Chapter Two
HOW THE EXTREME CYCLE WORKS
During the last three seasons of Extreme Weight Loss we used an innovative new approach to carb cycling to see if, as predicted, it would help our people lose their desired weight in a more sustainable way. This cycle, which we call the Extreme Cycle, is made up of five high-carb days, followed by two low-carb days.
This flow worked wonders for all of our participants. They not only lost weight easily and immediately and without feeling rocked by big changes to their eating habits, but also felt strong and stable enough to continue eating this way when they went home after 90 days of boot camp with us and beyond.
As Jeff told us, “Ever since I truly committed to Chris and Heidi’s Extreme Cycle, I am finally feeling amazing. I eat something delicious and filling every three hours. I set aside time for myself every day to train—and I want to. I’m seeing results every week. I like who I am and how I feel. I even got a tattoo on my arm that says THIS IS MY LIFE NOW. This experience saved my family and my life.”
We are going to share a lot more about Jeff’s transformation—his story is an amazing ride of highs and lows and ultimately true transformation (see here). But we are sharing his testimonial because we want to give you a sense of just how passionately our participants respond to the Extreme Cycle and how amazing it feels to lose weight with confidence and control.
In a nutshell, we have designed our Extreme Cycle so that it:
So what does this all mean? If you are 5'6" and weigh 275 pounds now, you can lose upwards of seven or more pounds per 21-day cycle; if you weigh 155 pounds at 5'2" you can lose up to five or more pounds per 21-day cycle. Or if you weigh 350 pounds at 6', you can feasibly lose over ten or more pounds per 21-day cycle. And keep in mind, you can accelerate these numbers even more to lose weight as fast as the participants on the show if you choose—we’ll show you how. The beauty and brilliance of Extreme Transformation is that once you establish your goals, you can repeat the 21-day cycle for as long as you need to reach them.
The point is that Extreme Transformation is both realistic and successful. It requires changes, but it doesn’t wreak havoc on your daily life and make you feel like you have to live in a bubble of deprivation and restriction. You are at home, at work, living your life—losing weight and getting fit.
MASTERING YOUR METABOLISM AND CREATING WEIGHT LOSS
The number of calories you burn each day varies according to how active you are. If you follow the same routine every day, eating and moving around (or not) in pretty much the same ways, you’ll burn roughly the same number of calories every day. The proportion of calories used by each of your body’s three energy consumers—digestion, maintenance, and movement—will also stay pretty constant.
So, how many calories are we talking about? That depends on some factors: your gender, your height, your weight, and your age. Generally, a bigger body needs more calories than a smaller one does, and a younger body needs more calories than an older body does.
All these numbers are swell, but you’re reading this book because you want to slim down, not because you want to study science. Let’s put the facts and figures together into tools that will help you get the body you want. The arithmetic of weight loss is super-simple:
- Each day that you eat more calories than your metabolism burns, your body stores the extra energy as body fat. You gain weight.
- Eat the same number of calories as your metabolism burns, and your body neither builds nor uses up its stores of fat. You maintain your weight.
- Eat fewer calories than your metabolism burns, and your body makes up the energy shortfall by tapping into your fat. You lose weight. This is what fitness professionals call a calorie deficit, and it’s the key to weight loss.
- The calorie deficit is what weight loss is all about. If you want to drop the pounds, you have to run your metabolism at a deficit. How big a deficit? Here’s the magic number: To lose one pound of fat in a given window of time—say, a week—you’ve got to burn 3,500 more calories than you take in. That doesn’t mean you have to cut out 3,500 calories a day (you probably don’t even eat that much!). But to lose weight you do have to eat less. Most carb-cyclers find that they get the best results by creating a 500-to 1,000-calorie deficit through their diet daily—then boost the deficit even more through Accelerators!
Keeping your own metabolism in mind as you work the 21-day cycle is an important tool to keep you focused on your calorie intake. If you begin to plateau, for instance, check in and make sure that your calories didn’t spike.
WHAT IS CARB CYCLING?
Carb Cycling is an alternating, patterned way of eating to maximize the ability to manipulate your body for fat loss. High-carb days consist of predominantly high-protein, high-carb, low-fat meals. Low-carb days consist of predominantly high-protein, low-carb, high-fat meals.
