Hey there!
My Father and I are a 65 and 35(ish) year old team working together on this Review of a Keto Diet and Meal Plans because we see things from different perspectives.
No surprise there, although we are both extremely grateful that it’s not like it was during my teenage years! Him more than me, I suspect. I kinda enjoyed the battles:).
We thought 2 different perspectives of our experience on a Keto Diet might be helpful to you.
So, a little bit of background on us:
My Dad is 4 years into “Keto Fasting.” He’s had really good results after 30 years of being “morbidly obese” and 5 years of Type 2 Diabetes. He has formally had his Diabetes diagnosis reversed – and that’s now in his medical record. He lost 130+ lbs with the Keto-Fasting approach, and I’m incredibly proud of him. All his health indicators are excellent – including Blood Pressure that’s in the 105:55 range.
He’s a “research the heck out of it first” type of person, which really drives me crazy sometimes.
I’m more of a “just do it” type. I learn by doing, and prefer trial and error, in most cases – obviously there are some exceptions!
My main interest for myself at this point is Weight Loss and General Health improvements (I’m pretty active and athletic). So I first tried the Intermittent Fasting approach to get into Ketosis about 18 months ago. I wasn’t “sold” on the Keto Diet (I looove eating out at restaurants and just couldn’t picture it fitting into my lifestyle).
More recently I committed more fully to a Keto Diet – although I’m not nearly as close to being as conscientious as the “Keto Police” would want me to be.
We have a really useful product to review today, designed for people looking for a PLAN to get into the whole Keto thing as smoothly and effortlessly as possible. The beauty of this particular product is that if you’re like me – Just Do It – the Plan is solid.
But if you’re like my Father – The Researcher – there’s a whole lot of additional information included to answer any questions you might have when starting out.
My Dad says that the combination in this package of a Plan and Info would have:
- Saved him a lot of time
- Removed most of the anxiety from the initial parts of his journey when he wasn’t sure what he was doing
- Made it far easier and generated bigger results faster. (My Mom just says it annoys her to see just how much her shopping list preparation, shopping and label-reading could have been simplified.)
BUT – there’s an obvious caveat for you: the product only makes sense if you understand enough about Keto to appreciate the effectiveness of the Keto Diet in comparison to everything else out there.
And if you understand enough about Keto to appreciate the value of a 28-Day Plan.
Keto is different.
Remember: the Conventional Diet, the high-carb-low-Fat Diet that doctors have loved and recommended without ever questioning it for decades, has an estimated 98% failure rate.
That’s a number quoted by and supported by a LOT of modern doctors who no longer tolerate the hypocrisy of an epidemic of obesity aligned to a Diet proven to be a failure for 50 years. A formal Court of Law recently supported a claim that there is zero scientific support for the Conventional Diet. Never has been.
OK, our Review: we are trying to stick to “Just the facts, ma’am” type of approach but we do have opinions to offer, too.
28-Day Keto Challenge Review
Product: 28-Day Keto Challenge
Owner: Keto Resource
Where Can I Buy It: Click here to access this product
Price: $37
Refund Policy: 60 Day Money Back Guarantee – No Questions Asked!
What Is The 28-Day Keto Challenge?
First things first – we both think it’s misnamed. Sure there’s a Challenge if you want to accept it, but it’s 100% optional and the real value of this set of 10 Guides is in a rock-solid 28-Day PLAN.
Brief description:
When you are new to Keto and starting out on a Keto Diet you inevitably have a lot of questions including the “what to eat, what not to eat, how much” questions. And people often get “thrown” by challenges of Breakfast, Desserts and Snacks where historically they relied on carb-rich foods.
The 28-Day Keto Challenge gives you a solid 28-Day Meal Plan. With lots of suggestions for every meal of the day, plus grocery shopping lists, and tips for dealing with some of the realities that you’ll encounter. This helps to remove excuses!
And the product surrounds this vital “Core” with as much information as you could want if you’re the “I want answers to questions, please” type of person.
The aim is to get you through that first month when “I’m not sure” can easily become an excuse for walking away. And to get you to the point where Keto Eating is becoming a habit.
3 weeks is often claimed to be the time needed to form a new habit. This takes you past that. In their words, their goal is to make you “unstoppable.”
What Is A Ketogenic (Keto) Diet?
Ignore all the “not a Diet it’s a lifestyle” buzz words you hear about every single Diet there ever was.
Here’s the basis of it:
Some of what we’re saying here sounds counterintuitive – but everything has science and a LOT of evidence supporting it. I’m not being too scientific in my explanation though, I realize. Just putting it into my own words.
Just like a car engine, our body (and especially our brain) needs fuel. Most humans today generate that fuel by eating meals and snacks several times a day, meals with carbos, protein, and Fat. These meals (often heavy in carbohydrates) produce glucose, and the glucose fuels our cells.
