On Monday, February 28th, I started the 75 Hard Mental Toughness Challenge. And on Friday, May 13th – exactly 75 days later – I successfully completed the challenge. I’m not going to lie, it was HARD! But I did it. And I’m so incredibly proud of myself.
75 Hard isn’t a fitness challenge or a weight loss challenge. Several of the tasks are related to your overall health and fitness – drinking water, exercising, sticking to a diet – so there’s no way you won’t improve your physique by committing to those things. But that’s not the main goal of the challenge. It’s specifically a mental toughness challenge, meant to improve your perseverance, grit, fortitude, and dedication through five daily tasks. Every day. With no exceptions.

Through the five daily tasks, over the course of the 75 days, I:
Drank 75+ gallons of water.
Completed 150 workouts of at least 45 minutes each, with half of them being outside regardless of the weather.
Stuck to a diet, with no cheat meals and no alcohol.
Read 4 non-fiction books.
Took 150 progress photos.
Those five daily tasks seem like NBD, but they can be tough to juggle when you’re also running a business, traveling, and otherwise living your life without the luxury of working out and eating right as a full-time job.
I thought it might be helpful to share a bit about my experience with each of the 75 Hard tasks, including what worked well and what was more challenging. I also have some overall thoughts about the challenge having made it to the other side. If you have been thinking about doing the 75 Hard challenge, hopefully this will help set you up for success!
75 Hard Requirement #1: Drink a Gallon of Water
To be honest, some days this was super easy. I would be finished with my gallon by the late afternoon, and would drink even more water during dinner.
But some days I was chugging water before bed in order to get the gallon in. Consequently, that also meant I would get up three times in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. Not fun.

Drinking a gallon of water each day made me realize that before 75 Hard, I was pretty much not drinking water. Like… at all! Drinking that much water just didn’t come naturally to me. I really had to think about it. Every. single. day. And if I didn’t think about it, I ended up doing the late night chugging because I was behind. And that sucked.
One thing that I think did help was that I bought these half gallon water jugs. I’d fill one up every night before bed and put it in the refrigerator. First thing in the morning, I’d take it out to start drinking from and replace it with the second jug. That way, I always had one container in the fridge and one container I was drinking from. It was a lot easier to track through the two bottles than trying to remember how many ounces of water I had throughout the day from various containers. And I much preferred the half-gallon bottles to the gigantic one gallon ones that are super heavy to lug around.
I’m still going to keep the water intake going after the challenge, but if I don’t get in a whole gallon I’m not going to stress about it. 100 ounces or so each day will still be a good healthy habit that I can stick with.
75 Hard Requirement #2: Two workouts each day – 45 minutes each, one outside
The hardest part of the entire challenge for me was the second workout. I can make one workout a day work with my schedule. No problem. I can even make one longer, hour and a half workout work with my schedule. But… not so fast…
One of the rules of the challenge is that the two workouts can not be back-to-back. So while it would be super convenient to do a 1 1/2 hour workout to get in the two 45-minute workouts, the challenge is two separate workouts, at least three hours apart. This means you have to really plan ahead and carve out two separate occasions for exercise. I’m not gonna lie… it was a huge pain in the ass.

The exercise portion of the challenge was also tough because one of those workouts has to be outside, which is incredibly inconvenient. Because, you know… weather. I ended up doing a few walks in frigid temperatures early in the challenge, a couple of runs in light rain, and one run that ended in a light hail storm because I put that workout off all day and then thought I could outrun a storm. I could not. Luckily, during the 75 days there were only a couple days where the weather was bad. I can imagine people in other parts of the country or doing this during another time of year would have it much harder because of weather.
The outside workouts were also inconvenient because… you know… sunset. I’m a little bit of a scaredy cat, can’t see for shit at night, and don’t really have a backyard, so working out in the dark outside wasn’t much of an option for me. I had to really look at my schedule each day and make a plan for my outdoor workout to be done before the sun went down so that if I ended up having to do a second work out late at night, it was the indoor workout that I had left… not the outdoor one. Planning was key on this, and each night I’d look at my schedule for the next day to come up with a game plan.

