Learn to Focus with the 75 Hard Challenge
Jun 03, 2020
Show notes
Learn to focus on what matters by doing the 75 Hard Challenge especially right now.
At the end of March, I was halfway through my 75 Hard Challenge. Things were starting to look bleak all over.
Covid-19 was starting to spread. My wife and I had already talked about limiting contact with the outside world afraid the news of millions of deaths in America might be right.
On top of that, the oil market crashed in one weekend. I was working for an Oil and Gas services company at the time and all my projects got canceled that Monday morning.
I went another week as normal with not much to do at work. My boss called me first thing Friday morning. He never calls me. It was the phone call to tell me I no longer had a job. Because of oil prices, the company was downsizing and I was part of the first round of layoffs.
Congrats to me! Covid-19 crazy was in full swing. Most businesses were not open. Never mind them even thinking of hiring someone.
Things didn’t look good. I filed for unemployment and put an application in for 15 different jobs that weekend.
Everything was closing and had autoresponders about getting back to me after COVID Crazy was over.
Even Amazon, that was supposed to be hiring 100,000 people waited until they could do interviews in person again to hire drivers. The world had gone crazy and I was stuck at home.
But I continued my 75 Hard challenge because it was something I could control. I finished on May 1.
Now the world seems to be going through a different crazy only weeks after the COVID Crazy was settling down.
Protests turning into riots. Stores being looted… and on and on.
There always seems to be something going on. There will never be a good time to start, and the world will always be ending.
You need to focus on the things that matter to you… not what the TV tells you to focus on.
If you watched all the news and all the social media on the rioting going on would it change anything?
You should probably watch to make sure you and your family aren’t in danger. But beyond that, why are you watching? Can you change what happened? Or what is happening?
You can only change you. And by changing you, you can set the example to the people around you.
I have an 11-year-old son that I want to set a great example for. I want him to see me at my best. I cannot be at my best watching the media and getting pissed off. I can be at my best by changing myself and having conversations about the things that matter.
You need to figure out what matters to you and what you can change.
First up, what matters to you? Figure that out! Fast like in a hurry… like now. Put those things in order and make time for it!
When you put things like who the President of the United States is and what he does on your list of what matters you need to look at the things you can change.
There is your sphere of concern (the president and what he does… it’s on my list too) and your sphere of influence. Your sphere of influence is much smaller and contains the things you can change. Like your attitude and reaction to the things the president does and who is elected.
What do you want to show your children? What would your best self do? What would the person that is ten times the person you are do? Now do that!
Focus on what you can change and what matters. Everything else is background noise that you might want to be aware of, but ultimately you have little you can do about it.
Learn to focus on the things that matter to you and that you can change.
I finished my 75 Hard Challenge and kept my workouts going even with the gyms closed and when I was looking for a job.
Having to schedule two workouts a day was one of the hardest things for me to learn during my 75 Hard.
Here we are during crazy times. Are you still scheduling things that matter?
Are you making yourself better?
Are you continuing forward to become your best self?
Or do you let things go because COVID, riots, Y2K, or any other crazy thing that is going to happen to you?
If you are really in the middle of a crisis, you need to shore yourself up and get through it, then go right back to focusing on what matters and becoming the best you.
There will always be crazy happening in the world. We will always live in “interesting times.”
Drink Water to Lose Weight and Eat Better
May 27, 2020
Show notes
This is how to drink water to lose weight, eat better, and be healthier.
I’ve learned this lesson multiple times in my life and learning it again now.
I’ve been a fat guy. I’ve been an in shape guy.
Right now, I’m back to being a fat guy.
One of the big differences I can look back in my life and see what I did differently when I was in shape versus being fat was drink water.
In 1998 I joined the Marine Corps and stepped on the yellow footprints on October 13, 1998. It’s a date a Marine never forgets. Stepping on the yellow footprints is the first thing you do as a Marine Recruit when you get off the bus at your Recruit Training Depot.
At boot camp the first time we started drinking water I thought it was a punishment. Right before bed, we had to stand on line and drink an entire canteen (32 ounces) and then go to sleep.
The next day, we woke up and the day started by drinking another canteen of water. And so it continued….
