Review of 75 Hard: Make It Your Own, and Don’t Buy the Merch

If you haven’t heard of this before, 75 Hard is a diet and exercise program. It is billed as “…a transformative mental toughness program…” But you can’t kid a kidder — it’s a diet and exercise program. It’s 75 CONSECUTIVE DAYS of tasks designed to make you into a better, tougher, person. But before I get to the nuts and bolts of the program, let’s get the ugly part out of the way.

It was created by a Bro named Andy Frisella — a man who I couldn’t find much information about when I Googled him. There’s no wiki for him, and the only information about him is provided by him (on his website or his insufferable podcast.) I did find a Reddit Thread that confirmed my suspicions: He is a VERY misogynistic, pro-Trump, Anti-masker. I didn’t really want to follow the program after figuring that out. But, ultimately I decided that if I didn’t listen to his podcast, and I didn’t buy his book, I could pretend he didn’t exist and do 75 Hard my own way. Which I did. So… On to the challenge!

Here are the rules:

1. Complete TWO 45 minute workouts every day. One of them MUST BE OUTSIDE. — I adapted pretty quickly to the workouts. I did my outside workout first thing in the morning. After I did my Morning Pages. Oh, did I forget to mention that I started this program while I was already doing The Artist’s Way? Yeah. I’m a glutton for tasks. Anyway, workout #1 was usually a vigorous walk, maybe some jump rope, or stairs. Sometimes the jungle gym on the playground. I would usually get about 2 miles and a little over 5,000 steps. Workout #2 was at home in the living room. It was arms or abs with weights, and then a walking cardio video. I was done with my workouts by 2:00 most days. By the end of my workouts, I usually had about 4 miles, 10,000 steps.
2. Drink 1 Gallon of water — This wasn’t too hard. I tracked each 20oz bottle I drank with a water tracker app. I didn’t get one of those huge gallon bottles because who wants to carry that thing around all day?
3. Read 10 pages of Non-Fiction (Self Improvement type stuff) — My guess is that Mr. Frisella added the reading requirement to sell his book, 75 Hard. It’s not required that you purchase his book to do 75 Hard, but it’s suggested. More than once. I didn’t buy his book. I’m a R E A D E R. Like the snobby kind who reads over 50 books a year. After reading his website I knew I didn’t want to read anything else he had written. But I did read a bunch of books that qualify as the kind of book he wants you to read. I will list the books I read at the end of this piece, but after reading what can only be described as TOO MANY self-help books, I realized something — 75 consecutive days of self-help books is pretty much TORTURE. The kind of non-fiction I enjoy is more historical or biography-driven. I couldn’t wait to get into fiction again! Most self-help books say the same things and I found myself getting annoyed at all of the positivity being force-fed to me. Sure I could have supplemented with fiction, but it would have been the end of self-help. I really wanted to (self)help myself to some better books.
4. Follow a diet of your choosing — My diet before starting this program was pure shit. No joke - Dorritos. Pizza. Spaghettio’s. Gummy Bears. Cookies. No fruits or veggies. I ate like someone who doesn’t give a shit. So I decided that I needed to give a shit. Thus my diet was the I GIVE A SHIT ABOUT MYSELF DIET. The idea is to replace all of my bad habits with good ones. Day by day, week by week things like- more water less soda, add a salad for lunch, stop eating after 7 pm, and no cookies. I know it’s not what Mr. Frisella had in mind, but to be honest, I’m not the kinda gal who lets a Bro tell her what to do. So, that was my diet. I didn’t count calories. I didn’t count macros. I added carrots and subtracted cookies.
5. NO CHEAT MEALS or ALCOHOL — Not hard for me. I don’t drink anymore and my diet wasn’t super restrictive so I didn’t have to worry about “cheating”. We opted for whole wheat pasta and brown rice. If there were cookies on the menu, I ate one, not seven. I’ve been around the diet block before, and I’m not one for restricting foods and labeling them bad. I’m all for living a healthy lifestyle and finding foods that reflect that. And pizza here and there. Seriously. I still had pizza and I lost weight. THERE ARE NO BAD FOODS.
6. Take a daily progress picture. I did. Here’s one:

Me on Day 18

7. If you Fuck up on any of the above, YOU MUST START OVER. — Honestly, this is stupid. Who starts from scratch when they make a mistake? First off, perfection does not exist, right? So to punish yourself for not being perfect is just another way of striving for perfection. It’s also super GateKeeper-y. I don’t know about you, but I don’t start over when I fuck up. I wake up the next day and do better.