Historically, that wasn’t always possible for humans. People went for long periods without eating or with poor nutrition. Nature is smart – it knew we had to be able to think, gather food, hunt and find shelter even after extended periods with no food. So it gave us the ability to have a wonderful reserve tank of fuel that we could draw on when we needed it. We call it “Body Fat” and most of us today hate it.
Nature designed the human body from the beginning to be able to burn this Fat and convert it into fuel when there was no food to eat and no glucose in our bodies from eating. When we burn Fat, we produce something called Ketone Bodies and these fuel our cells just like glucose does – except, more efficiently and in a far more healthy way. Glucose from carbs is kind of “dirty fuel,” and there are some unhealthy by-products of the process with implications for a lot of health issues.
Our “food always available” lifestyle means most of us operate 24/7 from infancy on glucose as fuel. Our bodies are unaccustomed to operating on burned Fat. Yet Ketone bodies are clean fuel. Far healthier. Our engines run better and there are fewer unwanted by-products.
So a Keto Diet has adequate Protein (not too much), very low Carbs, and more Fat than you’re used to eating without guilt attached. In fact, most of our calories in Keto come from Fat! One of the big changes in recent years is a recognition that most of our thinking about eaten Fat being bad for us, was wrong. Some Fats are very, very healthy.
And even those always viewed as unhealthy – Saturated Fats – are proving to demand a re-think. The one Fat that is unquestionably toxic though, is Trans Fat. Yup, the one in foods recommended by the Medical Profession in preference to far Healthier Fats, for decades. They strongly recommended against us eating the Healthy Fats and urged us to eat incredibly harmful artificial replacements.
The Low Carb Diet simply puts our bodies in a situation where we don’t have much glucose in our system. So our bodies turn to the reserve tank, and burn Fat for fuel. This is “being in Ketosis,” or “following a Ketogenic Diet.”
What The Problem Is:
There are 4 related problems:
- What we should and shouldn’t eat.
- How much. Remember, we’re used to thinking “calories” not grams of carbs. It’s easy for this to seem complex when it needn’t be. And then we can use “it’s complicated!” as an excuse.
- The problem of how “what we can eat” should all come together in main meals, breakfast ideas, desserts and snacks that taste so good we can’t claim to be sacrificing deliciousness by being Keto.
- Converting this into an Action Plan that gets us past the stage of “start-up” and into “habits forming.” Exactly what to eat, day after day, for 28 weeks.
How The 28-Day Keto Challenge These Problems
This product takes direct aim at each of those problems. It’s a 28-Day Plan with exactly what to buy (shopping lists), what to eat, how much, recipes for meals, and guides for Breakfasts, Desserts and Snacks – often the sticking point because we normally rely on carbs for these.
What Are The POSSIBLE Benefits Of A Keto Diet?
Potential Benefits (from both a Ketogenic Diet, and from this Plan because it boosts the chances of success with Keto):
Fast Weight Loss:
If you struggle with losing excess Fat, this Dietary program can be very beneficial. I just lost 5.2 lbs in 11 days by taking Keto seriously. But beyond just my “anecdotal” evidence (hardly conclusive proof!) studies have indicated that the first 6 months Weight Loss can be 2 to 3 times greater than on other Diets. (With suggestions that it evens out, eventually.)
Reduces your appetite:
Realistically, people who are overweight HATE being hungry. It’s the main reason people quit Diets. Well, the Keto Diet reduces appetite. There’s a related factor: carb cravings are caused by our body’s response to carbs. The reduced carb Keto Diet helps shrink the cravings. Counter-intuitive, but true. In my case, 24 hours low-carb is all it takes to be largely free of the cravings.
Healthier Body:
A Keto Diet is an extraordinarily Healthy Diet and we think the 28-Day Plan boosts your odds of success.
Typically lowers Blood Sugar Levels and starts to work on reducing Insulin Resistance. Most overweight people have some degree of Insulin Resistance. And people with too-high Blood Sugar, even more so who are labeled “Pre-Diabetic,” or even more so those diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes … ALL have Insulin Resistance, or all have some degree of threat from Insulin Resistance. Extending to severe threats at the Diabetic and even Pre-Diabetic levels.
Keto can make a big difference, and can be fast acting – so much so that anyone on medication associated with controlling blood sugar must consult their doc before starting Keto. The doc will want to monitor progress and might suggest changes in medication as Keto-based improvements become apparent.
Many associated Health Benefits are either proven or claimed to be associated. So many, it’s easy to consider the claimed Keto effects to be snake oil – and they aren’t:
- Lower “bad” Cholesterol
- Better “good” Cholesterol
- Better Triglycerides
- Heart benefits
- Resistance to conditions such as Alzheimer’s & Parkinson’s
Reduced Inflammation
Many serious health concerns, such as Heart Disease, can be considered to be inflammation-related. Ketosis has been associated with a measurable reduction in Inflammatory markers.
