75 Hard- my journey to a healthier life.
So I should have started writing this 39 days ago (today is 2/20/21) because that's when I started 75 Hard, have you heard about 75 Hard before?
Disclaimer, I have zero affiliation with 75 Hard and I have read a lot of good and negative things about this program and the guy who developed it. This blog is my experience not advice.
I had not heard of 75 Hard until my friend Cornelius Lindsey on IG mentioned he was starting it on January 1, and I'll be honest, I saw his post and I was like "Hard Pass on that one my guy". So, I started seeing his posts and was still like "nope", he had a great thing going though...he was doing it with a community of people that follow him and some guys he mentors, it is a great idea to do something 'together' in a time when we really can't be together.
So, we will get to why I finally started. If you do the math you can tell I did not start on January 1 like the rest of my man Cornelius', Kingsmen (that's the name of his community). Let’s talk about what 75 Hard actually is.
So at the core here is what you need to do for 75 Hard, and then we will get into more detail and discuss what my day looks like doing 75 Hard. The list below is what needs to be done on a daily basis...yep, daily
Two 45 minute workout
One of the two workouts must be outside
Follow a diet
No alcohol or cheat meals
Drink one gallon of water
Read 10 pages of a book
Take a progress picture
Doesn't seem to bad right? Another kicker is that if at anytime you fail to finish a day or cheat on your diet or whatever, you need to go back and start at day one 😱.
Well, let's get into more details about each one because they are a little vague in their description, and how I am doing each one daily.
Two workouts per day and one has to be outside-
Two workouts and one has to be outside: So this is sort of self explanatory but, you can do any kind of indoor workout and then something outdoors. They don't want you just in your garage doing a work out they want you out in the elements. The 75 Hard website says this about the outdoor workouts:
The purpose of the outdoor workout is to push yourself to expose yourself to the potential unpleasantness of the elements. It’s more than just the exercise. You are training yourself to take on tasks regardless of what stands in your way. This translates to every other aspect of your life. If you can follow through on a workout in the rain or sun or snow, you’ll find that you won’t let other inconveniences stop you as you work toward other goals in your life either.
I live in Michigan and it’s the dead of winter. I personally do a 45 minute walk (I have started adding some running during these walks as well) so I have been out where the outside temp feels like 1° F and in the middle of snow storms.
One benefit though is that the other day it snowed in the AM about 6 inches so at lunch I went outside and shoveled for my outside work out. It took about an hour and 15 minutes, but it was intense and was a great calorie burner.
As for the indoor workout. I wake up at 5am Monday through Friday, I 'sleep in' on the weekends and get up at 6am 🤨, and have done that since I started 75 Hard (I will get to why and when I started soon 😉). I alternate workouts for my indoor morning routine. One day is a full body dumbbell workout. I have an adjustable bench with a set of 10 pound dumbbells and a set of 15 pound dumbbells that I use. I need heavier ones now, but they are difficult to find nowadays. I am also starting to transition over to more isolated workouts for muscle groups, but I will update you on how that is going in a future blog. Right now it’s just the full body workout on one day, then on the other days its 45 minutes of Apple Fitness+. If you don't know what Apple Fitness+ is, it is a library of different workouts with Yoga, HITT, Strength, Rowing, cool downs, core, dance. There is something for everyone who has an Apple Watch (more on this in another blog post about the tech I use for exercise and diet).
The workouts are broken up into different instructors, different kinds of workouts, and different time intervals. I always do a 30 minute workout to start, either HITT or Strength, then I do a 10 minute workout, usually the same with thing with HITT or Strength, but in the beginning I even tried dance. They all are really good and intense.
Follow a diet-
Ok, so about the diet. This was one I assumed would be a deal breaker for me just because I have done intense diets before and could never stick to them after a few months. I thought that I would try and do intermittent fasting, but that was really difficult with my schedule. I usually only get 5-6 hours of sleep per night. So I ended up with a very simple, and in my opinion, the best diet you can follow, calorie counting. I use MY Fitness Pal to track all the food I eat daily. Like I said super easy! I have a calorie budget of 2190 (when you put in your info the app comes up with a daily calorie amount that is good for you) but with working out being added in I almost always have a calorie surplus at the end of the day around 1000.
