My 75 Medium Challenge + Free Tracker Printable 💪

Wanting to tackle 75 Hard— but make it a bit more realistic for your life??

Here is the 75 “Medium” Rules that I followed to gain more discipline and create lasting health habits.

In the last few months, I have witnessed, in myself, a need for more discipline. I noticed a pattern of setting a goal or intention, only to allow it to fizzle out weeks, months, or even days later. There have been seasons where I needed to honor gentleness in my goals (intentionally choosing this gentleness postpartum, for example), but I have witnessed an increased capacity for more. Yet that muscle of self-discipline was, honestly, pretty weak. 

I have had friends and family complete the 75 Hard challenge and seen first-hand how it supported their physical health, mental health, and overall mental toughness. While I respect the program overall, I also know that it is a bit much for me currently. I have two young kids at home, am not always sleeping through the night due to said kids, and like most people-- am just living a pretty busy life-- and am looking for long-term habits over short-lived major differences or physical changes. 

So, that led to me finding the 75 soft challenge, or 75 medium challenge. There is really no set guide as they are all spin-offs of the original challenge, but after looking through a few for inspiration, I set my intentions for my own 75 medium challenge rules. I wanted them to be ambitious enough that they would require intention and discipline, while still being realistically attainable in this current season of my life. I wanted these rules to help instill the foundational healthy habits and rhythms to support good health long beyond the 75 days. 

Why 75 Hard Was Not the Right Program for Me

I am assuming that since you landed on this blog post, you are already familiar with 75 Hard and the spin-off challenges. But if you are not, here you go:

75 Hard Challenge Rules

1. 1. Follow a Diet: Participants must choose a specific diet plan and adhere to it without any cheat meals or alcohol.

2. 2. Two Daily Workouts: Two 45-minute workouts must be completed each day, with one being outdoors.

3. 3. Drink a Gallon of Water: Participants must drink a gallon of plain water daily.

4. 4. Read 10 Pages: Daily reading is a requirement, with participants needing to read 10 pages of a non-fiction, self-improvement book.

5. 5. Take a Daily Progress Photo: A photo must be taken each day to visually track progress.

When I first looked at that list, I knew immediately that it wasn't quite right for me and my personal health goals. If you resonate with the challenge of the strict rules, go for it. But for me, the list felt more like arbitrary rules than intentional goals. Like I mentioned before, I wanted a 75-day challenge that queued me up for habits that I would carry onward long beyond the challenge end date.

Here were some of the reasons why the 75 Hard rules were not right for me:

Avoiding alcohol- I already remain alcohol free the majority of the time. Since having my son 20 months ago, I can count the alcoholic beverages I have had on one hand-- all of which were drunk during our 3-week trip to Italy last year. So this is something that is not a challenge for me, or something that resonates with my goals.

Drinking a gallon of water- you know i am all about drinking those mineral-rich fluids to stay hydrated (especially especially especially when you are sweating from intense workouts). So plain water- especially in that quantity- just doesn't fit with my views of health, wellness, and cellular nourishment. 

Take a daily progress photo- Again, this was something that did not personally resonate. For the last year, I have been on a journey of embracing my gray hair in my 20s and separating the idea of how I visually show up in the world being tied to my value (you probably were not expecting to get so deep in a blog post, but here we are). My goals for pursuing this type of challenge are not anything that can be externally measured or seen in a progress photo. I am desiring healthier habits, personal growth, and consistency with new routines.

2 45-minute workouts- This was something that I had to realistically evaluate my capacity for. My first priority is always showing up well for my family- and that includes in my reactions and patience. Knowing myself, I can see this being a sticky point of maintaining my energy to be present and intentional with my children, and meeting a specific quota of working out. For myself, I knew I would benefit from the fitness challenge and improve my overall health by committing to a single 45-minute workout, rather than the 2. 

That said, I do see value in being outside every single day, but that is already something I consistently practice in my daily routine. 

As you can see, I personally evaluated and curated a modified version that would meet my goals-- and in that, also honoring my family's goals and capacity. 

My 75 Medium Challenge Rules + Guidelines

In the same way I looked at the 75 Hard Rules and decided they were not the right fit for my daily life, you can look at this list and feel the same way. I really believe the best way to go about this is to evaluate your own goals, priorities, and capacity, and then come up with your own rules to follow. 

1. Follow a diet- for me, I already follow a pretty healthy diet about 80% of the time. But as always, there is room for improvement. For me, this means consistently meeting my protein goal and avoiding processed sugars. But otherwise, I'm not super strict about anything. I want to maintain a balanced diet, without relying on restriction. Instead, I am a big advocate for the idea of "crowding out" and implementing daily habits with the least amount of friction possible. This method can be a great way to make lasting positive change.

2. 8 Hours of Sleep- I will talk again and again and again about the importance of sleep quality. It is truly so foundational to good health. And this is also one of my issues with 75 hard-- most people are staying up late to squeeze in all the requirements, hit their water intake, and make sure they get enough physical activity, it is cutting into their sleep time-- and quality. I would argue that high-quality sleep will make more of an impact on your wellness endeavor than an extra daily workout. 

I sleep really well once I fall asleep. But far too often, I want to stay up late reading and find that my sleep is negatively affected. My kids both wake up every morning between 7 and 8, so I try to get up at 6 so that I have a bit of time to myself in the mornings. That means I need to be asleep by 10, giving myself a reading cut off of 9:45 at the latest.

Also, 8 hours is the time that I have noticed my body and brain needs to function optimally. And while that is the average recommendation, some people need a little more or a little less. This is one of those areas where you need to pay attention to what your own body is telling you and implement accordingly!

3. drinking a gallon a day- How much water you should drink is influenced by a wide range or different factors: the environment you live, if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, have a medical condition, take certain medications, or how intense your workouts are. If you are sweating a lot, you are also going to want to replenish those lost electrolytes. For myself, I know roughly a gallon of mineral-rich fluids is an appropriate amount for my current lifestyle. 

4. One 45-minute workout- Lately I have been going to a group fitness class at my gym-- and I am loving it. For years, I have lifted weights and been fairly active, but I was starting to feel rather uninspired with my workouts, and also wasn't noticing much improvement in my strength or fitness measurements. 

5. 10k steps daily- I found that most people who did the 75 Hard program, used a 45-minute outdoor workout at their second 45 minute workout. Rather than committing to a full 45-minute walk, it is easier for me to commit to a daily step goal. Any other parents could probably relate; sometimes, a long walk just doesn't happen. So instead, I can commit to getting plenty of steps in throughout the day (most often in two shorter walks) and supporting my fitness level through low-impact movement and daily activities. 

​75 Medium Challenge Printable 

Having a visual reminder of your goals is a great way to create accountability! I have used this habit tracker for years and it was the perfect tool to create a visual reminder of my 75 Medium Rules! 

This habit tracker is super basic-- but also very customizable. You can write out whatever your personal goals are in the column to the left and check them off daily. There is also a blank space on the bottom to write notes, list out some inspirational quotes, or write out your "why". I find this to be a helpful way to remind yourself of your goals and instill that follow-through. 

You'll quickly see that this habit tracker is originally made for monthly use. So if you are following a 75-day-long program, you will need 3 of them printed out. 

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As always, nothing on this blog is professional medical advice. Chat with a qualified health provider to discuss what is appropriate for your health history and personal goals. 

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