75 Hard

"People often ask me what the hardest part of doing fifty iron-distance triathlons, in fifty consecutive days, one in each state, was. The hardest part, honestly, was waking up and getting started." ~James Lawrence, Iron Cowboy

What was the last hard thing you did? Before you answer, stop and truly give it some thought. How hard was it? Did you struggle? Do you consider yourself a person who can do hard things?

The first thing you should take into account is how you define "hard." What does it really take for something to be hard or difficult? There are many definitions out there and you may have your own or disagree, but Oxford Languages defines it simply as "solid, firm, and rigid; not easily broken, bent..." That's right, "rigid and "not easily broken." Most endeavors that are hard, are so, because they are rigid or not able to be adapted. So back to your answer to the question above, was the last hard task you accomplished both rigid and unadapted? Did you cut any corners? Take a day off? Tell yourself, "I can cheat just this once," or "I can have one" or "I'll start back up tomorrow."

Let's face it. We all have things we want to change about ourselves: certain habits, behaviors, eating patterns, the way we look, careers, etc. And we have all been there. Maybe it was on January 1st or after a significant birthday or other major life event where you told yourself things were going to change. This time it would be different. But why do so many of us fail to accomplish change? There is no easy answer as it is human nature to follow the path of least resistance. Some may argue that this has allowed humans to survive and thrive throughout our history by following that path of least resistance. Or maybe there is an easy answer. Maybe that is it. Change is hard. No ifs ands or buts. It requires persistance, dedication, and mental toughness and that is very difficult to follow through on. But change is possible and possible for all of us.

If you have struggled to accomplish your goals, reach your targets, or have made unkept promises then I would highly encourage you to complete Andy Frisella's 75 Hard mental toughness program. The program is simple and has 5 daily tasks:

• Follow a diet that includes no cheat meals and no alcohol
• Two 45 minute workouts a day, one must be outside
• Read 10 pages of a non-fiction self-development book
• Drink a gallon of water
• Take a daily progress picture

Notice that I said complete the program. I didn't say try it. It's an almost Yoda-esque Jedi mind trick, but you cannot try, there is no try. There is only when I complete the program. It is a program that some might think is extreme or too much and I heard this often when talking about it, but I couldn't disagree more. Let's break it down. All you are doing is moving around, eating healthy, reading, drinking water, and taking a picture of yourself. When you think of it this way, the program becomes simple and far from extreme. The challenge lies in your head. And that is the beauty of 75 Hard.

Completing this program will change your life and put you on a path to accomplishing anything you want. I did it. You can to. What follows next is my journey with 75 Hard.

Rules: No Compromise, No Substitutions

1. Diet: No added sugar diet. Do not eat any food that has added sugar.
2. Workouts: Get up at 5am, sneak to the basement to workout without waking my wife or our three young children (ages 6, 4, and 1). Second workout later in the day or at night is a 45 minute walk with/without the family.
3. Reading: Start with Iron Cowboy and then work my way through Frisella's list: Books for Badasses.
4. Water: 32 ounce water bottle, minimum four times a day.
5. Progress pic must contain the Homer Simpson donut shorts.

Challenges Explained

Completing 75 Hard will be difficult. First, I love sugar, particularly doughnuts. I love doughnuts so much that last year my kids bought me a pair of Homer Simpson doughnut shorts for my birthday. We spend many Saturday mornings letting Mommy sleep in while the kids and I make a trip to the donut store. I am also a stress eater. When things get tough, I can take down cookies by the sleeve. By far the diet will be the most challenging aspect.

I have also never been able to consistently wake up at 5am in my entire life. I have tried before and I have failed every time. Again that word try. I have also not exercised or worked out consistently for more than a week in the past 11 years.

Reading, love it, but with three young children, a wife, two dogs, and busy household, my reading has been confined to audio books while commuting or doing chores. Physical books will be a shift. The progress pic should be easy as I plan to wear the Homer Simpson shorts in my photo every day as a reminder of what this program signifies: change. But consistency is hard and every day is no joke.

Lastly, and excuse the frankness of this comment, but for as long as I can remember, my urine has been yellower than a lemon. I never drink enough water. As you can see, each simple task outlined above presents a challenge or a change that I want to bring about within my life. Let's get started and see how I did.

First Five

Day one was going to start off great. I was energized and ready. Before I went to bed the previous night, I repeatedly told myself when the alarm goes off, just pop out of bed, get up and don't think. The alarm sounded and I quite literally hopped out of bed. Task one complete, but then I stumbled and almost fell, nearly waking up the whole house. I made my way to the basement and completed my workout, but it was a struggle. Days two and three were even worse for waking up and completing the workouts, but I completed all the tasks. Five days in, I was all of a sudden feeling my oats. I can remember thinking this going to be a breeze as I made my lunch that day, an Italian sandwich on sourdough bread topped with fresh spinach and Italian dressing. Same sandwich I ate the past 4 days for lunch. I casually glanced at the ingredients on the back of the Italian salad dressing and the bottom fell out of my stomach: Includes < 1gram of Added Sugar. Fuck! Five days in and I failed. I was so pissed at myself for not checking on Day 1. Ugh! How could I have been so careless? I consoled myself by saying at least it was not day 10 or 20 or 60.