The info on 75 Hard says this about the diet:
You don’t need to necessarily stick to a specific fad diet. You can absolutely follow a defined plan if you find one that fits with your personal goals and body, but in general, your goal should be healthy, clean eating. Be conscious of what you’re eating, don’t just grab fast food and snacks mindlessly. Counting macros is great too, as long as you’re being mindful about what you’re eating and drinking.
No alcohol or cheat meals-
No alcohol is easy for me, I don't really drink...usually only if we are on vacation or something 🤪. Cheat meals/days would be nice though, having one day a week where I could go nuts and not count calories would be epic, but I can wait, it isn't something I obsessively think of daily, but it would be great.
Drink one gallon of water-
This one is one that I do struggle with sometimes, not because I can't do it, but because sometimes when I have to run around for work I lose a few hours where I would be sipping on water. I use a 40 oz cup that I refill during the day, and always have it in front of me. There has been a few days where before bed I am downing water to get my goal which leads to me peeing the bed at night...that was a joke...but, it does have me up like 5 times a night going to the bathroom.
I love it though, one great side effect of having to drink that much water is that you don't have the capacity to drink anything else. I usually have some coffee in the AM but I hardly ever finish a full cup. I used to drink A LOT of Diet Coke too, and since I started 75 Hard I have only had a few sips and that was in the first few days. This is probably the longest I have went with out pop (midwest) or soda (for my southern peeps).
Read 10 pages of a book-
This is something I needed to get back into. I used to love reading, but I haven't made time to read books in a loooong time. I still listen to audio books, which for 75 Hard doesn't count. Here's what they say about audio books on their site:
You must be reading an actual book with your eyes (or by touch if you are vision impaired). It’s too easy to get distracted by your environment or roaming thoughts while reading an audio book and not pay attention. Additionally, setting aside the time for reading will help you to develop your time management skills, as reading an actual book will not allow for multitasking. Focus.
As for the books to read, I have seen multiple things about what type of books you should read. I personally don't think that matters, but for me I am reading books to improve myself. Whether it's based on building my faith, motivation, productivity or biographies. I have read 2 physical books so far and I am now reading 3 different books on my Kindle app on my iPad.
Take a progress picture-
Again a simple one, just take a pic of yourself and save it to look back on during the challenge of 75 Hard. I would suggest taking the picture in the same area, if possible, and from the same angle. I started off not doing this and now that I look back I wish they were all taken in the same spot.
The 75 Hard app-
So they have an app to go with 75 Hard called...you guessed it, 75 Hard. The app is nothing crazy and way over priced for what it is, but it works well and I have had no issues with it.
The app just has a list of the tasks for the day that you check off, a place for daily notes (I have never used the notes), it stores your progress pics on each day so you can go back and look at your notes and pictures from each day (just tap on a completed day to see the pic and the notes from that day). There have been days where I have forgotten to add the progress picture or finished drinking water and forgot to check it off and when you go to the app the next day it’s a picture of the guy who came up with the program looking very upset at you, and then the app asks in a very judgmental way if you forgot, or if you failed and need to start over again. The app is $5 USD and I have had to buy it twice. When I started the program I was using an Android and now I am back to using an Apple device...So yep, $10 for the app.
So, the reason I started 75 Hard is because my weight began to get out of control. I got on the scale on January 11th to see where I was and I was at 293...that scared the crap out of me! I couldn't imagine being 300 pounds, and the thought honestly really freaked me out. I was having issues bending down and putting my shoes on, I was getting winded doing the simple things, and just felt like crap most of the time. So, after weighing myself on January 10th I decided I would try that crash program I saw on IG. I am glad I did and can’t wait to see the end results. I also can’t wait to take what I have learned from doing the 75 hard program and on day 76 customize it to a more reasonable routine. Maybe an every other day work out with 5 days of diet and a cheat day. We will see what happens, but I do know I love the way I feel now. I can see results and that make me feel great. As for the results that I see, I am down 11 pounds at the time of writing this and am looking to drop at least another 10-15 by the end. Stay tuned.
Larry
