75 Hard: Complete!

 It was a hell of a ride, but I am proud to say I completed 75 Hard.

A reminder of what 75 Hard entails: taking a progress picture daily, drinking 1 gallon of water, two 45-minute workouts (1 has to be outside), a diet of your choosing, no alcohol, and no cheat meals.

I kept it simple for my diet and stuck to a calorie goal. With the holidays, I gave myself some wiggle room to eat whatever I liked but kept to a strict calorie diet. So if I wanted to only eat pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving, I could. I would just have to suffer for the rest of the day. 

Luckily, turkey was the main entree for the 6 Thanksgiving dinners we had during the week, so I could load up on protein. Another rule I set for myself was to only make one plate. Which meant I was for sure going to pass on a few things I am not a massive fan of but otherwise would have shoved my face with if I didn't have a goal in place. 

To kick off 75 Hard, I wanted to get an accurate measurement of my weight, body fat percentage, and visceral fat. One of the most accurate ways of doing that is getting a DEXA Scan. Without getting too nerdy, a DEXA scan is actually used to measure bone density. You lay down on a high-tech table, and they scan your whole body. They can tell you exactly where you hold your weight. The entire test takes about 10 minutes, and the amount of information they get is incredible.

Some people do not like these tests because there is no hiding behind excuses as to why the results are bad. On a typical scale, it's easy for the results to be skewed. If you drink 1 glass of water, it could throw off the whole test. If you weigh yourself in the morning after a large dinner, it's easier to justify the less-than-favorable results. 

A DEXA scan gives it to you like it is. No hiding or excuse-making. My 1st test was not good. I won't share the full results, it's 4 pages long, but I will give you the highlights. If you want the full results, DM me on any of my social media pages.

I was unhealthy. My weight was higher than it's been in years, my body fat percentage was disgusting, and my visceral fat was at an alarmingly high number. Visceral fat is the stuff that can cause serious health issues like diabetes and heart disease. 

After that test, I scheduled my following scan for the last day of 75 Hard to give myself an extra goal to hit.

The first few weeks of 75 were somewhat "easy." It was definitely an adjustment getting back into the swing of things, but the excitement of doing 75 Hard made it easier to enjoy being sore, and seeing results only made me drive even harder. 

75 Hard lasts for 75 days. It's not uncommon to start out going hard and really attacking it, but if you haven't been stretching and taking care of your body to that extent, one of the top things that can slow your momentum and potentially take you out of the fight is injury. 

Less than 20 days in, that's what happened to me. I ended up suffering from some back issues. Usually, when I deal with back pain, it lasts for a couple days and moves on. This time something was seriously fucked up, and I could hardly walk for 2 weeks. When things like that get tough, I have started to build a higher level of pain tolerance and work through it. I still went out and did my outdoor workouts, which usually entailed a run. But with the pain shooting up into my neck and down to my feet, I stuck to walking. Instead of hitting a punching bag or lifting weights for my indoor workout, I stuck to mobility work and stretching. For somebody like me who never stretches, stretching or yoga can make me sweat more than playing basketball for 2 hours can. 

The other unfortunate thing about dealing with this back pain that lingered for an entire month was I missed the core of the marathon training I was supposed to be doing. I signed up for the Memphis Marathon and was training to destroy my previous times. When the race day finally came, I shifted to the half marathon. I ended up setting a new personal record.

Once I got through the back issues, things got easier. I skated through the next 20 or so days. I began to struggle mentally over the last 2 weeks. I may have been in the habit of knocking out my tasks for 60 or so days, but it doesn't make it any easier when you attend a guy's night, and all your friends are drinking bourbon, and you have to drink coffee to take the edge off. 

The last 2-3 days were undoubtedly the most challenging. I got hit with some kind of bug that would kick my ass. So much so that I'd struggle through a couple of nights of fever, no sleep, and chills. One morning, I woke up and went into the kitchen to get some ibuprofen and water. On my way back into the bedroom, I passed out and went unconscious for a minute or so. I woke up on the floor, drenched in sweat, being held by my wife while she talked to the 911 operator. 

Paramedics came, and everything checked out fine, I laid back in bed, and it wasn't long after when I told my wife, "there is no way I am quitting with 3 days left" She more or less knew I was going to complete this one way or another. The only rule she had for me was she would be attending my outdoor workouts with me. Which made me happy. I love going on walks with my wife. We usually catch up on things and discuss dreams and goals, but this time we discussed different scenarios on what she would need to do in case I decided to pass out again. Luckily I stayed on my feet.

My wife HATES the cold. The only excitement we had during those 3 days of walking, the temperature decided to drop, and the wind decided to pick up so much so it would rip through whatever we were wearing. So every gust of wind made things, for me, comical. 

All in all, it was a success. I went and completed my second DEXA scan and was pleased with the results.

I dropped 15 pounds of fat, decreased my body fat percentage by 6%, and got my visceral fat to a workable number. I still have a long way to go in my journey, and I look forward to the next phase.

Until next time,

JD