You may be wondering, “what the heck is carb cycling??” It is the foundation of the Chris Powell plan and it will be important to understand what it is to get the maximum benefits from it. With carb cycling, we alternate low and high carb days to allow our bodies to achieve a maximum metabolism boost and calorie burn. We also have a guilt-free day to help us keep from plateauing on our journey. We will stick to the schedule as much as possible.

• Low-carb days: Breakfast includes one serving of smart carbs
• High-carb days: All 5 meals include one serving of smart carbs

Your smart carbs include: dairy, fruit, sweet potatoes, legumes, grains (quinoa, couscous, oatmeal, etc.), and more!  You want complex carbs (with the exception of fruit, which is a simple carb, but full of nutrients and often fiber). Complex carbs take longer to digest and therefore provide you with energy over a longer time period.
See the plan for a more complete list of protein, veggie, and carb sources.

For this particular program, we follow this schedule:

While we don’t eat carbs often, they are our friend. Carbs are the perfect fuel for our bodies and they are really important. They fire up our metabolism and get our internal engine revving. Chris Powell in his book “Choose to Lose,” shares his four keys to weight loss success and number 2 is “eat carbohydrates!

When we have high-carb days, our bodies are in muscle building mode and carbs contribute to that process. When we switch to low-carb days, our metabolism stays high and we burn fat. So carb cycling allows us to predominately burn fat, while maintaining and building our muscles! Six-packs for everyone!