GET STARTED KETO CHALLENGE

First step — prepare!

Congratulations! You've taken your first and most important step towards a healthier you. You've signed up for the 2-week keto challenge. Now let's make this a great experience! Preparation is the key to success. Here you'll find everything you need to really ace the next two weeks.

Prepare

Success favors the prepared. How to prepare? Do these two things:

Today: Get to know the challenge (15 minutes)
Sunday: Prep and start (2-3 hours)

Today:

Get to know the challenge

What do you need to know prior to diving into the challenge? These four things:

1. How to eat keto

A keto diet is about avoiding carbohydrates and replacing them with other, real foods — low-carb vegetables, proteins, and healthy fats. Another name for the keto diet is the low-carb, high-fat (LCHF) diet.

Not sure what has "carbs" and what does not? Don't worry. In this challenge, we make it simple. We'll tell you exactly what foods to get rid of and what foods to eat. We'll supply you with meal plans, all the individual recipes needed, and the weekly shopping lists to make all those meals.

In fact, you'll hardly need to think. Just follow the plan to stay under 20 grams of carbs per day. This is highly effective for weight loss and diabetes reversal.1

You'll cook twice a day: a simple, fast breakfast and an equally easy dinner. Lunch will be leftovers from yesterday's dinner that you just re-heat, saving you time. Win-win!2

Here are some sample recipes, click for a closer look:

    Printing guide

    Consider printing the meal plans, recipes, and ingredients lists if you want them available offline. Make sure to select the number of people you are shopping and cooking for, as the amounts will update accordingly.

    Week 1: Overview

    Week 2: Overview

    2. Adjustments

    Most people can do the keto challenge right away unless they have a specific health situation that requires more information or support. 3 These three situations may need additional planning or adjustments:

    • Are you on medication for diabetes, e.g. insulin? Learn more
    • Are you on medication for high blood pressure? Learn more
    • Are you breastfeeding? Learn more


    If you're not in any of these groups, you're ready to go. Keep reading!

    3. Do tell!

    Do you stay mum or broadcast your new diet to the world? We recommend at least telling the people you live with what you plan to do over the next two weeks. Their support will make it easier for you to succeed. Perhaps they may even join you? Here's a very simple one-page document that you can hand out to explain what this is all about.

    Good to know

    4. Schedule

    Schedule 2-3 hours on Sunday afternoon for final preparations for the challenge. You'll rid your kitchen of problem foods and then go shopping for exquisite low-carb ingredients that will nourish your body and inner foodie. Sounds like a plan?


    Sunday

    Final prep and start

    It's time! Today — Sunday — is the day you start changing your life. Good luck and enjoy!

    If you follow all the preparations — the total time needed is about 2-3 hours — the upcoming week will be a breeze.

    1. Clean-out

    Clean out the fridge

    Get rid of (throw out or give away) all the high-carb temptations in your pantry, fridge and freezer. Doing so massively improves your chances of success. Here's how you do it.

    Does that sound too hard for you? Can you not imagine ridding yourself of some fave comfort foods? If so, you might benefit from watching our video course on sugar addiction.

    2. Shop

    It's time to buy some great food!

    The ingredients list contains all the food that you need for the entire first week of the challenge.

    If you are allergic to something, have special dietary needs, or just want to eat something other than what we've planned for you, you can always choose any other keto meal that works for you.

    If you're not a member and want to switch a meal, you will have to do some additional shopping. It's worth checking out our free membership trial to be able to customize the meal plans if needed. With customized meal plans the shopping lists will automatically adjust. However, the daily emails you will receive from the challenge won't contain your hand-picked meals, because we are unable to read your minds — just yet!

    When using or printing the ingredients list, make sure you select the number of people you're shopping for. Also, you can select US or metric measurements.

    Of course, before going shopping, check your kitchen for what you already have to avoid buying duplicates of eggs, butter, spices, etc.

    Here are two more handy items you may want to pick up today if you don't already own them:

    • Scale (for weighing yourself)
    • Measuring tape

    Ingredients list week 1

    3. Measure

    People start eating keto for different reasons. Usually they start because they want to lose weight. After they have been eating keto for a while they start to notice other health benefits as well. The most common ones are a calmer stomach, clearer skin, better mental focus and more energy.4

    How will you know if you are experiencing significant improvements in the diet? It may help if you measure and note it. Consider getting a notebook or starting a file on your computer to document how you feel, what you weigh, what your measurements are.

    We're all different. The only person you will actually be able to compare yourself to is you. Some people lose a lot of weight on keto just after a couple of days and feel great while doing it. Some people don't lose any weight at all during the first weeks and can even feel a bit poorly (keto flu). This might be because the body needs more time to adjust to using fat instead of sugar as fuel.5 You didn't gain that weight in two weeks, right? So relax and give it some time to shed, too.

    So, if you signed up for our keto challenge because you want to lose weight, you might want to track your progress. But if you get stressed out just by thinking about weighing yourself – don't. There are different ways of tracking your progress. Do what feels right for you. First of all, you may feel it and see it in the mirror. Or maybe you've got a pair of favorite jeans that don't fit you anymore? Try them on as a way of measuring your progress in a practical way without using a scale or notebook.

    Remember, the most important thing is how you feel. By eating delicious and healthy whole foods, you will finally start providing your body with what it needs to heal. This is where self-love begins.

    Here are some tips if you want to document your progress:

    • Waist circumference — use a measuring tape around your waistline, just above your belly button.
    • Take a full-body picture — ask a friend or take a selfie in the mirror.
    • If you have any health issues, make a note of them, to see if they have improved after the challenge.

    Continue to Monday week 1

    Q&A

    Do you have questions about this challenge? Check out the FAQ page.