My Dad experienced huge improvements in things like joint and tendon inflammation – but this was in combination with Intermittent Fasting and reduced Calories during his 130 lb Weight Loss, so the Keto contribution can’t be isolated in his case.
And taking it to a place most aren’t even aware of – a state of Ketosis is associated with stimulating the body’s ability to repair itself at a cellular level – sort of, taking the garbage out. This has implications for Health and also for Longevity. At some point, look up “autophagy” if you’ve nothing better to do!
Blood Pressure Reduced
It’s common for Blood Pressure to reduce, and often for this to be measurable quickly. So much so that people on Blood Pressure tablets definitely need to consult their doctors before starting Keto – they might need to reduce their medication levels and this should ONLY be with a doctor’s guidance, of course.
Impacts Your Visceral Fat
Visceral Fat that lodges around your organs is among the most dangerous, and among the early Fat you want to lose – and it seems the low-Carb Diet does indeed seem to have a bigger impact here, sooner.
I mention this last point reluctantly, but it’s worth your awareness: there are claims, and there is ongoing research into whether Keto can help a body resist some cancers. The claim is controversial and as always there’s some hyped-up stuff going around. The claim is based around the suggestion that cancer cells need sugar (from glucose) but unlike all the body’s other cells, cancer cells are stressed by Ketone Bodies. Cancer organizations consider this to be a major over-simplification of some very complex goings-on. Be aware of the claims but recognize they are just claims with no evidence (that I’m aware of) – so follow competent medical advice at all times!
Even More Benefits Of A Keto Diet…
Easy to Follow:
A 28-Day Plan removes the majority of the obstacles. We ALL try to find reasons to not continue with any changes in our eating habits — our bodies try to drag us back to where we were. Having a detailed Plan counters this to remove excuses.
It Feels Great:
There are a few things that general interest, and others that could really fall under “Health Benefits” but are a little less tangible. Remember, these are Keto Benefits – but we believe the 28-Day Challenge boosts the chances of them becoming a reality for you.
Carbohydrates cause hunger and cravings. Whereas High Fat creates a feeling of “full-ness.” So you don’t get the same urgent hunger as on most Diets.
Many report that they sleep better. In my Father’s case this was true but also, remember, he lost a lot of weight and that alones helps improve sleep. So, tough to isolate the Keto impact.
Many report improvements to their skin condition and appearance, and their hair condition. (My Dad’s been losing his hair for 30 years so he wasn’t surprised that he didn’t suddenly regain his hippy hair.)
Almost everyone reports an Energy Boost. And not just the usual – what you’ll hear is, sure, lots more energy but also, no sleepiness after meals, and a mental clarity that is all-day long.
Possible Side Effects Of A Ketogenic Diet:
Keto Flu
Not everyone reports this; and not everyone that experiences this has any real issues with it. For most who do encounter it, it disappears after a few days (up to 2 weeks) and there are things that can be done to counter it anyway.
Weight Loss (if unwanted)
Remember, Keto isn’t just a Weight-Loss Diet. It’s a Health Diet so some people “go Keto” even if they don’t need to lose weight. For them, the Weight Loss can be a problem!
Additional Unwanted Side-Effects:
There are some claimed unwanted side-effects – many by Authorities, which makes people wonder if they are valid – which have been debunked or are being challenged. I recommend you do your own research but these are my comments.
Chief among the suggested negative effects is that the High Fat levels are a threat because of a claimed link to Heart Disease.
There are two problems with this:
First, the Diet wants you to have a lot of Unsaturated Fat, which is unarguably healthy.
And second, the link between Unsaturated Fat and Heart problems, still being claimed by some Authorities, is based on flawed research that has been unsupported for 50 years. In fact there is research to suggest that people who ate more unsaturated Fat had an overall lower mortality rate and no increase in death from heart disease.
There are claims of nutrient deficiencies. In fact, a healthy Keto Diet has low-Carb elements that provide the nutrients you need. One of the Guides in the 28-Day Challenge focuses on macro-nutrients to address this very concern.
There are hints – with no data whatsoever that I can find – that the Keto approach MIGHT cause issues for Kidney function. A top low-Carb advocate who is also a Kidney specialist says a flat “nope” to this. A recent study also said “nope.”
There are hints that Keto can be problematic for people who already have Liver problems. I can’t find any evidence to support this whatsoever. Keto has massive benefits for people with Fatty Livers. Massive. Some commentators who should know better sometimes confuse Ketoacidosis, which is dangerous to the liver, with nutritional Ketosis, which is entirely different and only beneficial to the liver.
Constipation can be an issue. Many people on Keto Diets simply take additional fibre daily to prevent the problem arising. Psyllium, for example.
