Confused about carbs and how they fit into carb cycling? Believe me, you’re not alone! Many of my most frequently asked questions are about carbs. And yes, with all the talk of “carbs this” and “carbs that” in the media, it can get a bit confusing. It gets even more complicated when you think you need to keep track of grams of carbs per meal and per day and the “good” vs. the “bad.”
It’s time to rethink how you think about carbs, agreed?!
First, the basics: Carbs—and the roles they play in your diet—are actually pretty simple. If it comes from a plant, it’s a carb, and carbs are the preferred fuel source for your muscles and organs. Breads, beans, potatoes, table sugar, fruits, and vegetables are all carbs.
There are two categories of carbs: simple and complex. The simple, not-so-healthy ones are found in foods such as cakes, cookies, some commercially made breads, and many processed foods. Fruits are also considered simple carbs because of the type of sugar they contain, but they’re a healthy choice because they’re loaded with vitamins, minerals, electrolytes, antioxidants, and some fiber. Your body breaks down simple, not-so-healthy carbs very quickly, which spikes your blood sugar levels and stimulates the release of insulin, resulting in a craving for more simple carbs. And that is soooo not good!
Complex, healthy carbs—like those found in legumes, root vegetables, whole-grains, cereals, breads, and pastas—are typically high in fiber, which slows food digestion and the release of sugars. This keeps your blood sugar and energy levels steady (and longer lasting), so your calorie-burning furnace stays hot and burns more calories! And that is awesome!
So how do carbs fit into our carb cycling program? It’s actually pretty simple. No matter what carb cycle you choose, every breakfast of every day will contain a carb. Every breakfast, every day. Your carb can be a grain, a legume, a starchy or root veggie, or a fruit.
In the Easy, Classic, Turbo, and Fit Cycles, on low-carb days, your remaining four meals (spaced every three hours) consist of a portion each of protein, fat, and veggies (think fibrous green veggies, not the starchy, root kind), and on high-carb days, your remaining four meals (spaced every three hours) are made up of a portion each of protein and complex carbs (grains, legumes, starchy or root veggies, or fruits). To learn more about the new Extreme Cycle, go here. And no matter which cycle you choose, if you’re ever still hungry, you can always throw in a portion of veggies (again, the fibrous greens). Remember: With carb cycling, you can have non-root/non-starchy veggies with every single meal (starchy, root veggies, like potatoes, will fall into the carb category)! Pretty simple, right?
Here’s what it looks like, including some handy portion size helps, for the Easy, Classic, Turbo, and Fit Cycles:
Here’s the most important take-away about carbs: With carbs and carb cycling, it’s not about a magic number of grams of carbs to eat every day. It’s about that carb for breakfast every morning and spreading your carb intake throughout your high-carb days so your body gets the greatest benefits from those healthy carbs you eat. Carbs are amazing, and they can be an important key to achieving your transformation goals. 🙂
693 Responses
Hi! I’m 25 and would need to loose 12-20 punds…I?ve always eaten healthy and exercised a lot, but have never found a diet that would work to lose the extra kg I?ve had on since a teen. Around 6 years ago I started eating barely anything that got me to loose quite a bit, stopped after 3 months and followed by eating bit more calories with barely any carbs for a long time?and all of that for sure did not help my metabolism. I?s been two years now that I started eating more again, carbs and all and have been able to loose a little bit finally, but definitely not enough and got interested in carb cycling.
I’ve been following Carb cycling for a while now…I did one month classic cycle before the holidays and it seamed to work ok ( 1-2 kg in a month, considering everything a good result for me). After the holidays I started again with the turbo cycle, and in 3 weeks today have not lost anything! 🙁 I understand that I?m probably not the best candidate to loose quick since I?ve already followed a lot of restrictive diets and don?t burn as fast as some ppl do, but since I?m trying very hard ( I work out 4-5 time a week and follow the plan as a vegetarian – so the options and not even that many and it?s hard) and would want to know your opinion and what to do! Thanks a lot! Elisa
Hi Elisa: It sounds like you’re on the right track! I’d keep carb cycling, make sure you’re hitting the daily calorie recommendations (1200 for low-carb days and 1500 for high-carb days), and add in an extra day of exercise if you can. And cardio-type exercises you can do will burn some extra calories. If the Classic Cycle worked for you, then you might want to go back to that cycle again. It’s okay to change cycles at any time. You can do this!
