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
After reading the carb confusion article I would like to clarify one point. I know veggies are a carb, but are they NOT considered a carb in the plans if they are the green leafy ones (not root veggies etc)? So when a meal class for a “carb” does that mean grains, fruit, root veggies? and veggies are considered just veggies and therefore should not be added into My fitness pal and registered as a carb?
Thank you
Hi Jen: Yes, this is correct. While veggies are technically carbs, in carb cycling they have their own category. ?
Hi guys. I got your book (Extreme Transformation) at the library and really liked it. I followed it really close and lost 15# in about 5 weeks, which is good for me. Im 52 now and find I lose slower now, but on your plan I actually lost more and quicker than I usually do, so Im excited. The carb cycling seems to work for me (and I love the idea of the 5 meals a day plan because I seem to have a high metabolism because I get hungry more often than my husband, who teases me your always hungry! On your plan Im actually pretty satisfied thru the day). I only need to lose another 15# or so.. I love all the recipies and plan on incorporating many in the future in my meals. I just have 2 questions. Unfortunately as we know, eating healthy can be a lot more expensive and my grocery bill went up about $25.00 on the plan, Any suggestions on helping to do healthy eating on a budget? I love the fact were eating healthier and I want to keep eating this way. The second question is, do you weigh your meat protein before or after you cook it? Some people say before, some say after and its confusing. Which way do you do it? Thank you very much
Hi Linda: Congratulations on losing all those pounds – that’s so exciting! I answered one of your questions in your other comment. ? Check out this other post for several options for putting your meals together, and these might be very helpful for you! https://heidipowell.net/10617
Hello,
Is it better to drink protein shake on high or low carb day? Also is it ok to have other natural sugars on high days like honey, dark choc etc?
Hi Kim: You can have a protein shake on any day. However, you’ll only want to add a fat to it for a low-carb meal or a carb for a high-carb meal. And it’s best to leave any sugars/sweets for reward days.
Hi Powells!
I have a question. I want to get serious about carb cycling haha. I’m also a nutritionist by trade, have a BS in nutrition and exercise science.
I am confused that on some of your high-carb day meals, you add cheese (bbq chicken pizza, etc). I thought on high-carb days, fat isn’t allowed? Or are you counting the cheese as protein?
Also, when you say no fat on high-carb days, do you mean added fat? For example, what if I added olive oil to my homemade marinara?
Hi Suzette: The BBQ Chicken Pizza recipe I believe you’re referring to is a Clean Cheat meal, so you’d eat it on a Reset Day. Since there is a bit of fat naturally in some foods, there will be some fat in meals even on high-carb days. We try and keep that fat to a minimum, so you wouldn’t want to add olive oil or any fats for high-carb meals. If there is any added cheese to any high-carb meal (as with some of the recipes in “Extreme Transformation,” it’s in such a small amount that it doesn’t add too much fat to the meal. Hope that helps!
Hello,
I was looking at the graph above, how come Chris and Heidi don’t suggest having a carb with a fat? For example having an apple with some raw almonds or an apple with almond butter?
Thank you:)
Hi Beth: For the Easy, Classic, Turbo, and Fit Cycles, we don’t eat fats and carbs at the same meal. You can learn more about this here: https://heidipowell.net/2713/carb-cycling-101/. For the new Extreme Cycle, you do eat a protein, carb, and fat for every breakfast. Learn more about this cycle here: https://heidipowell.net/10503/carb-cycling-the-extreme-cycle/. Hope this helps!
Hi Team Powell
I’m sorry if this has been covered before but I’m struggling to find the answer…. Is pumpkin one of the veggies you can eat unlimited or would it be only for a high carb day? I ask as I’d love to make a pumpkin soup as an afternoon snack, but not sure where it fits in.
Thank you for your help! 🙂
Great question! Yes, pumpkin is considered a veggie, so it can be eaten on both low- and high-carb days.
