These 30 day weight loss challenge ideas are designed to for weight loss in the fastest and simplest way possible! Go through our list to see which 30 day weight challenge is best suited for you. We have divided the challenges into 4 different categories based on the the type of weight loss.
- 30 day challenges for quick weight loss through diets.
- 30 day challenges for weight loss through healthy eating.
- 30 day challenges for weight loss through exercise.
- 30 day challenges for weight loss through a change in lifestyle.
30 day challenges for quick weight loss through diets
If you’re looking to lose weight quickly within the next 30 days then these 30 day weight loss challenges will be PERFECT for you!
30 day alternate day fasting challenge:
The alternate day fasting challenge only allows you to eat 500-600 calories during the 2-3 days of the week that you fast. During the rest of the week you are allowed to eat normally. Research suggests that alternate day fasting doesn’t lead to an overabundance of food intake on non-fasting days – unlike a lot of other diets. This is likely caused by the release of peptide YY (PYY), a hormone that makes you feel full and prevents overeating.
Expected weight loss in 30 days: 7 pounds
The Zone Diet:
This 30 day weight loss challenge is based on limiting both your calorie intake plus the type of calorie intake. As part of this 30 day challenge you are only allowed to eat 30% lean protein, 30% healthy fat and 40% high-fiber carbs. Furthemore, in order to limit calorie intake you are only allowed to eat a certain number of “blocks” based on your current weight. You can expect to lose more weight on this 30 day challenge then if you follow a low fat diet based on research. The same study also found a 44% reduction in fatigue.
Expected weight loss in 30 days: 8.5 pounds
30 day keto challenge:
The keto diet is a 30 day challenge that can help you lose a lot of weight fast! The weight loss occurs as your body burns fat for fuel instead of carbohydrates and glucose – a process known as ketosis. This 30 day keto challenge is extremely strict and requires a lot of self control! A healthy ketogenic diet needs to be about 75% fat, 10-30% protein and limited carbs. Stick to high-fat, low carbohydrate foods like eggs, meats and dairy as well as sugar free drinks. While eating vegetables is good, stay away from high carb vegetables like potatoes. Highly processed foods and unhealthy fats should be avoided at all costs. Fats should be 75% of your diet, and carbs should be limited to 20-50g a day.
Expected weight loss in 30 days: 8 pounds
16:8 Intermittent fasting
If you are looking for a more intense diet, you may want to consider doing the 30 day intermittent fast challenge, based on the Dubrow diet. During this 30 day challenge, you will fast for 16 hours and then eat for 8. In addition you will have to limit the number of calories, fats, and carbs – including complex carbs.
Expected weight loss in 30 days: 7 pounds
30 day calorie restriction challenge
This is probably the most simple, and most effective 30 day challenge you can go on. Instead of limiting the type of foods you are eating, you will only need to limit the number of calories you consume each day. For most people limiting your calorie intake to 1000 calories a day will help you lose between 8-10 pounds by the end of the challenge. To calculate what your calorie intake should be, find out how many calories you need in order to maintain your weight, and then reduce your calorie intake by 500 calories each day (for each pound you want to lose in a week,)
Expected weight loss in 30 days: 8.5 pounds
30 day challenges for weight loss through healthy eating
30 day clean eating challenge
The 30 day clean eating challenge encourage you to consume more healthy foods throughout the day. Focus on eating whole foods like healthy fats, fruits and vegetables. We also recommend you eat healthy grains and lean proteins, while avoiding unhealthy and processed foods, which are high in sugar.
In addition split your meals into 6 small meals each day. Each of your 6 meals should include both lean protein and complex carbohydrates. Breakfast is probably the most important meal for this 30 day challenge, and you should eat it within an hour of waking up. Drink 8-10 glasses of water, and limit your calorie intake to 1200.
Expected weight loss: in 30 days 8.5 pounds
30 Day Challenge to Cut Out Sugar
This is probably my favorite 30 day weight loss challenge. Cutting sugar can seem difficult at first – particularly if you’re like me, and put sugar in almost everything. But it’s one of the most effective ways to lose weight for people who eat a lot of junk food. The rules for the 30 day sugar challenge are simple.
