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
I just started carb cycling and I’m a little confused about reward days. do i still need to eat 5 meals throughout the day? how many more calories should I be eating on these days?
thanks
On your reward days you can eat up to 1,000 extra calories, and you can space these throughout the day however you’d like. Happy carb cycling!
Hi guys! Just a question to make sure I’m understanding correctly. Even on low carb days you eat a high carb breakfast correct? My husband and I have been carb cycling and have had some success. I just want to make sure that we are doing it right! Thanks!!
Yes, you are correct. Every breakfast is a high carb breakfast. Happy carb cycling!
None of the links to the carb cycling options are working!
I just checked them, and they’re all working. So sorry you’re having issues – please try again.
Can I use Flavored Fat Free/No Sugar added creamer for coffee on the turbo carb cycling?
Flavored fat free/no sugar added creamer is not on the approved foods list, but if you must use it, be sure and include those calories in your daily calorie total and use as little as possible. Happy carb cycling!
Can you give more specific measurement information how much protein/fiber/carbs you need for each meal? That is, what % I should look for on food labels?
Thank you.
Paula
Hi Heidi,
I read Chris’s book on carb cycling and maybe I missed it, but are the portion sizes supposed to be the same for all 5 meals?
Thank you!
Yes. There’s an awesome graphic (as well as some other great info) in this post that will show you how to put together every meal – both low and high carb: https://heidipowell.net/4514/carb-confusion/.
Hello Heidi!
I’m a fan from Brazil and EWL inspired me to lose some pounds (about 100) and I’ve also bought Chris’ Choose More, Lose More…I read it all in 2 days! Very motivating!
However, I have a question about the cycles. I’m doin’ the Turbo one and my problem is the snacks (before lunch and before dinner) on LC days. You guys said “no carbs on LC, except breakfast”, right? But, what about a protein shake? Can I have it for snack? It has some grams of carbs, doesn’t it?
I read the “pumpkin-pie-protein-shake” recipe and it has 10 grams of carbs… can I have it for snack?
Thanks very very much!
You can have protein shakes on low carb days – just make sure your powder/shake has 15-20 grams of protein and less than 5 grams of carbs per servings. And yes, you can have the pumpkin pie protein shake on a low carb day. Happy carb cycling!
Thank you so much for all of the information, books, and TV show. I get encouraged when I see the transformations. I am 5ft 2 inches tall female, age mid 40’s, weighing 270 pounds. I want with the help of your books and website this to be the year I transform. I am American but live overseas in a developing country, for my job, so eating can be a challenge. I bought a lot of protein powder to take back with me after Christmas.
If the nutrition label says 1 scoop protein powder=120 calories, do I reduce my fat allowance to make up the extra 20 calories? I plan on using natural peanut butter for the fat since it is cheap and easy to buy where I live.
Happy New Year 2015!
No, you’ll just keep track of the calories, and make sure you only eat 1200 calories on low carb days and 1500 calories on high carb days. Happy carb cycling – you can do this!
I am 5 ft 2, 130 pounds and Id like to be 115. I eat fairly decent. oatmeal or eggs, or yogurt for breakfast. sometimes a breakfast sandwich. a coffee with just milk (skim) or or 2 T. creamer.
I drink water or green tea or unsweetened tea. for lunch ill have a protein of meat and a veggie. or rice meat and a veggie. or a wrap with chicken or turkey. sometimes a salad with a protein. snacks are mostly fruit or sometimes nuts. dinner is normally whatever we have at home, just in moderation. . I cant seem to lose… I do walk at my job and I do try to work out whenever possible…help!? is it stress? or am I eating wrong? I do splurge on weekends with pizza, but like 2 pieces and beer. …is that whats wrong..my weekends? I don’t hardly ever eat cakes cookies or any of that anymore. only a birthday. should I cut our breads? I do eat some with breakfast sandwich or a wrap with lunch….or a roll for hamburger for dinner. I do try to choose fat free or whole wheat for dairy and bread products.
is adding cottage cheese to my eggs too much with a wrap for breakfast?
breakfast egg white on English muffin ..bad?
yogurt, fruit, a meat and veggie…too much for lunch?
help!!!!
Try Chris and Heidi’s carb cycling plan as outlined in this post, and you can find their complete program in their book, “Choose More, Lose More for Life.” Everything you’ll need to know and do – both for nutrition and exercise – is outlined for you on a daily basis. All you have to do is follow the plan! Here’s another post that might help too: https://heidipowell.net/4514/carb-confusion/. You can do this! 🙂
Hi,
I am thinking of buying the Choose to Loose book. Is it recommended that I buy the Choose more, loose more for Life book also?
So does book 2 consist of book 1+extra info/recipes or is book 1 totally independent of book 2? In that case, should I start following book 1 and then book 2?
Please help, I’m lost!
I’d suggest buying “Choose More, Lose More for Life.” It has four carb cycles (an update from “Choose to Lose”), as well as an updated exercise program. Both books have different recipes, so if you’d like the extra recipes, you could also buy the first book. But everything you need to know program-wise is in “Choose More, Lose More for Life.” Happy carb cycling!