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 purchased the Extreme Transformation and am excited to get started. I lost 125 pounds in a year eating healthy and starting to exercise, then in January I hit a plateau. I have tried increasing exercise, changing up exercise, adding grains (I wasn’t eating them before), increasing calories, and nothing seems to budge the plateau. I am hopeful that this will be the ticket. I have a couple of questions: I have had my RMR tested and know for my body what the calorie range for weight loss is, which is a little higher than the 1500 you suggest for women, should I go with the 1500 or the 1650 from my RMR test? Second question, I do Orangetheory workouts 6 days a week, they burn at least 500 calories with EPOC, with this amount of working out/calorie burn do I need to adjust my calories? I’ve been told if you don’t eat enough your body will hold on to whatever you give it and I want it to let go! Thanks in advance for your suggestions.
Hi Sabrena: Wow! Congratulations on losing 125 lbs! That’s awesome! You should be good to go with the 1500 calories/day recommendation, and cardio is included in the program 6 days a week, so you should you be fine doing your Orangetheory also. You can do this!
Thank you for your explanation on how to break through a plateau. At age 43 I was having difficulty for about two weeks, not losing any weight. Its been tough because my body’s natural response to working out also includes suppressing my appetite. So I kept up on my calorie count, making sure I ate enough. Though I did not understand it, I did a slingshot week of carbs and additional meal. Altered my workout a little… By the end of the week, BAM! I lost 5 lbs. Thank you.
Congratulations!
Team Powell,
Me again. I’m confused on the difference between sugar free syrup and pure maple syrup.. Maybe a silly question but the only think I can find for sugar free syrup is like coffee flavorings..
Help 🙂
Hi Allie: You can find sugar-free maple syrup with the other pancake/waffle syrups. It’s sweetened with artificial sweeteners, and one sweetened with stevia is your best choice. 🙂
Hi Heidi,
I’m on day 3 of the extreme cycle and I love it! I am never hungry and learning some awesome recipes with healthy foods!
I am curious what I am allowed to drink on the extreme cycle. Obviously water is unlimited but what about coffee? Tea? Alcohol?
Thank you!
Hi Allie: Welcome to the Extreme Cycle! You have black coffee or tea, but be sure to only use 0 calorie sweeteners. Alcohol is considered a reset/reward day drink. Hope that helps!
I am looking for a printable of the 21-Day Tracking sheet from my book…Appendix A. The book pages are tiny and I want to duplicate but they are set up two a day…I want it larger so I can make notes as I track my progress. Just starting program Monday with a friend…very excited and hopeful! Thanks!
Hi Shelly: Unfortunately, we don’t have any of the charts available for download at this time. And welcome to carb cycling – you can do this!
Hello,
i have lost 50lbs doing Whole30 and working out. I have added something back, make overall healthy choice, i still have an occasional treat. I am looking to add muscle now and tone the rest. I am a little nervous about carb cycling.. i do not want to have to count calories or marco(????)
I currently eat.. a lot of protein, veggies, avacoado, but i eat as much as I want and do not count.. can i do carb cycling without counting?
Hi Amanda: You really need to count macros, or calories if you’d prefer, to achieve your goals. Here’s a post that can help you figure out how to reach your goals: https://heidipowell.net/10540/ask-the-powells-gaining-healthy-weight/. And this post might help also: https://heidipowell.net/10990/macro-tracking-questions-answered/. You can do this!
Hi Hedi,
I have been reading your blog post on Macro eat and carb cycling. Already being an avid user of MyfitnessPal this peaked my interest. I do have a question- Is Carb cycling and Macro eating two different eating lifestyles or do they go hand and hand? My Macro calcualtions differ from you Classic cycling Macros given for women above. How do I know how many told macros I get per day on low and high carb days for the Classic Cycling? Thanks!
that was Total** macros per day.
Hi Melissa: Carb cycling takes macro counting to a new level, and you count macros in carb cycling. If you’re following one of Chris and Heidi’s carb cycles, here are the recommended macro percentages: Easy, Classic, Fit, and Turbo Cycles: High Carb Meal (including EVERY breakfast): Protein: 40%, Carbs: 40%, Fats: 20%, Low Carb Meal: Protein: 40%, Carbs: 20%, Fats: 40%. Extreme Cycle: Breakfast (EVERY day): Protein: 30%, Carb: 40%, Fat: 30%, High Carb Meal: Protein: 40%, Carb: 50%, Fat: 10%, Low Carb Meal: Protein: 40%, Carb: 10%, Fat: 50%. If you’re wanting to put together your own carb cycles, it’s best to work with a macro coach who can put your plan together based on your body composition and goals. 🙂
Hi Heidi,
I love all your blogs! Two quick questions, based on weight, what is the basic calculation for High and Low days for Carbs, Protein and Fats? And do you count total carbs or net carbs?
Thank you for your time! Your page has been my go to since carb cycling.
Hi S: On the Extreme Cycle, women eat around 1500 calories a day, and men eat around 2000 calories a day. For the other four cycles, women eat 1200 calories on low carb days and 1500 calories on high carb days, and men eat 1500 calories on low carb days and 2000 calories on high carb days. Here are the macro percentage breakdowns for all of the carb cycles: Easy, Classic, Fit, and Turbo Cycles: High Carb Meal (including EVERY breakfast): Protein: 40%, Carbs: 40%, Fats: 20%, Low Carb Meal: Protein: 40%, Carbs: 20%, Fats: 40%. Extreme Cycle: Breakfast (EVERY day): Protein: 30%, Carb: 40%, Fat: 30%, High Carb Meal: Protein: 40%, Carb: 50%, Fat: 10%, Low Carb Meal: Protein: 40%, Carb: 10%, Fat: 50%. And we count total carbs. Hope this helps!
If I can not exercise for a few days on the extreme cycle due to surgery, should I lower my daily calorie intake?
Hi Jennifer: You should be okay leaving your calories the same for a few days. Your body does need good, healthy calories to heal, and we hope you recover quickly!
Hi guys,
I’ve just read ‘chose more lose more’. I’m intrigued by carb cycling. I actually train 3x a week weights and 1-2 cardio. I am currently 67kgs. This weight had been unchanged for a year but I am much happier with my shape and have quite a lot of muscle mass. I am at the frustrating ‘last 15lbs’ stage and can’t seem to get the last few pounds to budge! I note in the book the recommendation for females is 1200.
Currently I track macros and have tried weaning up to 1750 kcals And also down to 1400. I really think I’d struggle to train on 1200.
Would there be some wiggle room for me to carb cycle on 1400-1500 and still lose those ‘vanity pounds’?
Katy
Thanks guys, am a huge fan X
Hi Katy: You might want to try the new Extreme Cycle, which recommends around 1500 calories a day for women: https://heidipowell.net/10503/carb-cycling-the-extreme-cycle/. 🙂
Hi,
It’s day 5 for me and I’m feeling absolutely amazing! Have a question. I’m wondering if you have any suggestions for a *low cost* lactose free or vegan protein powder that tastes great that would work with this program? The ones I can find either have 15 carbs 5 fat etc.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
Thank You!
Hi Pam: You’re doing awesome! We don’t have any brands to recommend, but yes, go for low-carb, low-fat versions (if 5 grams is the lowest you can find, that’s totally okay!) that have around 20 grams of protein per serving. You can totally do this! 🙂
Hi, I am new to all this. Just wondering if the reward day allows to eat anything all day, or is it just for one meal? Thank you.
Hi Chuck: For your reward day, you can eat anything you want up to an extra 1,000 calories for that day.