Starting the 75 Hard Challenge

TannerBoyl
TannerBoyl Posts: 55 Member
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.

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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!
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Replies

  • ahoy_m8
    ahoy_m8 Posts: 3,048 Member
    Good luck! I hope it's a great experience for you and that you learn great things about yourself. Go you!
  • TannerBoyl
    TannerBoyl Posts: 55 Member
    Thank you! I appreciate the words of encouragement!
  • PhatNLazy
    PhatNLazy Posts: 12 Member
    Looks like an overall workout. Mind, body and no booze.
  • TannerBoyl
    TannerBoyl Posts: 55 Member
    Before COVID, the no booze part would have been difficult. :D 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
    jakers6108 Posts: 19 Member
    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
    jakers6108 Posts: 19 Member
    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
    TannerBoyl Posts: 55 Member
    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
    jakers6108 Posts: 19 Member
    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
    TannerBoyl Posts: 55 Member
    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
    jakers6108 Posts: 19 Member
    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.
  • jakers6108
    jakers6108 Posts: 19 Member
    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
    jakers6108 Posts: 19 Member
    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
    jakers6108 Posts: 19 Member
    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
    TannerBoyl Posts: 55 Member
    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
    hjahangiri Posts: 56 Member
    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
    summerviking1 Posts: 91 Member
    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
    jakers6108 Posts: 19 Member
    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
    summerviking1 Posts: 91 Member
    How is everyone doing this week?
  • socajam
    socajam Posts: 2,530 Member
    edited August 2021
    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