My Experience with 75 Soft

This is the first time I have done a lifestyle challenge/diet like this one. I have fasted for Lent. I have taken breaks from sugar. I have tried to eat clean, consume whole foods, etc. With this challenge, though, I did a lot of these things at once.

First of all, what even is 75 Soft? Well, it is a lighter version of Andy Frisella's (n.d.). 75 Hard. Frisella says 75 Hard is a mental toughness challenge, but really, it is is a diet (especially given the fact that all the pictures on his website are of people with body changes) (Page, 2022). As conceived by Frisella, the original challenge involves 75 days of drinking one gallon of water a day, following a diet, reading 10 pages of a nonfiction book, engaging in two 45-minute workouts (at least one outside), and taking daily progress photos (Peters & Duncan, 2025). One day of messing up means starting over. Frisella supposedly did this challenge to win a bet about losing body fat (Page). People now do it for all kinds of reason, and some are pretty die-hard about it.

I exercise a lot, but 45 minutes twice a day seemed unreasonable. A gallon of water felt like far too much for my size. Going into half-marathon training, I was not about ready to start a diet to lose weight (and also because I had no weight I wanted to lose). Enter 75 Soft.

The 75 Soft program is  an alternative to 75 Hard. With 75 Soft, there is a little more grace: only three liters of water, "permission" to engage in social meals, only one 45 minute workout a day (with the option of an active recovery or rest day), and "permission" to read any book (Cleveland Clinic, 2023). (I put "permission" in quotes because no one needs permission to do anything. Every person can make his or her own choices.) An off day does not require starting over. It just means bouncing back and continuing.

Why I did it. I came up with the idea to do 75 Soft after reading Jonathan Haidt's book The Righteous Mind. Getting through it was a challenge, but I felt so accomplished each day I got through more of my reading! How could I do more of this? I wondered. My husband had set a quarter goal of starting an exercise program. I thought maybe doing 75 Soft together would motivate both of us. When I proposed the, my husband asked why not 75 Hard. After listening to my reasons, he agreed to the softer version and really, by the end, we each had our own individual versions of the challenge.

My version of 75 Soft: For my 75 days, I decided to stick with the three liters of water, as even that meant adding about 40 ounces to my typical consumption. As stated earlier, I was not about to go on a restrictive diet, so instead, I upped my minimum carbs and protein intake and decided to try to get that increase from non-processed sources/whole food sources (i.e. without sugar). (I also worked to eat closer to the 30-90 minute after running instead of getting distracted and postponing my recovery meal.) I decided to go cold turkey and not take off days from the challenge, but that is really more about me and my personality than anything else. I am an "all-in" or "all-out" kind of person. I took progress photos just for kicks (more on that later). My experience was different than I expected.

The Surprises: Having not gone on a "crash" diet before, I was surprised to experience the "Last Supper" mentality. The "Last Supper" mentality is the urge to overeat before starting a restrictive diet (Cohen, 2021). For me, that looked like eating the rest of a bag of mini marshmallows the day before we started the challenge. I had been putting some in my hot chocolate every night, but on night zero when I realized I would not be eating sugar for a long time, I just decided to eat the rest of them. Waste not, want not, I reasoned. 

I had calculated out how much more water I needed to drink, and thought it would be easy given my increased hydration needs with running. What I did not realize was that 75 Hard rules say there can be nothing in that water (KakaoQueen, 2021). That meant that my hydration mixes, protein drinks, tea, etc. did not count towards my three liters (about 104 ounces). I figured out that if I drank a 40 ounce Thermoflask in addition to the 16 ounces of water I drink with every meal and snack, I could get there, though. To adequately fuel running, however, I had to find a way to get electrolytes, and without sugar or fake sugar. That last part proved to be a challenge, as most powdered mixes contain one or the other. Most salt tabs also have a sweetener in them. I thought I found an alternative salt tab only to realize about 75% through the challenge that it had artificial sweetener in it. Bummer!

We do not eat out much, or so I thought, but I guess we do so more than I think. Not having restaurants as an option (due to my no sugar and limit processed foods rules-things that are hard to control at restaurants) made date days and events with friends more challenging. We still did them, but I ended up taking my own food. I also hosted my husband's birthday dinner instead of meeting friends out for it, which is what I would have normally done.