After boot camp, I figured out the value of drinking water for health and I just kept up the habit. I drink a gallon plus water a day for years without drinking any soda.
And my health remained. When I look back to when I got fat again, one of the first things to go was water. I was in a new relationship and she was concerned that I drank too much Gatorade and lemonade because of the sugar content. While she was correct, I would drink both those drinks but also was drinking over a gallon of water a day.
I switched to diet soda to reduce the sugar intake and my water intake fell off. Soda makes you less thirsty for other things and all you want is more soda. And my health fell off and my weight went up.
Fast forward to 2019 when I found the 75 Hard Challenge and I had to drink a gallon of water a day. At first, it was tough, but after I started doing it I felt better, started looking better, moving better, and losing weight. Simple.
Now I’ve done the challenge multiple times and one of the things that I’m keeping is drinking a gallon of water a day.
That gallon of water keeps me from being hungry.
And that’s the secret!
If I drink a lot of water (a gallon a day) I am no longer hungry.
When I’m not feeling famished, then I can make good food choices, stay on a diet, and eat foods that are better for me. Simple.
When I eat better I have more energy, want to work out more, and want to do better in life. Simple
Drinking water to lose weight and be healthier. Simple.
How much water? Easy, at least a gallon. Simple.
First start by measuring your water. Get a system.
Just measure how many bottles of water you drink a day. Simple.
I find it easier to pound water as I did in boot camp over 20 years ago. This way I make sure I do it. I just stop and make it happen.
I use triggers. My first bottle is after my workout, I drink the entire bottle with one pull. You can go a little slower, but I find that it takes me an entire minute to fill the bottle, drink the bottle, and have it ready for next time. Simple.
My second bottle of water is after lunch. I just chug it after eating.
My third is at my snack time (3pm). I have my snack and then chug a bottle of water.
My last one is after dinner. This one is a little harder for me because I like to eat a big dinner. But I do the same thing.
Simple.
Four 32-ounce bottles makes a gallon.
Drink water to lose weight works for me because I drink so much water at one time it makes me full. And it keeps me feeling full until my next scheduled meal. I’m also not starving at the next meal.
Simple.
I don’t know about you, but when I’m full it’s really easy to eat things that are good for me. When I’m hungry, I’ll eat anything I can find and get cravings for crappy foods. I use to even jump in the car and run to the store to get some crappy food when I had good for me food in the house.
Not drinking water is a downward spiral for me. I Have to drink water to lose weight. If I don’t drink water there is no way I will ever lose a pound!
I dare you to try it.
Drink a gallon of water a day and you’ll find that eating good for you things is easier…
The biggest complaint is about going to the bathroom. And that can be a problem. You will have to pee more often if you are drinking a gallon of water a day.
But that is good for you! Most of us sit at a desk and don’t get up for hours on end. What do all the experts say about moving and how often you should do it?
Well if you drink a gallon of water a day, you will have to get up about every hour to an hour and a half to go to the bathroom.
It’s annoying to have to get up that often to go to the bathroom, but it is good for you in the long run.
The only down sides to drinking a gallon of water a day is three fold:
1 – At first you will have to force it down your throat. It will take a little dedication and commitment to stick with it for a couple of weeks.
2 – After you do it for a couple of weeks, you will be thirsty all the time. Drinking that much water a day, your body starts to enjoy it, and then crave it!
3 – People are going to think you are nuts. Because only athletes and elite warriors drink that much water. If you want to be in shape you have to do what in shape people do again and again. Ignore the haters and the other monkeys that just want to keep you down.
The bottle line, drink water to lose weight and be healthier.
I know you think it’s too simple. You think it’s so simple that how could it work?
Well, how could it hurt you? How much time and effort will it cost you?
If I’m wrong it will cost you next to nothing in time and effort. But if I’m right, you will start down your path to a better you.
Try it for two weeks. What do you have to lose. I dare you.
Slow Carb Diet and How to Do it
May 21, 2020
Show notes
The Slow Carb Diet has been working for me!
My Reason for Using the Diet
I’ve been fat my entire life… almost.
