My 75 Hard Challenge

Hey Little G's, hope all is well and that you are thriving in some way. I have decided to start a challenge (today, actually) that I stumbled upon on Instagram called the "75 Hard". Before I tell you how I made my decision and how I view the challenge in general let's do a little history lesson.

If you are a frequent TikTok watcher (I am not, don't even have the app) you would've seen this challenge by Andy Frisella trending. Andy Frisella is an author, consultant, motivational speaker, and has a podcast; there are more things to add to his accomplishment but those aren't necessary for this post. According to him, it should be more than a fitness program but a "Mental Toughness Program." The basic idea is to do the following, every day;

1. Follow A Diet (non-specific)

2. Workout for at least 45 mins twice a day ( one workout must be outside)

3. Drink 4 liters of water

4. Read 10 pages of a nonfiction book

5. Take a 5-minute cold shower

6. Take a progress picture.

This challenge has been broken down, analyzed, and criticized, with great points whether for or against. I don't want to dwell too much on the original product, let me guide you on how I started.

When I originally learned of this challenge it was on an Instagram post that showed the fitness journeys of different individuals. This one person had a clip explaining what their 5 daily goals/tasks were and they sounded calm but motivated. Fifteen minutes later while scrolling through my feed I was like "yeah, I'm doing that." Fast forward an hour later I was on the phone with 3 of my friends dragging them along.

Now I like the idea of the challenge because I feel like it can help establish a routine/habit due to its structure. The idea of setting tasks that you need to do daily in a time period that's not short but also not too long so it makes you feel accomplished at the end. You can look back, like "Wow, I really did that." However I am not a big lover of diets and quick-loss workout plans, especially those that are longer than two weeks and if they are strict, I dislike it even more. I believe in lifestyle habits; having healthy balanced meals, exercising regularly based on your fitness goals/level, and enjoying regular everyday life. So I personalized the daily tasks of the challenge to tailor to my ultimate end goal - Healthy Habits.

1. Follow meal plan/diet (NO CHEAT DAYS/MEALS)

The idea of cheat meals at all for 75 days is kinda crazy, not gonna lie. However, eating a

slice of cake is not a cheat meal based on its size. Ideal portion sizes for my body and activity

level is something I've been meaning to work on, so that is the goal for this task.

2. Do yoga/morning stretch and do a 45-minute workout

In my previous Corner Talk post, I mentioned how I wanted to start yoga for a while so I just

decided to include it with my morning stretches I started mid last year but sadly neglected to do

towards the end of the year. Those stretches relieved so much tightness in my body and mentally

prepared me for the day. Now the workout daily is a little much for me because I strongly

believe in rest days, your body, your muscles, they need to chill. So I adjusted my regular "rest

days" to extremely-light workouts. I will definitely be going back to No Workout Rest Days

after this challenge (until then, HELP ME😥 )

3. Read 1 chapter of a non-fiction, psych-related, or thought-provoking book.

Reading is my first love, I read over 300 new books last year (over 400 books read last year

including re-reads) but one of my goals this year is to read more non-fiction books and this

task is perfect. I choose Psychology-related material because that is my field of study and I

would like to increase my knowledge while reading interesting ish.

4. Drink a gallon of water.

Y'all that is a lot of water. Now, don't get me wrong, I love water I drink around 60 ounces a

day but this is much. I will definitely adjust if it makes me feel nauseous, lightheaded, or

disoriented.

5. Stick to face routine (twice daily wash & weekly mask)

I have been slacking way too much with my routine, which I cannot afford since I was eating

a sugar factory during the holidays. This will help me establish a habit and masks are

something I also want to keep doing depending on what I need for the week so, yay!

6. Take a progress picture.

I love this idea because I like a lot of pictures anyway. Also seeing not only my body's physical

features but my facial expression, my posture, my mood, and my mental state daily all at once

in the end will be very interesting.

This, to me, is the best way to approach the challenge. Make it about you, make tasks that works towards a goal, something long term. I have invited 3 of my amazing friends to join the challenge and their challenge tasks are not the same as mine but we are all in this together for motivation, to keep each other accountable, to suffer, and have fun while doing it.

Welcome to my 75 Day trip, there will be bi-weekly posts so you can keep up with my progress, the moment I may want to give up, any adjustments made, and the funny parts. There will be a video diary as well, you can see the struggle here. I am excited. Let's go humans. (Pray for me)

See you next time and keep living life one atom at a time.

- Mes. G