Choose More, Lose More for Life diet by Chris Powell (2013): Food list
Choose More, Lose More for Life (2013) is a carb-cycling diet written by Chris Powell from Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition. It’s the sequel to Choose to Lose (2012), with alternative cycles.
- Carb cycling – 4 different patterns.
- High-carb days – Eat 5 times a day, protein + carbs + veggies for all meals/snacks (eat similar amounts for each meal or snack)
- Low-carb days – Eat 5 times a day, protein + carbs + veggies for breakfast, protein + fat + veggies for other meals/snacks (eat similar amounts for each meal or snack)
- Reward meals or reward days – unrestricted, eat in moderation
- Slingshot week every 4 weeks – high-carb every day
Below is a description of the food recommendations in the diet. Cycle options | General guidelines | Low carb days | High carb days | Reward meals | Reward days. There’s a lot more in the book.
Get a copy of Choose More, Lose More for Life for guidelines for transformation, setting goals and promises, exercise guidelines and specific exercises, serving sizes of food for 100 calories, guidelines on bulk-prepping, and recipes
The reasoning behind Choose More, Lose More for Life
The book argues that high-carb days boost your metabolism, which then stays high on low-carb days, burning more fat than it would on a static or stable nutrition program that has you eating the same way every day. The author says that the most important step is to make a commitment to yourself, not just to lose weight but to change your life: Exploring your identity, finding your authentic self, and getting to know your emotional side – what makes you tick and what makes you stumble – are essential to transformation.
Choose More, Lose More for Life diet plan – What to eat and foods to avoid
Select which cycle you want to follow, then follow the guidelines for what to eat and avoid in general and on low carb days, high carb days, reward meals, and reward days.
Cycles – 4 choices
There are 4 variations of carb cycling for you to choose from, based on your lifestyle and needs. From easiest to most difficult:
- Easy cycle
- This is a laid-back version for people who are just starting the journey and who feel that they might lack the willpower to stick with carb cycling – you can reward yourself regularly
- For 3 weeks, carb cycle
- Day 1 – low carb day
- Day 2 – high carb with one reward meal
- Day 3 – low carb day
- Day 4 – high carb with one reward meal
- Day 5 – low carb day
- Day 6 – high carb with one reward meal and weekly weigh-in day (morning)
- Day 7 – high carb with one reward meal
- Then for 1 week, follow the Slingshot Technique – every day is a high-carb day
- This was the cycle suggested in Choose to Lose
- For 3 weeks, carb cycle
- Day 1 – low carb day
- Day 2 – high carb day
- Day 3 – low carb day
- Day 4 – high carb day
- Day 5 – low carb day
- Day 6 – high carb day and weekly weigh-in day (morning)
- Day 7 – Reward day
- Then for 1 week, follow the Slingshot Technique – every day is a high-carb day
- This accelerates and intensifies your carb-cycling results so you can reach your weight-loss goals as quickly as possible
- For 3 weeks, carb cycle
- Day 1 – low carb day
- Day 2 – low carb day
- Day 3 – high carb day
- Day 4 – low carb day
- Day 5 – low carb day
- Day 6 – high carb day and weekly weigh-in day (morning)
- Day 7 – Reward day
- Then for 1 week, follow the Slingshot Technique – every day is a high-carb day
- You’ll feel a dip in your energy level with two low-carb days in a row, especially on the second day
- This is for you if you’re already super-active but you want to drop some weight; it allows you more carbs while exceling in your sport or training for long stretches of time each day. It claims to increase your performance – on your low-carb days, when you deplete your glycogen stores, your muscles develop insulin sensitivity, so when you eat high-carb your insulin-sensitive muscles super-compensate and soak up more carbs than they normally would. If you’re focused on your performance and don’t want to lose weight, pre- and post-workout supplementation, perhaps meal-replacement shakes with some extra macronutrients, can help fuel your performance while minimizing weight loss
- For 3 weeks, carb cycle
- Day 1 – high carb day
- Day 2 – high carb day
- Day 3 – low carb day
- Day 4 – high carb day
- Day 5 – high carb day
- Day 6 – low carb day
- Day 7 – Reward day and weekly weigh-in day (morning)
- Then for 1 week, follow the Slingshot Technique – every day is a high-carb day
- Continue to eat 5 times a day and drink plenty of water
- Select a cycle that works for you – either the Easy Cycle or the Fit Cycle
- Make sure you continue to reward yourself, and that the reward will satisfy you – it could be once a week, or twice a week, or every other day, or once a day
- Give yourself an acceptable weight range to stay within. If you’re gaining weight, reduce the rewards and carb cycle the weight back down. If you’re gaining weight, add in 100 calories of smart carbs each day
On low-carb days, women should consume about 1,200 calories a day; men should consume about 1,500 calories a day – not less than those amounts – stick to the hand-sized portions to come to approximately the right number of calories.
