On Extreme Weight Loss and in our books “Choose to Lose: The 7 Day Carb Cycle Solution” and “Choose More, Lose More for Life,” Chris and I teach people how to lose weight and get healthy using a program called carb cycling. When you carb cycle, you eat 5 smaller meals a day, 1 every 3 hours starting within 30 minutes of waking up.
Eating this often is new to many people, especially those that skip breakfast and suddenly realize halfway through the day, that they’ve also missed lunch. Irregular eating can derail your fitness goals.
Preparation is key to eating every three hours. While we all know the best laid plans can go awry with an emergency, you get stuck in traffic, a meeting goes longer than planned, etc., so many people ask Chris and I what happens if I accidentally skip a meal or am unable to eat my meal on time. What do you do?
Find out the answers by watching this week’s Ask Heidi Anything.
264 Responses
Hi, I’m am just starting out on the turbo cycle and I have a few questions. I have actually posted a few times and then I can never find my post when I come back, so sorry if this is the 3 time your seeing this 🙂 I generally make wraps with ham (4 slices-low sodium), bacon bits (1 Tbsp), shredded cheese (just a pinch), ranch (lowfat 1 Tbsp), on a whole grain flatout wrap. I was wondering if this would be ok for the high carb day since it has cheese. Or do I need to throw the whole thing out since most of it is in the fat category? I just knew I couldn’t do the wrap on the low carb day. I seen one of Heidi’s post with a pita pizza with cheese so I wasn’t sure which day she did that meal unless it was her reward day. I’m trying to figure out some consistency to make the process easier on choosing meals. Also, for our snacks I read the veggies are optional, however, what if on a low carb day I chose celery and peanut butter would I need to add a protein or can that be my snack? Thank you so much!
Hi Kendra: There’s a graphic in this post (plus some other awesome info) that can show you how to put all your meals together on the Turbo Cycle, and this will answer all your questions and more: https://heidipowell.net/4514. And Heidi’s Pita Pizza is an great reward day meal option!
Hello,
I was looking for a recommended nutritional bar that I can use on either high or low carb days.
Thanks,
John
Hi John: If you’re following the Extreme Cycle, there’s a chart in this post (“Create Your Own Meals”) with some guidelines to use when choosing a meal replacement bar for either a low or high carb meal: http://heidipwell.net/10617. If you’re following any of the other cycles, here are some recommended macro breakdowns you can use: High Carb Meal: Protein: 40%, Carbs: 40%, Fats: 20%. Low Carb Meal:
Protein: 40%, Carbs: 20%, Fats: 40%. And remember that each gram of protein or carb = 4 calories, and each gram of fat = 9 calories. You might not be able to find a bar that fits these recommendations exactly, but just get as close as you can. Hope this helps!
Thank you for the response. Quest bars are low in net carbs. Should I be looking at net or total carbs.
We go by total carbs. 🙂
Hi chris and heidi, I have been doing the transformation plan and i am seeing great result; however, i have love handles and they are still here.. I lost about 10kg but that love handles is causing some problems. Is there any specific exercise for these?? Please help me out if you can sir. Thank you
Congratulations on losing 10kg – that’s awesome! You really can’t spot reduce, any extra fat will leave your body in its own unique way. Keep doing what you’re doing, make sure you’re strength training your whole body along with your cardio, and eventually any trouble spots should get better. You can do this!
is Sabra Hummus a fat or carb?
Hi JJ: Sabra Hummus would be considered a fat because it has more carbs than fat, however, it’s good to look at each hummus separately as some contain more carbs than fat, which would make them a carb. It can be confusing, but just do your best! And remember to keep an eye on your serving size too.
Do I have to eat the whole portion of all the meals?
Hi Marsha: Unless your schedule is crazy and you need to break up your meals (as discussed in this post), it’s best to aim for 5 complete meals a day as outlined in carb cycling. Hope that helps!
Is it okay to drink water with or immediately after meals as well as before meals?
Also, I just want to make sure I’m understanding. Slingshot is a 4th week for every carb cycling plan? Also whenever you feel the need to switch things up to get the metabolism going?
Thanks.
Hi Cathy: You can drink water whenever you’d like to! You’ll do a Slingshot Week the 4th week for the Easy, Classic, Turbo, and Fit cycles, and you can do either a Slingshot Week, do another round of the Extreme Cycle, or change to the Turbo Cycle for the Extreme Cycle. Hope that helps!
Hi! I have been carb cycling for 5 weeks and just love the way I feel. Here’s my question. I find that I have been “grazing” all day recently rather than eating a meal every 3 hours. The food I’m eating is appropriate for the carb cycle day I’m on…with the appropriate portion sizing….but I’ve just been eating every two hours instead of 3. Does that stop my body from burning calories effectively?
Hi Melissa: It is best to only eat every 3 hours. If you get hungry in between your meals, you can eat veggies, and that should help. Good luck – you can do this!
can I have low sodium bacon on low carb days
Can you please tell me how many calories of protein , carbs fats etc I need at each meal so I’m not over eating one or another. I’m on high carb today, and had 1/2 cup of pasta ,I slice of 50 calorie bead 2 oz beef and 1/2 cup of marinara sauce and was still only at 250 calories
Hi Tamara: Bacon of any type is not on the approved foods list, but if you were to eat it, it counts as a fat.
can I have 1/2 cup pasta and 50 calorie bread at same meal? That with marinara sauce and 2 oz beef is still only 250 calories. Can you give me some sort of ratio for carbs etc. handfuls dont work for everything
There are approved foods list with some sizes and calorie amounts in both of Chris and Heidi’s books, “Choose More, Lose More for Life” and “Extreme Transformation,” and these could help you put your meals together in addition to the portion size guide.
I am a university student I dont have time during the day to eat every 3 hours. Also a lot of times i finish at 8.30pm so by the time i get home its 9pm and eating at that point is just to heavy for me. Any suggestion as to hoe i could get around the 3hr between every meal?
Hi Nk: Yes! You can get some great tips in this blog post: https://heidipowell.net/10556/ask-the-powells-how-can-i-structure-my-meals-2/. Hope it helps, and good luck in school!