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
My partner has us on the classic carb cycling. I am a type 1 diabetic. While I am dropping weight at an astounding rate, I am on a blood sugar roller coaster. It has only been a month since we started so I am hoping at some point it evens out. (Started 259 (9/01) – Today 233 (10/02). I am thinking longer cardio workouts on high carb days and shorter on low carb days. We shall see.
Hello Heidi,
Since May of this year I have been living a HFLC lifestyle – to date I have lost 15.1kgs. Don’t get me wrong, I love the plan. But it really doesn’t allow for any lenience.
My question is, would I benefit from carb cycling if I have been living a HFLC lifestyle already? Carb cycling seems so much more liveable.
Regards,
Leonte
Heidi and Chris’ carb cycling program has been proven to work over and over again, so give it a try!
Hey there,
I’m on Turbo cycling, and i have almost four days of weight training. How can I do weight training on low-carb days ? And i’ve been thinking about No-carb, Low-carb, High carb cycling ? do you guys recommend that kind of cycling ? (since i’ve seen other athletes are doing this..)
Also, I am living at dorm, thus there’s no possible way to prepare 5 meals a day… Is it okay to have 3 meals a day, but also make a complement to carb-cycling?
One more question please, on low or high-carb day, if i feel very hungry after a meal…is it okay to have extra vegetable (not starchy kinds) …? and as i saw the Chris Powell’s approved food list, regarding to the beverage section, is it include the meals ? or in between the meals ?
I’m quite confident about this approach, just lots of questions though…
THANKS IN ADVANCE 🙂
I’m no expert, but with all the changes and exceptions you’re wanting to make, it’s not even the same plan; it won’t work at all the same. I’m not trying to be rude, but this is exactly why our country is so fat and unhealthy ( & this is coming from someone 6’0″ & 478lbs so I’m not pointing any fingers!!). We beg our experts to find the secrets and then pay BILLIONS of dollars every year to have them impart their knowledge to us; but when they come back saying “If you want to lose weight, do this…exactly THIS.”, we whine and fidget and ask “Where can I fudge the rules. She specifically says that for this plan to work “Eat 5 meals a day; no more, no less”. That doesn’t sound like there’s ANY wiggle room there. Do I understand that you live in a dorm & it’s difficult to prepare meals at all, much less 5 times a day?! Yes. But your body is not a jury you can plead your case and explain your situation to. It is like asking a fire not to burn. No amount of pleading & no matter how great your reasoning is (it will be very bad if you continue, Mr. Fire. You’re about to burn down a forest…); in order to be successful on this plan that’s what you have to do. So guess what? THIS PLAN IS NOT FOR YOU! THIS PLAN DOES NOT FIT YOUR LIFESTYLE! I’m not trying to pick on you or single you out, there are millions just like you (me!) out there that literally want our cake and eat it too! Until we realize we have to follow very specific laws of nature to achieve optimal health, wellness, & the body we want, we will never meet out goals.
The entire exercise schedule is outlined for all the cycles, so you’ll simply need to follow it. You can eat half your meal before you work out and half after, if that helps. In order for the carb cycling program to work, you really need to follow all aspects of it. You might need to be creative, but you can find ways to work in 5 meals a day with a crazy schedule or living situation. And yes, you can have a portion of veggies (the non-root/non-starchy type) with every single meal if you’d like. The beverage section can be worked in throughout your day as you see fit (just don’t over-do it, make sure they don’t put you over your daily calorie limit, and make sure you’re getting all the portions in for your meals every day), but always remember to get in your daily water allotment (1/2 your body weight in ounces – 150 lbs = 75 oz.). Hope that helps!
I have been watching your show extreme weight loss since the first episode ever. You and your wife and the stories are so inspiring!! I never struggled with my weight till after I had my son who is now 4 1/2 years old. 6 weeks after he was born I had to get my gull bladder removed and I gained weight. Even though not a lot compared to some of the cases from the show but I got up to 200 lbs and held the weight for 2 years. The first time I watched your show it inspired me to work out and I have maintained my weight at 170 lbs with some muscle for the past year. But I still have a goal to lose 30lbs more. And I am not giving up, Just have to tell you guys I get so pumped when I see the transformations. So thank you for existing and being such a motivation in my life!
I am just about to start the classic plan. I work out more strenuously on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Should I aim for those days being my “high-carb” days?
