Self induced punishment. 75 hard-ish
I’m not doing this because torturing myself for 75 days seems like a good time. I’m doing this because I have failed myself this year. I promised myself coming into 2025 that I would be proud of the way I take care of myself by my 35th birthday (June 20th). How lucky am I to have a birthday 6 months into the New Year? I get that fresh start, “New Year, New Me” energy twice a year evenly divided throughout the year. Yet I fumble and let myself down year after year.
No, don’t feel bad for me. Yes I have three children that I homeschool, and one is just 14 months old. But if you saw my average screen time, you would see that I have more than enough time to prioritize myself. Prioritizing my physical health always improves my mental health and this of course all trickles down to my family. They deserve me at my best. For years I have seen the positive effects that moving my body and eating well have on how I feel physically and mentally. Yet I am always on and off with consistency.
Life happens, pregnancies, moves, sickness, sick children, trips, birthdays, I mean the list is never ending. My biggest red flag is that once I fall off of my routine one time, it feels like a complete failure and waste of time. So I stop completely and wait until the “right time”. That is often months and months later. I'm all for giving myself grace, but sheeeeesh Stephanie. I have let giving myself grace allow me to neglect my hair care, my skin care, and my mental health. I get stuck in a loop of distraction and procrastination. Then I wonder why I feel sad, bloated, and look older than my mom did at my age. No one thinks I'm Eli's big sister and honestly that hurts my feelings.
So is 75hard sustainable long term? No. Is it gonna have me looking and feeling good just in time for my birthday in June? It better! So here are my modified goals for a 75 day challenge that is helping me meet my goals physically, mentally, and creatively.
For 75 days I will complete the following every. single. day.
45 minutes of cycling
45 minutes of functional or strength training
High protein, low to moderate carb diet
Drink 80oz of water
Read for 30 minutes
Write a blog post (yay this counts)
This varies from the original 75hard challenge as I will not do an outdoor workout daily. Most of my cycling will be done on a stationary bike, Peloton. I did not list, “no alcohol” as a guideline as I already do not drink. I reduced the water in take because 1 gallon of water is just too much for me and unnecessary. I created this cute template on Canva because I love visuals, or was it because my phone addiction is so bad I needed to find something to do on my phone even though I deleted social media apps off of my phone? Hmmmmmm, sus.
This is a tracker for all of my 75 day challenge guidelines.
So yeah, even though limiting social media usage is not explicitly in my self created rules for this challenge, it is one of my biggest intentions. I obviously could not come close to completing my requirements if I kept up my normal doom scrolling hours. So for now no social apps on my phone, only on my iPad which I keep in a separate room and do not bring outside with me.
I may be doing this to punish myself, but I deserve it. I also deserve the person I will be at the end of this. I appreciate the me I am today for doing this. For having a perfect day 1 75 (days) to 35 (years old).
These are some “before photos” taken on March 21, 2025. I worked out consistently for a week, missed a day, then I missed the whole week before starting this challenge.