HOW WAS IT?
75 Hard doesn’t allow for the spirit of the Challenge to mean anything. Here’s an example of what I mean. I was on day 53, and enduring my THIRD PERIOD of the challenge. (Seriously. My first one started on day 3!) Anyway, I was 35 minutes into my outdoor workout, about 2 miles from home, when I realized…something was…um…very wrong. I made it home as fast as I could only to find that I had bled through EVERYTHING, and I had cramps that would cripple the devil. Now, according to the 75 Hard rules, I have to start over. I didn’t complete one of my 45-minute workouts.

By this logic, I would literally never finish the challenge. This is gonna happen to me EVERY MONTH. Am I supposed to restart every time?! No. I don’t think so. I tried. I did my best. I did 34 minutes instead of 45 minutes and I’m ok with that. Now… if I woke up on day 54 and said “I just don’t feel like it today”, I would consider that a failure. A choice to quit. That’s different than trying your best, but your best not being good enough. Because sometimes your best ISN’T good enough. And I’m sorry Mr. Frisella, your program is very ableist and geared toward perfection. And I don’t play that game.

I guess it boils down to the “all-or-nothing” attitude that is inherent in 75 Hard. 75 Hard wants you, no expects you to “dig deep” when confronted with obstacles to your success. Do whatever it takes to complete all of your tasks every day. Wake up earlier! If you have grit you can do it! But sometimes digging deep looks like rest, not sucking it up and pushing through. Sometimes you get your second vaccine shot… on Day 75 and your body just crashes. And you know what? You don’t restart. You rest because that’s what your body needs. All or nothing isn’t a realistic goal for anything. And how dare you throw away ANY of your progress just because you weren't perfect? Fuck that! I’ll give you a ribbon for being a badass every day. If it was beyond your control, don’t start over.

Books I Read for 75 Hard:

1. Big Magic, Elizabeth Gilbert (Yes! Read this!)
2. Pretty Happy, Kate Hudson (Some good nutritional info, but it’s a skip)
3. The Creative Habit: Learn it and use it for life, Twyla Tharp (READ IT!)
4. The Artists Way, Julia Cameron (VERY TASK HEAVY — not for me)
5. Atomic Habits, James Clear (Good info, worth a read)
6. You are a Badass Every Day, Jen Sincero (Trite, Twee, skip it)
7. The Gifts of Imperfection, Brene Brown (Good book, well written and funny)
8. Detox Your Thoughts, Andrea Bonior (Nothing new in here, science-driven data, not a bad book)

RESULTS
I am a testament to the fact that with very small changes to your diet and lifestyle, and the tiniest bit of effort, you can lose weight and look better. I didn’t go ham with this challenge- I didn’t do HIIT routines, didn’t go to a gym, didn’t really eat diet food, or use supplements. I tried drinking ketones and it was…whatever. For me, not worth the amount of money they cost. What I did do was walk a lot. I used 8lb weights and watched youtube exercise videos. I jumped rope and used playground equipment. That’s it.
By day 75 I was more than ready to be done. To be honest, I was ready by day 60, but I wasn’t about to quit. When there are only 15 days left of something you don’t quit. But I was definitely phoning in those workouts in the last week. I had lost 10 lbs by then and I felt pretty good. The last week was the hardest and I wanted to just be done. But, my reward for completing the challenge was a new pair of roller skates, so you KNOW I finished.

Stats — AGE: 47, HEIGHT: 4'11 (and a half!)
BEFORE WEIGHT: 125
AFTER WEIGHT: 113

I GOT STRONGER — I noticed that I was getting stronger around day 45. The 8lb weights I couldn’t use for lateral arm raises, for example, I was able to lift. I could complete weight training routines that I was unable to complete in the first weeks. I saw some definition in my arms and tummy. That helps keep you going.
SWEET TOOTH SHRINKAGE — I stopped craving sugar… for the most part. 75 days ago I would eat a bag of gummy bears a day. Cookies every night. Ice cream sometimes and then some more cookies. Now? When I crave sweets I get some VERY dark chocolate or cashews with dried cranberries.
IMPROVED DIET — As I mentioned earlier, my old diet was that of a ten-year-old. I’ve now replaced rice with brown rice. I eat a salad for lunch 4 or 5 times a week. I’ve got my carbs under control, and soda is pretty much gone. (We have a soda stream and we split a soda at dinner time. And we don’t even finish it!) I know that if I had followed a strict diet, I would have had more impressive results, but honestly, I’m glad I didn’t. This is something I can live with.

Day 4 — Day 75