On high-carb days, women should consume about 1,500 calories a day; men should consume about 2,000 calories a day – not less than those amounts – stick to the hand-sized portions to come to approximately the right number of calories.
If your body adapts to the three weeks on, one week off pattern, do a Slingshot then and there to get off your plateau. If that doesn’t work – check your portion sizes and fine-tune them if you need to, or try switching to a faster carb cycle – Easy to Classic, Classic to Turbo
If you have a weigh-in that baffles you as being higher than expected, think back a day or two and notice how much sodium you may have eaten in canned foods, cured meats, or other processed foods
Don’t try to speed up weight loss by eating fewer calories – if you do that, your body will get the signal to protect its fuel reserves. Make sure you get your calories
General guidelines
Foods to eat in general with Choose More, Lose More for Life
- When to eat
- Eat breakfast within 30 minutes of getting up
- Eat another meal or snack every 3 hours for a total of 5 meals/snacks in the day
- Example carb-cycling meal schedule, with a 6.45 am wake-up time: 7 am breakfast, 10 am morning snack, 1 pm lunch, 4 pm afternoon snack, 7 pm dinner; eat similar amounts for each meal or snack
- Protein – lean and low-sodium
- Beef – cube steak, flank steak (lean), roast beef (low-sodium), round steak, sirloin steak (extra lean), ground beef (extra lean)
- Game meats – venison, elk
- Pork – tenderloin, low-sodium ham
- Poultry – chicken breast (skinless), chicken thighs (skinless), ground chicken breast, duck breast, turkey breast (low-sodium deli), turkey breast (skinless, not deli), ground turkey (99% fat-free)
- Fish – branzino, catfish, cod, flounder, grouper, haddock, halibut, pollock, salmon, sardines, sea bass, snapper, sole, swordfish, tilapia, tilefish, trout, tuna
- Shellfish – clams, lobster, shrimp
- Dairy – cottage cheese, egg substitutes, egg whites, Greek yogurt (nonfat, plain)
- Powdered protein – whey protein, egg protein, soy protein, rice protein, hemp protein
- Vegetable protein – tempeh, textured vegetable protein, tofu. For vegetarians, tofu can be substituted into any meal
- Vegetables
- Unstarchy vegetables – artichokes, asparagus, bell peppers, bok choy, broccoli, broccoli rabe, brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, chard, collard greens, cucumber, endive, eggplant, fennel, garlic, green beans/wax beans, kale, leeks, mushrooms, mustard greens, okra, onions, peppers, parsley, radicchio, radishes, rhubarb, salad greens (arugula, romaine, other lettuces), scallions/green onions, shallots, snow peas, spinach, sprouts, squash, tomatoes, turnips, zucchini
- Root vegetables and starchy vegetables, listed under carbs below
- Flavorings
- Herbs – including basil, parsley, rosemary, thyme
- Spices – including cajun seasoning, cayenne pepper, cumin, fennel seeds, garlic powder, ginger, Italian seasoning, paprika, steak seasoning
- Butter spray, chili paste, chili sauce, extracts (e.g. almond extract, peppermint extract, vanilla extract), hummus, horseradish sauce, hot sauce (e.g. Tabasco), ketchup (low-sodium), lemon juice, lime juice, low-sodium broth, low-sodium soy sauce, marinara sauce, mustard, salsa, tomato paste, tomato sauce, vinegar (e.g. cider, red-wine, white-wine), Worcestershire sauce (watch out for high sodium)
- Salad dressings – consider the fat content – balsamic vinaigrette, French dressing, Italian dressing
- Sweeteners – stevia (e.g. SweetLeaf, Truvia), xylitol (e.g. Xlear, Xylosweet), sorbitol, erythritol, honey in very small amounts
