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
Hello, Just starting my 2nd week on the app. I have a question regarding the reward meal. I choose the Protein Style Hamburgers as my meal. I am curious where the carbs come from. I see two patties, lettuce, tomato, onion. Also, I keep seeing the term reset days. Can you explain? Thanks.
Hi Kelley: For the protein style hamburger, we took this information straight from In N’ Out’s website. And the Reset Day is the same as the Reward Day – we use these terms interchangeably. On these days, we bump up your calories to help reset your metabolism for continued progress towards your goals AND to help you get rid of any “treat” cravings you may be having. On these days, you can either choose “treat” foods, healthy foods, or a combination of both. We hope you’re loving the app! 🙂
Hi,
I’m interested in trying carb cycling. Since Christmas i’ve been trying to stick to 1500cals (tracked using my fitnesspal)of which 30% is protein. Doing this as a base before trying carb cycling – though depsite running, not lost a single lb. Thing is, i eat a largely veggie diet (meat is expensive in UK and i’m barely covering bills at the moment), so i NEVER hit my protein target. And nearly always have a sugar crash mid morning.
I’m a bit concerned if i try carb cycling, that i’ll not hit the protein quantities on the high or low days and therefore am setting myself up for failure. So where can i find the best sources of low carb high protein, cost efficient foods? (Really hoping you know of a reliable website or heidi has another super blog post i’ve missed)
Thanks in advance
Hi AP: Here’s a post all about protein, including some great sources for protein: https://heidipowell.net/11162. And you’d be surprised at how you can fit in protein on a budget. You can totally do this! 🙂
I started the transformation program 2 days ago and so far so good! My biggest problem is that my work schedule doesn’t allow me to eat the 4 meals every three hours. This is my typical day:
7:30am Breakfast
11:00 Snack at work
1:00 Lunch (my scheduled lunch break)
4:30 snack (when I get home from job 1)
8:30 dinner (after I get home from job 2)
Is this ok? What are your tips for crazy work schedules?
Hi Suzie: Crazy work schedules can be tricky! Here’s a post that can help: https://heidipowell.net/10556. And we hope you’re loving the app!
Hi Heidi,
I am on day 10 of the transformation program. I feel wonderful. I thought I would be craving foods, but I don’t. This program is amazing. I do have a couple of questions:
1) Is diet soda allowed? I normally don’t drink soda, but for some reason, I had cravings last night; and
2) I sometimes skip a snack. Is this bad?
Hi Nikki: Let’s get you some answers! 1. We recommend you save diet soda for your reset days if possible. But if you have a diet soda every now and then, that’s okay! 2. It’s best to eat all of the macros every day so your body gets all the nutrients it needs to get you closer to your goals! We so happy you’re loving the app!
I recently bought the Extreme Transformation book and I am excited to get started. I was mostly interested in learning about the carb cycling process. However, I have learned to love the gym. I mainly lift weights and do different workouts to target different parts of the body (shoulders, legs, back, chest, and arms). I noticed that there are set workouts in your book that aren’t necessarily weight lifting workouts. Is it safe to still continue to lift weights instead of do the prescribed workouts in your book? Should I be doing something different than weights on low carb days? I want to make sure that I have enough energy to make it through my workout on high carb and low carb days. Thanks!
Hi Michelle: Yes, you can totally do your own workouts! And working out on low carb days works differently for different people. Some do okay, some struggle a bit, so you may need to adjust your workouts based on how your body reacts to low carb days. And welcome to carb cycling! 🙂
I was think of doing the Turbo …is this safe for type 2 diabetics? My blood sugar is currently Under control since I made some changes in my diet for the better.
Hi Dee: We recommend you discuss any nutrition program with your healthcare team and then follow their recommendations. We wish you all the best 🙂
I just started your Extreme Transformation carb cycling and I appreciate how laid out the shopping list and recipes are. The recipes are simple as well, but I’m having a difficult time preparing all of the meals throughout the day. A question I have is: Are the recipes interchangeable as long as you’re replacing a high-carb with high-carb and low-carb with low-carb? I’ve had to use some of the faster recipes like the protein shakes and triple berry treat in place of those that require a lot of prep/cooking. Will that still work? Thanks in advance for your reply.
Hi Kelli: Yes, this will totally work! Here’s a post about meal planning on the Extreme Cycle that can give you even more tips: https://heidipowell.net/10617. 🙂
I have been using carb cycling/turbo for two weeks and have been faithful to all requirements. I’d been following another diet and had lost 58 pounds and hit a plateau. After about two months my doctor suggested I try carb cycling and I had lost 3.6 pounds in my first week. I just weighed myself and have gained .6 pounds back this week. I’d like to lose another 50 pounds. Can’t figure out what I am doing wrong.
Hi Cheryl: You’re not doing anything wrong! Here’s a post that can help you understand what’s going on, and remember – weight fluctuations are totally normal, especially as your body is getting used to a new program. https://heidipowell.net/12026. You got this! 🙂
Hello Heidi – I am a newbie to Carb cycling . I have always consumed a Low carb diet . Over the last year I have gained 15 pounds due to pre- menopausal ugh……But so the last 5 days I have been doing very well on the Turbo cycle which I love. Any suggests on approx. how much weight will I shed in 28 days?
Hi Wendy: You’re doing awesome! We recommend you aim to lose 10% of your body weight in the first 90 days. 🙂
I have one last question:
For breakfasts, protein and carb each day + 2 servings of veggies. On low carb days, do I still add a fat to this meal or no?
Thank you so much! I start my first cycle on Monday!!
Hi Jamie: It depends on which cycle you’re following. If you’re following the Easy, Classic, Turbo, or Fit cycle (from “Choose More, Lose More for Life”), there’s a chart in this post you’re commenting on that outlines how to put your meals together. If you’re following the Extreme Cycle, there’s a chart in this post that can help you put your meals together: https://heidipowell.net/10617. Hope that helps – you can do this!
Hi team Powell! I was wondering if our bodies act like we are going into ketosis when we do our low carb days or what is our bodies exactly doing on those days?! I used to do the turbo carb cycling and lost 20 pounds in 2 months! However,I gained it back at the start of high school because my life was over loaded and I wasn’t taking care of myself! But now I am back! Thank you so much Chris and Heidi you two have been such an inspiration for me! My parents aren’t into healthy eating or working out so its been tough for me to figure it out on my own. Chris and Heidi have helped me so much! They kinda have become my healthy lifestyle parents! Thanks again!
Hi Faith: Here’s how the low and high carb days work: During high-carb days, there is a moderate to high insulin response after the meals, triggering a temporary anabolic state?driving nutrients into the muscles and boosting metabolic rate. During low-carb days, there is a minimal insulin response after the meals, keeping the body in a mostly catabolic state? breaking down and oxidizing fat. Long story short, high-carb days boost your metabolism (while still losing fat), and low-carb days turbocharge your fat loss. Hope that helps! 🙂