You can move the schedule around to fit your needs, but you’ll need to keep the days (high and low carb, etc.) in the same order. Happy carb cycling!
Hey Guys! I am just starting my carb cycling today! I did have a question though.. When is a good time to weigh yourself? I have Chris’s book but unfortunately it is packed up for our move (Army Family) so I just wanted to ask real quick 🙂 Keeping track of my weight loss is a huge motivator for me so I wasn’t sure when the best day would be to do that, also I am doing the Turbo Cycle if that makes a difference! Thank you guys so much for all of the info. and encouragement! God Bless!
-Melissa
With every cycle but the Fit Cycle, you weigh yourself first thing in the morning on day 6. For the Fit Cycle, you weigh yourself first thing in the morning on day 7. 🙂
Hello Heidi,
My question is regarding the first meal of the day on your carb cycling plan. I get up very early to train but find that eating a meal before working tends to make me feel sick or nausous. Is it nessecary to eat first thing in the morning on this plan or can I eat following my workout?
I wonder the same thing and haven’t really gotten a definitive answer. I do cardio first thing in the morning (isn’t that good to burn thru the stored glycogen, I’m told???) and THEN eat. OR, sometimes – I’ve read that people do this – I eat half my meal (so just a little to get the engine/metabolism going) and the other half after work out. I’m interested to see what others say…..
I’ve been wondering the same thing about breakfast before a big workout. I will often just have a half of a banana. Then have other half in protein shake after. Always wondered what my best option is. Very little time.
You can totally do this, in fact, that’s what Heidi does!
Heidi, Thanks for the advice I am desperate I am now at an all time high of 458lbs and am scared that I am starting to loose the ability to physically change. I really appreciate all the information and you and Chris put out there for people.
You can change. Maybe you can’t do so much exercise so go to youtube and look at exercise for people in wheelchairs. Little steps and making everyday decisions lead up to big, positive changes in the long run. I also had to remove all the food from my house except for non-carb foods. When I need food for the high carb days I buy that same day single portions of fruit to use. Don’t lose hope, you can do this.
Will this diet pattern work for a vegetarian who will not eat fish, eggs and meats.
It can. You can choose tempeh, tofu, and texturized vegetable protein (TVP) as your protein sources.
I’m vegan! It works!!! I use Vega (it’s vegan, low in carbs, fat and cals and high in protein ) protein powder, 2 oz tempeh or 4 oz of tofu as my protein options. IT WORKS! Not a ton of of options for protein being vegan, but so what! Can also use seitan and other protein ‘meat-type’ substitutes.
what are the amount of carb that you should have on a high carb day vs a low carb day?
In carb cycling we really don’t count carbs or grams of carbs, we count portion sizes. There’s an awesome graphic that will help you put together both low and high carb meals, as well as some other great carb-related info, in this post: https://heidipowell.net/2713/carb-cycling-101/. 🙂
I did the math using the MyFitnessPal ap based on the amounts they give on the 100 calorie list in the Choose More Lose More book. Just to get a rough estimate of amounts, I plugged in for a high carb day: 3.5 oz of grilled boneless/skinless chicken breast, 1/2 C long grain brown rice, 2 C romaine lettuce plus 1/2 C of steamed broccoli and 1/2 C of steamed mushrooms (and 2T of chili sauce as the side). I MULTIPLIED THIS MEAL TIMES FIVE to come up with basic/rough amounts for a HIGH CARB day.
Here’s what I came up with in grams :
Total Cals – 1504,
Total CARBS – 153,
Total FAT – 22,
Total PROTEIN – 164,
(sodium – 1938 and sugars – 19)
I used a typical meal for my low carb day (subbed chicken for tempeh/tofu since I’m vegan) and multiplied times 5 to come up with estimate for amounts for
LOW CARB Days – and here’s what I came up with *(see below for the meal I used, FYI):
Total Cals – 1233,
Total CARBS – 75,
Total FAT – 56,
Total PROTEIN – 156,
(sodium – 2497 and sugars – 13)
This is MY math and my trying to figure it out for myself so keep that in mind. I also happen to be vegan so the chicken isn’t something I eat – just used it as an example. Here’s the meal I used for a low carb day, for above (and multiplied times 5): 3.5 oz of chicken breast grilled/skinless/boneless, 1 C steamed cauliflower, 1 C romaine lettuce, 1 C spinach, I used 1T of tobacco as side, and a combo of avocado (1C) and mozerella (2 oz) as the fats