The biggest rule is that during the 30 day challenge no added sugar is allowed at all! In addition to that during the first few days don’t eat any fruits, so that your body is able to cleanse all the toxic sugars that are currently in your body. After the first week, feel free to eat as many WHOLE fruits as you want – except in the form of juices. Feel free to eat smoothies made out of whole fruit as a replacement snack. The only other rule you must follow on this diet, is no honey, or sugar substitutes.
Expected weight loss: 4 pounds
30 Day Vegan Challenge:
Going on a 30 day vegan challenge requires you to give up all meats, and animal based food, including eggs. Instead you would eat only plant based foods.
Vegans tend to be thinner and have a lower body mass index (BMI) than non-vegans. This may be partially due to vegans having healthier lifestyles, including being more physically active and health conscious.
Several randomized controlled studies, controlling for external factors, found that vegan diets were more effective for weight loss than other more popular weight loss diets. So if you’re looking to lose weight in a socially conscious way, then the 30 day vegan challenge is ideal for you!
Expected weight loss in 30 days: 6 pounds
30 day water challenge
Drinking lots of water helps rid your body of stored fat, helps keep you full for longer, increases your metabolism rate, as well as burns off the calories from food you eat. A study from 2016 found that an increased intake of water led to a loss of fat in animal studies through the process of lipolysis.
Simply drinking more water before every meal may help you shed some weight. In one study, overweight and obese adults who drank 2 liters each day before meals lost 44% more pounds in 12 weeks than those on a diet without increased fluid intake.
30 Day water challenge rules: The 30 day water challenge, requires you to drink about 4-5 glasses of water as soon as you wake up. Make sure you do this first thing in the morning, and on an empty stomach. If you want, you can add lemon or lime to your water, which also helps with weight loss. Have another 2 glasses of water 10 minutes before each meal.
Expected weight loss in 30 days: 4 pounds
30 day intermittent fasting
Doing an Intermittent fast is a great idea for weight loss because of how easy it is to start. All you have to do is change your current eating patterns and try not to eat anything during specific time intervals: from 12pm-14pm, then again after dinner until the next morning (around 14 hours). This will give your body time to rest and help reduce insulin levels so that fat can be burned better.
Expected weight loss in 30 days: 6 pounds
30 days no soda challenge
This 30 day weight loss challenge is self explanatory. And will do wonders for your health and energy levels. Stop drinking all sugary drinks for 30 days straight. This includes all soda, sweet alcoholic beverages and juices with added sugar. If you would like to take it a step further you should also replace any juices you drink, with the actual fruit! If you’re an avid soda drinker, you’ll be amazed at how much weight you can lose by making this 1 simple change!
Expected weight loss in 30 days: 3 pounds
30 day challenges for weight loss through exercise
30 day plank challenge
The 30 day plank challenge is designed to improve core strength. It also improves the stability in your spine, as well as helps relieve fatigue and stress. doing planks will help you lose weight too. 30 days is the perfect amount of time to start seeing results-
A plank is one of the best calorie burning exercises. It engages multiple muscles at the same time which strengthens your body’s core, improves posture and tightens your tummy. It also does a fantastic job of burning fat around your abdomen area.
Check out our 30 day plank challenge here
Expected weight loss in 30 days: 4 pounds
30 day abs challenge
The 30 day abs challenge is designed to strengthen and tone the abdominal muscles or “abs.” While similar to the 30 day plank challenge, the abs challenge focuses only on your abs, while the planks challenge focuses on toning and strengthening different muscles. Doing 30 days of ab workouts will not only help you lose weight but only help you tone your abs and see your waistline shrink. –
You can try the 30 day abs challenge with different exercises every day, such as moving in and out from low plank position or doing alternating crunches on an exercise ball. Alternatively you can also do 30 days straight of bicycle crunch.
To join our 30 day abs challenge click here
Expected weight loss in 30 days: 3 pounds
30 day running challenge
Running is probably one of the best ways to lose weight. A 60 minute run can help you lose up to 1,000 calories. That’s about 1 pound a week of weight loss. If you’re looking to lose even more weight, you have the option of either running for longer, or combining this 30 day challenge with a challenge that helps you lose weight through dieting.