Who Is Diet For?
This is basically for anyone, given it’s basically just an extraordinarily Healthy Diet.
People who need to Lose Weight or reduce Blood Sugar are the major beneficiaries; and among them, anyone who’s tried to Lose Weight and failed to lose it or keep it off is the ideal candidate to benefit the most.
That said, there are a few major exceptions:
- Those that are pregnant
- Those that are still developing
Who Should Not Use This Diet:
If you are pregnant, you should ask your doctor before starting any type of Diet, not just Keto. I think every medically qualified Keto or low-Carb advocate I’ve encountered says “not if you’re pregnant,” and some (maybe all?) also say “not if you’re breastfeeding.”
If you are still developing, ie. you are underage, you should definitely discuss this with your doctor before taking ANY action. Ideally, with a doctor who genuinely understands Low Carb, High Fat and Keto issues – which most family doctors do not. Developing youths have Nutritional Requirements that must of course be top priority.
And of course, if you are underweight, you’ll need to be much more careful and consult a doctor to ensure it’s the right Meal Plan for you.
Realistic Estimate Of Effort And Time Frame For A Ketogenic Diet
If you follow the Diet and Guide step by step, you’ll likely see results in days. That said, there may be some downswings in your cycle: keep in mind it takes 3 weeks to start a habit – this Guide gives you 4 weeks!
What I Personally Liked About The 28-Day Keto Challenge:
I liked the balance.
Yes, there’s a vital need for an action-oriented Plan (and 28 days is ideal). It provides it. Yes there’s a need for Breakfast and Dessert and Snack ideas, which are always a challenge. But also there is a TON of associated information that accompanies this “core.” The background on Keto. Dealing with the transition. Dealing with real issues that come up. Solid information on Nutrients. And more.
And for the price – the value is clear.
There are 2 ways to look at value. First, are the benefits worth the outlay? In my opinion, the Benefits of Keto are priceless. And the 28-Day Challenge boosts the odds of you making a success from Keto. So $37 is a no-brainer.
Another way to look at value is, how what you get compares to what others offer. Again, I don’t see anything that comes close to this.
What You Get In The 28-Day Keto Challenge
You will get 7 separate main guidebooks and 3 “Bonus” Guides:
Start here! All the basic information you need, going in.
Breakfast, Lunch Dinner recipes and a meal plan calendar.
You want to get into Ketosis fairly quickly, of course. And, recognize when you’re there! That’s when the benefits kick-in. But once there …you want to stay there.
You’re changing your intake, it makes sense to understand some of the nutrient issues. This will do it for you.
Not everyone gets it, not everyone who does has any real bother with it but this’ll make sure you’re covered anyway.
My Dad started with this and even without the Keto it’s life-changing. But it’s also a secret weapon for Keto — especially if you have any degree of insulin resistance.
Unlike my parents, I actually have a life. And I don’t want to compromise either my Keto Diet or my social life! This offers useful advice.
Have you heard of “Fat Bombs?” Well, you will. And this guide has 36 “Fat Bomb” Recipes to accommodate your sweet tooth while keeping you in Ketosis.
Avocado’s are a Keto wonder-food. Here are 5 Keto-friendly ways to take advantage.
*Bonus: Keto Supplements Guide
Some recommend supplements, some don’t. This guide explains 12 of the most useful ones to help you make the transition, and take most advantage of being in Ketosis.
Price Of 28-Day Keto Challenge
Now $37 (according to their Sales Page, but this used to be $79 and it would still be considered a great value at that price, in my opinion).
Guarantee
60 Day Money Back Guarantee – long enough that you can take time to dive into the contents, then follow the Plan – take the 28-day Challenge.
Do I Get Any Bonuses With The 28-Day Keto Challenge?
Well … some people position the 3 “Bonus” guides as bonuses but of course they are really just part of the package. But bonuses are irrelevant here – the product stands on its own feet.
Final thoughts on The 28-Day Keto Challenge
I’m going to be blunt.
If you accept that the Keto Diet has even a fraction of the potential benefits you are looking for, then it makes complete sense to do everything in your power to boost the odds of success. To tip them in your favor.
The 28-Day Keto Challenge can be the difference-maker.
The aim of the developers is to take away as much “friction” as possible from your transition. To make you Unstoppable towards your Goal of Weight Loss and better Health.
The product delivers in spades.
The Meal Plan, the Recipes, the ideas for Breakfast, Dessert and Snacks, the Guides that give you expert Information, and aim to help you with the real life issues you might encounter.
Just, a rock-solid product.
Note: we do earn a small commission if you buy the 28-Day Challenge. But in fact we could earn more by letting people know about different products in the Keto arena, and we haven’t chosen to do so. We review the 28-Day Challenge because we believe it can be a difference-maker.