Hello, quick question for me also : i am starting carb cycling this week after a long time of plateau in my fitness journey. I am very exited about it after finishing both books!
based on the fact that on low carb days a women should eat 1200 kcal a day on low carb days and 1500 on high carb day, should this include the fiber intake ? by this i mean the greens and non starchy vegetables ? Since i don’t feel very secure with the portion method im keeping track with my fitness pal just to get “the hang of it, So basically : Do veggies count as kcal intake or not ? or are the 1200/1500 based only on the macros : protein fat and carbs and not fiber ?
Hi Jas: Welcome to carb cycling! Carbs (fruits, whole grains, legumes, etc.) and veggies contain fiber, so if you’re eating carbs and veggies, you’re also eating fiber. In the Easy, Classic, Turbo, and Fit Cycles, you can have two fist fulls of veggies (the non-root/non-starchy type) with every meal on both low- and high-carb days. On the Extreme Cycle, you can have pretty much unlimited amounts of these veggies. Hope this helps – you can do this!
Hi, I’ve written to you a couple of times already but have many questions to ask still, especially now since I keep on not loosing weight, not even one single pound:( Is it ok to write long long questions here? Or should I contact you somewhere else?
To make it simple in the mean time, i’ve been doing carb cycling as a vegetarian now for almost two months with the turbo cycle…and i have lost nothing!:( I track my kcals, don’t eat them back and workout ( try to do 5/week but not always able to due to work – i know I should do more, but was hoping the diet would do its part as well). I’ve been used to not loosing weight and was never easy for me (need to loose 22punds), but was really hoping this plan would work….can you give me any advice? If you need to know more info of backround, meal plan, anything that would be usefull I would be more than happy to share and listen to any advice, beeing pretty frustrated once again here 🙁 Sorry for the negativity…thank you!!!
Hi, saw i didnt get an anwser, if the question was too long sorry for that. If you have read it anyways could i get any advice regarding the best cycle for my situation and any advice? Plus a question on Heidis Website in the extreme cycling Blog post. I didnt see tofu as one of the protein s listed in the chart…But is it ok to eat during the extreme cycle or should it only be eat en on hc days or not at all?thanks again!
Hi Elisa: Sometimes it takes a bit longer to answer comments, but we do our best to answer all of them. Tofu is an acceptable protein.
Hi Elisa: I’m sure this must be frustrating for you! If you can workout 5-6 days a week, that would definitely help you burn more calories. The way to lose weight is to burn more calories than you consume, so make sure you’re doing that. Here’s another post about calories that might help explain this: https://heidipowell.net/5366/all-about-calories/. If you’re following the Turbo Cycle, aim for 1200 calories on low-carb days and 1500 calories on high-carb days. If you’re following the Extreme Cycle, you’ll aim for around 1500 calories a day on both low- and high-carb days. These calorie recommendations don’t work for a few people, so you might tweak what you’re doing a bit and see if that will help. You just don’t want to go below 1200 calories a day. You can do this!
Hello,
I’m not sure where to ask this question. What is Heidi’s and Chris’s advice on eating fruits? You hear both sides of it from people, that fruit is good, it’s a clean healthy food and it’s natural sugar and as long as you track it, so that you’re not eating hundred of calories of fruit and not realizing your consuming those calories. And you hear don’t eat too much fruit because it’s high in sugar and carbs. Is it okay to eat fruit everyday?
Hi Lauren: Fruit is considered a carb in Chris and Heidi’s carb cycling program, and is full of fiber, vitamins, and nutrients. There’s a graphic in this post that outlines how to put all carb cycling meals together, and on high-carb days, fruit can be the carb portion of any high-carb meal. Of course, other carbs are important also, so it’s best to eat a variety of carbs. Hope this helps!
Dairy intolerant- What would So-Delicious Dairy free Yogurt be considered? Can I use it as a protein still or should I just not eat that?
Hi Jennifer: From what I can find, this product doesn’t have enough protein in it to qualify as a portion of protein. And it doesn’t count as a carb serving because it does have a considerable amount of fat. I know it can get pretty confusing, and I hope this helps.