During high-carb days, there is a moderate to high insulin response after the meals, triggering a temporary anabolic state—driving nutrients into the muscles and boosting metabolic rate. During low-carb days, there is a minimal insulin response after the meals, keeping the body in a mostly catabolic state—breaking down and oxidizing fat. Long story short, high-carb days boost your metabolism (while still losing fat), and low-carb days turbocharge your fat loss.
Carb Cycling has actually been used in the fitness industry for decades as a powerful way to positively alter body composition by maximizing fat burn while maintaining muscle mass. With the Extreme Cycle, we just put a real-life twist on it, and the results speak for themselves: Incredible weight loss, eating foods that you enjoy, without crashing your metabolism.
WHAT IS THE EXTREME CYCLE?
The Extreme Cycle is a continuous pattern of four high-carb days followed by two low-carb days, then a Reset day. Because of the strategic way the high-carb and low-carb days are structured, you lose weight more steadily, and in a way that makes you feel balanced and controlled. You’ll learn how to truly manipulate your body to maximize fat loss and turn good numbers on the scale every week. With each passing week, you will feel stronger and more agile. As you integrate the daily Metabolic Missions, you will increase your lean muscle mass and tone your body. When you add the weight loss Accelerators, you’ll see the numbers on the scale drop even faster.
Extreme Cycle Weekly Schedule
Here’s a broad overview of what a week of the Extreme Cycle looks like:
Day 1: Monday: High-Carb Day 
Day 2: Tuesday: High-Carb Day
Day 3: Wednesday: High-Carb Day
Day 4: Thursday: High-Carb Day
Day 5: Friday: Low-Carb Day 
Day 6: Saturday: Low-Carb Day
Day 7: Sunday: Weigh-In and Reset Day 
How the Extreme Cycle Works on the Inside: The Science
Before we go any further, we feel it’s helpful for you to understand how the Extreme Cycle is specifically designed to maximize your weight loss experience—both physically and psychologically.
We’re going to drop some science on you here. If you’re a physiology and psychology geek like us, then enjoy! 
If not, don’t worry… we’ll break it all down for you in “normal” terms beyond this section. You’ll see that there is a specific purpose to every component of the Extreme Cycle design. We developed the cycle this way for a multitude of physiological and psychological reasons:
1. The calorie ranges are designed so that for six days of the week you will be in an overall calorie deficit—which means that the body will spend more time breaking down fat stores (mobilizing) and using them for energy (oxidizing). As long as the calorie deficit is maintained, the laws of physics remain on your side—and always work. When you consume less energy than your body burns, you lose weight. That’s the beauty of physics. Even on high-carb days, the total of your meals is designed to result in a calorie deficit, so you will consistently lose weight. On low-carb days, the weight loss process is turbocharged even more.
2. Starting with four high-carb days in a row gives a type of “normalcy” to a structured way of eating every day. It creates mental comfort and allows you to get into a groove with meals and preferences that work for you. Alternating between high- and low-carb days is effective, but switching between days can be confusing and disruptive to our habitual patterns. The beauty and ease of this Extreme Carb Cycle pattern allows for the powerful nature of carb cycling, without the discomfort of significantly uprooting your eating patterns.
3. Carbs are necessary for weight loss! Carbohydrates are the “92-octane fuel” that powers our brain, our muscles, and the rest of the organs of our body. Fueling the body with carbs puts more fuel into the muscles, yielding greater intensity and effort during workouts—which then results in a greater metabolic afterburn (more calories burned at rest) and stronger stimulus for muscle development and growth.
4. Carbs in the diet are directly linked to more effective thyroid conversion in the liver—therefore keeping metabolic rate up. Low-carb diets blunt thyroid conversion and ultimately result in metabolic slowdown. Four high-carb days in a row get the metabolic furnace burning red-hot, priming the body for maximum fat loss when switching over to the low-carb days.
5. Breakfast always includes a carbohydrate and a fat—in addition to a protein—for a couple of reasons. The carbohydrates are designed to replace liver glycogen lost during the overnight fast (glycogen was used to fuel the heartbeat and diaphragm during sleep). Since the liver is one of the main controlling organs of the body, filling up its store of glycogen puts the body into a “fed” state—which essentially signals the body to “wake up” and increase metabolic processes. The fats are designed to slow digestion, keeping you fuller well into the morning and just in time for your midmorning snack (meal 2).
