The 75 Hard Challenge was created in 2019 by podcaster and entrepreneur, Andy Frisella. According to the program's website, 75 Hard is not a fitness challenge, but rather a “transformative mental toughness program.”

As the name suggests, 75 hard is 75 days of mental toughness during which you must…

1. Follow a diet (no alcohol or cheat meals).

2. Complete two 45-minute workouts, one of which must be outdoors.

3. Take a progress picture.

4. Drink 1 gallon of water.

5. Read 10 pages of a nonfiction book (no audiobooks).

That’s it. These 5 simple things must be completed every single day. No exceptions. If you mess up one day, you have to start all over again. 

Simple right?

Why did I want to do it?

Apart from wanting to partake in a TikTok during quarantine, I too wanted to see the extreme physical transformation that others were undergoing because of this challenge. The chiseled arms and legs, abs, and slim face were all too enticing for a 17 year old girl. Plus who wouldn’t want to “100x the following traits: confidence, self-esteem, self-worth, self belief, fortitude, and grittiness.'' And thus a seed was planted: I was going to complete 75 hard!

My initial attempts

Naturally, like anyone else, I was very eager to start. I woke up the next morning ready to take on the day. 

I got through my two workouts (an outdoor run and a chloe ting ab circuit). I drank 7.5 bottles of water. I read my 10 pages of a nonfiction book. I took my progress photo, and I followed my diet of no chocolate. 

Days 2 and 3 passed. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

Then came day 4.

I woke up in the morning with dread. I was gonna have to go on a run and do a workout. Frankly I was being lazy and didn’t want to do it. So I procrastinated. Here is a peek inside my thought process.

• 10:00 -  I just ate breakfast. That is not enough timeto digest my food. My stomach is gonna hurt if I go now. I’ll wait till 1pm. 

• 13:00 -  But it’s so hot right now. The sun is at its highest. I’m gonna pass out if I go right now. I’ll just wait till 4 when the sun is lower and then I’ll go on my run.

• 16:00 - I just ate my snack. If I go now I’m definitely going to cramp. In 1 hour. I will go in 1 hour. 

• 19:00 - I slept through my nap alarm and now it’s almost time for dinner. I’m going on a run now

• 19:15 - I feel terrible. My knees are aching and my pace is 12:30. There is no point. 

Attempt 1: FAIL ❌

Why?  I was too literal in my definition of workout. To me, workout meant sweating and burning calories. However, that was not sustainable for me. Running every single day was not fun and it made my knees hurt. For next time, chang what it means to work out. 

Months had passed and I was still thinking about the 75 Hard Challenge thanks to the videos populating on my For You page. I was ready to try again. 

I got through my two workouts (an outdoor run and an outdoor walk). I drank 7.5 bottles of water. I read my 10 pages of a nonfiction book. I took my progress photo, but I didn’t follow a diet.

Well what even is a diet? Everytime I heard the term diet, I immediately thought of salads, chicken and rice, no ice cream, no chocolate, etc. I went on to the best source I could think of in search of a diet to follow: TikTok. There was a plethora of diets out there. Keto? Can’t. Rice is the core of every meal. Mediterranean? Nope. What about pho, nam, goi cuon and that I love so much. Vegan? Absolutely not. What do I eat for protein for 75 days? Beans and Tofu while Kevin and Kenney have steak? No way! 

I was stuck. What kind of diet could I have while living in a southeast asian home? A diet that still helped me achieve my physical goals but adhered to the rules of the challenge?

Attempt 2: FAIL ❌

Why? I didn’t do a diet that was sustainable for me. I do not live in an American household. I live in a home that eats rice for almost every meal. I live in a home that doesn’t take to weighing my food with a scale. I didn’t want to be confined to eating salads all the time because I could only take so much of the same salad everyday. I also did not know how to cook unless you count rice, eggs, and Chinese sausage as a proper meal.  For next time, find a more sustainable diet.

I had never forgotten about the 75 Hard Challenge. It stuck with me but when I thought to start the challenge it was never the perfect time. Second half of senior year, I wanted to relax and enjoy my last ever season of lacrosse. Summer before college I wanted to spend time with my friends and make some money. Freshman fall I was still getting acclimated to being in a new state and making new friends. I was going to experience going to a frat party and drinking for the first time! I couldn’t be the only person sober at a frat party. Freshman spring was carnival, the one time of year where CMU students let loose and really have fun. I couldn’t give up alcohol. 

