In the midst of quarantine, it seemed as though the 75 Hard Challenge took over my social media. Especially on TikTok, I saw video after video of users giving this mental toughness challenge a shot. I was immediately intrigued and looked up what the challenge was all about. The 75 Hard Challenge was created by fitness guru Andy Frisella. He wanted to make a challenge that would show people what effect 75 days straight of discipline could have on yourself. I went on doing my workouts, eating my keto diet, reading my books, drinking my water and taking my photos.
Starting out, I think the worst was drinking a gallon of water per day. I was peeing every 20 minutes and my stomach felt so full, so often. I had already cut out alcohol and soda and replaced those with water prior to 75 hard, but I never drank this much water. It took me a full week to get used to drinking so much water. In my mind, the only way to fail was to not try my hardest each day. I was 100% invested in this program and did try my best all 75 days.
I went into this wanting to feel proud of myself, develop healthy habits, and be mentally healthy, and I did all those things on my terms. Before starting, I outlined some goals that I had and wanted to work towards. A big challenge I have is clean eating…I love food, specifically food that is not good for you.
I am not big into fast food, but I do love decadent foods…ice cream, cookies, cake, brownies, chocolate; and I do enjoy having a drink with my friends. The working out was never really going to be a super hard part of this challenge because I have been consistently working out for the last 5 or 6 years, but my diet has served to my detriment. I was very eager on fixing this and hoped that my health, physical appearance, and overall how I felt would be improved simply by adjusting my diet and cutting out all snacks and alcohol. I also wanted my dietary changes to be sustainable so that it would be easy to maintain after this challenge. A big problem I've witnessed with myself and others, is committing to a "diet" that is hard to keep up in the long run which results in the person not being able to stick to it.
I'm not interested in a "2 week washboard abs diet plan"…I want something that would keep me healthy for the next 20 years and that I can do without much thinking. Caroline Apovian, MD, codirector of the Center for Weight Management and Wellness at Brigham and Women's Hospital and a Harvard Medical School faculty member agrees. She says the most outrageous of the 75 hard challenge rules is drinking a gallon of water a day. "I am not sure most people need to drink that much water," she says. We did the 75 HARD™ challenge by Andy Frisella and it's finally time to share our results and review.
If you haven't heard of the 75 HARD™ program yet, it's a mental toughness challenge that helps you build discipline, build healthy habits, and show yourself what you're made of. 75 Medium is not affiliated in any way with Andy Frisella's 75 Hard Challenge. It's a little less strict, hence the "medium", and I'm thinking it will help me create habits that are easier to stick with post challenge. You still have to follow 5 tasks every single day for 75 days. Below I'm going to share the program rules and what I'm going to do to complete the tasks each day.
The one thing that I really liked about this challenge was that it wasn't dogmatic about what diet or workout regime you choose. Since this isn't a fitness challenge, but a mental toughness challenge, the point isn't to achieve some fitness ideal. It also meets you wherever you are right now, so you don't have to worry about having to be a certain fitness level to start.
This was great for me, having focused on diet for so long, I had pretty much not worked out for over a year. The cold shower is the one item in the entire program that I know I'll struggle with. I've taken cold showers unintentionally and have not enjoyed them.
I remember taking one during a retreat when I was in college. It was during the winter which made it worse. I made it through it and started sweating when I came out and dried off. A tip for this is to work your way up to it while you're doing 75 hard. So as you complete your shower, turn the hot water off and start trying to do 30 seconds, then a minute, then two minutes, etc… until you get up to five minutes.
As mentioned in my review of 75 Hard, I had been working on my own 30-day challenge when I first learned of 75 Hard. So I added these elements into my existing program. At first, I found the water to be the toughest part, and it took me a week and a half to work my way up to drinking a gallon day.
I used to have a 1-liter water bottle that I fill up three times each day, then up to 800 ML on my 4th filling . Now I'm testing out a one-gallon bottle which so far, has worked out nicely. My tip on the water is to pace yourself throughout the day and try to drink all your water before you drink anything else. I'll often start my day off with a cup of tea (which doesn't count towards the gallon) on cold days, and those are the days I have the most problems with completing that task.
