I am fat. 75 A Tough Challenge Taught Me Resilience and Behavior in Three Months

Billie Bhatia took the 75 Hard Challenge in January 2024

Although it is simple, the rules made by Andy Frisella in 2019 are obviously quite strict. For 75 days, you must observe the following rules, and the most important thing is that if you fall into one of these in one day, you start again from the first day.

• Complete one 45-minute outdoor workout per day
• Complete one 45-minute home workout per day
• Stick to a diet (any diet of your choice)
• Drink 1 gallon of water a day (about 4.5 liters)
• No alcohol
• No cheat meals
• Take daily progress pictures
• Read 10 pages of a non-fiction book

Please consult your doctor or other health care professional before trying the 75 Hard Challenge

The morning I was supposed to start the challenge (3^rd January which would make me finish on the 17th^th March), my mind scrambled to come up with a hundred different reasons why I shouldn’t start this challenge.

The loudest shouted that I don’t have the mental strength to help me in those 75 days. I told myself that my big body will hug me, that I will crash and burn because the problems are this genre is not for people like me. How could I make it through the week if I didn’t know how to make it through the day?

I found a lot during the process of this challenge, but the biggest takeaway is that for any effective change to happen you need two things: consistency and discipline. I didn’t have any of them on January 3rd^rd.

5 Things 75 Hard Challenges Taught Me

1.Time is key

It took me two whole days to realize that it was a privilege to have time to do 75 Hard. On paper, the challenge suggests that you are only actively working for 1.5 hours, but in reality it is much longer.

If I woke up at 7am, after doing some indoor and outdoor exercise, doing something healthy and getting ready for the day, I didn’t open my laptop before noon.

As a freelance journalist, I was given comfortable conditions, but if you had a full-time office job, this challenge is almost impossible. Time is your biggest obstacle at 75 Hard, and depending on how much skill you have to put in is how much you get out of this problem.

2. Walking is winning

I stuck to the same routine of outdoor exercise every day, which was walking. I couldn’t say that I wanted to go at the beginning of this challenge. Although it is one of the best exercises you can do for weight loss, in the big body it is not always one foot in front of the other. I have back pain from walking, weak ankles, and knees, so I dreaded the prospect of hitting the pavement every day.

The way I combated this anxiety was by repeating the same walk over and over again. I organized the walking time into ten-minute segments; by doing so I could only think about that time limit.

Billie walked every day

What I have found is that the more you walk, the less pain you feel in your body. Now, walking has become one of my favorite parts of my day. Of course, I’m still (very) proud of the swing but the challenge allowed it to change from a fear to something that made me feel better physically and mentally.

3. Eating is not cheating

Billie remained in a calorie deficit rather than a ‘diet’.

You have to stick to the ‘diet’ for the challenge, but I didn’t as I knew this would be my downfall. My work as a freelance journalist means attending events that often involve food, so rather than remove myself from the environment completely, I chose to follow a calorie deficit and think about what my body needs, as opposed to what I wanted to eat. .

Just remember that you expend more energy working out more times than you do during the 75 Hard Challenge, and that energy expenditure means you. demand energy in. Don’t fall into the trap I did in the beginning, where I went into such a large calorie deficit that I wasn’t getting enough food to fuel me through the day. You can have a calorie deficit, but make it last.

And be wise with your diet; I chose to eat protein-rich foods to keep me full longer, but I didn’t cut out foods completely, as long as they were within my calorie budget. If I wanted pasta for dinner one night a week, that wasn’t in the cards.

4. Strength is not just physical

There were countless days when I wanted to give up. Those days my schedule was very full and I wasn’t sure how I would be able to fit in both workouts; in those days emotionally, I felt depressed and wanted to comfort that with food.

Billie strengthened her mind and body

What this challenge really forces you to do is dig deeper than you’ve ever dug before. It makes you change and quit, and in doing so pushes you to a place you never thought you could find. At the end of the challenge, I was mentally stronger than ever, because you train your mind to prioritize what’s good more than you want to improve your body.

5. Accountability is important

I had to decide how to respond to this challenge. I was worried that I was worried that if I found myself falling off the wagon, I would win. The only way I knew how to combat this was to announce my goal publicly, on Instagram – if people expected me to do this, if they were kind and supportive theirs – I didn’t let them down.

Billie often trained with friends, to be responsible

I’ve spent enough years in isolation, and no one else is interested in the outcome, but having other people tell you they’re cheering for you made me want to succeed this time.

Final thoughts

Is this challenge crazy? Yes. Has it changed the way I feel about myself, exercise, food and what I want in my life? Yes. Do you need to endure 75 It’s hard to get there? Maybe not. Did I want to see a big physical difference? Really. Did I get there? Not as much as I wanted.

All that said, for the first time in my life, I learned to be controlled by discipline, instead of guilt. That’s not to say I nailed it, but am I glad I did? Without a doubt. I move more because of it, give up less, feed my body better, and push myself harder. To me, that gain is greater than the degree to which the scales have tipped.