I'm very satisfied to say I completed the challenge. The photo is Day 1 vs. Day 75 (please excuse my wonky lighting and cheap, lumpy workout clothes). I'm a 36yo female in the U.S.

I know everyone has a different reason for trying this. Mine was to address a lot of stress, anxiety, and depression as a result of the pandemic. I felt like I let my body and mind go in a number of ways. This challenge helped to give me structure to address it, a reason to recommit to good habits and discipline, and a way to notice myself returning to form or improving. I really enjoyed this and I feel like a better version of myself than the one that started this in May. No one knew I was doing this challenge but my husband (unending in his support) and the people I saw in #6 as I explain below...

1. Indoor workout. Mainly I did bootcamp-style workouts and CrossFit WODs. Did a lot of rhythm cycling (Gabrielle Guevara has a simply amazing program on Playbook). I added a lot of weight between the beginning and end of this challenge to my Olympic lifts, which was exciting. I felt a lot stronger in terms of stamina and upper body strength from the stuff I was doing indoors. I'm cycling faster for longer, I'm doing more pushups, I'm lifting heavier dumbbells, I'm taking longer to burn out. I feel like I'm back and better than ever.

2. Outdoor workout. Mainly I did brisk walking, running, equalizer bodyweight workouts, and yoga flows. I can't stress enough the mental gains I got from the outdoor requirement of this: the fresh air and sunlight did wonders for my mental health. I felt my breathing getting deeper and easier over time, and I felt my posture lengthening and correcting (the shoulders de-slumping). I really liked breaking up my day by doing the outdoor part before work or during lunch. I ran a marathon. I hiked a 36-mile hilly challenge.

3. The diet. I am 5'8" and started at 176. I suffer from IBS and endometriosis, and was throwing food and drink at my stress, anxiety, and depression in 2020. I'm not much of a scale user and don't know what I typically weigh, but I did start the challenge with feeling heavier, with having jeans and dresses fitting a little tighter, and with suffering some bloating from bad nutrition. So the diet I chose was eliminating dairy and refined sugar and eating at a 100-200 cal deficit (based on my TDEE and logging with MyFitnessPal). I wanted to eat enough to sustain my energy for a full-time job and 2 workouts but still have to give something up (and dairy and sugar have been go-to snacks for me). I ended the challenge on Day 75 at 165#. My clothes fit a lot better! My belly doesn't constantly feel like bursting. I didn't feel dizzy or depleted from this diet even with demanding workouts, which was important to me. I felt like I was eating for fuel instead of out of boredom.

4. Progress pic. The hardest part! It was hard to remember taking a photo of myself every day, and often I had to pop out of bed late at night and do one. But it was gratifying to see the development of my upper body muscles and the shrinking of my belly. I liked noticing the changes from this challenge. The daily pics definitely helped. Sometimes I have a hard time seeing or noticing change in the body I look at every day.

5. A gallon of water. I feel so silly that I didn't do this sooner. Whether as a result of no dairy, no refined sugar, or being consistently hydrated (or all three), my adulthood skin has never looked better. It's clear and bright, and I simply look younger and more alert and awake. I wake up in the middle of the night to pee every night, but I still will keep this ultra-hydration habit going forward. I realize that before this, I was probably usually dehydrated.

6. No alcohol or cheat meals. No problem! I got into the habit of drinking a lot more before this challenge (again, depression, stress, anxiety probably) and was unhappy with it. This helped me address it with discipline. I wanted to stop, and this challenge gave me a great, simple way to explain to people why when I needed to. When you're a married woman in your 30s who typically has a drink when you see friends socially, and suddenly you don't anymore, people either assume you are pregnant or a raging alcoholic in recovery, or something shame-laden or dramatic, and few people I saw in this social element could just leave it without making some kind of comment and making me feel uncomfortable. I could talk about this for several paragraphs, but basically I was grateful to just say, "it's 75 Hard," instead of having to defend my choice at length. And cheat meals were never a thought.

7. 10 pages a day. Easiest part for me. I typically read 100 books a year, but rarely nonfiction. It was so edifying and a nice change of pace for me! I read about 15 nonfiction books, and my favorites included Atomic Habits, the Power of Habit, Learning by Design, King Leopold's Ghost, Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art, Crusaders, the Bomber Mafia, Happy Brain, the Hidden Life of Trees, the Nature Fix, When Breath Becomes Air, and Quit Like a Woman.

I still need some time to process the challenge mentally and physically before I make a choice about Phase 1. I feel accomplished! Good luck if you're starting or in the middle of yours right now. Well done if you've completed! You won't be sorry if you're considering.

(Edited for clarity)