Over the summer, my girlfriend Noa and I were obsessed with this couple that was doing 75 Soft and vlogging the whole process and posting it on TikTok. Alyssa Reign and Michael Pelchat (@alyssareignnn and @nicemichael) inspired Noa and I to start 75 Soft of our own. The reason I was inspired was because Reign and Pelchat made their own rules. They created a challenge that was realistic for themselves and their lifestyle. I did not want to have to have the goal of losing weight. I wanted to challenge myself to create healthy habits, and this was a fun way I could hold myself accountable. Also, doing it with Noa was another way to hold me accountable.
We went through many trials of what we wanted our rules to be, but here’s what we came up with:
Lily:
- 30 minute walk outside
- I usually accomplish this by walking to school, but I was hoping it would be beneficial on the weekends to get out of the house even if the weather isn’t nice.
- 10 pages of reading
- I love to read but find myself just watching TV when I have free time.
- 96 ounces of water
- It is so dry in Colorado I need to have a goal and force myself to drink water just to stay hydrated.
- One vegetable
- When I cook for myself, my meals usually aren’t very healthy so I was again hopeful this would encourage me to have more nutritional meals.
- One Hebrew word
- Noa speaks Hebrew and I wanted to start learning.
- No doordash
- This was a way to save some money especially because I have a car so getting delivery food is very unnecessary but convenient.
- Wash face
- My skin was struggling and I was very bad at doing my skincare everyday.
Noa:
- 30 minute walk outside
- 10 pages of reading
- 96 ounces of water
- No DoorDash
- No ramen or bagels
- These were staples in Noa’s diet and she wanted to cut them out to feel healthier.
- Floss & Mouthwash
- She wanted to incorporate this in her daily routine.
We started this challenge on January 17 and ended on March 31. I am very proud to say we succeeded in these tasks for 75 days straight with no cheating!
Walking:
This task was very easy to accomplish on the days where I was walking to campus. The closest building to be was about a 12 minute walk, so I got 24 minutes just by walking there and back. Then I would usually do another lap around my house to finish up the remaining six minutes. Seventy-five Soft took place during the time I was working for the CU Women’s Basketball team, so I was going to the Event Center everyday, which is very far from where my classes are. This made it easy to get that 30 minutes of walking in everyday.
The days I wasn’t going to campus were a little more difficult. Noa and I would try to walk during the day. We live on Arapahoe, so sometimes we would walk down to Safeway and pick up a treat or we would walk down to Pearl Street. On the weekends we would sometimes drive into the mountains and walk on the bike paths or take a hike.
Not everyday was glamorous. One day I had to walk laps around a Target parking lot at 9 a.m. because I was going to a wedding that was going to be an all day event. I hung out in the parking lot when my Mom was picking up some last minute wedding supplies. There were other days where Noa and I had to suit up in our snow pants and snow boots because a blizzard hit, but that didn’t mean 75 Soft stops.
After completing 75 Soft, I don’t usually walk on days that I’m not going to campus, but occasionally I will take a nice walk just to get out in the sun.
Reading:
I read more than I have ever read in a period during the school year since coming to college. The goal was 10 pages a day, but it usually ended up being at least a chapter today. This made me speed through my books quickly. I read “Pretties” by Scott Westerfeld, which was the second book of a trilogy. I also read “Specials” by Scott Westerfeld, which is the final book of the trilogy. Lastly, I started to read “The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet” by John Green.
I haven’t kept up reading everyday, but I do read more often that I did before 75 Soft. I am currently reading “Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief” by Rick Riordan.
Water:
This was HARD. The amount of pee breaks I had to take during the day was crazy and annoying. Noa and I weren’t always great about managing the water throughout the day, so sometimes we had to chug at the end of the night in order to reach our goal. It was also very hard on days where I had to be in a car or plane for long periods or if I was going to see a movie. But these days I just had to be more diligent when I drank the water.
The very last week of 75 Soft, we were visiting our friend in Mexico City, MX. Americans aren’t supposed to drink the tap water in Mexico because there is a bacteria that our bodies are not used to; it can cause stomach problems if consumed. The place that we were staying in did not have a filter, so we had to buy 96 ounces of water in plastic water bottles everyday. What’s good about this was that bottles of water were cheap, but we were going through so much plastic in a day. This was only for six days of the 75 days, though.
Since ending 75 Soft, I haven’t had to wake up in the middle of the night to go pee once, and that has been glorious. But I still drink lots of water throughout the day, which I am grateful for.
Vegetable:
The hardest part of this was keeping my fridge and freezer stocked with vegetables. At the beginning of the challenge, I was only buying frozen vegetables, which proved to not be realistic because it meant I would have to spend time cooking them, which I didn’t always have. I started buying things like carrots which I could just grab quickly and eat. This was also easy because I eat at the dinings halls often and they always have vegetables available to add to your meals. I will admit: some days I would forget about this and have to eat broccoli 20 minutes before going to sleep, but that’s okay!
I have also not kept this habit up, but I do find myself making vegetables on the sides of my meals more often and they are always in my shopping cart when I’m getting groceries, which is a win.
Hebrew:
I loved doing this so much. Noa has spoken Hebrew her entire life and still communicates with her mom and her extended family through Hebrew. Learning languages is difficult, but if you are determined and you keep it up, it is doable. I am nowhere near where I want to be, but I have at least 75 words in my tool kit. I also learned how to write all 75 words using the Hebrew alphabet, which is another skill that has been fun to learn. Now, I recognize some of the letters and the sounds they make. Another aspect that I loved about this is I learned how to pronounce one of the sounds that is in Hebrew but is not in English. This was something I was never successful in during Spanish class in high school.
I don’t learn a word every day still, but I do actively learn from Noa and her family and can recognize words when they are speaking to each other.
DoorDash:
This is probably the task that has changed my life the most, which is very surprising. Before doing 75 Soft, I would order food at least once a week. Ordering food for delivery is so expensive and so unnecessary. After going 75 straight days without ordering food, I do not feel a need to do it anymore. I have only ordered food once since ending 75 Soft but it was for a special occasion. I love that I no longer think about ordering food when I feel too lazy to cook.
Face Wash:
This was a very small part of 75 Soft because I wash my face almost everyday. But, this encouraged me to do my skincare routine even when I was being super lazy. I have been a lot better about keeping my skin clean since ending 75 Soft, but one thing I am disappointed in is that I do not see a difference in my skin problems after washing my face and doing my skin care for 75 straight days.
I loved doing 75 Soft and I would encourage anyone who wants to do it to create their own rules. There is a list of rules you can Google and adhere to, but this is not realistic for every person to accomplish for 75 straight days. I love that I had the freedom to generate my own goals and make them reachable. Noa and I also drew a calendar with empty boxes for each rule. This meant each day we could tick off each task we accomplished for that day, and it made the end of each day so fun to see everything crossed off.