I started the 75 HARD™ challenge on the 1st of January 2021. And even though I absolutely love doing this challenge, it’s called 75 HARD™ for a reason and I have had to start over four times. Today is basically 75 HARD™, take number three.
What is the 75 HARD™ Challenge?
If you don’t know, the 75 HARD™ challenge is a mental toughness challenge started by Andy Frisella. The tagline for the challenge and accompanying book is: “A tactical guide to winning the war with yourself”. It’s not meant to be a diet or fitness challenge, although a lot of people treat it like one.
It’s a mental toughness challenge, and mine is really being tested. I am determined to win the war with myself. The rules are of the 75 HARD™ challenge are:
- Follow a diet
- Do two 45-minute workouts a day
- Read 10 pages of a non-fiction book
- Take a progress photo
- Drink a gallon of water
Why Did I Have to Start Over with 75 HARD™?
So, where do I keep failing? Why have I had to start over a few times? The first time I had to start over with 75 HARD™, it was because I forgot to take the progress photo. Before starting the challenge, I kept hearing people say that this could be one of the rules that bite you in the ass because it’s easy to forget.
But then I downloaded the 75 HARD™ app, which allows you to take off the tasks as you complete them, making it very difficult to forget to do one of them.
I haven’t forgotten to take a picture of sense.
I was probably already drinking a gallon of water a day before the challenge, so this has not been difficult for me at all. The reading can be a pain in the ass if it’s late at night and you really want to go to bed, but I get it done.
I love working out and have no trouble sticking to the to work out the day rule.
But my biggest problem, which has been a struggle ever since I was a little kid, is the diet part. If you read any other of my articles, you might know that I really love health and wellness and eating healthy food. But I love food too much and I made the silly mistake of setting a calorie goal as my diet for the 75 HARD™ challenge.
This meant that the moment I went over my calorie goal, I had to start the 75 HARD™ challenge from day one again. Some days, I burned a lot more calories than usual, and ended up feeling weak and depleted. I really don’t want to be in a big calorie deficit right now, as my hormones tend to take me on a rollercoaster ride when I diet too strictly and my calorie deficit is too big.
How Will This Time on 75 HARD™ be Different?
This time I’m not going to be that stupid. You can choose what diet you want to follow on this challenge. Since we are transitioning into winter and I have been on a higher carb diet for more than 6 months now, I’ve been in the mood to start eating low carb again. I increased my carbohydrate intake as an experiment a few months ago and went up to 150g of carbohydrates a day.
It was a lot of fun. I ate a lot of fruit, but I also realised that I was a lot hungrier on my higher carb diet than when I follow a low-carb, ketogenic diet.
We are also transitioning into winter here in South Africa and I love the idea of eating seasonally. In summer, it makes sense to eat more fruits because they would be more readily available in nature, but in winter, it’s time for some warm and hearty meals high in animal protein and fat. I’m going low-carb for this 75 HARD™ challenge.
I’m excited to not have a calorie goal attached to my diet. I obviously don’t want to overeat and gain any weight. I’m just trying to maintain my weight, improve my body composition, and become mentally tough.
For me, following a low-carb, animal-based diet isn’t hard at all. I’m on day three and I’m absolutely loving it. I don’t miss the carbs, which makes me confident that this was the last time I started the 75 HARD™ challenge from scratch.
I will complete this challenge even if I have to start over and over again.