Even though I’m complaining about the outdoor workout, it’s actually one of best gifts that 75 Hard gave me – the great outdoors. Because I have a Peloton bike, I was doing most of my workouts before indoors. But, being forced outside made me realize that I actually really enjoy getting outside for a run or walk in my neighborhood or riding bikes with my husband around White Rock Lake. I even did some exploring and found a free outdoor yoga class that took place during the spring in my area. Incorporating more outdoor activities is a habit I will definitely keep up.
And speaking of my Peloton… that might have been the thing that really got me through this challenge! I haven’t belonged to a gym since before the pandemic, but my Peloton bike with all of its on-demand classes was a life saver. I also began using the Peloton digital app more, taking advantage of the strength, yoga, and boxing classes, and even the stretching and foam rolling classes. Highly recommend.
75 Hard Requirement #3: Stick to a Diet, No Alcohol, No Cheat Meals
I chose to count calories and macros, keeping myself at a caloric deficit. Both my wedding anniversary and my birthday fell within the 75 days, which kind of sucked, but I stuck to the plan and didn’t stray on my diet or treat myself to any bubbly.
As far as food goes, I definitely missed chips and queso, pizza, and Crumbl cookies. Since I was counting macros, I really could have done the, “anything is fair game as long as it fits your macros” philosophy, but eating pizza and cookies, even in small quantities, seemed like it went against the spirit of the challenge, so I opted out, considering those things part of the forbidden “cheat meals.”
As far as alcohol goes, I really didn’t miss it. (Except for the anniversary and birthday dinners which seemed really strange to not be drinking at!) I did get in the habit of asking servers if the bartender could whip up some sort of mocktail for me so I could still feel like I was being a social drinker, and that worked great. I didn’t really feel FOMO with a fancy glass in my hand, even though the glass might have just been filled with sparkling water and a lime.
The hubs and I have been using Green Chef meal kits for a while now and have really enjoyed them, so I kept that up, cooking dinners at home three to four nights a week. Someone in my accountability group turned me on to Factor meals, and that was a game-changer for healthy lunches and the occasional quick dinner when I was stuck working late. Unlike Green Chef where you actually have to cook, Factor is a heat and eat situation where you pop a meal from the refrigerator to the microwave and have a healthy meal in two minutes. Highly recommend this!
75 Hard Requirement #4: Read 10 pages of non-fiction (self-improvement or business)

I don’t mind reading. In fact, there was a phase in my life where ALL I read was self-improvement and business focused book. Just prior to 75 Hard though, I had switched it up and was on a fiction phase. 75 Hard just made me go back to reading the types of books I was reading a few years ago.
Sometimes I read just the minimal 10 pages. Other times I would read 20 pages or more. All in all, I ended up reading 4 books for a total of more than 1,200 pages.
My favorite book that I read during the challenge was “Think Like a Monk” by Jay Shetty. There were so many good nuggets throughout this book that I basically covered it in highlighter! This is a highly recommended read for anyone who wants to have a bit more balance, see the world in a more positive light, and overall be a kinder, less judgmental human.
75 Hard Requirement #5: Take a progress photo every day.
Only one progress photo each day was required, but I took two because I wanted to see both front and side angles… totally wishing I had done the back now too, but alas.
I made this task easier by taking my photo first thing each morning as soon as I got up. I also purchased a couple of the same boy shorts and wore them to bed every night. Literally all I had to do was roll out of bed, go to the bathroom, and snap the photo. Easy, peasy.

