New – Low Carb Challenge

We’ve updated the look of the 21-Day Low-Carb Challenge. The menus are the same, but you’ll enjoy a cleaner look and more tips for leftovers, food prep, and busy days!

DR. BECKY FITNESS

21-DAY LOW-CARB CHALLENGE

FUEL YOUR FAT-BURNING METABOLISM

Daily, guided menus that provide the right balance of fats, carbs, and protein to transform your metabolism from being a good sugar-burner to being a good fat-burner.

Welcome to The Course Headquarters

All the resources you need to complete the 21-Day Low-Carb Challenge are found on this page.

Scrolling down, you will find the GETTING STARTED section with the information you need to prep for the challenge.

Below that, you’ll find the WEEKLY MEAL PLANS that share the week’s recipes and a list of groceries to have on hand.

Scroll farther down the page to see the DAILY MENUS & RECIPES. This section provides the same information as the daily emails, with easy access to the day’s recipes.

GETTING STARTED

PREPARING

Each day of the challenge follows our 0,1,2,3 rules. In other words, each day, you will eat:

  • 0 added sugar
  • 1 large salad
  • 2 cups of cooked non-starchy vegetables
  • 3 hours before bed, you’ll stop eating

The daily menus also contain foods high in healthy fats and protein that enhance fat-burning and hunger control:

  • meat
  • chicken
  • eggs
  • fish
  • dairy products
  • avocados
  • nuts
  • seeds

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Foods to avoid include:

  • Those with sugar listed as one of the first three ingredients
  • Energy bars and snacks
  • Grains and starchy vegetables
  • Low-fat foods
  • Seed oils
  • Fruit juice and honey

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Acceptable drinks are unsweetened:

  • Plain, filtered water
  • Coffee
  • Hot or iced tea
  • Bubbly waters

Drinks to avoid:

  • Artificial creamers
  • Sweetened drinks
  • Fruit juice

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During the challenge, I recommend taking an electrolyte supplement.

The low insulin level that results when you reduce your carbohydrate intake causes the release of water and electrolytes from your body. You may experience fatigue, cravings, and muscle cramps if you do not replenish them.

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Life will throw you a few twists and turns over the next 21 days, but you want to hold on to your “I can do this” attitude and find a way to stay on track.

Below, you’ll find two lists to help you stay on track:

  • A list of quick and easy emergency meals and snacks
  • A list of groceries to have on hand for busy days

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The human body is adaptive. Feed it a diet high in refined carbs, and it produces enzymes and pathways that make it dependent on sugar for fuel. Restrict carbs and feed it more fat; the metabolism shifts to running on fat – from your diet or body – for energy.

However, shifting from a sugar-burning to a fat-burning metabolism takes time. During the transition, it is not uncommon to feel worse before you feel better.

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TIPS & FAQS

The established opinion on alcohol and weight loss is controversial, given that excessive alcohol consumption is a public health concern. However, research studies favor the notion that light-to-moderate alcohol intake does not lead to weight gain and, in some cases, may be beneficial to weight loss.

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If you have food sensitivities, you must work with your body and find substitutions you can tolerate. While substitutions are not always possible, the following suggestions may help.

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The daily menus are set to provide you with about 1,200 calories per day.

This caloric level will be sufficient for some women, but if you are a man, athletic, or a larger woman, you may want to increase your caloric intake by following these suggestions:

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The Busy Day Plan is optional. It is designed to help you stay on track with your weight loss when life gets hectic, and you don’t have time to cook.

Pros: This optional plan loosely follows the daily challenge menus but reduces the need for cooking by providing easy-to-make substitutions.

Cons: The Busy Day Plan does not have the nutritional information worked out because the food choices will vary from person to person. If you follow the Busy Day Plan, you may find that entering your food choices into an online nutrition tracking tool like Cronometer or MyFitnessPal is helpful.

Intermittent fasting is a diet strategy that involves periods of no eating (a.k.a. fasting). If you’d like to practice intermittent fasting during the 21-Day Challenge, you have options based on your hunger level.

  • If you are not feeling hungry, you can skip breakfast and simply eat lunch and dinner for the day.
  • If you are experiencing hunger during your eating window, you can have all three meals within your eating window or have lunch, dinner, and a snack.

Rearranging or replacing meals within a daily menu can work if the meal you are substituting has a similar macronutrient breakdown as the one you are leaving out (i.e., similar calories, carbs, fat, and protein).

The nutrition for each day of the meal plan has been calculated, so you might find it easier to trade an entire day of eating instead of moving meals around. For instance, if you don’t like the dinner on Day 4 but enjoyed what you ate on Day 3, you could eat the same menu on Day 3 and Day 4.

When you sign up for the 21-Day Challenge, you’ll receive three days of prep emails that will help you prepare for the challenge.

If you do nothing, the first of your 21 daily menus will arrive in your email inbox four days after registering for the challenge.

I realize that some of you might not have enough time in the next couple of days to gather groceries, so this post will show you how to delay your start date.

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WEEKLY MEAL PLANS (Downloadable)

This section shares each week’s recipes and groceries, giving you an overview from which to plan your week.

DAILY MENUS & RECIPES

This section provides the same information as the daily emails, with easy access to the day’s recipes.