Expected weight loss in 30 days: 6 pounds
30 day walking challenge
Walking alone can surprisingly make also help you lose weight. During the 30 day walking challenge we reccomend you do a brisk walk daily for approximately 30 minutes and have enough activity throughout the day to reach 10,000 steps combined total. If you were sedentary before this will allow you to burn about 500 calories a day, which adds up to 1 pound a week.
Alternatively you can completely ignore the number of steps you take throughout the day and instead focus on doing 1 hour of walking each day – which should also burn about 500-600 calories, allowing you to lose about 1 pound a week.
Expected weight loss in 30 days: 4 pounds
30 day yoga challenge
If you’re doing yoga with the goal of weight loss, an aerobic forms of yoga will help you get the best results. Ashtanga, Vinyasa or Power Yoga are some of the best options. These classes typically last 90 minutes and can boost cardiovascular benefit because they are so intense. You will burn calories, tone muscles through stretching and provide weight bearing exercise for your bones.
A 60 minute session of yoga will help you lose between 200-600 calories. The calorie loss will depend on your body type and the type of yoga you are doing. That can add up to about 1-1.5 pounds of weight loss a week.
Expected weight loss in 30 days: 4 pounds
30 day squats challenge
Squats work many muscle groups at the same time, which means they will stimulate increased anabolic hormone production. These are hormones that help you burn fat and build lean muscle.
In order to lose weight we recommend you do minimum three sets of fifteen squats every day.
Squats are a type of strength training exercise that can help build muscle mass. And, unlike some other muscles, burns calories at a relatively fast rate. Furthermore squats burn about 35 calories a minute. That’s one of the highest number of calories burned amongst all types of exercises!
Expected weight loss: in 30 days 6 pounds
30 Day lifestyle Challenge Ideas:
Do not eat out at restaurants for 30 days
Eating at restaurants is much more fattening then you probably realize. An average meal at restaurants contains 1,205 calories, according to the Journal of the American Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. That’s more then half the daily calorie requirements for the average person. It’s also more then double the calories you would consume if you were to eat a meal at home. If you eat out everyday you may be able to lose 1-2 pounds a week.
Expected weight loss: 2-6 pounds
Use smaller plates
In one experiment, conducted at Cornell University and the Georgia Institute of Technology, it was found that shifting from 12-inch plates to 10-inch plates helped people eat 22% fewer calories. So for an average person , using a smaller plate could help you lose just under 1 pound a week,. That’s almost 4 pounds in 30 days.
The reason we eat less while using smaller plates is due to an optical illusion also known as Delboeuf Illusion. We all use comparisons to determine how big or small something is. So when weyou use big plates, your brain tells your that a normal portion size is actually a small portion size. When you use a smaller plate, that same portion looks bigger – and so you will automatically eat less.
Expected weight loss in 30 days: 4 pounds
Stop eating at night
Despite eating the same number of calories and maintaining the same level of activity, participants found that their body fat levels varied greatly based off what time they consumed food. So having a snack during the day meant that , participants were able to break down more fat than would be expected given the equivalent caloric intake at night.
So a late night snack caused the body to break down carbohydrates instead of fat, and on average participants burned 15 g more of fat when eating it at breakfast then at late night. This is largely because the amount of fat you burn is regulated by the body’s circadium rhythm.
So going on a 30 day challenge where you avoid late night snacks completely will definitely help you lose weight!
Expected weight loss in 30 days: 4 pounds
Substitute whole grains for refined grains
Research studies indicate that eating whole grains increases resting metabolic rate and causes greater fecal losses, likely due to the unfavorable digestibility of other food calories.
Consuming the recommended daily allowance for fiber through whole grains was found to help individuals lose about 100 calories every day when compared to individuals who ate refined grains with little fiber.
If you currently eat refined grains like white rice, white bread, and white flour, then substitue them with brown rice, oatmeal and whole wheat flour for the next 30 days to complete this lifestyle challenge!
Expected weight loss in 30 days: 3 pounds
Eat salad before your main meal .
If your goal is to lose weight, eating a salad before dinner for the next 30 days will do wonders! Eating a low-calorie vegetable salad as an appetizer may help you feel full and less likely to eat more calories during the main meal.
Remember the base of your diet-friendly salad should be leafy greens. Salads made with pasta and potatoes can lead to higher calories and fat intake, whereas a bean-based salad is high in protein and fiber.
Expected weight loss in 30 days: 3 pounds