According to TikTok, Instagram, and other forms of social media, the “75 hard” is supposedly the key to weight loss, health, and happiness. For background, the 75 hard is exactly what it sounds like: a 75-day diet and workout schedule followed by people aspiring to better themselves, almost always starting on January 1st. Aside from this challenge being unrealistic, it is also very time-consuming as it requires two workouts per day and specific meals. Many people don’t make enough to be able to prepare specific meals, or they have to work to support their families and don’t have time for two workouts a day.
My own experience with the 75 hard, as someone who is easily influenced and a social media user, went similarly to many others. My one resolution for 2024 was to “successfully complete the 75 hard challenge.” Spoiler: that did not happen. Although the five (ish) days I lasted did not leave me feeling like everyone online preaching the regimen, it did prompt a revelation about what resolutions, a healthy lifestyle and healthy habits are all about: happiness. The solution to bettering yourself and working towards the best version of yourself is not following a rigid routine, it is creating what works best for you. According to an article from the National Library of Medicine’s article “Enjoyment as a Predictor of Exercise Habit, Intention to Continue Exercising, and Exercise Frequency: The Intensity Traits Discrepancy Moderation Role,” exercise is specific to each person, and staying on track does not have to be a miserable experience. Researchers state, “Enjoyment can, in turn, substantially affect individual perceptions of the activity, thus reinforcing it (when perceived as interesting or pleasant) or avoiding it (when perceived as unpleasant, uninteresting, or boring), influencing exercise commitment and engagement.” This means that enjoying your health routines is what makes them last. While you may not enjoy every workout, nutritious meal, and book read, improving your lifestyle should not be a chore, but rather a goal set with excitement.
It is also hard to ignore the cost of the 75 hard both in time and money. The cost of buying new groceries every week, along with all organic brands, is not convenient, as most of these brands are targeted to the public for a trendy purpose and rising prices, rather than foods that are actually beneficial to health. Most people simply do not make enough money to support consistently buying such food, and many cannot fit 2 90-minute workouts into a full workday.
The key to health is sustainability, which the 75 hard lacks. Creating a healthy lifestyle is all about making changes you can maintain. Examples and ways you can do this are buying a week’s worth of groceries to plan meals for the week, learning new recipes you actually like, and moving your body every day in a way that is fun for you, no matter what that may look like.
The 75 hard can be done, but that doesn’t mean it should. Issues with sustainability, cost, and applying a uniform regimen to individual needs make it unattainable for many, but the 75 hard’s lesson of developing healthy habits and sticking to them is still valuable, as long as they work beyond the 75 days.
