Challenge2, Day - 1

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Fri Mar  1 13:01:49 2024
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Took necessary printouts for Smita and myself.
Had a last glass of Sujata Mastani (Special Pista) at night.
Enthusiastically started 75.2 i.e. 75 Hard, Challenge #2

Morning realization - Weigh in - 90.45 (!!).
It is 3 kg up from the end of last challenge. But it's not unexpected. Last 10 days have been gorging anything and everything from sweets to fried to desserts to chocolates to all kind of junk at any time during the day!!

Refocus and restart today.

Today did a 2 km run with difficulty and slow pace - but tickmark done.
Reading was easy. Reading the book on Emotional Intelligence.
Did 2 Pomodoros of work and then attended 3 back to back meetings.

I am betting on Jagannath Dixit Diet (JDD) and Loseit/HealthifyMe App heavily.
According to JDD, you can eat solid food only in 2 slots of 50 minutes each. And in the meals, no sweet or fried or cold drinks allowed. and Try to add protein in it. Last Challenge, I was eating carbs throughout the day... Dry fruits mainly but even (Diet) Chiwada and anything not sweet. So, chose JDD.

First week will be hard. Hope to sustain it and continue for entire 75.2! 

75 Hard - again...

It's often said that we have only 2 problems in life

1. We don't know what we want.
2. We don't know how to get what we want.

For "1" there is WICHDILL (let's discuss that some other time)

and for "2", one has to focus on Process and not Product.

and for the Process focus, the vehicle is, Hard75!!

After my first H75 ended on 19th Feb, I consumed unlimited amount of sweet and junk food over last whole week.

And thoroghly enjoyed it because "I deserved it".  That was new experience. I never deserved eating junk :) 

Now time to get back to some discipline, and what could be better than doing 75Hard again?

So, leveraging the experience and learnings from first experiment of 75Hard, from tomorrow, 1st March 2024, I am starting the 2nd experiment.
Start - 1st March 2024

End - 14 May 2024

This is slightly different. Less difficulty but more accountability and evidence trail, with following challenges:

1. Selfie or Weigh-in everyday (note the weight on sheet)
2. Run 2 km or 7 Minutes exercise everyday (note the timing in the sheet)
3. Consume Water 2.5 liters
4. Follow Jagannath Dikshit Diet and record on Lose it App - i.e. eat in 2 windows of 50 minutes each. No solid food allowed outside that window. No Sweet, Fried, Cold Drinks, Alcohol - except Sunday
5. Read 10 pages of any paper book
6. At least 2 xTreme Pomodoros (Full focused work - without distractions of mobile/music/people - with evidence - using pomodoro App)
7. Riyaz - follow the Riyaz bullet  - 15-20 minutes session of Alankar and Palte (note the timing of doing this)
8. Meditation 20 minutes only (with timing noted)
   
   There are a few optional days (e.g. no Pomodoros on weekend compulsary, and cheat/junk food allowed on Sunday.
   There are also 5 jokers - i.e. 5 activities missed during 75 days is allowed. Don't have to restart everything from start.

I am again excited to start it and request your good wishes to successfully do it 🙏

And if you can join in this adventure, nothing like it 👍. 

Please feel free to declare it in comments or on any other social platform!

I'll use this blog to keep updating and sharing my progress and challenges during our journey!

 

A Hyped Challenge - everyone should try at least once...

Getting sucked into this hype - that had become a BIG social media craze and almost a cult following - I decided to start this experiment called "75 Hard" on 6th December 2023. 

Initial decision was a kinda knee jerk reaction upon returning from a memorable and delicious - but over-eating - Indore  trip (A lavish Wedding and Food extravaganza at Sarafa Bazar and 56 dukan 🙂 ).
But "75 Hard" turned out to be one of the the best decisions.

Soon realized that it’s not a weight reduction challenge, but in fact, more than physical, a mental fitness challenge - a comfort zone transcending challenge.

In its original form, the challenge has 5 simple - but not easy - set of rules/rituals that you have to follow for 75 days continuously without missing a single day.

You are allowed to add or - only slightly - tweak the rules.

Taking this liberty, I chose following daily rules for me, which I initially thought would be easy to stick to. 

1. 45 minutes exercise (can be walk too)
2. Read 10+ pages of non fiction paper book
3. Drink 3+ liters water
4. No cheat eating (no sweet, no fried food, no cold drinks, no  alcohol)
5. Taking Daily selfie (Easiest🙂 )
6. Do 4+ pomodoros (1 pomodoro is 25 minutes session of undistracted deep solo work of your choice - can be learning online)
7. Meditation and/or Riyaz for 45 minutes
8. And, most importantly, If you miss any task on any day. Completely start over from day 1!!😥

 Many people consider 75Hard a game changer!

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Time lapse 75 days: On 18th February 2024, my challenge was successfully complete!!

... And I could definitely see its "game changing effects" (though not so much visibly 😉) !

• Zero sweet cravings after first 15 days (Unbelievable, because I always had unbearable cravings for years!)
• More strength and 10 year Personal Best records (PB) in Benchpress and Squats 💪💪💪
• More energy and feeling enthusiastic (confirmed by family members) throughout the day
• Better and more satisfying game of badminton
• Less screen and more paper books time. Did not stop at 10 pages daily and ended up reading many (8-10) books. 📖
• No headaches (mostly due to adequate water) - that I used to get quite frequently.
• No bloating (mostly due to zero overeating)
• Interesting experience of meditation  (woo woo stuff - if you believe in it)
• More regularity to vocal Riyaz and YouTube channel content creation.
• Somehow weight has not come down significantly (only 2.5 kg), but 2 pant sizes down
• Substantial increase in running (completed couple of 10K races progressively easily) , reading, meditating, working endurance.

It was not too easy, but not too difficult either.
In case you are considering (highly highly recommended) here are a couple of suggestions that might help

• Assume that first week will be difficult week. Keep a goal of completing only 1st week initially.
• Print a paper sheet (checkout one template attached) and stick it on the wall and mark it daily
• Make sure to carry water bottle everywhere
• Plan for next day - a day earlier, especially if you are planning to travel or having different schedule.
• And, finally, Support from family (and friends) is most important!
  So, declare your initiative and get them on board to support and encourage you, and if possible get them to join you (my daughter happily joined me and we could cheer each other!)
  
  
  

75Hard Checklist

I would highly highly recommend everyone to try it. It can be done by anyone from 15 to 85+ years. Make your own rules and follow them diligently.

Take your time to plan thoroughly, (think and note down use cases like: what will I do in this condition and that, and during travel and friends party and sick days etc.), declare to people and request them for support and encouragement, take a print of 75 day checklist and stick it on wall (don't do on laptop/phone) and then take a plunge. 

Missing one day means starting all over. So don't take very hard things - just a few things, just out of your  comfort zone.
Doing it continuously for 75 days without missing a single day is a BIG Responsibility. But don't worry, as the "Nam Redips" would say😉

"With Great Responsibility, comes Great Power!" 😊

So, do consider taking this responsibility. More power to you!!

All the best👍👍
We are here to cheer for you 🥳