75 Hard (or was it medium), Flirty Thirty, “New Year New Me”… It’s that time of the year once again, when social media starts bombarding us with ways to ‘better ourselves’ for this New Year. But is it necessary to go through with one of these trends as part of our resolutions?
Our generation has grown up around “glow-up culture,” and we seem to have forgotten what it’s like not to constantly think about improving ourselves. There is nothing wrong with wanting to be better, but sometimes, better can be worse.
There are many trends that resurface with each New Year but one in particular has been nagging me: 75 Hard.
75 Hard
75 Hard is a trend started by male author and podcaster, Andy Frieslla. The challenge consists of:
- Exercising for 45 minutes twice a day. One of these workouts must be done outside regardless of the weather
- Only eating healthy meals
- No alcohol
- Drinking more than 3 litres of water a day
- Reading 10 pages of non-fiction every day
These tasks must be completed strictly for 75 days with no breaks or pauses.
On paper, and in isolation, these seem fairly attainable; however, Frisella seems to be forgetting that the average person has a 9-5 job, a social life, or a family. Moreover, he provides no guidance on what exercise one should be doing or what is meant by ‘healthy’ meals. Which, in truth, is probably for the best as he is not a certified health or sports professional.
Nonetheless, this does not mean that going through with the challenge cannot provide any benefits. At the beginning of 2025, BBC UK interviewed people who had undertaken the challenge in 2024 and they emphasised that whilst it was uncomfortable at first, and did affect their social life, they also improved their relationship with food and now exercise more regularly t. However, these testimonies were given by ordinary people, not professionals
In fact, professionals like Ayana Ali, have reviewed the challenge and warned that it “can set you up for a cycle of bingeing and restricting”. Going on a diet that you think is ‘healthy’ by restricting many food groups can actually backfire and alter your relationship with food further.
Frisella is not a professional and thus cannot provide any information about what a healthy meal is for you as an individual. In the same way that he cannot specify what kind of exercise you should be doing.
The Glorification of 75 Medium
The acknowledgement of the dangers of 75 Hard has led to the glorification of its ‘easier’ version: 75 Medium.
75 Medium follows the same bases as 75 Hard with some modifications:
- Drink half your body weight in ounces of water
- Exercise 45 minutes every day
- Stick to your chosen diet 90% of the time without drinking alcohol
- Read or listen for 10 minutes to something you find inspirational
- Meditate or pray for 5-10 minutes every day
- Take one progress picture every day
I personally have several issues with this version of 75 Hard. Firstly, 90% of the time is just as strict as 100%. Say that you have three meals and two snacks every day, each meal would be 30% and each snack 5% adding up to 100% of your intake. This means that you can ‘not stick’ to your diet for those two snacks, or ⅓ of your meal, making outings with friends or family meals just as complicated. Not to mention, the headache all this meal math gives me, I could never! Likewise, the challenge does not specify what diet you should pick, and like these fitness challenges, there are too many out there to count. Finally, the progress picture aspect of it, I find extremely toxic. As a woman going through menstruation, my body fluctuates throughout the month constantly. I might find myself less bloated at the beginning of the challenge and halfway through, get my period and look much more bloated, tricking me into thinking that I haven’t made much progress. Health is about so much more than just your physical appearance and cannot be tracked only using images.
Alternatives to Fitness Challenges
There is nothing wrong with wanting to focus on your physical health, however, there are less radical ways of doing this that also take into account your mental health.
Ideally, speaking to a professional is the first step. Someone who can give you advice on what your body needs, both physically and mentally. However, not all of us have access to this all the time.
Fitness and health have been at the core of my New Year’s Resolutions for the past few years and these are the things that I have found to help me set and follow my goals.
First, I do some self-reflection. I take some time to think about what I liked about my 2024 fitness journey. Is there a particular form of exercise that I really enjoyed doing? What foods made me happy when I ate them? Is there anything in particular that I really want to bring into 2025? Once I have a list of the things that I want to continue doing I turn to the things that I didn’t get a chance to try. Perhaps there was a workout class that I never went to but could never find the time, or a harmless habit like journaling that I never really gave a try. I write these down as well and set them side by side with my previous list.
I look at these two lists together and select the activities that I think are compatible with my current lifestyle, and that I will be able to continue doing for more than 75 days. Finally, I attempt them. Sometimes most of them stick, sometimes only one or two do, but that’s okay because I’m always left with at least one habit that makes me a bit happier. It might not sound like a lot, but it is still an improvement and that is all I am looking for.
The pressure to be ‘better’ is always there and it sometimes gets a bit overwhelming. These challenges are just one example. But remember, your 2025 self does not have to be different from your 2024 self. Growing is nice, but being happy is nicer.