Andy Frisella, a motivational speaker, podcaster, author, and supplement company owner, created a controversial challenge that’s meant to test one’s mental toughness called “75 Hard”. The challenge includes:

• Sticking to a diet without having any “cheat meals”

• Not drinking alcohol

• Completing two 45-minute workouts every day

  • One of the two workouts has to be outside

• Drinking a gallon of water every day

• Reading 10 pages of a book every day

• Taking a progress picture every day

The challenge has gotten a lot of heat for some good reasons. It can be seen as a form of dieting given that the challenge requires people to pick a diet and stick to it. It also can be seen as excessive in terms of exercise, and a gallon of water may be (way) more than the recommended amount that a person needs in a given day.

Andy Frisella is not a dietitian, certified trainer, or licensed clinical therapist. It’s easy to argue that Frisella has no business encouraging people to embark on a 75-day challenge without the proper credentials to verify that it’s safe/healthy. All in all, it’s definitely heavy-loaded in terms of requirements and it’s not for everyone, but I suppose it wouldn’t be called 75 “Hard” if it were.

With all that said, yesterday was my last day of 75 Hard. I miraculously completed the challenge, and only by the grace of God can I say, “I did it.”

Let me start off by making it clear that I don’t believe in dieting and didn’t pick any special diet to follow during this process. I’m a pescatarian (I don’t eat meat), so that’s as close to a “diet” that I’ll ever get to. If that’s breaking the rules, than so be it, but I don’t believe in restricting myself for 75 days just to overly indulge in whatever I deprived myself of after the challenge is done with.

I also don’t think 1.5 hours of workout is anything excessive. An hour and a half is about 6% of a given day, so when you look at it like that, it’s pretty reasonable. I also didn’t put myself through ultra intense HIIT workouts for 75 days straight. I walked for every single one of my outdoor workouts and usually walked, hiked, did yoga (even though I don’t like yoga), or did a strength-based workout for my second workout of the day.

I will fully agree, though, that a gallon of water every day is too much liquid for my body. I had to constantly monitor my water intake to make sure I was on track to finish a gallon by the end of the day, but in this process, I also learned I wasn’t consuming nearly enough water prior.

I started 75 Hard with the intention of taking it day by day. I actually didn’t know when my last day was for the longest time, and I refrained from calculating it because I did not want to be fixated on the end. I wanted to take each day as it came. I told myself that if I wanted to stop, I would simply stop. Perhaps that goes against the purpose of starting a challenge, but it also made the process manageable. Too often we start something with a lot of motivation, and as the days and weeks tick by, our motivation fades until we give up.

There were so many times I contemplated just throwing in the towel. Days I thought, “Who cares?” But, I would hear that voice in the back of my head say, “I do! I care! You can do this. You know you can do this. You’re showing yourself that can stay committed despite the obstacles. Do not underestimate the power in perseverance. Keep going.”

These last few months were really challenging. I had to force friends and family to walk with me, walk by myself around parking lots at 9:30 PM to get my outside workout in, decline any and all drinks, learn how to continue getting exercise after being told from a chiropractor to stop all HIIT and strength-based workouts, stay up late and chug my last ounces of water, read in the wee hours of the morning, set an alarm on my phone to remind myself to take progress pictures, and walk in the pouring rain on days when there was no sunshine in the forecast.

Now, I knew it was going to be difficult. I knew I was going to encounter days the challenge felt hard to complete. I also know that growth happens when you lean into the imaginative boundaries you set for yourself and push past them, despite the resistance.

My biggest take away from completing 75 Hard is that walking through the rain by yourself in a park that’s completely empty, brings peace in a whole new wave. For the first time in a long time, I felt the rain, and I don’t mean that I haven’t felt it while running from my car to my front door or while throwing something in the trash bin outside. I mean “felt it” as in I consciously looked up at the sky and felt the rain land on my face. Would I normally do that on a given rainy day? No, I actually strongly dislike rain. But, when you have no choice but to slide into a pair of waterproof boots, a waterproof jacket, and walk around a park for 45 minutes, you might as well feel the rain while you can.

On the days when my feet were sloshing around in puddles, my pants were drenched, and I looked crazy to any passerby, I thought about how trivial it was to run to my house from my car or run outside to throw away the trash to avoid getting wet. Walking around in the pouring rain for 45 minutes teaches you that you can do a lot more than you think you’re capable of.

When you learn to push past the uncomfortable limits that guide your life, you learn how moldable your limits actually are. What I thought I couldn’t tolerate before, has become menial to me now. I never would have opted to be sober on a first date or read every single day before this. I probably won’t choose to continue reading every single day without fail or going on sober first dates, but that’s not the point. The point is that I know I can go to dinner without feeling the social pressure to get a drink or make excuses for why I can’t find the time to finish a book. I have the ability to make choices, when before, those choices felt more like givens.

You don’t have to go 75 days without alcohol, work out twice a day, or drink a gallon of water a day to learn you’re capable of a lot more than you think you are. You just have to realize that you have no idea how much you can handle if you’ve never tested your limits.

What we think are our boundaries are really just old fences. They’re usually pretty rundown and raggedy. There’s not much keeping them in place anymore, and you might’ve not noticed, but they’re actually ready to come down.

This is your sign to knock down that fence, widen your yard, and forget about putting up a barrier between you and the rest of the world. They say the grass is greener where you water it, but every once in a while, get outside and make sure you feel the rain, too.