6. Starchy carbohydrates are a no-no at dinner. While there are still carbs included in the form of fibrous vegetables (leafy greens or cruciferous veggies), all sugars and starches are out. This is to prevent a rise in blood sugar in the evening. Instead, by pulling starchy and sugary carbs, the body is more likely to have a minor insulin response, remaining in a catabolic state into the overnight fast, which keeps your body mobilizing (breaking down) and oxidizing (burning) fat well into the night… when the body experiences a metabolic slowdown. Basically, when done right, you don’t store fat at night this way—you actually burn it while you are sleeping!
7. After four high-carb days, we drop into two low-carb days. This is where the real control over your weight loss starts to take place. Pulling carbs from your meals and snacks flips the switch to turbocharge the rate at which your body burns fat. However, because you don’t have starchy carbs in your system, your body does not release as much insulin, triggering your body to burn fat instead—you go into maximized fat mobilization and oxidation.
8. The two low-carb days are also designed to help remove any excess water retention and bloating in the body. Starchy carbs are like magnets for water. Therefore, removing sugary and starchy carbs from the diet for two days results in a natural release of water—revealing a more true weight on the scale.
Imagine being a sculptor in this process. You put a light blanket of water over your body during the four high-carb days. During this time you chisel away under the blanket with good nutrition, Metabolic Missions, and Accelerators—carving the body you want. After four days, you drop into two low-carb days, pulling the blanket off and revealing the progress so far. The next week you do it again… and again… each week putting the blanket over the sculpture and working away, revealing the latest results every weigh-in… until you are finally finished with your masterpiece.
This is the beauty of the Extreme Cycle and makes you the true artist here. You’re in total control the whole way!
9. Every seventh day, you will weigh yourself in the morning, then reset your metabolism, rest your body, and give yourself a reward. Physiologically, the increase in calories boosts metabolism significantly. Psychologically, the Reset day gives us something to look forward to, so we don’t feel deprived on this journey. This is your chance to satisfy any cravings you may have, relieving any feelings of restriction. On Reset days, you eat high-carb meals and snacks, but you can also reward yourself with a Clean Cheat snack or meal (see here for a complete list of Clean Cheats). Rest and reward are a huge part of avoiding feelings of deprivation and preventing overwhelming cravings.
So there you have it: a broad overview of how the Extreme Cycle works to help you reach your weight loss goals quickly and comfortably.
As you will soon see, we have designed the 21-day cycle so that your meal planning is fast and enjoyable. We’ve laid it all out for you with quick-and-easy recipes. In fact, several of these recipes were inspired by gourmet chef David Rushing, who lost over 200 pounds during Season 4 of Extreme Weight Loss. Through his journey of transformation, he took his extensive knowledge of the culinary arts and weight loss experience, and helped us to create many of the delectable meals you will enjoy in this book!
We’ve also provided simple, go-to meal suggestions, and a three-step plan to creating your own meals if you don’t want to bother with the recipes. Those are all listed here.
WHAT DO I EAT?
Contrary to popular belief that we need to restrict certain nutrients to lose weight and to nourish our bodies for optimum weight loss, we need all of the main macronutrients—proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. The secret is in how we combine them in our meals to manipulate our bodies to do what we want them to do—lose fat!
In order to create the powerful meal combinations in the Extreme Cycle, we must categorize foods into different macronutrients based upon their predominant nutrient content. For example, lean ground turkey is predominantly made of protein; however, it may have 2 or 3 grams of fat. Therefore, lean ground turkey falls into the protein category. Most foods are not exclusively one macronutrient, but have trace amounts of other macros in them. We have done all of the footwork for you, and have categorized them for the most effective meal combinations!
Protein
Protein is vital to the proper functioning of our muscles, brain, organs, and other tissues, and is the foundation macronutrient used in the Extreme Cycle. We eat it with every meal. Protein is the building block for the most active metabolic tissues of our body—our muscles—and we need to make sure they are nourished with every meal. In addition, protein is a quickly satiating nutrient, meaning that it makes us full when we eat it. Because of this, we prefer to eat protein first at every meal to make us immediately full. It’s a quick and easy rule that we have used for years, and it works like a charm to curb cravings and prevent overeating carbs or fats later!