On those nights, I find myself completing the last 1800 ML within two hours of going to bed. I don't recommend taking in so much water late at night as your body will want to rid itself of some of it, which will cause you to wake up at night. My hardest challenge with this program was the water, I didn't really drink water at all before it. I used to read around 100 pages a day, workout & around day 40 in the 75hard I added cold showers to my program list. I've also messaged Andy & commented about the benefits of the cold showers that I'm tending to think that I had to do with him adding cold showers to the phase 1.
Sklar points out that programs like this are "targeted towards beginners," and 90 minutes of exercise can be a lot for those who don't really work out much or at all. "Even though it's presented as a mental toughness program, the accompanying pictures are mostly testimonial style 'transformation' photos," Sklar says. "As a result, this presents as a fitness program. While there are benefits to mental strength training, there are safer and highly effective ways to create lifestyle change that is sustainable." Plenty of people have created their own testimonials about the program on social media, sharing that they got in shape, improved their physical and mental health thanks to 75 Hard. The #75HARD Challenge is the newest diet and exercise trend all over the Internet.
The challenge lasts 75 days of following clearly set rules about your diet, workouts, and personal development. There are no cheat days allowed, and if participants do break even 1 rule, they start back at day one. This cost on the mental health of social media users may have put money in Frisella's pocket. In a 2017 interview with Forbes, Frisella explained how his social media strategy helped his supplement company earn $100 million in sales. On the surface, this may seem like more of a physical fitness challenge, but Frisella strictly rejects this idea. While it's true that switching to these habits will most likely have a physical effect on your body, this challenge was crafted purely to test mental toughness.
The point is to prove to yourself that you will stick to the guidelines no matter what — absolutely no excuses or modifications. The catch is that if you don't completely abide by these guidelines even just for one day or have one slip up, you have to start over. I started with an extreme diet, NOT EATING SWEETS, CARBOHYDRATES during the week, this radical change led me to binge eating because it generated a very bad anxiety. My perspective of this is that, when you feel free in any aspect of your life you can make any decision, without pressure, without being radical, but evaluating all scenarios. Now, my life is healthy but including all kind of foods that I have always liked and have given me peace`s mental.
I have also been working on 75HARD, and you'll never guess where i keep messing up. It's that damn gallon of water every day. I go long periods of my days without access to a restroom. I am working on a game plan right now to combat this, and I am overcoming any obstacles that stand in my way of accomplishing 75HARD.
Just as Andy said, "it will teach you that sometimes the things that look easy, are actually some of the hardest things to do!". And, that comment was directed specifically toward the people who think that drinking a gallon of water every day is easy. This time, I wanted to be on top of my physical therapy and I wanted to continue the progress I'd made on my mental health in the past year. I had also turned to food as a way to gain comfort and happiness during the pandemic and wanted to move away from that and eat cleaner. Additionally, I'd been stuck inside all winter and really wanted to get outside and move my body more.
The timing just seemed right, and I was excited to begin a new journey just for me. Doug Sklar, a certified personal trainer and founder of PhilanthroFIT in New York City, is also wary of the program. "Exercising incorrectly—poor form, inappropriate intensity, not accounting for rest days—over an extended period of time can be harmful." On the flip side, it wasn't just the cold that made the conditions less than perfect. I can remember being in Orlando, Florida for Memorial Day weekend at a friends place where everyone was getting together to celebrate. There was an amazing food spread, drinks were flowing, and we were going to spend the day on a boat.
Wake up early to get both of my workouts in before we left. Why this was of note is because people started coming over to the house to start having fun while I am on their porch doing a 45 minute workout. It was literally the last thing I wanted to be doing at that time. Once again, conditions are never perfect but the dues still have to be paid. I've learned much about myself since taking a leap of faith over 2 years ago.