Throughout school, Middle, and High School, I was fat. I liked sports when I was younger but it never stuck. I just gave them all up as I got older.
During my senior year of High School I took a weight lifting class that changed my life. I discovered that I liked the gym. And became a gym rat for the next couple of years.
That was the first time I lost weight. That catapulted me into wanting to be a police officer (coolest job in the world) and to do that I become a United States Marine.
But Marines are in shape. I had to lose a bunch more weight to be excepted in the Corps. My diet at the time, stop eating, and run with a trash bag on.
It worked. I lost another 20 pounds and was excepted into Boot Camp.
During Boot Camp, I was forced to eat what there was, and there was no seconds. I lost another 30 pounds in three months.
Then I started putting it all back on. Slowly. Only a couple pounds per year. In 2003 I was a Marine in the invasion of Iraq. There was no food to eat for a long time, and I lost weight again.
I got back to the “real world” and was hailed a hero. And friends take their hero fiends out to nice dinners and BBQ. I ate a ton and put on all the weight I’d lost plus more.
Then over the last ten years, I’ve been putting on a couple of pounds per month until I hit 355 pounds. I didn’t know what to do.
Part of the challenge is to be on a perfect diet for 75 days. I’d read about the slow carb diet years ago in Tim Farris’s Book, The 4-Hour Body, and decided to try it.
The Slow Carb Diet
The Slow Carb Diet is a simple program that doesn’t count calories, measure dishes, or weigh food. Simple. Simple I could do.
All of it was great for me because I was traveling a lot for work at the time and needed something I could do on the road, eating out with clients and coworkers, and something that I didn’t have to explain in detail to anyone.
The Slow Carb Diet has 5 simple rules to follow:
Rule 1 – Avoid “White” Carbs
Anything that is colored white and is a carbohydrate is out. This includes all bread, grains, processed carbs, sugar, and white potatoes. Anything that has flour or sugar is out along with white rice.
Anything that spikes your blood glucose levels is out. And this is the real secret behind the diet.
The easiest way to look at this is anything white in color is probably out. Cauliflower is probably the exception (I don’t like it, but it makes a nice rice substitute for any dish that would have rice as the base).
Rule 2 – Eat the Same Meals Every Day
Pick your default means and just eat those. This isn’t a grand quiescence you will eat to enjoy. Save that for time with special people in your life and for your cheat day.
Pick a couple of meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and just repeat over and over again.
You aren’t eating to enjoy these meals. You are eating to fuel your body, mind, and soul. Don’t fuel the growth of your gut.
Rule 3 – Don’t Drink Calories
Nothing… period… almost.
Drink water. Clear, pure, good. It’s what your body craves and wants. Your body will actually filter all that other crap you drink to get to the water to fuel your life.
A diet soda per day doesn’t seem to affect your weight loss, but, if you can do without it, do without it.
Red wine is supposed to be okay too. I don’t really drink so this wasn’t an issue for me. And part of the 75 Hard Challenge is no alcohol. So I haven’t tested alcohol or no alcohol.
Drinking calories is one of the most calorie dense thing we do.
Orange Juice Vs and Orange (from Healthline.com)
8 oz Glass Orange Juice
1 Orange
Calories
112
60
Total Fat
0.5g
0.1g
Cholesterol
0
0
Sodium
0
0
Carbs (SUGER)
27g
11.8g
Fiber
0.5g
2.4g
Protein
2g
0.9g
So stop drinking your calories! Learn to drink water.
Rule 4 – No Fruit
Fruit does the same thing as white carbs and spikes your blood glucose levels. Plus fruit is dense in calories and good stuff.
I know fruit is suppose to be part of a “balanced” diet. But how’s that working for you? How’s that working for Americans?
Obesity isn’t a national health problem yet, but it probably should be, and will be soon if you don’t do something about it!
Start by not eating fruit!
Rule 5 – Take One Day Off per Week
This is my cheat day! And I love it. I eat all the crap you aren’t supposed to eat during the week.
I eat donuts, pasta, bread, fruit, and ice cream. I also love pizza, so I have some of that too.
Messing with your body and its caloric intake is part of the diet, so It’s okay to have a day off. It will help with your journey.