Hi, thanks for the anwser. I’ve been trying to loose for so long I really was hoping for something more effective this time since I read the book and it sounded so good for so many ppel. The classic cycle was ok, but not great for me…(1-2 kg in a month that wasn’t what I was hoping for!) , would the new extreme cycle be a better option? Plus isn’t the turbo supposed to be even better for shedding kg fast? I’m following a workout plan with 3 resistance training days and 3 liss ones for now, that will become 3 and 4 in the next weeks, but I will try to do more. I do count my kcals with myfitness pal so I’m quite sure about the calories..thanks again. Happy Friday!
The Extreme Cycle is awesome, so give it a try. It’s really about which cycle works best for you. And make sure that your calories burned aren’t added back into your daily calories on your app. Sometimes apps do this without us realizing it. You don’t want to eat back calories burned – they go towards your daily calorie deficit, which leads to lost pounds. You got this!
This infographic would have been EXTREMELY helpful to have had in the Powells new extreme makeover book. I am very frustrated that after spending $14 on a book, I had to go to their website to try and figure out this whole how many calories can I have thing. You may want to publish an adjustment for us e-readers!
I’m so sorry for your frustration. The daily calorie recommendations are in the book on page 27. There’s also a chart and other info in Day 4 that shows you how to put your own meals together, which is totally okay. You can use the outlined recipes each day (where all your calories are figured out for you), put your own meals together, or a combination of the two. The plan is very flexible to fit into your schedule and goals. I hope this helps – you can do this!
hi, i have a question about carb cycling, i do hiit cardio on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays along with cardio on the weekend + weight training while going no carb, and on my off days Tuesdays and Thursdays i go high carb consuming only sweet potatoes and alot of fruits which is kinda like a reffeed.
will i have the same results as going high carb on workout days and no carb on rest days or should i switch it up?
Hi Nicole: The answer to this question depends on some factors, and what works can be different for each person. Chris and Heidi recommend protein with every meal on both low- and high-carb days, and even on low-carb days, you have a carb for breakfast and then veggies all day (which are technically carbs). Carbs are an important part of good health, even though they are limited on low-carb days. In carb cycling, we never go no-carb. Please refer to the graphic in this post to see how we put all our meals together in carb cycling, and for links to each of the carb cycles. With as active as you are, you might want to start with the Fit Cycle or the Extreme Cycle. Good luck – you can do this!
Hi! I have two questions : 1) would veggie Burgers with 187kcal, 8,7 g fat, 11,4 g carb, 13,8 g protein be a ok source of protein for both HC and LC days? 2) Im now switching to turbo cycle, if I do the cheat day on saturday do i necessarily ned to start the week on sunday or can i start the week with lc on Monday and just switch Sat with sunday that would now be cheat day and hc day? If not why?
Thanks a lot!!!!!
Hi Elisa: 1) These veggie burgers would be best for a low-carb meal (both the protein and fat portions) since they do have a good amount of carbs. 2) You can move your cheat day to another day, but it’s best to keep the days in the outlined order since this is the order of days that Chris and Heidi have found that works best. Hope that helps!
Thanks for the anwser…But do you mean they would be better for a HIGH carb day because of their amount of carbs?:) thanks again!
Yes! I meant a high-carb meal. 😉 Thanks for checking back!
