Why? Who would ever do such a thing. Currently going on 17 weeks in quarantine/stay at home orders. Oh my, how is it July!
First, what is 75Hard? Well, I understand It is a mind/body challenge. More about mental toughness, then fitness. I found out about this via social media, Tik Tok to be exact. It has very lose parameters, so you can really tailor it to fit you, but there are some specific points:
- Drink 1 gallon of water everyday.
- No Alcohol.
- Two (2) 45 min. workouts and one of them has to be outdoors.
- Read 10 pages a day of a non-fiction book (preferably one that is educational and you are interested in).
- Take a progress photo everyday.
- And follow a “diet”. Again, this is where it is vague and up to you. I choose to do Paleo.
- Do all of this for 75 days straight. If you slip up, you have to start back at day 1.
Due to #7 above, I truly feel this is a mental toughness challenge. Yes, you are doing (2) 45 min. workouts a day, but guess what, you get to pick them. There is no direction on the workouts. You could just walk twice a day and not have it be too strenuous. What I believe will be the hard part, is the mentality of staying committed to this. Also, for me, I’ve done Paleo before and that is when I felt my healthiest, so I know it works for me. Also, I have gone without Alcohol for periods of time. However, combining all of these items will be a game of wits. Something I need right now!
So, that brings me to why? Why now? As I mentioned, we are in week 17 of lockdown. I have been “floating” through these weeks feeling like I have no real purpose. I am still working, so I am very thankful I have a job, but it’s just not the same. Working from home juggling a toddler with two full time working parents is tough. I felt like I was just getting by day by day.
The first couple weeks of quarantine were almost like a mini vacation in my mind. Yes, I was still working, but I was able to stay in workout clothes all day (even though I didn’t work out), be in my garden at noon, have zoom happy hours at 4pm. It wasn’t the same workday I had before and all while trying to entertain a toddler. 2 weeks turned into 4 which turned into another month and so on. And I picked up a couple of bad habits along the way – eating potato chips every afternoon (we never had them in the house before, but you know, quarantine snacks) and drinking at 4pm everyday. I would have at least 3 zoom happy hours every week not including Sunday night zoom dinner with the family.
It just all seemed a bit out of control and I finally said I need to make a change. I of course downloaded Tik Tok in quarantine like a lot of people did. That’s a whole other post, but I heard about the 75Hard on there. I researched it more on the internet and thought why not? I’ve have nothing better to do and I can refocus my potato chip eating, afternoon drinking into something better. I was not liking how my body was feeling anyway – added weight and bloating.
So today is day 1! Follow along on my journey here on the blog and on Tik Tok (posting daily) @mimi_socal.
xoxo, Dominica