75 Hard Challenge

On October 30, 2023, I started the 75 Hard Challenge with a group of friends. 86 days later I finished my third attempt on January 24, 2024. The challenge took me more than 75 days to complete because I started over, twice.

75 Hard is the brainchild of influencer and entrepreneur Andy Frisella whose podcast is cleverly and cheekily named Real AF. Andy lived in the back of his small supplement store for years until his brand 1st Phorm took off. It's an American dream and rags to riches story. In the early days, Andy's podcast that followed touted a lot of hard work and tough love for would-be entrepreneurs, which included some really great and entertaining advice. As of late, I will warn that the Real AF podcast has been become extremely political, which some may find very polarizing.

Regardless of one's feelings about Andy Frisella the person, his invention of 7 rules for 75 days has become a global sensation and why? Because it works. It works by showing you what you're capable of.

Regardless of one's feelings about Andy Frisella the person, his invention of 7 rules for 75 days has become a global sensation and why? Because it works. It works by showing you what you're capable of.

What are the rules?

• Two 45-minute workouts per day, one must be outside rain or shine, ideally 3 hours apart
• Choose any diet and stick with it
• No cheat meals and no alcohol
• Drink one gallon of water daily
• Read 10 pages of an actual book daily, ideally self-improvement or business related
• Take a daily progress pic daily
• Do all 7 things for 75 days in a row or start over at day 1

Eating Lifestyle

Probably the first thing you're asking is what was my "diet?" First of all I always joke that I don't like the word "diet" because it has the word "die" in it and prefer to say "eating lifestyle." The eating lifestyle I chose was intermittent fasting. also known as time-restricted eating. My eating window ended at 8 PM sharp but more often than not it was actually 6 PM and wouldn't open again until 6-8 AM for fasting/eating windows of 12 hours. Some would say that intermittent fasting is a fad but I really like it. A lot. For me personally, I have noticed that my body really enjoys and responds very well to a break from consumption, which allows at least half a day for processing and blood sugar regulation.

The other "diet" restriction that I added in for myself was no nicotine. I do enjoy the smokeless, tobacco-free nicotine pouches such as "Zyn" or "On!" but began to worry that my enjoyment was too frequent and affecting my mood and natural dopamine levels. I wanted to see if I could totally control nicotine usage if desired, and...I could!

Many people see amazing physical results from choosing limitations like zero added sugar or keto and low-carb diets. I decided, as a Front End Manager of a major superstore during the Holiday Season, this would have been a recipe for disaster and failure.

I am very proud of myself for sticking with zero alcohol, zero nicotine and, zero food after 8 PM during the entire Holiday season from Halloween through New Years. My physical results were not remarkable with rippling 8-pack abs, but I did become noticeably fitter and have enjoyed many compliments to this end.

I am very proud of myself for sticking with zero alcohol, zero nicotine and, zero food after 8 PM during the entire Holiday season from Halloween through New Years. My physical results were not remarkable with rippling 8-pack abs, but I did become noticeably fitter and have enjoyed many compliments to this end.

Workouts

For the workout challenges, I did do some modifications that purists may balk at but I had to choose a adherent, realistic plan. Because I currently work "swing" shift until midnight, both of my workouts had to be done before work and were not always 3 hours apart. Others may balk that I included dog walks, leaf raking and manual snow shoveling as workouts. To this, I say try manually shoveling wet, heavy snow for yourself and surrounding neighbors for several days in a row and ask your body if it's not a workout!? Furthermore, the yard where I live has so many large trees, the fall leaves took me several rounds of aggressive, manual raking to pick up. One benefit I did reap from the challenge was a renewed appreciation for outdoor winter workouts.

A few weeks in, I did try to make dog walks harder by wearing a 20-25 pound GoRuck sack for 45 minutes to turn my dog walking into "dog rucking." I happily did this for at least 30 days in a row until I experienced over-use injury in my shoulders. It turns out that rucking, aggressive raking, lifting heavy weights and kettlebells as well as slinging groceries all day can take a toll on middle-aged shoulders. After over-doing it, I had to cautiously exercise and work with injured shoulders for at least half of the 75-day challenge.

It's a cautionary tale for anyone interested in this challenge, I think over-doing it is the biggest potential pitfall. Additionally, recovery is an essential part of becoming more fit. Working out twice daily does not offer much in the way of recovery time. To ward off further injury and exhaustion, I sometimes counted as a workout at home yoga and Functional Range Conditioning (also known as FRC, and as learned from my sports massage therapist).

All of my workouts are recorded on Strava (although there are some manual entries because of course my Garmin watch had to die in the middle of all of this!!). Please follow me there!

The Hardest Part

After exuding this much energy I learned that simple dog walks for 45 minutes are a respectable outdoor workout for you and your dog. Completing outdoor workouts for 86 days in a row during fall and winter in rain, snow or shine is also something to be proud of. When people ask what was the hardest part, I would say fitting in two workouts a day was the hardest part.

After exuding this much energy I learned that simple dog walks for 45 minutes are a respectable outdoor workout for you and your dog. Completing outdoor workouts for 86 days in a row during fall and winter in rain, snow or shine is also something to be proud of. When people ask what was the hardest part, I would say fitting in two workouts a day was the hardest part.

Reading - The Easiest Part

The easiest part for me was reading. I love to read, and you would be surprised how much material you can get through in 860 pages. I completed, 3.5 books which were, How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie, The 75 Day Challenge, re-read The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg, and started re-reading Scrum by Jeff Sutherland and JJ Sutherland.

People asked why I started over twice? Because I forgot to take a selfie progress picture. Most people fall off the wagon because of cheating with food or alcohol. People teased me about this, and would ask, why are you starting over just because you forgot to take a selfie? The answer is, because I wanted to have total accountability and integrity with the friend group I started the challenge with.

Going Forward

The tippy top, question from friends and supporters has been, are you going to stick with it? The answer is Yes and No. YES I say, to ONE workout per day, daily reading, time-restricted eating and moderation in all things.

After a 75-day sprint that felt more like a marathon, now begins the retrospective and next project planning, dividing it into smaller 3-week sprints. Now that I know what I am capable of, the hardest part begins. Now I determine what a realistic, and sustainable daily routine looks like for me. I will continue to practice self-discipline, moderation, and pushing myself to do hard things. And I'll quietly be doing this without some grand social media announcement or accountability group. In the spirit of scrum and growth-mindset combined, I'll review it all again, once per week, to make sure I'm still on the best path forward.

Now that I know what I am capable of, the hardest part begins. Now I determine what a realistic, and sustainable daily routine looks like for me. I will continue to practice self-discipline, moderation, and pushing myself to do hard things. And I'll quietly be doing this without some grand social media announcement or accountability group. In the spirit of scrum and growth-mindset combined, I'll review it all again every three weeks to make sure I'm still on the best path forward.