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This post is all about my 75 hard challenge review after 45 days.
If you haven’t read my blog posts about my 15 day review or my 30 day review of 75 Hard, start there!
I am officially on Day 49 of 75 Hard and it’s really become a lifestyle at this point.
I don’t think about it too much. I don’t know what day I’m on until I look at my 75 Hard App (which is how I track everything I’m doing), and since I’ve been doing it for a while now, I feel like I’m programmed to do each of the five tasks every day without giving it too much thought.
As a reminder, here are the Rules of 75 Hard:
1. Complete two 45-minute workouts – one has to be an outdoor workout
2. Drink one gallon of water
3. Follow a diet of your choosing (but no cheat meals and no alcohol)
4. Take a progress picture
5. Read 10 pages of a nonfiction book (no audiobooks allowed)
75 Hard Challenge Review After 45 Days
Here, I dive into each of the 75 HARD challenge requirements and tell you how I feel about each of them now that I am 45+ days into the challenge.
Two 45-Minute Workouts
I’ve started going to Orangetheory again, and I’ve really grown to love my morning outdoor walks. I’m starting to get a little bored of the same old route, though.
My knee has been acting up a bit lately (I injured it about 6 months ago) so that’s not really ideal when you have to workout twice a day 🙂 So I’ve been cutting back on my running and really just walking for cardio, at least the past couple of days.
My goal at the start of 75 Hard was to run 5 miles in 45 minutes. I can currently run 5 miles in about 48 minutes.
I’d still really love to hit my goal, but with my knee, I’ll have to play it by ear.
I definitely don’t want to risk a situation where I have knee problems for the rest of my life because I didn’t listen to my body now.
Overall, I think I’ve had two or three days where I really didn’t want to do a second workout. I feel like that’s pretty good out of 45+ days!
Drink 1 Gallon Of Water
This task doesn’t really give me trouble. The only times it’s stressful is when it’s 6pm and I’ve only consumed about 30 ounces. That’s when I have to really get focused lol.
Other times it stinks is when I am really tired, and all I want to do is fall asleep, but I have like 20 more ounces to chug. In those moments, I just have to force myself to get it over with!
But overall, drinking the water really isn’t that bad. Especially if you have a water bottle that you love.
Here’s my water bottle that I use every day and love:
Stick To A Diet
As part of 75 Hard, you get to stick to a diet of your choosing. I chose to give up sweets (like candy, cookies, ice cream) and deep fried foods (like chicken sandwiches and fries from Chick-fil-a).
I keep saying this but I’m still shocked that I haven’t had a sweet in 45+ days. It’s mind blowing to me lol. But I have had things like pizza and cereal.
I see a lot of people doing 75 Hard on TikTok and sometimes I wonder if I should be restricting my calories or eating much healthier.
I try not to beat myself up too much though, because I am sticking to the diet that I have chosen for myself.
There are times when I have cravings for French fries or ice cream, but they pass in about 15 minutes, thank goodness. I still can’t wait to be able to indulge in those things when this is all over, though haha.
No Alcohol Allowed
In a few days, my boyfriend David and I are going to Cancun, Mexico. We’re staying at an all-inclusive resort and with that comes all-inclusive alcohol.
A few people have wondered if I plan to stick to 75 Hard while I’m in Mexico and honestly, I think I will.
For one, I want to finish out 75 Hard just to prove to myself that I can do it. And secondly, I think I’m fine with doing 75 Hard in Mexico because it’s not that… hard.
Here’s what I mean. I’ve realized that the things that I had to give up for 75 Hard weren’t things that I can’t live without.
Alcohol? I’ve been thinking about giving it up for ages. Sweets? I’ve always felt that I ate them in excess. Fried foods? Same thing. I know they’re not good for me.
So I guess I just don’t really feel like I am missing out on anything. Especially since I can still eat a lot of foods that are delicious and not necessarily healthy lol (like pizza, bagels, etc.).
Plus, it’s not like I’m giving these things up forever. I can have them once the 75 days are over.
I know this argument, if you want to call it that, could go either way. Who knows, I might totally change my mind once I get to Mexico but for now, I’m thinking I’ll stick to 75 Hard while I’m over there.
10 Pages of Reading A Nonfiction Book
I finished my last book Effortless (which I really liked!) and now I’m reading The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron which I LOVE.
The Artist’s Way has me writing “morning pages” which is essentially journaling for 3 pages every morning about whatever comes to your mind. It’s supposed to be an unfiltered “stream of consciousness” that’s for the writer’s eyes only (aka me).
I’m happy about this because I am typically an avid journal-er, but with 75 Hard, journaling stopped being a priority. The Artist’s Way is helping me get back into the journaling habit again.
The book is about nurturing your creative self, and I really think it is going to help me. I’ve been struggling with creating content lately, so that’s why I was drawn to this book.
It is pretty woo-woo if you ask me, but that kind of thing has really been growing on me and I really believe that this book is going to help me tap into my creativity just a bit more.
Here are all the books that I’ve read in the last 45 days:
2. “Effortless” by George McKeown
3. “Meditations” by Marcus Aurelius
4. The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron
This one is my favorite so far!
Progress Picture
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, having a tripod makes this part SO easy.
Some days, the last thing I want to do is get up and take a progress picture, but the fact that I can pop my phone into my tripod that’s already set up and spend 5 seconds snapping a pic makes this so much easier.
Here’s the tripod that I use (and love!):
My 75 Hard Results After 45 Days
Physical Health Results
I haven’t lost any weight at this point, but I look a lot healthier. Body fat has subsided in areas that once really bothered me. Sometimes I get a little bummed out that I haven’t lost weight, but it kind of makes sense.
I’m eating the same amount of food and still indulging in things like pizza and bagels here and there. I also have always worked out a good amount, so the only major change, I think, is the addition of a 45 minute walk each day.
I could be doing two “hard” workouts a day, but I just don’t feel like it haha. Plus, if I did that, I really wouldn’t have any recovery time AT ALL because I get no days off.
I’m trying to focus on the fact that I am pretty happy with my results, even without seeing the scale change. It’s probably time I take a look at my progress pictures, because those really help me notice changes in my body that I may not notice as I go.
Also, I have noticed that my face/skin is brighter. I think this may be from all the water but I am really happy about this result!
Mental Health Results
Mentally, I feel pretty good. It’s rare, but there have been a few days where I just don’t want to be doing 75 Hard anymore.
I’m a little nervous that when I stop 75 Hard, and I have a day where I don’t do any exercise (because I know that’s going to happen), that I will beat myself up.
I am pretty hard on myself, so I hope I can ease back into normalcy without making myself feel guilty if that makes sense.
Sometimes I think… should I just always live my life like I’m doing 75 Hard? But then I remember how time consuming it is and how you don’t get a rest day lol.
When 75 Hard is over, I want to keep drinking a lot of water (maybe not a gallon because that takes a good amount of effort from me) and I want to keep doing 45 minute walks outside. Those are the big things I want to take with me.
I hope this review doesn’t sound too negative!! I think I’m just at a point where it feels like I’ve been doing this forever and I’m ready for a bit of a break. And some Chick-fil-a. 🙂
Let me know if you have any questions for me and I will answer them in my next review post after 60 days!
This post is all about my 75 hard challenge review after 45 days.
Other posts you might like:
75 HARD Challenge Rules and Review After 15 Days (2023)
75 HARD Before And After Day 30 (With Progress Picture)