A few days ago while listening the the MFCEO Project, I came across an episode titled 75hard — a 75 day tactical guide to winning the war with yourself. I encourage everyone to listen to this podcast because I believe we're all fighting some kind of war within ourself. There is no explanation as to the reason behind these rules.
How does drinking a gallon of water and taking a cold shower increase mental toughness, really? Because it's a habit that Andy thinks you need? When I thought of doing the entire challenge for 75 Days I wanted to quit before it started. I had the same issue with setting specific goals. It can be overwhelming so the most important lesson I've learned is to show up every day.
One moment at a time and when it feels impossible I break it down to one step at a time. ♥️ 🙌🏼Thankful for my support system who have shown nothing but love and care. Today begins "Phase 3" of Andy Frisella's 75Hard—a mental toughness program that spans a year, consisting of a daily regimen, and a tactical guide to winning the war with yourself. The tasks are simple when taken at face value, but it's the intent and consistency you put into it, which ultimately determines what you get out of it. Back in the beginning of November 2020 I was staring down at the scale I normally keep tucked away under a cabinet in my bathroom. The number staring back at me read 156lbs.
I was bloated, stuffed to the brim from another secret sugar binge and crying to my husband asking why I just couldn't get this whole healthy lifestyle thing right? He did the typical good husband job of reminding me of the progress Iv made on my weight loss journey. He assured me I was being too hard on myself and that I have the ability to change things when I fully commit.
And that's when it hit me like a ton of bricks. Many studies have indicated that health and wellness are often tied to where we live and what is a part of our environment. The 75 day hard challenge can easily play into the lie that all aspects of our lives are controllable, and just need more discipline. This is harmful to marginalized communities & people who have struggled with unhealthy behaviors in the past. Each "day" lasts until you go to sleep.
If you don't complete everything on the list of rules you have to start your 75 day hard challenge over from day #1. I also feel like I have gained another level of mental toughness through this challenge, which I guess is the overall point of this. I'm not saying I will never eat a snack again, but it will definitely be more intentional when I do snack and won't be for the sake of it. However, you will have to do research on fitness and nutrition programs to ensure you follow a sensible plan. You should expect that some workout days will have to be lighter than other days if you are truly doing the 90 minutes of exercise every day.
Oddly, though this requires 45 minutes of physical activity twice a day, I seem to have more free time! I think there are multiple reasons for this, but mostly I'm afraid of having to start the 75 days over so I'm sure to do all my activity and reading early! The momentum of the workouts kick-start the rest of my day and bust procrastination.
I'm not tempted to start over, so I'm not tempted to eat off plan, so I don't spend any time thinking about it. The daily progress pictures, however motivating, could hide more sinister results, explains Medlin. "That level of self-surveillance is really harmful to people and leads to disordered eating and eating disorders. The rest of the rules vary depending on who you ask. Many versions of the challenge ask participants to take a 5-minute cold shower every day, or to read 10 pages of a non-fiction book, or even to perform a random act of kindness. One rule that is always present, however, is that participants must take progress photos every day.
The set of simple rules are designed to challenge you in different ways. Added up together, the sum of one day at a time for 75 days without compromise,, pushes you to become the person you strive to be. The 75 Hard Challenge is a program lasting 75 days with a simple set of rules designed to build confidence, self-esteem, and grittiness through a no excuses challenge. The rules focus on self-development in a way that forces you to earn the traits you want to possess.
You'll undertake this 75-day challenge, following the rules carefully, but if you slip up even one day, you have to start all over again. Phase 3 adds in a random act of kindness and talking to a stranger in addition to the tasks from 75 Hard and Phase 1. These two tasks are good habits to have and things I've been trying to work into my daily routine. Having a conversation with a stranger will help you get out of your shell. For some of us, this is pretty easy and could potentially result in us expanding our network.
The trick here is that it has to be in person – no social media. Now with COVID-19 on the rise again, this is a little more challenging because it's not like you can easily strike up a conversation in the grocery store or after church. At least not up here where I live – we're encouraged to do our shopping and move along.
