Our 30-Day Keto Challenge Guidelines
Let’s do this! 👊
Are you as excited about our 30-Day Keto Challenge as we are?
We’re here to help get you started on the right foot with our 30-day challenge guidelines below, and we’re all about providing helpful resources to support you throughout your keto journey.
Before beginning the challenge, it’s important to know what exactly keto is and learn all you can about the keto diet by checking out these helpful keto reads.
We’ve set some guidelines for success during the 30-day keto challenge:
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- Macro breakdown: 75% Fat, 20% Protein, 5% Carbs (20g of carbs or less per day).
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- Minimum of 64 oz. of water each day.
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- No sugar… and very limited sugar-substitutes.
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- No alcohol.
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- Intermittent fasting, optional.
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Here’s why we set these guidelines:
Stick to your macros to get into ketosis.
Macros, short for macronutrients, are indicative of the nutrients our body needs in large amounts, consisting of carbs, fats, and proteins. The breakdown of your macros acts as a helpful standard to identify what you should (and shouldn’t) be eating on your keto diet.
For the challenge, we are sticking to a macro breakdown aiming for 75% fat, 20% protein, and 5% carbs, but you can check out other breakdowns in this post all about macros. We’re also sticking with 20 or fewer grams of carbs per day to make sure all of us challenge participants get into the magical state of ketosis. 🦄
Once you know your macros, you can track them easily using smartphone apps like My Fitness Pal and Carb Manager for the duration of the challenge and beyond! That said, you could always practice intuitive eating if you’re confident in your abilities to identify which foods are suitable for keto.
Always avoid sugar.
During the challenge (and really any time you’re living the keto life) avoid items with added sugar – be sure to read those nutrition labels as hidden sugars are lurking everywhere! Be sure to opt for food items with keto-friendly sweeteners such as monk fruit, allulose, and erythritol.
However, during the 30-day challenge, you’ll want to ease up even on the keto-approved sweeteners as this will help keep those sugar cravings at bay. Hey, it’s a challenge after all!
Drink 64 oz. or more of water every day.
It’s all too easy to become dehydrated while on the keto diet, so we’ve set a 64 oz. minimum as a standard of water consumption each day, though it’s encouraged to drink more than that if possible, especially when exercising!
It doesn’t have to be boring plain water either. Our Citrus Water recipe has both yummy lemon and orange flavors along with a pinch of salt for added electrolytes to make getting in those 8 glasses a day a breeze.
We’ve even created a handy printable to help you stay on top of those sips during the challenge. This is a healthy habit for anyone to adopt, and we hope it stays with you well after the challenge is finished!
Avoid alcohol.
For the 30-Day Challenge, we recommend skipping the alcohol to help reboot your system. Regular alcohol consumption may interfere with your goals because your body treats alcohol as a threat, meaning that eliminating the alcohol from the body will take priority over any other processes like metabolizing carbs, fat, and protein. So, what does this mean? The fat-burning switch gets turned off because:
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- Alcohol contains empty calories (no nutritional value), so you won’t feel very full.
- Alcohol also lowers inhibition, which often can lead to excessive snacking and overeating of unhealthy high-carb foods.
- There are hidden carbs in beer, wine, cocktails, and flavored liquors. These can add up quickly and take you right out of that fat-burning mode known as ketosis.
The end result? The potential for weight gain and delayed progress in reaching your goals. In addition to being kicked out of ketosis, excessive drinking leads to hangovers, which many people report to be much worse on a keto diet. Bad hangovers result in decreased energy and motivation to get back on track the next day.
And if you do reach for a drink, make it one of these keto-friendly cocktails!
Try intermittent fasting to kick-start the challenge.
This isn’t a hard and fast requirement of the 30-Day Keto Challenge, but if you find yourself stalling or really want to ramp up the progress towards your desired results, try out intermittent fasting! The concept goes hand-in-hand with keto as the focus on fat-fueled foods help keep you fuller for longer.
Browse through some of the most popular keto intermittent fasting schedules to see if there’s one you’d like to try out during the challenge!
Feeling prepared yet?
In our 30-Day Keto Challenge, we’ll make sure you have everything you need to succeed. Plus, in addition to all of us here at Hip2Keto, our private Keto Challenge Facebook group is full of other keto eaters who are just as supportive of your keto journey, too!