Disappointed, I finished the day out and completed my tasks, but I had to start over the next day. I told quite a few people this part of my story and they told me I was being silly. Since I did not intentionally break the rules of the program, I should just continue on. Afterall, it's not like I forgot to complete a task or gave up during a workout or had a cheat meal. But this is the point of 75 Hard. No exceptions. No excuses. No compromises. I didn't check one food label. How could I follow a diet if I was not doing this fundamental part of the diet? Lesson learned. Start over.

Day 10 (cumulative day 15)

I did not take a break from 75 Hard, but decided to keep going and count my days cumulatively. I now had to go to Day 80.

About two weeks progressed and I was getting into a groove. I took my 6 year-old-son to the batting cages for a hitting session. As he met the coach, I went and bought two Under Armor sports drinks. One for him and one for me. I had grown to truly like these sugarfree drinks as they added some supplemental hydration/energy occassionaly throughout my days. But I was always careful to buy the sugar free option. As I was halfway through mine and took a look at the label and noticed it looked different. Nowhere on the label did it mention sugar free. What an idiot! How could I do this again? I was utterly stunned and had just flushed another 10 days down the toilet. I was disgusted. I sat down on the bench absently watching my son hit smack a few balls and felt demoralized. The thought of not telling anyone and pretending like it never happened drifted up and floated through my mind. Afterall, no one would know and it's not like I actually broke the rules on purpose. I had been distracted at the batting cages. I was hurrying to get back to the hitting instruction so I could pick up some pointers to help my son when we would practice at the park. That's why this happened. This is when I first heard Andy Frisella's voice inside my head. I forgot which episode of his REAL AF podcast it was, but he talked about telling your little inner Bitch Voice to shut up. I laughed outloud and received a few confused looks from folks around me. No chance of giving in. I finished the day's tasks and started over the next day. It became a turning point.

Days 33-43 (cumulative days 43-53)

Then came this week. My left heal was in constant pain, hurting all the time for the past month. Mainly from the daily walks, which were now spent by myself and often started at 9/10pm, a handful of times in the rain, and they had turned into a slog. It was difficult to stay motivated. The whole program had turned into a miserable experience that I constantly contemplated quitting. Why was I putting myself through this physical pain and mental stress? I was also putting undue stress and strain on my family throughout this process and for what? To prove to myself that I can complete five daily tasks? No one actually cares that I can accomplish this. In fact, quite a few people told me they thought what I was doing was dumb. After throwing a few mental pity parties for myself, I just kept going. There really wasn't a choice. Shut up, little inner bitch voice!

Day 48 (cumulative day 58)

Something changed. Not sure how or what, but it just did. Waking up at 5am was all of a sudden, just easy. It was part of my normal routine. Now I didn't get up every single day at 5am, but about 85% of the time I was. At times, some late nights with the kids or staying up working to 1-2am kept me from getting up at 5am. I was now actually enjoying getting up this early when the house was quiet and still. I was also at least 15-20 pounds up on almost all my weight lifting exercises from day 1. I felt strong. I remember my wife seeing me without my shirt on and she said, "Wow, Pete. Your body looks great!" I knew that my body was physically changing, but it was awesome the first time I stopped to notice it. It was the first time in my life, besides when I was a physically fit teenager, that I looked in the mirror and felt pride.

Rest of the Program

The remaining days were not a breeze, but they were not that hard either. I developed great habits. This is not to say that there weren't struggles, but I had a new excitement and confidence to complete the program. I had done hard things in my life before and already considered myself mentally tough, but this was different.

The Takeaways

For 75 straight days, I did not eat any foods that had added sugars. No doughnuts, no candy, no cookies. When I was stressed, I went to complete my workouts or ate a handful of almonds. I completely read three books during this time: Iron Cowboy by James Lawrence, Be Quick But Don't Hurry by Andrew Hill and John Wooden, and The Lombardi Rules by Vince Lombardi Jr. I finished a book I was halfway through, The Magic of Thinking Big by David J. Schwartz, and I also made it halfway through the following books: Awaken the Giant Within by Anthony Robbins and Ask Your Developer by Jeff Lawson. All are excellent choices and I recommend picking them up. I built discipline within myself to wake at 5am every week day to work out and most weekends. I physically changed my body by drinking water, working out, and eating healthy. I am very proud of myself after completing the program and feel that I can truly do anything I put my mind to.

Moving Forward

What will I continue within my life? I plan to continue to workout at least 5 times a week through still getting up at 5am. Workouts will move to 30 minutes and another 30 minutes minimum will be spent each day coding or learning about coding. During my workday, I will also carve out 45 minutes each day to walk the dogs outside: rain, snow, or sunshine. I love the outdoor time. I will also always continue to be a reader and my sugar free diet is an absolute must, but within reason. I don't need to be a zealot, but the special occassion dessert can be allowed without guilt. But I need to keep myself in check as my sugar addiction will run rampant if not strictly monitored. The holidays will be a true test. Also, I will resume drinking alcohol, but not as frequently as I had prior to 75 Hard. Although I do enjoy socially drinking, I found I did not really miss it that much.

Lastly, I need a break for a week or two. 75 Hard was great and a true mental challenge. But, I need to rest and recooperate. Allow my body to recover before starting physical workouts again. Next up will be Phase 1 and I honestly cannot wait.

Physical Transformation (Day 1 to cumulative Day 90)