If you’ve been around the fitness community or spent some time on Tik Tok, there’s a chance that you’ve heard of the mental toughness challenge called “75 Hard” or seen the hashtags #75hard or #75hardchallenge. (And if you have no clue what I’m talking about, I’ll explain below.) In this post, I wanted to share my own experience (so far) with the challenge.
WHAT IS 75 HARD?
75 Hard is a mental toughness challenge developed by Andy Frisella. He first introduced the program on his podcast Real AF in March 2019. The program, he says, is not a weight loss program, although participants will experience likely that. Instead, the program is a way to “change your life…starting from the inside.” Through the program, participants can expect to increase confidence, self-esteem, self-worth, self-belief, fortitude, and “grittness” (source).
The program says that for 75 days, every single day without fail, you will do the following:
- Workout twice a day for a minimum of 45 minutes. One workout has to be outside, and the two workouts must be spaced at least 3 hours apart.
- Pick a diet, any diet, to follow for the entirety of the program. The idea is to improve your health.
- No cheat meals and no alcohol.
- Drink a gallon of water.
- Read 10 pages of a nonfiction book every day. This should be a personal development or self-help type book.
- Take a progress picture of yourself every day.
If you miss even one of these tasks on any given day of the 75 days, you have to start over from the beginning. No exceptions.
TAKING ON THE CHALLENGE
I first heard about the words “75 Hard” when a Facebook friend asked me back in January if I was doing it after I posted a picture on my feed with my new water bottle. I looked up what the program was at that time, but quickly dismissed it, knowing I could NEVER drink that much water.
About a week later, I found out a friend from the gym was doing the challenge with her fiancé. She would share her progress on her social media accounts and talk about it in class at the gym. I was in awe of her dedication. I decided to review the program online again, and even went so far as to order Andy Frisella’s book 75 Hard: A Tactical Guide to Winning the War with Yourself. He is most definitely not a writer, but the book spelled the program out in further detail. I then listened to his podcast about the challenge.
My mental progression went something like this: I cannot possibly drink that much water, I’ll drown!
To: I could maybe drink that much water.
To: Okay fine, I can do it.
And just like that, I decided I would start 75 Hard.
THE BEGINNING
I began my first attempt at 75 Hard on Saturday, April 17. For the first four to five days, I had a headache, likely from detoxing from sugar and processed carbs that I had given up as a part of my diet for the challenge. Once the headache cleared, I felt fantastic and had an abundance of energy – so much energy, but I could hardly sleep at night.
I then did a CrossFit competition, a half day of intense physical fitness with two of my best girlfriends. Despite doing four different workouts during the competition, I still had to wait three hours and do my next work out later that day. Something about that competition broke me in a way, and I was the walking dead for the next several days. When my husband would speak to me, I could really only grunt or give one-word answers in reply. It was awful. Thank God it didn’t last long, and soon I was a human being again.
Everything was going great with my 75 Hard. I was super intentional about getting my workouts in, my water consumed, and my pages read. I followed my diet and I took my progress pictures. It was a lot to do, but I made it all work.
Around Day 40 or so, I began to feel over it. Like simply just did not want to keep going, even though I knew I was not going to give up. So basically, I started throwing a tantrum, internally of course, just to make sure I knew that I was not in fact happy with myself at that time. I was tired and ready for a rest day. This feeling lasted for about a week, and then I magically rebounded, accepting my fate, and felt better and determined to finish.
WHAT HAPPENED
Day 58 was a Sunday, and I remember it so clearly. I had to work that day, and normally I woke up early and got a workout in before I went to work. That particular day though, all I wanted to do was sleep in that morning. I decided I would cram everything in after I got off work.
And that’s just what I did, coming home and working out and waiting three hours and working out again. I was behind on my water intake for the day, having to get down half of my gallon that night before bed. Exhausted, I got my 10 pages read and went to bed.
On Monday morning I woke up to do my first task in my 75 Hard app, but upon opening the app realized I had checked nothing off from the day before. I started checking things off from the day before, but paused at the progress picture task. Had I taken a picture the day before? I couldn’t remember.
Quickly, I scrolled my phone to see if I had taken a progress picture at least take a nice selfie or some sort of photo of myself on Sunday. I had not – I had apparently not one ounce of vanity in me on Sunday. The reality hit me: I had failed.