The progress photos really did help show how the hard work was paying off, even when the scale didn’t. While day over day I couldn’t see the change, seeing day 1 vs. day 25 or even day 1 vs. day 50 really showed the physical changes from the challenge.
The Results
Did all those daily tasks make my body change and my clothes fit differently? 100%. I lost 8.1 pounds overall and dropped my total body fat by 3.8%. I’m honestly in the best shape I’ve been in for as long as I can remember, and I now have a closet full of clothes that are too big. I even had to buy new panties because my size mediums were getting a little baggy! Who would have thought?!
But to be quite honest, the number on the scale is not what it’s all about.
75 Hard is a mental toughness challenge, and over the past 75 days, my mindset has completely changed about a lot of things. I’ve learned that:
1. You prioritize the things that are important to you.
Fitting in two workouts a day (did I mention that they have to be at least three hours apart?) is no joke, and for me it was the hardest part of the challenge. “I don’t have time” is just an excuse, because if it’s important, you figure it out. This sometimes means early mornings or late nights. But you have to figure it out. No excuses. 75 Hard made me realize that there are so many times I’ve skipped out on taking care of myself or moving my body because I was just “too busy.” And that’s ridiculous. How can you be too busy to care for the one body that you have??!
2. Fresh air is good for my soul.
The outdoor workouts were sometimes a pain to fit in, but moving my body outside has been a gift I didn’t know I needed. I actually enjoy running more than I ever have and find it to be incredibly therapeutic and a great stress reliever. Running and walking outside will definitely be something I’m going to keep in my fitness toolbox.
3. Variety is the spice of life.

Before 75 Hard, I was pretty much doing the same exercise day in and day out – rides on my Peloton bike with an occasional studio class. But when you have to do two workouts a day (with one outside), it really helps to change it up so you don’t get bored.I really enjoyed the new activities I took part in during the challenge, some for the very first time!
In addition to trying a ton of new classes on the Peloton app, I took a few Sculpt classes at Class Studios, some pilates-style classes at Urban Core and Solidcore, a rowing class at Row House, snowshoeing when I was in Colorado, and finished out the 75 days with a boxing class at Mayweather Boxing and Fitness with my accountability group. As a group, we also ran a 5k together and did a stair climb.
Trying out new activities was not only fun, but worked muscles in a different way.
4. Having a support system is life changing.

When I decided to do 75 Hard, I knew I’d be more successful if I had people doing it with me. And I couldn’t have been more right!
There were many times during the 75 days where I didn’t want to do my reading, or didn’t want to get in the second workout, or had to chug water before bed, and it was my accountability group that kept me on track. I could easily have cheated myself (“I rode my bicycle for 2 hours today, do I really need to do a second workout?!”), but I couldn’t cheat my group or let them down. No one wants to be the first person to fail, so we all held each other accountable.
My accountability group was also a great resource when it came to ideas for getting more protein, workouts to try, keeping up with everything while traveling or when working late.
If you are considering doing 75 Hard, I think doing it with a group is a game changer. Don’t go it alone. Go find your people. I was surprised how easy it was to recruit people to join me, but when you put it out there, the right people seem to hear the message.
Putting together the accountability group also fueled a passion to push people to be their best. While they did all the hard work, day after day, I encouraged them to meet me at the starting line. And that in and of itself has been so rewarding.
I enjoyed reading this. You made it thorough while keeping it super interesting…and I think you have a great attitude. I’m getting ready to start 75 Hard and you made it seem do-able. I’ll keep the three pics in mind. Thank you!
So glad some of my tips helped! Let me know how your 75Hard experience goes. I’m rooting for you!
I just received the power pack bundle complete with a hand written note! I am planning on starting 75 Hard after Christmas and found your blog talking about it. I too am looking at this more from a mental challenge, but of course some are saying this is too restrictive, but if they listen and read the book, there is nothing about being kcal restrictive, he just wants you to stick to a healthy pattern of eating. Loved this blog!
Thanks for reading. And yes…. you get to choose what “diet” you follow. Good luck! Take it one day at a time.