Hi, I have a question regarding the amount of calories I need to eat at the low- and high-carb days. I understand from the book that for women it’s 1200 for low-carb and 1500 for high-carb, which is only an estimate. Do this numbers work for every woman? I am 5’5”, weight around 147 lbs. and follow Jamie Eason workout routine (according to some . According to Eat To Perform calculator my average BMR is 1437 cal and TDEE is 2479 cal. Now, I did some calculations to obtain grams of macros for low and high carb days as well as calorie intake and this is what I got LOW-CARB: ~1719 cal and HIGH-CARB: 2043 cal.
Do these numbers look correct? Or how can I calculate a correct calorie intake without under eating or over eating? Are there any numbers I can use to get correct macros intake in grams? I came across different ratios online, not sure who I should trust. Also, I understand measuring with the hand is the basic when eating wholes food.
*I am planning to do the Turbo cycle and maybe later the Fit cycle depending on my results.
I would appreciate very much your response. Thank you!?
Hi Marisabel: These daily calorie recommendations are for all women in general. Here’s another blog post with some additional information about calories, and it might help: https://heidipowell.net/5366/all-about-calories/. Hope that helps!
Hey Marisabel,
I was reading this post today and got my attention, did you ended up figuring out the cals intake for the turbo plan? I am now doing this, I just started yesterday but im confused with the cals, I am 153 and 5’4 . Where did you calculate your macros?
Thanks! 🙂
Hi Yesica: On the Turbo Cycle, women eat 1200 calories on low-carb days and 1500 calories on high-carb days. As far as macros, if you follow the recipes and/or portion sizes, all your macros are figured out for you. Good luck – you can do this! ?
Hi ! 🙂
I so want to start Carb Cycling (the Fit Cycle) but that portion system is so confusing to me …
Could you give me an equivalent in grams or calories for each portion ? Or just some clear examples please ? Like, I really don’t see how to measure 2 handsfull of veggies.
Also, is the overall number of calories the same for everyone ??
Thank you !
Hi Sarah: Since each food has a bit of a different calorie/gram count for the same portion size, it’s very difficult to give you those counts. There is a list of approved foods broken down into calories in “Choose More, Lose More for Life,” so you could use those, or just do your best to follow the portion sizes. For the Fit Cycle, women eat 1200 calories on low-carb days and 1500 calories on high-carb days. I hope this helps – you can do this!
Hi, can I know if overnight rolled oats with unsweetened almond milk and banana is a good choice for breakfast?
Also, is cocoa powder okay to use in any meals? unsweetened cocoa powder
Hi Fion: Yes, unsweetened cocoa powder is okay. As for your breakfast, you’ll only want to eat one portion of carb, so if you’d like both oats and a banana (since both are carbs), then eat 1/2 of each. And you’ll need to add a protein to your breakfast too. 🙂
help! i seems to gain weight instead of losing it!
been cooking my own meals and i don’t understand why.
no fat on HC day, no carb on LC day. 2 clenched fist of veggies each meal
Do you consider salmon as fat or protein?
Hi Neo: Salmon would be considered a protein. How’s your working out going? That’s a huge key to weight loss. And remember that each breakfast is a high-carb meal for both low- and high-carb days. Your rate of weight loss can be slower if you don’t have a lot of weight to lose, and it can also take your body a bit of time to adjust to a new way of doing things. Double check and make sure you’re following your cycle exactly, workout as recommended, drink all your water every day, and you can do this!
White, red and yellow potatoes…. ok as a carb???? Which are best?? I’m not really into sweet potatoes but LOVE others! Fingers crossed!!! 😉 THANKS!!!!
Hi Misty: Yes, all potatoes are carbs, and you can have whichever you like!
I know Chris and Heidi have their own line of shakes. I have a couple questions about them. Are they the type to be drank as a meal replacement? And if so, if I were to drink one for breakfast, would I add anything to it or eat along with, or is their shake enough for a complete meal? Also, since Quest bars are carb cycle approved, does that make Quest shakes approved also?
Thanks!!