Slowly, I walked through the house and down to my husband’s office, my feet dragging knowing that I was walking to make an admission that I had failed 75 Hard. After 57 long days.
I told my husband what happened. “Do you have a coach or something you check in with?“ he asked.
“No, but I have my integrity,” was all I could say back.
My husband did the best he could to console me, but I knew he didn’t truly understand what had just happened. I called my friend Claire to talk to me down off the ledge. She helped me walk through what felt like a monumental failure, and reminded me that I was not actually a failure, but that I had simply failed to complete a task. Those are two very different things.
After processing the mishap and my feelings out loud with her, I felt…not a ton better, but at least at peace with what happened. I knew that I wanted to keep going in the program, that I still wanted to complete 75 Hard. I reset my app back to Day 1, and without missing a beat was off to start another round of 75 Hard.
MY SECOND ATTEMPT
I launched into my second attempt at 75 Hard without missing a single day. Everything has pretty much become a routine for me at this point, so continuing on was not that difficult.
To be honest, the first three days were probably the hardest when I realized that anybody in their right mind would probably just quit at this point and that it would be so easy for me to do so. I kept walking on through those feelings, and continued on with the program.
Around Day 40, I again experienced the same feelings of being tired and ready to quit again as I had on the first round. But again, I walk through those feelings and continued on.
I had selected my diet 75 Hard to be vegan + eggs – processed carbs – sweets. Since 2019, I have been eating mostly vegan, occasionally straying here and there. I wanted to recommit to eating in a way that made me feel the best, and cut out all the things that I knew were weighing me down.
On Day 53, my husband and I took a trip to Boston for a long weekend. It was a Thursday, and we went to a Thai restaurant for dinner. We ordered a Thai broccoli appetizer to start our meal. I did not specifically ask the server, “Is this vegan?” But I did ask if there was meat in the dish. She said no, it was just broccoli and sauce. The description of the sauce on the menu didn’t make me ask any further questions. The server, upon taking my food order, asked if I wanted the fish sauce in my curry. I felt like she understood I was vegan. I said no, and they made it vegan for me.
At the end of the meal, which was delicious by the way, I said to the server, the broccoli appetizer was so good, what was in the sauce? The server smiled and replied, “Soy sauce and oyster sauce.”
Wtf. My heart sank. I knew I failed 75 Hard again. I had been careless by not clarifying what was in the food.
As I attempted to digest what just happened, I didn’t say anything to my husband. I couldn’t speak the truth. Ignoring the nagging feeling, I tried to deny the reality of what I had to do.
I kept hoping that if I didn’t think about her reply, then it would somehow not exist.
Instead of saying anything, I continued on with 75 Hard, trying to push it out of my mind.
On Day 56, we were back home and went to an Indian restaurant for dinner. The restaurant has a buffet full of delicious looking Indian curries. Again, I was careless and didn’t clarify what was in one of the vegetable dishes. I knew to ask, but part of me knew I had already slipped once, so what was the big deal if I slipped again.
It wasn’t until Day 60, when we actually went back to the Indian restaurant, that I knew I had to say something. Upon arriving to the buffet, I asked the server to show me which dishes were vegan. He pointed out several, excluding two that I had tried on my previous trip there.
My husband and I filled out plates and slid into a booth, but before I could take a bite, I half mumbled, “I have to start 75 Hard over.”
He looked surprised, but I explained the Thai food and the Indian food. I almost cried as I was talking. It was so hard for me to admit that I had messed up and had to start over again.
ROUND THREE
As of the day I write this, I am officially on Day 12 of my third attempt to complete the 75 Hard challenge. I have spent a total of 125 days attempting to complete a 75 day program, which at this point, is just comical. The best part, though, is that I have learned so much about myself, and I plan to share more of that in another post.
My main point about everything I shared above is this:
- Don’t be afraid to challenge yourself.
- You are capable of so much more than you think you are.
- Mistakes are apart of life.
- It’s okay if it takes you time to admit a mistake, the most important thing is to admit it.
And with that, I’m off to complete the rest of my 75 Hard tasks.
Until next time,
Jeri Walden
A Growth Mindset 
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