Starting the 75 Hard Challenge

TannerBoyl

The last year and a half have been interesting. I went from being somewhat active to completely sedentary. I’ve watched my waist increase in size while my muscle mass decreased.

I decided that I needed something to jump start my motivation. Over the weekend, my girlfriend suggested that I try the 75 Hard Challenge.

Basically, it is a mental toughness challenge with health improvement aspects.

Here are the basics:

The challenge consists of sticking to five main pillars for 75 days straight:

-You must drink one gallon of water a day.
-You must pick a diet and stick to it, with no cheat meals (also, no alcohol).
-You must workout twice a day for 45 minutes. One of the workouts must be done outdoors.
-You must read 10 pages of an entrepreneurial or self-help book each day.
-You must take a progress picture each day.

So, off I go. The weekend was easy, but the workweek has presented some challenges. I’ve had to modify my daily routine in order to accommodate the water intake and the outdoor exercise. Planning ahead seems to be working for me for both diet and exercise.

I am feeling very motivated, but I realize that I’m still early in the challenge. That is why I’m posting this. I’ve told family, friends and coworkers what I’m doing in order to force accountability. I figured that I would do that here too.



This is my starting photo. I’m 6’ and 228lbs.

I’m four days in and have already noticed some positive changes (mostly on my outlook).

Wish me luck!

ahoy_m8

Good luck! I hope it's a great experience for you and that you learn great things about yourself. Go you!

TannerBoyl

Thank you! I appreciate the words of encouragement!

PhatNLazy

Looks like an overall workout. Mind, body and no booze.

TannerBoyl

Before COVID, the no booze part would have been difficult. Once the social aspect was removed, I haven’t felt the need to imbibe.

I am excited about the changes that I will go through. Just forcing me to go outside for exercise has really opened my eyes to how much I missed it.

jakers6108

This is awesome. I am trying to find how to add this challenge to my fitness pal. Excellent! 45 min twice a day...thats some serious workout but love it.

jakers6108

Grrr i can't seem to upload a photo to this reply but its in my phone! I put it in my weight photo which is ok for now. Will try to figure it out later. Ran 2 miles. Onto clean process free meals today

TannerBoyl

jakers6108 wrote: »

This is awesome. I am trying to find how to add this challenge to my fitness pal. Excellent! 45 min twice a day...thats some serious workout but love it.

That’s great!

I haven’t found a way to add it to MFP, but I’m trying to track it here as much as possible.

I’m using daily reminders on my phone to complete my tasks. It has worked for me. My girlfriend keeps track in a notebook and seems happy with that.

With the 45 minute workouts, what’s been working for me is low impact cardio first thing in the morning. I’ve been starting my day walking my dog around the neighborhood. It’s really done wonders for my daily outlook.

Then my second workout is usually a bit more challenging. I’ve done 45 minute spin classes, interval training or playing a sport.

It really seems sustainable to me.

jakers6108

I can fit in 30 min exercise in a.m. daily and some sort of exercise outside in the evening. Is the 45 min intended to be cumulative per day or 45 min for morning and 45 min afternoon? By the way. That gallon of water thing. Lesson learned. Start early so you're not floating later in the day trying to catch up. Lol

TannerBoyl

It’s supposed to be two separate sessions at 45 minutes each (total of 90 minutes a day). They don’t really talk about timing, but morning and afternoon has worked out well for me.

The gallon a day is a challenge. If I don’t hit it hard in the morning and taper it off, then I’m up every two hours at night to pee.

For more info, search 45 Hard Challenge by Andy Frisella. He came up with it. I’d seen a ton of videos on YouTube of people talking about completing the challenge.

I will be happy to answer any questions that I have.

jakers6108

Thanks for the info. I did a little extra this am on my run to get closer to 45 min so that was good. I figired why not do 45 min on my days off. Working 12 hr shift will make it very difficult but I will do it.

yirara

May i note one thing? Drinking a gallon of water might be a lot, unless you're really exercising like crazy and sweat a lot. Fluids in food also count for the daily water intake, thus 1 gallon (nearly 4 liters) on top might be overkill as it will flush out salt and other electrolytes. Thus take care of that.