To help you stay on track we’ve created a printable Keto Challenge Guideline Sheet and an infographic that you can save to your phone lock screen!
We can’t wait for you to get your keto on with us. 🥑🥓🎉
Do you have to have a Facebook page to sign up?
Hi Lucero! You do not need a Facebook page to sign up for the challenge, however you will find additional tips & support through our social media pages.
You can find our Facebook page over here – https://www.facebook.com/Hip2Keto/
Also, the private Hip2Keto community on Facebook will be an awesome resource for support during the challenge. https://www.facebook.com/groups/hip2keto30dayketochallenge/
Hope that helps!
I’ve signed up for the challenge but can’t access the 30 day challenge group
Here you go, Ariana! https://www.facebook.com/groups/hip2keto30dayketochallenge/ SO glad you could sign up! 🙌🎉
I have been keto eating for almost 3 weeks. I love that I don’t get those crazy cravings and major hunger like I did before. Carb Manager calculated that I should eat 23 g of carbs per day. It is near impossible for me to stick to that even though I am eating what I consider to be really healthy meals. I wonder if there are others with the same struggle. I made a SunBasket meal last night that was Salmon and vegetables and olive oil. The meal had 18g carbs! I really need snack ideas or recipes that are high in fat/protein but 0 carbs. (I admit I refuse to give up fruit altogether but even the berries add up in carbs) But as someone who has been in treatment for Binge Eating Disorder for years, I will not let myself feel shame about eating 30ish grams of carbs in a day. I am DONE with the whole perfection or nothing way of thinking.
Hi there! SO awesome that the cravings have subsided! Thanks a bunch for taking a moment to share with us. There are a bunch of yummy dinner recipes that you may find helpful over here –> https://hip2keto.com/category/keto-recipes/dinner-ideas/
We’re rooting for you! 🙌
The best way to go 0 carbs is with carnivore. But that’s another story. I would test my blood ketones, and if they are in an acceptable range with 18g carbs, you are OK..
How do I change my macros in MFP? I know I’ve done it before. But I can’t find it!!
Hi Lynn! Here is a guide you may find helpful! –> https://blog.myfitnesspal.com/essential-guide-macros/
I just can’t understand how to find my macros! Is there an easy way?
Hi Nancy! I use an app like carb manager. It does the home work for you😁 Hope this helps!
Can’t wait to be part of this challenge 💜
Yay! We’re so excited you’re joining the challenge! https://hip2keto.com/free-30-day-keto-challenge/ Also, be sure to join our awesome group for additional support – https://www.facebook.com/groups/hip2keto30dayketochallenge/.
Ya! Just reading this keto diet stuff…sounds great…shall see!
Good luck! We are all here with you!
I am new to this group and am trying to figure out what I am doing in terms of cutting down on my carbs. I am learning that I need to cut back on the carbs if I am to lose any weight. Any thoughts of help for me would be appreciated
A great place to start is this article! It’s full of information to help you get started, Stan K.!
hello,
I would like to do the 30 day challenge but only see 1 meal per day in the email i received. Does this mean there will be no breakfast or lunch during these 30 days? Thank you!
Hi Lorette! The 30 Day Challenge isn’t really a meal plan but an all encompassing “Here’s how to crush your first 30 days of keto” —
There are dinner recipes we send for Monday through Friday, but breakfast and lunch are up to you. This is because some readers choose to intermittent fast, which eliminates 1 or both of those meals. Or some choose to eat simplified snacks for breakfast and lunch, such as almonds, hardboiled eggs, an avocado with some Everything Bagel Seasoning, deli meat slices wrapped in cheese, etc.
Our breakfast recipe ideas are here: https://hip2keto.com/category/keto-recipes/breakfast/
Our lunch recipe ideas are here: https://hip2keto.com/category/keto-recipes/lunch-ideas/
Also, in week 2, we share some helpful ideas for keto lunch prep so be on the lookout for those!
We do recommend using a tracking app, such as Carb Manager: https://hip2keto.com/product-reviews/carb-manager-keto-diet-app/, to stay on top of your macros.
AND if you’re looking to switch up the recipes we send, you can always choose from other weekly meal plans we have here: https://hip2keto.com/category/keto-meal-plans/
In addition, If a 3 keto meals a day guide is what you’re after, be sure to stay tuned because we may or may not have something in the works. 😉
Hope this helps!