My Slow Carb Diet
I’ve been going on and off the diet for almost a year now. When I’m on it, it works great!
My routine:
Breakfast is a protein shake and a diet Monster energy drink. I do some reading and writing in the morning then head off to a workout.
After the workout, I pound 32 ounces of water and if I’m really hungry eat a scoop of peanut butter.
Lunch is another 32 ounces of water and a bowl or can of chili. I like with beans for the extra energy to finish the day (I know it’s not really chili when it has beans in it). My wife will make me a large pot once a week and put it into individual jars I microwave to eat. I do add a little cheese and love to cut up fresh red onions to put on top.
Snack is another 32 ounces of water and an assorted cheese/meat plate I make for myself every day. Normally two slices of cheese, six slices of salami, and three slices of pepperoni.
Dinner is whatever my wife is making that fits into the diet. Sometimes I just don’t eat the rice or bread with the dish she made. When she makes burritos, I have a bowl instead of a wrap.
It isn’t really that hard to stick to.
Then I take my day off and have donuts for breakfast, pizza for lunch, and pasta for dinner with ice cream or a candy bar as a snack.
My Success and Failure
When I stick to the diet I am successful. Losing about two pounds a week. I’m currently at 320.1 as of yesterday (tomorrow is my weigh in day).
I got down to 317 at one point working on the 75 Hard Challenge and then went back to 345 over the holidays, travel, crappy work schedule, and not working out.
I just finished another 75 Hard Challenge last month and that’s how I got back down to this weight. I took a week and a half off and now am back on the diet.
Conclusion
When I’m on the diet I lose weight. When I’m off the diet I gain weight.
It’s pretty simple. You are either getting better or worse. There is no stasis in your health and your life.
I can stay on the diet because of the simple rules.
No matter where you are, or what your lifestyle is, you can adopt this simple diet and lose weight.
Learn from me. And learn the easy way.
I tried a dozen diets and all of them were a complete failure. Nothing worked.
I’m still a gym rat and still putting on weight, unless I’m on this diet.
My real problem: I’m addicted to food.
Somewhere I developed an unhealthy relationship with food and have fed that relationship for years and now it’s an addiction.
To help my out, I have a body type that likes to put on weight. All that comes together and makes me obese. Unless I do something about it, I’m going to die of a heart attack, diabetes, high blood pressure, or some other lifestyle-related disease.
I’m just not ready to go out like that. I’ve been obese and I’ve been in great shape. Being in great shape is the way to be.
I’m going to get back to that.
What about you? Can you do this simple diet?
If you knew this would save your life, and make your life better would you do it?
Well then, get to it!
Make your life better. Make the people around you better. And together we can make the world a better place.
After 75 Hard: Life Lessons Learned
May 12, 2020
Show notes
This week I learned another life lesson from the 75 Hard Challenge even though I finished it 10 days ago.
I learned how important water is to me.
During the 75 Hard Challenge, I was on my diet every day and was rarely hungry. I got off the diet and started being hungry all the time. For a while, I could not figure it out. I looked back at what I did differently on the challenge. It was obvious when I looked. I was no longer drinking 1 gallon of water per day.
During the challenge, I chugged water at different times of the day to keep my intake up. Last week I had been drinking when I was thirsty and only consuming about half a gallon a day.
Last week I did not want to stick to a diet at all. I was always hungry. I don’t know about you, but when I am hungry there is no way I am going to stick to any diet.
This week I am back to drinking a gallon of water a day and it is easy to stick to a diet when you are not hungry. Water is the secret to weight loss! Who freaking knew?
I need to lose another 70 pounds to be at the weight I want. During the challenge, I lost over 25 pounds.
Last week I put on 1.5 pounds because I was always hungry and eating things I should not have. This week with the water going back in correctly I should be back on the diet and losing weight again.
The 75 Hard Challenge is a great challenge. It will make you mentally tough with a side effect being better physical fitness. Check out my 75 Hard Challenge Outline here.
I am back on the diet and drinking water but not really doing the 75 hard challenge. I have morphed my challenge list into my power list.