jakers6108

Thank you for that advice. In my case I am sweating at the Sun during the 45-minute morning exercise and then I'm in my yard stacking wood and splitting wood doing really strenuous work. It's been pretty hot out and unfortunately I have a very bad tendency to retain salt. So far the amount of water intake is good but I really appreciate your thoughts as everybody is in a different situation. Due to a medical issue I have my labs drawn fairly frequently so I'll get to see my sodium and potassium levels you do make a great Point thank you so much

jakers6108

I've been doing the two 45-minute workouts and I'm pretty proud of myself for getting up at 4:45 a.m. to fit in the 45-minute run before work. I've been staying below my calorie intake which was my diet goal and I've been listening to self-improvement podcast and reading some non-fiction books which I consider to be self-help. I've kept up with my water intake and realize I need to start right after my first run. We've hit 110 degree temperatures here as of yesterday and I'm grateful for the increase in the water intake. I packed my lunch for the next 4 days because I'm working for 12 hour shifts in a row. I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to fit in the second 45 minute workout. I might need to split it up into 15 minutes sections while I'm working. Anyway thanks for the great challenge I'm having fun with it

jakers6108

45 min run done this a.m. Need to do better today with meals . Yesterday I wasnt prepared enough at work. Heading to work for another 12 hr day. Cool summer morning. Sun is about to come up. Thank God for coffee

TannerBoyl

I’ve been at this for 18 days. Yesterday was the first time that I hesitated doing a second workout. It was a rough day, I was tired and hungry and had too many chores to do.

I told myself that I would put on my shoes and see how I felt. Then after my shoes were on, I got on the Peloton just for a few minutes. That turned into “well, I might as well do a 45 minute class”. All in all, I was happy and exhausted.

At least I’m looking forward to my second workout this afternoon.

hjahangiri

Well, good luck to you! Our goals are a bit different and it's 91 degrees in Houston (with a "feels like" of 102), so I'd modify my own version of this, somewhat - all in all, doable! I'd read fiction, poetry, history or science (I'm retired and don't need or want "entrepreneurial or self help" books), and this sounds like just giving myself permission to do what I want to do, anyway. I would do the workouts indoors, if the weather was dangerously hot or stormy (though a walk in the park, in a gentle rain, is a treat). I thought I was doing well to get to the gym/pool 3x week right now, but sure. Progress pic each DAY? Hmm. OK. Why not?

summerviking1

I did this challenge but because of work I did not finish. I think I might start it again before the weather gets too cold to workout outside.

jakers6108

Thats great everyone. I have to say daily photos have inspired me to keep going. I don't hit every goal each day but it gives me tons of incentive to do all that I can

summerviking1

How is everyone doing this week?

socajam

I am having problems with my A1C - so this would fit right into my plans to get my *kitten* into more gear - starting September when the weather starts to get cooler - I cannot walk - today its in the 90s
I could do 45 minutes on my elliptical in the morning and 45 walking in the evening to round off the day

jakers6108

That sounds great! I have been running/jogging 45 min a.m. then working outside on wood in afternoon.Work days (12 hr shift) as a rapid response nurse exhausts me. I skipped one day so not sure if that disqualifies me to start all over again but had to rest. The time is my issue on those long days

Kevin_Hassenpflug

TannerBoyl wrote: »

The last year and a half have been interesting. I went from being somewhat active to completely sedentary. I’ve watched my waist increase in size while my muscle mass decreased.

I decided that I needed something to jump start my motivation. Over the weekend, my girlfriend suggested that I try the 75 Hard Challenge.

Basically, it is a mental toughness challenge with health improvement aspects.

Here are the basics:

The challenge consists of sticking to five main pillars for 75 days straight:

-You must drink one gallon of water a day.
-You must pick a diet and stick to it, with no cheat meals (also, no alcohol).
-You must workout twice a day for 45 minutes. One of the workouts must be done outdoors.
-You must read 10 pages of an entrepreneurial or self-help book each day.
-You must take a progress picture each day.

So, off I go. The weekend was easy, but the workweek has presented some challenges. I’ve had to modify my daily routine in order to accommodate the water intake and the outdoor exercise. Planning ahead seems to be working for me for both diet and exercise.

I am feeling very motivated, but I realize that I’m still early in the challenge. That is why I’m posting this. I’ve told family, friends and coworkers what I’m doing in order to force accountability. I figured that I would do that here too.



This is my starting photo. I’m 6’ and 228lbs.

I’m four days in and have already noticed some positive changes (mostly on my outlook).

Wish me luck!

I too am doing the 75 Day Hard Challenge

TannerBoyl

I’m 1/3 of the way done with the challenge. So far, it hasn’t been too bad. If I plan ahead, I don’t have any excuses.

I’ve been waking up at 4:00AM to go for a 45 minute walk with my dog every morning. It’s actually been a pleasant way to start my day. It’s so calm and peaceful that I’m able to really enjoy the walk.

My girlfriend has a Peloton, so I’ve been riding that a lot lately. 45 minutes seems to go by quickly with the right class. I did try a Metallica themed ride in which I was woefully unprepared for. I finished it, but I can’t say that I kept up with the cadence and resistance.

