Do you want to “lean up” without compromising your athletic performance? Do you want to train for long periods of time? Then the Fit Cycle is the cycle for you. The Fit Cycle not only eliminates fat, but it also supplies your body with the fuel it needs to perform successfully, no matter what sport you choose to excel in.
Unlike the Easy, Classic, and Turbo Cycles, the Fit Cycle only has two low carb days per week, and there’s a very important reason for this: The extra high carb day allows your muscles to absorb more fuel (glycogen), which you’ll need for maximum athletic performance. During your low carb days, when this supply of glycogen gets depleted, your muscles will develop insulin sensitivity. When you then have a high carb day or your reward day, these insulin-sensitive muscles will actually soak up more carbs, your body will burn this extra fuel instead of storing it as fat, and you’ll still lose weight. It’s an amazing process!
Here’s what a Fit Cycle week looks like:
- Monday: High carb day
- Tuesday: High carb day
- Wednesday: Low carb day
- Thursday: High carb day
- Friday: High carb day
- Saturday: Low carb day
- Sunday: Reward Day
Every breakfast—on both low and high carb days—will consist of a portion each of protein, carb, and fat. For the next three meals of the day, you’ll eat either a low or high carb meal depending on which day you’re on. Your last meal of the day will ALWAYS be a low carb meal. Follow the portion size guide to put all of your meals together. And with the Fit Cycle, you won’t lose weight as fast as with the Turbo Cycle, but you will be able to maintain your athletic performance. However, if you do experience a slight decrease in your athletic performance with this cycle, and you’re not as concerned about losing weight, try combining the Fit Cycle with pre- and post-workout supplements or meal replacement shakes with some extra macronutrients. And as with the other cycles, you can stay on the Fit Cycle or change cycles at any time. It all depends on your weight loss and athletic goals.
For more information on the Fit Cycle, check out our book, Choose More, Lose More for Life. Interested in learning about the Extreme Cycle? Get all the info in our new book, Extreme Transformation.
And if you’d like some help creating your own meals, there’s a handy “Create Your Own Meals” chart in this post!
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!
183 Responses
Hi Team Powell,
I just started your Extreme transformation and was wondering if I could replace all high carb meals for high carb and low carb meals with low carb. I’m not a fan of eggplant so I was thinking of just substituting one of the low carb lunches with the low carb dinner. Can I do that? Thanks!!
Hi Samantha: Yes! You can substitute any high-carb recipe for any other high-carb recipe, same goes for low-carb. ?
Hi. I’m just about to start extreme transformation but I was wondering about swapping out food I don’t eat with similar calories for example I don’t eat shrimp. What can I swap for it on the meal plan?
Hi Rachel: You can swap any proteins for any proteins. So if you don’t like shrimp, you can sub chicken or lean beef. Good luck – you can do this! ?
I powerlift. I lift heavy Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, rest Thursday, and lift heavy Friday. Then Saturday and Sunday I rest. I’m wondering what diet will work best for me. I’ve been doing the carb cycling turbo for a while now. . And I’m still trying to lose some weight.
Help!
Hi Ashlie: Any of the cycles can work, and you can change cycles at any time. If you feel like your lifting is more difficult due to the four low-carb days in the Turbo Cycle, you can switch to this Fit Cycle and see if that helps. Otherwise, go with whatever cycle fits your schedule and your goals. ?
is it recommended to do strength training on hi carb days ? I’m not sure if I’ll have enough energy to Crossfit on low carb days.
Hi Moh: Different things work for different people. Some are fine doing strength training on low-carb days, and others aren’t. I’d do what works best for you!
Hi,
I’m thinking of starting with the Fit Cycle. I have about 15-20 lbs to lose. I Crossfit thrice a week and do yoga/cardio on the rest. I know I might not lose fast on this cycle but can I expect to see some fat loss ? After a few weeks of being on this cycle and knowing how my body is adjusting to low carb days I would like to ease into Classic .
Yes! The Fit Cycle could definitely work for you. ?
I am training for a half marathon. I run short runs twice a week and a long run on the weekend. I strength train 2-3 days a week. I am looking to lose fat without compromising performance. Would my high carb days be days that I am running? I can get through short runs with no carbs, but am concerned with energy for the long runs.