The five habits I am working on to make myself better are:
Slow Carb Diet
Drink 1 gallon of water per day
Post 1 piece of content per day
Network every day
Snap In daily
In addition to the Power List, I am also outlining and doing 3 critical tasks per day to move my business and myself forward.
I use Michael Hyatt’s Full Focus Planner to keep track of everything. I changed how it is supposed to be used a little but it seems to be working well for me. I have been accomplishing more than ever before.
Even after 75 Hard I continue to work to better myself.
75 Hard Results: I Finished and Feeling Great
May 04, 2020
Show notes
My 75 Hard results aren’t bad. I’ve conquered my 75 Hard Challenge for the third time.
My results:
I lost 28.5 pounds. I started the challenge at 347.6 and ended at 319.1. The week before I ended I was actually down to 317.6. Don’t know what happened, but not that big a deal. My weight has always fluctuated five pounds all the time. It’s part of why I didn’t pay attention to my weight sneaking up on me. I gained about 5 pounds a year for the last 10 years. I was fat before and putting on five pounds just sneaks up on you. Now I’m pushing that number down.
I plan on continuing the diet, after this weekend. I did a couple cheat meals and a cheat snack this weekend as a celebration. Tomorrow it’s back to the diet. I hope to keep loosing about two pounds per week by sticking to the diet. It was doable after a while. I won’t be strict, but I will stick with it.
That was my only real measurable goal. The other intangable things are more impressive for me.
I feel great. I spent day 76 of my journey redoing my goals now that 75 Hard is over and I got some of the results I’m looking for. I created OKR’s (Objectives and Key Results) for myself right out of the book Measure What Matters so that I can continue my journey to becoming a better person. The book is worth the read, go check it out.
Now I’m on day one of attacking those goals. I had planned to take the weekend off and do nothing, but find myself energized and happy working on my goals, both personal (get back to my Marine Corps fitness level, or be in fighting shape again) and my professional goal of earning $100k in my side hustles this year.
I went on a bike ride with my friend yesterday and today and had my best showing of those rides both days. That makes me feel great. In fact, so good, we are riding tomorrow too.
I got motivated to work on my business today. I’m working on a five-day course on my ModernSelfProtetion.com side hustle and I’m working on a free starters guide to the 75 Hard for this side hustle.
If you want the free starters guide to the 75 Hard Challenge when it is finished please leave your name and email below and I’ll send you a copy as soon as I’m finished with it.
I should be done this week… I hope. But I’m motivated to work on it everyday.
I feel like I can do anything right now. So I’ve got lots of other ideas I’ll be working on including stuff to sell on my other side hustle.
I’d also like to continue the podcast I started and the posts I started here. I’m looking for people that have finished a 75 Hard to be on the podcast to talk about the results, hardship, and triumph you had finishing. Shoot me an email at 75Hard@gmail.com and I’d love to have you on.
75 Hard Challenge I have Conquered,
Ben Branam
If you want to read about my journey, start at Day 1 of 75 Hard.
Day 74 of 75 Hard: Finish Strong Motivation
May 01, 2020
Show notes
I’m going to finish strong with lots of motivation. This is easy. The hard part is not screwing it up.
It’s late and I’m finishing my post and have to practice still. I’m so motivated about the finish that I almost messed up the process. That’s the problem with too much motivation.
When you can see the end or finish of any long hard project, you are ready to be done. When you are motivated all the way through the end just makes you more so. But you have to hold on.
Everything is a balance. Too much motivation and you are all emotional about everything and will mess something big up. Too little motivation and you will just sit down and go no further.
I like having the motivation going into the finish, I just have to step one thing at a time and make sure I don’t make any big mistakes because I’m not paying attention like I should.
Day 72 of 75 Hard: The End is Motivating
Apr 29, 2020
Show notes
The end is motivating me to get there. With just 3 days left in my challenge I’m just trying not to screw it up.
I’ve been here in my life before. This challenge that I’ve completed a couple times and a couple times in my military career. The hardest was boot camp. I could see the end. But there was a coupe more days to go before graduation and a couple things that could set me back from my goal of being a Marine.
At the time I just kept my head down and continued on. That is what I am doing now. Putting my head down and continuing on.