Then came summer. This was gonna be it. This was going to be the time to finally complete the 75 Hard Challenge. This is perfect too considering I had put on a little bit of freshman weight from all the Hunan, Rev, and ABP I had consumed throughout the school year. 

Reinvigorated, I set out to start the challenge. This time with a better understanding of my weaknesses in the past and with a partner: my cousin Anthony. 

I was exhilarated that Anthony had wanted to join me on this journey. I knew having someone doing it alongside me meant I was certain to  finish. I couldn't let him down. He was going to keep me accountable. So on that day August 21, 2023 Anthony and I had committed to 75 Hard. 

My rules were as follow:

1. Follow a diet (no alcohol or cheat meals): for me that meant no snacking

2. Complete two 45-minute workouts, one of which must be outdoors.

3. Take a progress picture.

4. Drink 1 gallon of water.

5. Read 10 pages of a nonfiction book (no audiobooks).

Days 1 and 2 were great. I did everything I was supposed to do and I didn’t snack on anything. So no candy or chips. When I was hungry, I ate fruit or drank water instead. I was having a hard time drinking all 128oz of water. I found it very inconvenient when I was out and about. I went back to school shopping at the mall and forgot to bring my water bottle with me. So I had to buy water from Chick-Fil-A. I carried the cup to every store and every dressing room. It seemed that I had to go every 30 minutes. Despite that, I drank all my water, did all my workouts, read all my pages, followed my diet, and took my progress photo. 

All was swell until I went into “work” at the GI clinic.

I had just finished my lunch and was about to leave the kitchen room when the nurse practitioner walks in with a coffee cake from Mozart Bakery. It was her birthday and we were all going to celebrate. I stand and sing her happy birthday. Before I knew it, I had a fork in my hand and the doctor was handing me a piece of cake. The cake was amazing. It was soft and not overly sweet. I ate almost all of the cake before I left the kitchen.  

It wasn’t until I was zoning out in a patient’s room when I realized my grave mistake. I had broken the diet rule. AGAIN!!! 

Attempt 3: FAIL ❌

How could this have happened AGAIN…. ugh. I debated what to do. I could just keep going. Chalk this up to a mistake and never do it again. I was worried about what that meant for Anthony. He was going to be ahead of me. I felt really bad for messing up because we were supposed to finish it together. But I knew I would never feel right saying that I completed 75 Hard when I clearly did not, so I restarted once more. I didn’t feel super upset at the idea of restarting either because I had only been 3 days in. Repeating 3 days again is nothing. It could’ve been so much worse. It also helped that Anthony was super supportive but told me to buckle down and commit.

I spent the rest of that day wallowing in my failure and set my mind to starting again the next day. This time would be my last. (i hope).

My final attempt

The next day August 25 I woke up determined. I had a plan. My rules were as follows…

1.  Follow a diet (no alcohol or cheat meals): for me that meant Intermittent fasting (I got this from Anthony because he was doing it too).

2. Complete two 45-minute workouts, one of which must be outdoors.

3. Take a progress picture.

4. Drink 1 gallon of water.

5. Read 10 pages of a nonfiction book (no audiobooks).

I spent the good first half of day one traveling to CMU but I was prepared nonetheless. I started my fast the night before and brought food to eat on the airplane so I could break my fast as soon as I reached 14 hours. I brought an empty water bottle to fill up at the airport and had access to a bathroom (very important). 

I have to say that the first week was difficult in terms of following the diet and drinking all the water. There would be times when I woke up at 7 and had class at 8 but had to wait 2 more hours to eat. I would literally be sitting in class just watching the clock so that when it hit 10am I could start eating. For water, if I didn’t start early in the morning I would have to chug it all at night and then wake up at 2am or 3am to use the bathroom. 

Below is a typical week during 75 Hard. For the first 40 days I was able to follow my schedule but there were some days where I had just gotten out of a 2.5 hour lab class and had to take a 45 minute walk around the track. While I didn’t enjoy it at the time, I think walking helped me to decompress before going back home and starting on homework right away. With only being able to eat during a 8 hour period everyday, I found it essential to bring snacks with me. Once I had an EMS meeting that was supposed to run from 15:00-17:30 but ended up going to 17:50. I had to RUNNN 🏃🏻‍♀️ to Entropy (CMU’s on campus store) to grab a spinach wrap. I DEVOURED half the wrap in 5 minutes. I was about to take my last bite and then the clock struck 18:00 and I had to throw it away…… sob.