Some of the proteins you will enjoy include:
- Protein shakes and smoothies
- Lean beef
- Fat-free and low-fat dairy such as cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, and egg whites
- Chicken, turkey, and pork tenderloin
- Fish and shellfish
- Soy protein sources such as tofu and tempeh
- Other vegetarian protein options such as hemp, bean, and pea protein
- And many more… check out Appendix D for the full list!
Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates have been demonized over the past couple decades as a main cause of the obesity epidemic, but when you eat the right carbs at the right times, they can actually be one of your greatest allies in the weight loss battle. All carbs are broken down into the sugar called glucose—which is the high-octane fuel our cells are designed to function on. In short, carbs nourish our body! When we get the right amount of glucose in our system, it nourishes our liver, our muscles, our brain, and all of our other organs. It naturally boosts our metabolism and primes our body for maximum weight loss. In fact, there’s a saying in the physiology world that “fat burns in a carbohydrate fire.”
However, too much glucose in our system is not a good thing. That’s why when losing weight we want to avoid carbohydrates that are broken down quickly in our system. These carbs are the highly processed, starchy, or sugary carbs found in snacks, junk foods, or baked goods. Instead, when following the Extreme Cycle, we nourish our body regularly with quality carbs that are broken down slowly, to trickle the glucose into our bloodstream. These are the real, clean, natural carbohydrates found in foods like:
- Whole grains (rice, breads, pastas, cereals, popcorn)
- Beans and legumes
- Root vegetables (potatoes, yams, squash, et cetera)
- Fruit
(A full list of all the healthy foods is in Appendix D.)
These carbs are packed with vitamins and minerals, high in fiber, and digested easily by your body so that it feels satisfied, and you feel energetic.
While protein is mandatory at each meal, there is an optional food on the Extreme Cycle that you can add to, or remove from your meals, based upon your customized needs—vegetables! Whereas vegetables are technically a carbohydrate, most are rich in fiber and extremely low in any calorie impact. Because of this, we classify these in their own special category and consider them a so-called “free food”: They can be enjoyed in limitless portions, and are one of the most powerful tools for feeling full and satiated.
Veggies are high in fiber, water, and valuable antioxidants, and we highly advise you to eat as many as possible in your meals—although it is not mandatory. We make veggies an optional food because oftentimes the amount of mandatory food you are already eating in your meals can have such volume, it can be difficult to consume so much food. However, if you struggle with cravings, adding veggies to your meals will be an incredibly powerful tactic to curb any cravings and keep you feeling full and satisfied throughout the day.
We’re going to show you some amazing ways to volumize your meals to gigantic proportions using delicious vegetables. Follow our list of veggies, and they’re yours to enjoy in limitless amounts. You are approved to eat all the veggies you want—anytime!
- Broccoli
- Cauliflower
- Green beans
- Carrots
- Onions
- Spinach
- And many more…
Fats
Fats are the third main macronutrient—and a powerful one at that! Our brains rely on fats—especially the essential fatty acids such as omega-3s and omega-6s—to maintain proper cellular function and hormonal balance. These fats are enormously important to how our brain and bodies manage the hormones that regulate our body temperature, our moods, and our digestion.
However, following the Extreme Cycle, we use fats to trick your body and your mind to make weight loss SO much easier. Fats have a powerful effect on slowing digestion and keeping our stomachs full. When we use the right fats at the right time, we can curb cravings and maximize fat loss at the same time. Keep reading and we’ll show you how!
Often people worry when they think about cutting out carbs for two days, but adding in some tasty fats really opens up the food options for delicious meals! Check out the kinds of dietary fats you can have on these low-carb days. You’re going to start looking forward to these days!
- Egg yolk
- Butter
- Heavy Cream
- Cheese
- Bacon
- Olives
- Avocado
- Nuts and seeds
- Olive and flaxseed oil
- Nut butters such as peanut butter and almond butter
- And many more…
As you can see, you will be eating an array of delicious, enjoyable foods. Just wait until you see the meals and recipes we lay out for you—it only gets better! Now, let’s take a look at the different meal combinations we use following the Extreme Cycle, to maximize your fat loss results:
BREAKFAST: IGNITE YOUR DAY
Our parents were right. Breakfast really is the most important meal of the day. It helps “break the fast” from not eating for many hours, and helps jump-start your metabolism from its overnight slumber (slowdown). No matter whether it is a high- or a low-carb day, your breakfast breakdown is always the same: Protein + Carbohydrate + Fats.
