Free Chris Powell's Choose More, Lose More for Life by Chris Powell

no choice: You’ve
got
to eat all five meals, every day!
    Power through your body’s resistance to eating so much, and don’t worry… in
about three days
things will settle down. You will set new patterns for your body, and your inner furnace will be roaring away, tearing through everything you toss into it. You’ll have more energy and feel better than ever, and you’ll be hungry every three hours. Now, start eating and crank up that metabolic furnace!
    Here’s an example of a carb-cycling meal schedule, with a 6:45 A.M. wake-up time:
    7:00 A.M. —breakfast
    10:00 A.M. —morning snack
    1:00 P.M. —lunch
    4:00 P.M. —afternoon snack
    7:00 P.M. —dinner
    Keep in mind that this is just an example. Whether you’re an early riser or work the midnight shift, you should always eat your first meal within thrity minutes of waking, and then eat every three hours after!
    What to Eat: Okay, so what kind of food will you be eating all day? We’re not talking about high-carb french fries and low-carb sausage! To keep your metabolism at peak efficiency and your body at peak performance, you have to feed yourself
the right fuel
. In Chapter 6 , “Feed Your Fire: The Recipes,” I’ll give you a big list of the best foods for carb cycling.
    Proteins:
Grilled steak, roasted chicken, broiled fish, Greek yogurt—your taste buds and your body love protein. I’m going to ask you to
eat lean protein at every one of your five daily meals
. It builds and maintains energy-hungry muscle that burns calories like an inferno. It accelerates your overall metabolism to demolish even more calories. What’s more, protein breaks down more slowly than carbs and fat, using up even more calories and keeping you fuller longer. When you eat protein, you also digest other nutrients more slowly, sustaining your energy level longer. Aside from lean meat, poultry, and fish, great sources of low-fat protein are cottage cheese, nonfat plain Greek yogurt, soy products such as tofu, and whey protein (for mixing into smoothies—yum!). All of these also contain lots of other good stuff that your body loves. Protein is the cornerstone of carb cycling and the centerpiece of all your meals.
    Carbohydrates:
Carbs are the main nutrient in foods that come from plants. Sounds healthy, right? Well, sometimes, sometimes not: There are junk and processed carbs, and then there are real carbs. It may come from corn, or beets, or sugarcane, but the sugar in candy bars is far from good for you. It’s a
simple
carbohydrate, which means it breaks down superfast in your body and moves rapidly from your bloodstream to your muscle and fat cells. It sounds backward, but by eating sugar you end up with low blood sugar! When you eat processed carbs, like white flour and sugar, your blood sugar surges to dangerously high levels, triggering a hormonal reaction that ultimately leads to a devastating blood-sugar crash. That translates into low energy and a slowed metabolism. Good carb sources, though—sweet potatoes, berries, black beans, pears, peas, oatmeal, and many more—do your body a slew of favors. These are
complex
carbs, which break down slowly, keep your blood sugar steady, maximize long-lastingenergy, and keep your inner furnace hot, hot, hot! The short version of the carb story is: complex carbs = a vigorous metabolism. They’re the powerful variable of carb cycling.
    What to Expect: Killing Your Cravings
    When your body’s at a calorie deficit and burning fat, visions of pizza… potato chips… ice cream… all your no-no comfort foods will probably dance in your head. You can do a few things to keep yourself from sliding down the sugary, fatty slope:
      Start your day with a
high-fiber
breakfast (which will keep you from overeating later).
      Fill up with
water
throughout the day and avoid dehydration (which is proven to trigger cravings).
      Put something
minty
—sugar-free breath mints or gum, even toothpaste—in your mouth (the flavor suppresses