meals” chart in this post! To get a customized cycle for you and your goals + several workout programs (from gym-based to bodyweight to dance) + the all-important life lessons (the key to long-term transformation), check out The Transform App.
Note: If you’ve been carb cycling using our book, Choose Lose More, Lose More for Life, you’ll notice that we’ve changed a couple of things since that book was published: You now include a fat for breakfast, and every final meal of the day is a low carb meal. Like with a lot of things in life, the more you do them, the more you learn about how to do them even better!
xo,
1,381 Responses
Ok, so I have these protein gel packets that have 70 calories, 15 proteins, 2 sugars, and 4 carbs. Can I uses these for snacks? This ok for both high and low carb days?
These would be acceptable as the protein portion of any meal on any day. 🙂
Does Carb cycling and vegeterian work? I dont eat meat or tofu, I feel I’m card loading instead of cycling.
Yes, it can work. Go to http://www.chrispowell.com, sign up for Chris’ free enewsletter, and you can download Chris and Heidi’s free approved food list which lists some vegetarian options as well as the other food options you can choose from. 🙂
My question is how do you do carb cycling with out being able to drinking little to b no b water and not being able to eat fruit and veggies? I thought about trying to figure it out on my own, but since I am able to ask I thought I would. I have gastroparesis and I am over weight. I am going to doctors for gastric bypass prep, but I have decided if can figure out how to lose on my own then that’s what I want. That surgery I guess can make me worse, but I need to know if carb cycling can work for me too. Thanks.
Hi Rosemary: With your health issue, I’d suggest discussing Chris and Heidi’s carb cycling program with your healthcare team to see what modifications can be made to work around your issue. 🙂
Chris and Heidi let me start off by saying your show has me in tears (good tears) every week. I am a 47 year old female and have been in menopause for the last year and a half. I am 5 foot 1 and weigh 137 pounds. To some this may not seem like much , however before menopause I weighed 124. I have tred and tried to loose weight over the year and have been so frustrated. I am not a couch potato. I run 2 half marathons every year and do strength training 2 times a week. I can’t go on hormone replacement because of high risk of breast cancer.The cravings I get from messed up hormones are terrible. I read your book last week and for the first time in over a year I lost 3 pounds. My question is I eat a ton of egg whites in a week, probably 24 egg whites over the week, is this ok? alo I am never hungry through the day , my days start at 430 am and don’t end until about 10:30 pm. and eating every 5 small meals a day is fantastic. However on low carb days I soooo miss my fruit and carrots, can I still have a portion of this on low carb days? Oh and the best part those cravings for salt and sweets are gone.!!!!
Congrats on the weight loss – that’s awesome! Let’s get you some answers: 1. Besides egg whites, there are several other protein options you might want to check out. Variety is always a good thing! 2. You can have a fruit and/or carrots that equal 1 carb portion size as the carb portion of your breakfast on low carb days since every breakfast on every cycle is a high carb meal. 🙂
Just wondering how carb cycling works with nonmedicated Type 2 diabetes. I eat very low carb to keep it under control. I would love to try your plan (I have read the book) but am terrified to lose my tight blood sugar control.
Check out this post about carb cycling and diabetes: https://heidipowell.net/5078/ask-heidi-anything-im-diabetic-which-plan-should-i-follow/. 🙂
I didn’t have the money to buy Chris’ books so I borrowed them from the library and LOVE them! I read the first book in two days and now reading the 2nd one! I just have to say how much I appreciate the ways he talks to you in the books. Feels like we’re just sitting on the couch and he’s just talking to me like a friend! It’s very encouraging! I started the Carb Cycling two days ago and I’m struggling a little bit. I’m having trouble just getting it. I’m doing fine eating every three hours, it’s just remembering day I’m on and what I’m allowed to eat. Can I eat cheese on high carb days? It’s a fat and usually like it with my carbs so it’s throwing me off. I know I can eat fat on low carb days, but wasn’t sure about any on high carb days? I’m making copies of the charts in the books to tape to my cupboards as constant reminders! Love how you guys teach not only to lose weight, but to change our mindset. To love ourselves again and have integrity! So true to what a TOTAL transformation is. I have another question, I live right here in the AZ valley with you guys, but have NO money to join crossfit or any gym like I would like. My goal is to learn it then maybe get a job to teach it to others. Help supplement our income too. I don’t even know how to get started or where to begin? I would love to build my “circle of friends” with like minded people who are already doing this, but I can’t afford to even be around them. What should I do?
Me and my GF and her sister have this debate going on. When I was working out as a bodybuilder, my personal trainer had me on a very strict diet. He had me eating the same things every day for 5 to 6 meals a day plus working out. He was just like you a hard trainer and I was his success story . I love a challenge. They want to know if this is good or can they change it up. Since we are getting ready to do your 12 week challenge with the BodE products but we are going to do it for 90 days. We are ordering everything. GF says she has a hard time eating ham and cheese roll ups every day. Lol.
Brent
Hi Heidi and Chris. I just started the carb-cycling diet a week ago. My concern is my job, i work 8 hours a day 5 days a week and i do not have the time to eat every 3 hours, what should i do? My other issue is i was diagnosed with PCOS 2 years ago and my doctor put me on metformin ever since i started metformin i gained about 90 pounds my biggest weight used to be 200-210 now i weight 290lbs and it is really hard for me to keep a diet due to my insulin level. I am looking for multivitamins to take, do you have any suggestions on what kind of multivitamin i should take or do i have to take a multivitamin?
Here are some posts that should help answer your questions: https://heidipowell.net/2960/ask-heidi-anything-what-if-i-cant-or-dont-eat-every-three-hours/ and https://heidipowell.net/2656/ask-heidi-anything-pcos-and-carb-cycling/. As far as which multivitamin to take, it’s always best to discuss supplements with your healthcare team. Hope this helps! 🙂
I am very eager to follow this plan correctly. I have tried so many plans and have felt exceedingly frustrated by a lack of success. I am struggling with endocrine issues and weight loss has been non-existant. I would love to understand what a portion size is, whether in cup size or weight (ounces, grams, etc.) I’m wondering especially about measuring cottage cheese or plain Greek yogurt. And, I’m wondering about 2 palms of veggies, fruit, etc. is a palm size 1 cup? 1/2 cup?
Thanks so much!!
First of all, with your health issues, and if you haven’t already done so, I’d suggest discussing the program with your healthcare team first. There’s a great graphic in this post (as well as some other great info!) that might help you understand portion sizes better: https://heidipowell.net/4514/carb-confusion/. 🙂
Hello Powell family, First of I just want to say I love u guys and am a watcher every Tuesday night. You guys have inspired me to lose weight in February I started my journey it is now the end of July and I have lost 39 lbs but I was wondering what I could do to tighten up belly skin/muscle? Thanks again for the motivation love Tasha