High-Carb Days
After breakfast things change a little bit:
For Meals 2, 3, and 4 on high-carb days, you will be eating carbohydrates with each meal and cutting out the dietary fats, so it looks like this:
For Meal 5 on a high-carb day, we will remove the carbohydrate and replace it with a healthy fat to flip the fat-burning switch. It will look like this:
Low-Carb Days
After breakfast on the low-carb days, we cut carbs and instead eat fats with each of the last 4 meals, so it looks like this:
Reset Days
Once a week on your weigh-in day, you get to reset your metabolism and reward yourself for a job well done! Your Reset day is neither a high-carb nor a high-fat day… it’s more of a high-calorie day. Reset day is incredibly important for a few reasons: Physiologically, the increase in calories boosts your metabolic rate for more effective fat loss the following days. Mentally, it satisfies any psychological or emotional cravings that you may be experiencing, so that you will never feel deprived and risk straying from your weight loss journey. We have even designed some incredible Clean Cheat recipes (see here) to help you bump up your calories for your Reset day, while indulging in some of your favorite delicacies. However, instead of cheap junk food, you’ll be eating high-quality foods that will nourish your body and prepare you for the best weight loss results. Some of these recipes include:
- Hootenanny Pancakes
- BLT Burger and Sweet Potato Fries
- Barbecue Chicken Pita Pizza
- Spinach Artichoke Dip
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
- Mac and Cheese with Bacon
- And many more…
As you can see, there is a lot to look forward to with this program. You are in for some delicious new dishes. Who said dieting had to be bland?!
WHEN DO I EAT?
With the Extreme Carb Cycle, you will be eating every three hours. Think of your metabolism as a furnace for your body. Eat less often and your metabolism cools down; eat more often and it heats up. The hotter your furnace gets, the more fuel it burns, including the stored fat that hasn’t been doing anything but weighing you down!
Following the Extreme Cycle, we always eat breakfast within 30 minutes of waking, then eat a meal every three hours after. A typical Extreme Cycle meal schedule (whether high-carb or low-carb) looks like this:
Wake up at 6:30 a.m.
Meal 1: Breakfast at 7:00 a.m.
Meal 2: Morning snack at 10:00 a.m.
Meal 3: Lunch at 1:00 p.m.
Meal 4: Afternoon snack at 4:00 p.m.
Meal 5: Dinner at 7:00 p.m.
Of course, you would adjust this schedule depending on when you wake up. If you are a very early riser, you might be starting your breakfast at 6:00 a.m. and finishing your dinner around 6:00 p.m. Even if you work the midnight shift and wake up at 7:00 p.m. every day, the rules still apply: Eat within 30 minutes of waking and approximately every three hours thereafter!
WATER, WATER, WATER
We cannot stress enough the importance of drinking a lot of water when on the weight loss journey. Fact of the matter is that if you don’t drink enough water, you will not lose the weight at your fastest potential. Why? Water is the main ingredient in the majority of the metabolic processes of the body—which is the driving force behind weight loss! Proper hydration keeps metabolism high, increases mental clarity and energy, and is a powerful influencer for curbing cravings. In addition, living the Extreme Transformation lifestyle, you will be exercising more, so you will lose fluids faster through perspiration and breathing, making hydration even more important.
Did you know that nearly 90 percent of Americans are chronically dehydrated? And unfortunately, most of us go through our days without realizing it, causing us to suffer from unnecessary fatigue and increased cravings. Early on your journey, we are going to ask you to drink an extra quart of water every day. However, ultimately we would like you to work up to drinking at least a gallon of water every day. This will be critical in maximizing your results!
Chris Tip 
To make sure you get all the water you need, follow our 10-gulp rule:
Every time the water bottle touches your lips, take 10 gulps before putting it down… and you will stay well hydrated all day long!