Hi Jennifer: Great question! It can go both ways: Some people like to have a high-carb day the day before a long run so that they’re building up all those carbs the day before. Others like to have high-carb days the day they run long. You can move the weekly schedule one way or the other to find what works best for you, just don’t change the order of the days. Hope that helps!
I have completed the basic cycle for 12 weeks and lost a lot of baby weight and inches – but am struggling to lose these last 10 pounds. I was considering the turbo cycle – but I crossfit four days a week and am still nursing my 10 month old – so am concerned about building muscle and mainting my milk supply. Would the fit cycle be more appropriate and still accommodate the weight loss? Or would the turbo cycle help more to shave off those last 10 pounds?
Hi Kenna: Here’s another post that outlines Heidi’s breastfeeding nutrition program – I hope it will help! https://heidipowell.net/2275. ?
Hi Heidi. I currently do interval training twice a week, run three times a week, and lift weights three times a week. Im in shape but I would like more definition and not looking to lose weight. I’m looking at starting the carb cycling and saw the Fit cycle but 4 days of high carbs seems like a lot for me. I’m Hispanic so carbs and me don’t get along very well lol. Which cycle would you recommend based on this info?
Hi Josselyn: You can try any of the cycles, and you can change cycles at any time. And remember, carbs include fruits and starchy/root veggies too, as well as legumes and whole grains.
Hi Heidi!
Im allready counting macros! I eat 60f, 140/165 carbs, 132 protein. A weightlift coach and nutrition coach told me that. I eat 1740 calories and I use MyFitnessPall. I weight all my food on the scale so I eat my macros every day for 2 weeks and then I have a cheat day. I do this for 6 months and I lost 7 cm on my belly and this moment Im on the same weight as I started. But with less fatt. But I really want to drop down my fatt a whole lot more but my training is also important.
I train 6 days, I do crossfit with my boyfriend. We are following the Barbell WOD on monday wednesday and fryday and The skills WOD on the other three days. We have a rest day on saturday and 2 times a week we ad a conditioning wod to the barbell/skills wod.
I did more than 12 strict pullups, I can frontsquat 90 kilo, snatch over 60 kilo and deadlift over 110 kilo. With this great programming we are following (since 2 months) the numbers are going up! I can do a whole lot more dips and pullups than before. I can squat more and press more. BUT im so hungry all the time and than I want to eat everything I can!! Im not doing it, but hungry feelings are not good. I think carb cycling is very good for me to lose more fatt and building muscle. I want to squat over 100 kilo, deadlift 140 and doining muscle ups easy. I train hard, consistend, togehter with my boyfriend! I would like to the this carb cycling fit cycle, but I need to know how much carbs I need to eat..and fatt and protein also. Can you tell me how I can calculate my macros? I think 1700 calories is very low for me, but im scared to eat more! Can you help me out with the calculation? Thnx so much!!! Greets from the Netherlands, Giacolina
Oh and I weight 65 kilo right now and I am 1,69 cm tall.. and I have no abs but really want them!!! 🙂
Hi Giaco: Thank you for your post – it sounds like you’re doing awesome! The Fit Cycle could work for you, but I don’t have any macro counts. We go by portion sizes and calories (if you’re a calorie counter), which makes things so much easier. There’s an awesome graphic in this post (as well as some other helpful info) that shows you how to put all your carb cycling meals together: https://heidipowell.net/4514. I hope it helps – you can do this!
thnx for you aswer! in the link you send me is standing 1200-1500 calories for the woman. But Im starving already with 1700 calories. Do you know how I can calulate how much calories i have to take? with 1500 calories im not getting stronger and with 1200 I cannot lift much weight haha.
You could use the men’s portion sizes and calorie recommendations if you’d like to: 1500 calories on low-carb days and 2000 calories on high-carb days.
I am wondering how to get fit and lose weight. im 5’4 128. I wanna lose belly fat. I do have a little to lose. Is there a cycle you recomend
Hi Lizzy: You can use any of the cycles, and you can change cycles at any time. The Turbo Cycle is the quickest weight loss cycle, or the Fit Cycle is great if you work out intensely. Hope that helps!