The Benefits: Although I really do agree that 75 Hard is a diet, I can see why it is called a mental challenge, as I saw some mental benefits. As a go getter, I had wait to check off all of my goals until end of day, since the water and eating goals required a full day of work. That strengthened my ability to delay gratification. (It did feel empowering when I checked off my tasks, however.). Although I found myself in the bathroom at lot more with drinking so much water, I did find that my bowel habits were more regular (maybe TMI, but true), and my stomach felt better overall. When we experienced a heat wave due to broken air conditioning, my hydration and eating goals kept me on track for self care when all I wanted was to lay flat on the floor and cry. Seeing the stack of paper books I finished boosted my ego. By the end of the challenge, I was thinking less about tracking most of my tasks, as they had become habits (all except that three liters of water, which was the bane of my existence!). 

As as result of 75 Soft, I got more creative with dates and gifts for my husband. My husband and I started exercising together more, engaging in partner yoga and even a running event! I felt so proud of my husband as I watched him complete every step of the challenge. In these ways, 75 Soft grew our relationship. I would say the challenge was successful for these reasons

Takeaways: The 75 Soft challenge grew me. Eating extra protein was not as hard as I thought. I was reminded that whole food is good food. Although my body did not change (not the point, but I hoped maybe I could put on a little muscle, especially for those pull-up goals!), "progress" photos did show me some posture issues I can correct (like anterior pelvic tilt, which might be the source of some of my back pain). I read the most paper books I have read in a long time, maybe since middle school? Being creative with dates was good for our relationship.

Though more holistic than some diets, in and of itself, this challenge is definitely lacking in relational and spiritual components. I got the relational component by doing it with my husband, but I would argue that a true lifestyle challenge should include a relational part, especially given the loneliness epidemic. As a Christian, I think a spiritual discipline could be added. I do not think I will do this challenge again, but I could add those components if I wanted to do so.

I say I do not think I will do this challenge again because I learned what I think I needed. I got the benefits, and now I think I want to carry on in a less restricted, less regimented fashion. I also see the drawbacks. Restricting anything for me makes me want to swing to the other extreme, neither of which are good for me. As such, we went to eat ASAP after our 75 days finished. Now I am going into a carb-load for my half-marathon. Talk about extremes. I will be eating sugar and eating out again during planned upcoming travel. I think reading nonfiction books is beneficial, but I don't have room to keep buying and storing paper ones, so I plan to go back to e-books. And that water? Yeah, that is going to go. Half my body weight in ounces in sufficient for my intake. (Self-disclosure: I don't weight 208 pounds.) Three liters is just overkill. It is far more convenient to put my electrolytes in my water for running. I also enjoy drinking other beverages that got crowded out by the water. Oh, and not going to the bathroom so much might be nice!

Soft or not, this 75 day challenge was hard. I am glad we did it, but I am glad we are done. The end.

References:

Cleveland Clinic. (2023, November 13). The 75 soft challenge: When 75 hard is too much. https://health.clevelandclinic.org/75-soft-challenge

Cohen, G. (2021, July 8). The last supper syndrome. KaraLydon.com. https://karalydon.com/health-wellness/last-supper-syndrome/

Frisella, A. (n.d.). 75 hard. AndyFrisella.com. https://andyfrisella.com/pages/75hard-info?srsltid=AfmBOoob8Io2QNZ5X6_n-9BWRpW45yr8L1Tc9LxClZWqNesAsdkJuQdk

KakaoKween. (2021). Can coffee and tea count as part of the 1 Gallon of “water” goal? Thinking of starting soon and the [Online forum post]. Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/75HARD/comments/njie6x/can_coffee_and_tea_count_as_part_of_the_1_gallon/

Page, M. (2022, December 14). 75 hard - Is it worth it? (No. 35) [Audio podcast episode]. In Seems like diet culture. https://liveunrestricted.mykajabi.com/podcasts/seems-like-diet-culture-2/episodes/2147834412

Peters, T. & Duncan, T.A. (2025, September 25). What Is 75 hard? The ‘mental toughness’ program is delivering drastic results — but is it safe? Today. https://www.today.com/health/diet-fitness/75-hard-challenge-rcna153979