Today was a hard day for me. This morning got my workout in, did a bunch of other work for my side hustle, did an interview, and then crashed. I didn’t want to do anything else. I had to push myself off the couch to keep going.
It actually took me a couple hours where I said I was productive by listening to an audio book. But it wasn’t what was on my schedule. I got emails and a couple other little tasks done. After dinner I got up and got back on my schedule.
It feels a lot better when I work my schedule. If you aren’t working a schedule, you should. It is really hard at first, but after a little you will feel much better.
My focus right now: I have three days left! Don’t blow it!
I can’t wait to get through and see you on the other side.
Day 70 of 75 Hard: Finishing Strong
Apr 27, 2020
Show notes
I’m almost there. I can see the end date on my calendar this week.
But there is still 5 days to go. I have to focus or things could still go off the rails here.
Most people want to sprint towards the finish at the end of a long race. And if you are running some kind of endurance race that can generally work. Everything else in my life it messes things up.
With projects at work that take a long time, if I try and go faster at the end things slip through the cracks and don’t get done like they should.
It’s like typing out a long important email and then being in a hurry to send it so you forget to attach the report that was supposed to go along with your well placed email.
With 75 Hard there is no sprint at the end. You have to wait out the last couple days just like you did the first couple days. It is part of having he mental toughness this program is designed to gain you.
Every day is like the one before. Every day requires a lot of toughness, decline and determination. So for the last couple days I’m looking to finish as strong as I started.
Day 68 of 75 Hard: Over Training
Apr 25, 2020
Show notes
Over training is an issue on this program. This is the forth time I’ve gotten to day 68 and my body is just not doing it anymore.
I’m over 40 now and the built up fatigue and muscle strain is real. I just feel like the day after I ran a marathon or something. My entire body hurts and training makes it worse.
When I’m feeling just fatigued and soreness working out actually feels better. I get up, I get moving, and some of the pain and fatigue magically go away. I love it when that happens.
Right now I’m feeling over trained. Walking and hiking 4 miles a morning is getting to me. And I know my body needs a break.
But this is the last part of the75 Hard Challenge. The pain becomes real, and you have to deal with real physical challenges.
The 75 Hard Challenge is not for your physical fitness. It’s for your mental toughness. This is where your mental roughness has to kick into another gear.
If this was purely physical, I’d just take a day or two off of exercise and training and be as good as new. Nope, I have to push through the over training to get the mental toughness I am looking for.
Now that I know I’m over trained I will slow down on my actual training. At this point in the game I’m just exercising. I’m not trying to hit any goals during my workouts or get anything better physically. That’s how you have an over use injury. Those can be the worst.
So I am slowing down my workouts. It’s not about putting 50 pounds on my back and going for a 4 mile hike as fast as I can. It’s about getting out there and walking 3 miles at a time at about a 3 mile an hour pace. I’m not going to get more physically fit for the next seven days, but I will finish the 75 day challenge. Over training or not.
All I have to do to win the day is light exercise. Whether you are doing a true 75 Hard by doing 2 workouts a day, or modified like me, and doing only 1 workout a day, you can scale it back and make it light. Just hit your time marks. You can do this.
Day 66 of 75 Hard: What to do if you miss a goal
Apr 23, 2020
Show notes
Today is day 66! Nine more days and a wake up and I’m done!
I missed yesterday for this blog. Not that big a deal, but I did miss a goal I set. Are there important goals? Goals that aren’t as important or you don’t care about.
I don’t believe in unimportant goals, even though I seem to set them all the time. But what happens when you miss?
All I know how to do is do it again. I missed this post yesterday, but luckily it is easy enough to do it today.
If you miss something on your 75 Hard journey you need to start again. I did my 5 things yesterday. If I didn’t I’d start again.
You aren’t through until you are dead. Time limits on goals are arbitrary limits that we impose on ourselves. If you aren’t dead, you can still achieve that goal. Just start again.
My life seems to be full of goals that I have to start again and again. I’m betting you are the same way.
You can either go forward and achieve that goal later then you had anticipated or you can give up. There really is only two choices.
Which choice will you make the next time you miss a deadline for one of your goals?
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