Back at the end of 2020 I decided I was going to do the 75 Hard Challenge by Andy Friselli. He came into my orbit at some point and talked about this Challenge and it intrigued me. I love challenges because they give me structure, accountability and direction.
When I was working with my coach Andrew about 10 years ago, I experienced a transformation like no other. I dropped 60 pounds in a year, gained a TON of energy and developed some discipline and mental toughness. Or so I thought. You see, I was working directly with one person. He was amazing but I discovered about a year or so after I finished working with him that I needed something more and have never found anything or anyone who compared. The closest I got was working with my Transformation Coach Krisha Young. We worked on finding my voice again, healing a lot of emotional pain and learning to own who I am and what I do.
And then along comes Andy (something in name perhaps 🙂 ) with this crazy challenge.
- 75 days
- 2 – 45 minute workouts per day – one MUST be outside (except for extreme weather)
(what you do is up to you – can be yoga, running, weight training, swimming, cycling, etc.) - drink one US gallon of water (that’s a little under 4L for Canadians)
- pick a nutritional place and stick with it
- no cheat meals; no alcohol
- read 10 pages of a business or empowering/self development book (audiobooks do not count)
- Take a progress pic every day
- NO EXCUSES
I started. I failed. I started again. I failed again. This went on for I don’t remember how long. I gave up. I tried to do this by myself. I failed. I needed to make some changes in my life and I desperately needed to be more disciplined. By the way … failure is not a bad thing. You can learn so much from failures. Just pay attention, adjust your sails and get back on course.
So I started again, and promised myself that I was going to keep going unless I flat out missed doing something. I needed to take this attitude because doing everything 100% was getting me nowhere. So I started. It wasn’t always pretty and sometimes I pushed the limits like eating stuff that was technically acceptable but not great for me. Food has always been my biggest struggle. I got strict (sort of) with my gluten and dairy free plan. I never strayed from it but sometimes ate something that was not the best for me. I didn’t consider it a cheat meal. I didn’t stop. I kept moving forward.
A couple of things that really helped were the app which is basically just a tracking device but it helped me tremendously. I had joined a Facebook Group for women who were serious about accomplishing their goals. That camaraderie and accountability and support made a huge difference.
I should explain that this is not a weight loss challenge. It is a mental toughness program. You learn what you’re made of … what you’re capable of … that you can do hard things. Some people have lost a lot of weight. But it depends on where you started. I struggled a LOT with the lack of size loss. But my eating was already so much better than most. I already drank a lot of water. I was already fairly active. I didn’t drink much.
What did I get out of this challenge?
- discipline
- mental toughness
- legs got stronger
- butt got rounder
- energy increased
- positive mental attitude was back
- I could focus more
As of the date I am writing this (August 24th), I decided to get back and do the challenge again … this time planning my meals in advance and adhering to the food part strictly since the rest of it was pretty easy. Am I excited? Hell yeah!
Bottom line … do I recommend it? OMG yes!! If you are struggling with accomplishing your goals, this is a different approach. Regardless of whether you run a business or go to a job, whether you want to lose fat or gain muscle, get out of a relationship or find a new one … this program can help. But like any other program or challenge … YOU have to do the work. But if you need support with this, please reach out to me at sandy@letstalksexwithsandy.com.