Heidi Tip 
Vitamins, Minerals, and Fiber
Even though following the Extreme Cycle will have you eating highly nutritious foods, anytime you are eating fewer calories than you are burning, your body is most likely at a slight deficit in its necessary vitamins, minerals, and fiber as well. You may want to supplement the Extreme Cycle with a good multivitamin to make sure your body is getting the vitamins and minerals it needs to perform at its best. In addition, we recommend adding at least 1 tablespoon of psyllium fiber to your daily meals (it’s usually added to a protein shake or some other liquid) to ensure proper fiber intake. A healthy body begins with a healthy gut—which is where all of our nutrients are absorbed! Fiber is nature’s “scrub brush” for the intestines; if you add at least an extra tablespoon of fiber daily, your body and bowels will thank you for it!
HOW MUCH DO I EAT?
Any weight loss plan inevitably begs the question: How much do I eat if I want to lose weight? Science dictates that fat is lost only when we take in fewer calories than our body burns. A lot of different plans use different methods to accomplish this goal: points, portion plates, hand portions, pre-planned recipes, and so on. In previous books, we taught quick-and-easy portion sizing using your hand as a measure. While this works for most people in reducing their calorie intake and teaches appropriate portions, Extreme Cycling is a precision program. Yes, all of the recipes are dialed in to maximize your weight loss, but we are going to show you what’s happening behind the curtain—so that you have the power to create your own meal combinations, and customize your own menu if you choose!
We have designed our calorie guidelines and portion sizes to work for most people who are seeking to optimize the way they feel during the days, and optimize the weight they see on the scale every week. In most cases, the recipes are tailored for women at 1,500 calories, and 2,000 calories for men—in our experience, these are typical calorie allotments that enable weight loss and quick-and-easy troubleshooting when combined with an exercise plan. In general, men tend to have more muscle mass, so they are allotted more calories than women. You will want to pay attention to these calorie differences when you prepare your meals and follow the recipes. All the recipes contain adjustments for men and women.
Chris Tip
You will find that even though we talk about eating low dietary fat on high-carb days, it is impossible to go a full day without eating at least some dietary fats. You actually need some fat every day for proper metabolic function, and fats are bound to be present, even in low-fat, high-carbohydrate foods. That’s why typically on a high-carb day, around 20 percent of your calories consumed will come incidentally from dietary fat.
Same goes for low-carb days. Carbohydrates are going to occur naturally in some of your foods—much of them as fiber on these days—but still there will be some light starches that may find their way into your meals to the tune of about 20 or so percent. Not to worry. The structure is designed for this.
Just as with everything in life—nothing is perfect. You are not expected to hit these exact numbers for every meal. You’ll even see that the recipes we have designed for you don’t hit the numbers perfectly—but overall they come darn close. With most things in life, “close enough” doesn’t cut it. So be grateful that this diet is so beautifully structured that as long as you come close on your portions, you win.
Josh’s Story
Josh tried out for Extreme Weight Loss but did not make the cut. At 6'9" he had gained 300 pounds, tipping the scales at 585 pounds at only 25 years old. Not being selected for the show, however, was just the beginning of Josh’s transformation story. He was so committed to his own process that he buckled down and did the Extreme Cycle on his own. Within a year, he had lost 233 pounds. As he described, “I was so unhappy. I knew that this life wasn’t the one I imagined. I stopped talking to girls. I stopped going out with my friends. I was a shut-in—always so sick and tired. I realized that I didn’t need the TV show to make the change. And in the very first week, I lost 26 pounds. I never looked back.”
Josh said that learning the Extreme Cycle and eating every three hours “just worked. I never ever felt hungry. I didn’t have to ever feel deprived. Eating like this is now just second nature.” Josh has now lost over 300 pounds and is currently a personal trainer, helping others achieve their dreams of living happy and healthy lives.
Know this: As soon as you switch to the Extreme Cycle, your brain and body awareness will reconnect, and your hormonal signals will right themselves. Extreme Cycling is a livable, convenient, satisfying way to eat. You won’t feel like you’re dieting or depriving yourself, but instead you’ll feel like an artist, sculpting your new body each week under total control. Designing your meals for weight loss, eating every three hours, and drinking adequate amounts of water will open your eyes to a whole new quality of life.
Onward and upward!