I DID IT!

 I actually did it!  I completed the 75 Hard Challenge!  It was a long haul, but it is done and just in the nick of time!

Obviously when I started this challenge I expected to make it, but I will admit that within a few days I was doubting myself.  I doubted my ability to actually complete this!  I didn't let it deter me. I focused on completing one day at a time.  Exercise number one, water, read exercise number two, water, diet, picture.......repeat.  Over and over and over again  and the days started to wrack up and then I started to think that maybe, just maybe I could finish this.   And you know what?  I DID IT!

So what are my thoughts about the challenge now that it is done:

*  I learned that I can actually do something difficult.  I honestly think that I forgot what I was capable of!

* I learned that step counts are detrimental to me.  Yeah, I know that there was nothing in the 75 Hard Challenge about steps!  However, I started to see the  steps adding up.  I started to get happy as I was posting large step count days and I found myself turning away from activities that didn't garner me steps.  An upper body day where I focused on arm work and didn't have many steps......not something I wanted.  Likewise floor work was the devil!  I didn't want to sacrifice my steps.   So while piling up the step count is awesome, for me it might not be quite as awesome!

* While I never fell in love with exercise (I did enjoy my walks outside once the weather got warmer) I did fall in in love with how my body started to respond.  I could see some major changes in how I was able to handle situations.  I was able to walk longer and further.  I was able to do more work in the yard with less breaks.  My stamina improved drastically.

* I went too easy on myself in terms of diet.  I set up a diet plan that allowed me to have an attainable goal but it was not a goal that was conducive to weight loss.  It was a plan to ensure maintaining my weight.  And maintaining is good, but I need to be losing.   I am not sure what I would do if I had to do it over again.  I would still want it to be attainable but I would also want to do something that would have ensured a bit more weight loss.  Because while I did lose a LITTLE, I didn't lose a lot.

*  When I got sick and I was laying there on the couch waiting for the next round in the bathroom I literally had the thought, "What in the world would I have done had I still been in the midst of the 75 Hard Challenge.  Luckily I was 3 days past the end.  (What would have been day 78 had the challenge extended past 75 days.)  Therefore it was not an issue for me to deal with.  But it is food for thought.  The official rules of the challenge indicate that if you miss a day you have to start back at day 1.  I literally had to lay down on the bathroom floor after bouts of sickness because I was too weak to make my way back to the bed/couch.   An hour and a half of exercise was physically not possible. Even getting the reading done was near impossible I feel.   So I am torn on that rule after it's done and that experience.  Like I said, luckily for me I got sick after the challenge and didn't have to deal with that problem.

So would I do the 75 Hard challenge again.  Yes, I actually would.   I was a little sad to see it end.   I would definitely come up with an idea of how I would deal with something that honestly prohibited me from completing a day.    I would definitely set my daily diet a bit more strict.  The last thing I would do differently would be to work up a set workout routine that allowed my knee and body rest.  

Overall, I am so very happy with my experience.  The 75 hard challenge set me up with some amazing habits. It has put me on the right path for a healthy (healthier) lifestyle....and that is the name of the game!