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
I started the Extreme Transformation 11 days ago. I have been a near vegan for a decade and I’m having trouble coming up with alternatives. Most of the fake meats I substitute are high in sodium. I use vegan protein powder, but can’t use that exclusively for protein. I have been eating eggs and Greek yogurt as well, but this isn’t really part of my ethical meal plan. I don’t know where to go from here. I am doing everything as outlined otherwise.
Hi Cara: We know it can be tricky to follow a lot of nutrition plans on a vegan lifestyle. There are some vegan options listed on page 19 in the book, and I hope those can help!
Hi Team Powell,
I am just starting the turbo cycling and have a question. Can I use skim milk in my coffee/tea or does it have to be almond or soya milk.
Love you guys
Many thanks
Debbie
Hi Debbie: Since skim milk contains carbs, it’s best to use unsweetened almond milk if possible. 🙂
Hi Heidi,
Help! I recently went to night shift, my body is all out of whack! My weight has slowly keeps up over the last couple of weeks and I want to stop it before it becomes a problem! With my first night on, I’m up from 6a till 8-9am the next day. So should I eat my “meals” every 3-4 hours for that whole 24hr period? I log and keep track and am just trying to figure out how to go about this.
Thanks
Abbi ?
Hi Abbi: Here’s a post that can help you figure out a good eating schedule for you and your crazy schedule! https://heidipowell.net/10556. Hope it helps! 🙂
What should I replace the pork meals with?
Hi Ashley: You can replace pork with any other meat protein (beef, chicken). The calories and macros might change a bit, but it shouldn’t be a big deal as long as you choose lean cuts. You can also substitute any high carb meal for another high carb meal – the same with breakfasts and low carb meals. Hope that helps!
Hey Heidi my names Kendall and I had a question (it’s not about arms but about my legs). So I played soccer for about 10 years but then had a knee injury so I had to stop. I was happy with the size of my legs when I was playing soccer because they were toned but not huge. I started competitively swimming instead after my injury and stopped running. However I could tell my thighs were getting larger even throughout swim! So now it’s been about 2 years since I’ve stopped playing soccer, I’ve been swimming for two years now, and my thighs are bigger than ever! I’m not happy with them so I started running about 3 miles twice a week…along with my 2 hour swim practices 4 days a week. My thinking was…”this will HAVE to tone and make my thighs smaller again!” So I’ve been running for about 4 weeks and I can tell my thighs are more firm…but even bigger than before! So my question is…will I build muscle and then once my thighs shed the fat it’s needs to…and then start downsizing? Or will my thighs just keep getting bigger as I keep running? Do I need to go a longer distance to get thinner thighs?
I purchased meal replacement shakes and was wondering if they fall under Low Carb or High Card days. They have 220 calories, fat: 3g, carbs 24g, fiber 6g, protein: 24g. I read on the quest bars the fiber cancels some of the carbs or changes it to net carbs…wasn’t real sure what that meant. I bought quest bars because of your response to my protein bars (they were neither high or low days 🙂 ) Will the quest bars be low carb days? 1 bar has 170 calories, fat:7g, carbs: 23g, fiber: 14g, and protein: 20g. One last question, would the meal replacement need to be one of the meals or the snack or does it make a difference? Thank you so much for your help! This blog is amazing!
Hi Kendra: Yes, Quest protein bars are the protein and fat portions of a low carb meal. For protein powders, look for low-fat, low-carb powders with around 20 grams of protein per serving. This can serve as the protein portion for any meal. And you can use a meal replacement for any meal. 🙂
Would a Power Bar Triple Threat Energy Bar: Peanut Butter Caramel, Calories 200, Fat 9g, Carbs 23g, Protein 12g fall under High Carb or Low Carb day? They are super quick and easy to grab on the go for snacks.
Hi Kendra: There’s too much fat for this to be a high carb option, and too many carbs for a low carb option. Try and find bars that are lower in fat for high carb meals and lower in carbs for low carb meals. But in a pinch, this is a much better option than many other things, so keep that in mind too. Hope that helps!
Heidi,
I am not sure what I am doing wrong. I am 265lbs. I work out Mon-Sat. Mon,Wed, Fri I do a weight circuit and 30mins on Elliptical, Tues & Thurs I do abs and then an hour on the treadmill. Saturday mornings I take a spin class or Zumba. I am doing the turbo carb cycling. The weight is just not coming off.
Low Carb (Mon, Tues, Thurs) – Meal 1 – 1/2 PB Sandwich (4am)
Meal 2 – Protein Shake with Cucumbers (7:15am)
Meal 3 – Egg Lites with vegan Cheese, green pepper(10:15am)
Meal 4 4oz Chicken (boneless thighs) broccoli, cauliflower, peppers (1:30ish)
Meal 5 – Celery and 4oz Chicken (4PM)
Meal 6 – 10 oz Chicken, Cabbage and Onions (5:30 or 6PM)
High Carb (Wed, Sat) Meal 1 1/2 PB Sandwich (4AM)
Meal 2 – Protein Powder, Cucumbers (7:15AM)
Meal 3 – Egg whites, cream of wheat, green pepper (10:15AM)
Meal 4 4oz Chicken , broccoli & cauliflower, peppers, apple (1:30ish)
Meal 5 Celery, 1/2 PB Sandwich (4PM)
Meal 6 10 oz Chicken, Watermelon, Cabbage & Onions (5:30-6PM)
I eat the last meal earlier because I try to go to bed by 7:30-8PM since I rise at 4am.
I am getting very frustrated and I am trying to do all I can. Any suggestions would be soooo appreciated. I adore you guys! You’ve inspired me so much over the years to finally do something about my weight.
Hi Haley: It looks like you just need to tweak your meals a bit. There’s an awesome graphic in this post that shows you how to put all your meals together for the Turbo Cycle: https://heidipowell.net/4514. And remember each high carb meal has a portion each of protein + carbs (plus veggies if you’re still hungry), and every low carb meal has a portion each of protein + fat + veggies. And every breakfast, on both low and high carb days, is a high meal (protein + carb + veggies-if you’re still hungry). You can do this!
Hi Heidi
I was told I was pre-diabetic about a year and a half ago and half since reversed it but I need to gain some weight back or stop losing weight. I work out about 5.days a week. What’s the best way to stay my current weight but gain muscle now.
Thanks so much any help would be appreciated! Btw I’m 5-2 and about 120.
Hi Darian: Here’s a post that could help: https://heidipowell.net/10540. You can do this!
Hi Heidi can I eat as many non starchy vegetables as I want on high carb days on the extreme cycle?
Thanks!
Yes! 🙂