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,
I just got done reading Chris’s books, I love love love to exercise but am really dumb when it comes to eating. I want to start the Classic Carb Cycle, however approx. how many carbs should I eat on the low carb and high days. Can you break this down for me please?
This will help: https://heidipowell.net/4514/carb-confusion/ 🙂
On low carb days what foods should be avoided? Does that include all fruits and veggies. How many grams of carbs should be eaten on low carb days and high carb days.
One last question… is it better to eat smaller meals every 2 hours or eat regular meals every 4 hours? With my work day right now, that is my choice. I cannot do every 3 hours during my work day. So I schedule breakfast 1 hour before I start work, break 1 is meal 2, but it’s only been 2 hours by the time lunch arrives, and if I wait till break 3, then I only have 10 minutes to eat the next meal. So it’s easier for me to eat every 2 hours and just have 175-200 calorie meals during work. Is this okay?
Also, I was wondering how much can one expect to lose each week if there are only about 30lbs left to lose? I’ve been losing really rapidly and following all the rules and I’m a bit concerned that maybe it’s too fast? Mind you, I’ve been slowly losing for awhile and seeing a 5lb week hasn’t happened in well over a year, until now.
I have some days that are REALLY long (starting my day at 6am and not finishing till almost midnight) because I’m going to night school. On these days, would it be okay to eat 6 smaller meals (maybe 2 or 3 200 calorie ones instead of 300) instead of 5? I’m SO hungry for my last 3 hours of the day and no amount of water or mint gum is helping because I am legitimately hungry.
Hi, I have been doing the classic cycle for 3 weeks and really noticing a difference. .. I am wondering if I am still suppose to stick with 1200cal on LC days and 1500 on HC days if I’m breast feeding…. I figured you would know if I stick with that or if I should up it so I don’t lose my milk.
Thank you so much your family is awesome, you inspire so many and you can just tell you are really good people 🙂
Hope your burn gets better soon 🙂
Ashley be sure and check out my blog post about this very thing: https://heidipowell.net/2275/q-a-carb-cycling-while-prego/ And thanks… the burn is getting better every day. 🙂
Recently purchased Choose More, Lose More for Life and have started doing carb-cycling. Having and then failures with other “fad” diets, I was refreshed at the common sense and real-life-ability of carb-cycling. I have been on the plan for just over one week now and have lost 4lbs, but most importantly my confidence is being rebuilt. Since I am really overweight and the transformation process is going to take time, I am very grateful that you make yourself available to us so keep us motivated and moving in the right direction. Looking forward sharing my journey with you! 🙂
Heidi
Interested in info on your boot camps in Arizona. I have lost 60 Pds in 9 months but don’t have the cardio nor carb cycling down.
Can you send info?
We don’t have a “public” bootcamp here at this time. Its part of the show.
The only problem I have is consuming a gallon of water! I don’t consume a gallon of anything per day! I have to make myself drink!! Help!
I love reading about and seeing all the ways that Heidi (and Chris) keep themselves healthy and encourage others to do so as well… Being pregnant with my second little boy in 2 years ( had #1 on 8/6/2012 and #2 is due 12/21/2013) I am SO excited, but I’ve also been overweight most of my life, it hasn’t effected either of my pregnancies, but I want to be healthier than I’ve ever been after this baby comes…is carb cycling okay during pregnancy??