My diet hasn’t been an issue. Even when I went camping, I was able to plan ahead and log my food. I’ve been good about not eating out, but when I do I’ve been able to adhere to my calories.

My body has adapted to the gallon of water. Lately, I’ve been overshooting it by a quart or two.

Reading has been another positive way to start my day. After my morning walk, I sit down with a book with a cup of coffee before starting work. I’ve read a book on Stoicism and one on Investing. Now I’m reading “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F***!”

The photos have been interesting. I can feel a change in the fit of my clothing and am able to start seeing slight changes in my photos. I’m glad that I also took body measurements. Ive lost a few inches in my mid-section.

I’m down between 8-10lbs, but I’m really not focusing on weight loss, but rather creating better habits and developing myself. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy that I’m losing weight and definitely need it, but I’m viewing it as a bonus and not the main objective.

Here are some photos:


Day 1




Day 25

euchre35

I tried this plan but the two workouts didn't work - I easily do 90 minutes, but I live in the AZ desert so there is no way I can do much outside during the summer at 105-125 degrees.

TannerBoyl

euchre35 wrote: »

I tried this plan but the two workouts didn't work - I easily do 90 minutes, but I live in the AZ desert so there is no way I can do much outside during the summer at 105-125 degrees.

I’m heading out to AZ for a week or two. It should be interesting how I will deal with the heat and the workouts.

TannerBoyl

I am 41 days into the challenge so I figured that I’d give an update.

I’ve had some rough days where I really didn’t want to do a workout, but took baby steps. First, I told myself that I’d put on my shoes. Then since my shoes were on, I would just step outside. Then I would go for a short walk. Before I knew it, I was finishing up my 45min workout and felt great.

Likewise, I had days where I didn’t prepare my meals. I just made sure that whatever I ate fell within my calories for the day. If I was still hungry and didn’t have spare calories, then I would drink water to satiate myself.

I’ve had some pretty strong cravings for various foods. Thankfully, I could accommodate with portion control or I just ate the food that I’d made and didn’t worry about cravings.

The picture portion and reading portion have not been an issue. They’re both easy to check off the box. The toughest part of reading was making sure that I had a book lined up after completing a book. So far, I’m on my fourth book.

The toughest part has been on travel days. I had driven out of state and come back. Thankfully, I had woken up early in order to get my first workout done before I got in the road. Having already completed one workout made the second workout so much easier.

While the main focus is not my weight, but to create good habits, I am pleased to say that I’m 13ish lbs down. I’m down to my pre-COVID weight.

Another thing that has kept me motivated was that I’d sent recurring reminders on my phone to let me know which tasks still needed to be completed.

All in all, it really hasn’t been too difficult for me to stick with. Aside from fleeting laziness, I have been motivated to keep on track.

Here is a progress pic:


Day 41

TannerBoyl

Okay, well I hit my first bump in the road to completing the 75 Hard Challenge. I had completed everything except for taking my picture. I was getting ready to do it on Friday and got caught up in something else. I didn’t realize it until Saturday morning.

Oh well, life goes on. I took Saturday off to eat whatever I wanted and only completed one workout and restarted on Sunday.

So, I now find myself on day 3 and looking forward to competing the challenge the day after Thanksgiving.

Here is a photo:

AKTipsyCat

that is my fear - I'm on Day 3, and am scared that I'll have to re-start over something silly like accidentally skipping my pages or the darn picture. The hardest part for me is getting up early to exercise! I LOVE my sleep and will use absolutely every excuse to convince myself I'll get it done later - I went to bed so early last night and still snoozed my alarm so often I now have to wait until lunch to get my second work out in. Luckily I'm working from home today so that won't be too hard logistically. But I also like how great I feel on days I get my morning work outs done because then I'm not mentally exhausting myself through out the day making up excuses for my self. The B*tch voice is strong in this one.

TannerBoyl

AKTipsyCat,

Not gonna lie, I was so disappointed that I had to restart, but then I really looked at it as an opportunity to grow…I guess reading books on stoicism helped. Lol

I’m glad that you’re feeling good about the exercise. I feel the same way after my morning workouts. Today was the first day that I didn’t feel like getting up to workout. This was the first time that I’d used the snooze button in years. The only thing that pushed me was that my dog was sad that I wasn’t getting up to take her. I felt bad and got up to walk her. I felt really good about it.

Thank you for posting!

AKTipsyCat

DAy 3 done - with what was probably the ugliest most desperate work out in the evening of floor exercises, stretches, yoga and walking in place... because once again, even though I worked from home all day - I didn't get my first work out in until after my dentist appointment in the evening, so I had to wait until after dinner, my 10 pages and another hour to get #2 in and who wants to work out at almost 9pm? BUT I did it!