If you follow me on social media or read these e-mails, you know that Friday was the last day of my 75 Day Challenge.
For those who haven’t been following along, I embarked on a challenge that consisted of doing the following five things for 75 straight days, and if you miss a day, you start over.
It’s 75 straight days of:
Two workouts every day, at least 45 minutes, at least one has to be outside
Follow calorie limit, track all food, no cheats, no sweets, no alcohol
Drink a gallon of water every day
Read 10 pages of a personal development book every day
Take a progress pic every day
Well, happy to report, that on Friday I completed the challenge!
My reason for deciding to do this challenge was a single answer…
Sprint.
Since my son was born about 2.5 years ago, I was crushing the small daily wins, I was consistent, but I hadn’t really pushed myself.
I had gained some weight as a new dad, but more so, I just didn’t have the bandwidth to really dial in and focus.
I was running the gym, consulting for over 20+ other businesses, trying to figure out what being a dad was, and trying to be a halfway decent partner.
There was, is still is, no balance.
I was finally ready for a sprint.
I talk often about the sprint vs jog mentality.
Most of the year we’re jogging, we’re trying to do good work, show up, work hard, but we’re not hyper-focused.
I believe that a lot of our biggest progress is made when we decide to sprint, go all in.
However, we can’t sprint all the time, we’ll burn out.
That’s what was so great about the challenge, it had a deadline, 75 days.
When I say sprint, I mean hyper-focused on the physical stuff (workouts, nutrition, etc), but also the mental stuff (mindfulness, gratitude, productivity, presentness, personal/business development, etc).
So, it was a physical challenge, yes, but it was more so a mental challenge.
So, what were my biggest takeaways?
Let’s get the physical stuff out of the way…
I lost about 6% body fat and about 15 pounds.
My expectations on this front were a bit higher, but it was a great reminder for how much work/time it really takes to see results.
I tracked all my food, did two workouts per day, for 75 straight days, and lost 15 pounds.
It’s good, don’t get me wrong, but it’s also a great reminder for those thoughts we have where we think we can lose 20 pounds in 6 weeks by working out 3x per week and eating “pretty good.”
Also, it was a good reminder for keeping strength training as your “main dish.”
Sometimes we’re all guilty of thinking that we need to do a bunch of cardio, get super sweaty, and if we’re not sore we must not have had a great workout.
However, what’s typically happening in that above scenario is we’re losing a bunch fo water weight and muscle, and maintaining the same, if not increasing, body fat percentage.
It was important with my volume of workouts to keep the strength training as the “main dish” so I could maintain my muscle mass while doing “side” workouts like hiking, trail walks, and other outdoor workouts.
I also saw great benefits from drinking the gallon of water every day (aside from having to pee every 45 minutes).
It’s amazing what it feels like to be truly hydrated.
Now, my favorite part…
The mental side of it.
This is by far my favorite part of any of these challenges.
The discipline it takes, the planning, the thoughts that run through your head.
Almost every day there were things I wouldn’t have done if it weren’t for the challenge, like working out when it’s cold and dark out or saying no to that sweet or cold beer.
Watching myself do things I wouldn’t normally do was very hard in the moment, but the most fulfilling after the fact.
I became even more relentless with my planning.
I didn’t fall behind with any of my work, in fact, I would say I got more done because of how focused I had to be with my time.
A great reminder for how much time we “waste” on social media, TV, or checking e-mails.
In fact, both of my businesses, the gym and the consulting, had their best months to date while I was on this challenge, I don’t think that’s a coincidence.
It was hard, there’s no denying it.
But that’s why they call it a challenge.
It’s supposed to be challenging.
If my behaviors didn’t have to change, if my choices didn’t have to change, if I adjusted it to fit my existing lifestyle is it really a challenge?
I would argue no.
Now, for some parting thoughts…
I’ve had some people start the challenge because of my posts, which is pretty cool.
But note, you have to do it for you…
I posted publically about this as one form of accountability, but this challenge is what I needed.
You have to make sure it’s what you need, what is right for you.
It might be, it might not be, and that’s okay.
You have to have doubters and supporters.
Well, at least I did.
I communicated with Megan prior to starting the challenge.
Unless I was traveling, she took every progress picture.
In fact, I crawled into bed at 12:30 am after landing from a trip to Kentucky, on the last day of the challenge, she woke up, groggy and tired, and the first thing she said…
“Did you take your picture?”
Now that’s support.
We did a lot of the outdoor workouts as a family, she was supportive of my eating habits, and time away from the family to get my workouts in.
I had many people throughout the process message me with words of encouragement.
Selfishly, the most motivating comments were the people that said…
“Good for you Doug, I could never do it.”
Why?
What limiting belief do you have?
We can do anything we put our minds to…
Will it be easy?
Heck no.
But you CAN do anything you want to do if you’re willing to have a growth mindset, a positive outlook, a relentless amount of discipline and hard work, and a supportive network around you.
Maybe it’s not this challenge…
Maybe it’s something else you've thought about doing.
I try every day to lead by example…
Lead by example in my work ethic, my discipline, my integrity, and my positivity…
I’m not perfect, far from it, I have a lot of crap I’m working through, but I do know one thing…
I can do it.
You can do it.
You first just have to decide you can.
As for what’s next.
I’m approaching the rest of the year with a “maintain, not gain” mentality.
I still have yet to have a sweet or alcohol or miss a day of reading, but enjoyed my first day in 76 days without a workout yesterday watching football with the family.
I’ll try to keep the habits I built as long as I can.
I’m sure I’ll splurge at some point, but I like how I feel right now.
Right now, I’m aiming to be the best leader I can be, the best dad I can be, and to be there for Megan as she painfully deals with the final weeks of pregnancy in prep for Baby Girl Spurling coming in late November/early December.
1% Better.
Dedicated to Your Success,
Doug Spurling