For the month of March, I decided to take on a 28 Day Challenge. Inspired by the ‘75 Hard‘ which you may or may not have heard of, I was curious if those principles would be achievable in a shorter time frame (and with come adaptations). It is a LIFESTYLE IMPROVEMENT challenge – not about losing weight.

My Challenge:

No alcohol

Stick to a diet (any diet of your choice)

2x 45 min exercise every day (or 90 mins total split across 2 sessions)

Read 10 pages of non-fiction a day (ideally re Self Improvement)

Drink 2 litres water a day (doesn’t include tea/coffee)

The only rule : slip up on any of these things, start the 28 days all over again!

👉 What Did I learn?

28 days is a manageable length of time for a personal improvement challenge. Taken in bite-size week-long chunks, I found it mentally less daunting than saying ‘this is what I have to do now, forever!!’ As so many people do when they make lifestyle changes (and then they fail!).

👉 Did I lose weight? 

I don’t think so. But that wasn’t the point. To be honest, I don’t weigh myself. I find weight irrelevant because when you train, your muscle will add lbs to your body. Good lbs. It’s about what your weight is MADE UP OF that is more important. Heavy but healthy? Great! 

👉 Do I feel ‘improved’? 

I actually do. I feel I have changed my habits for good re drinking water and reading daily. I have also got a new appreciation for yoga in my weekly training schedule and I will be keeping that going weekly. 

👉 What about not drinking alcohol for 1 month?

Whilst I wasn’t drinking heavily anyway at weekends – it was actually good for me to find other ways to unwind on a Friday and Saturday eve. I just didn’t feel like it either which surprised me. ( I’m now back to appreciating the odd tipple as and when, but knowing now how easy a month off was, I will do it again!) 

👉 What was hardest?

Daily 90mins exercise. I have always trained strength or cardio 6x a week. But usually just once a day, and allowed a rest day to just be a couch potato and go for a gentle walk. Motivating myself to do the 2nd bout of exercise was tough some days. Especially busy day, or after poor sleep, or with naff weather. However – I did find the time. THERE IS ALWAYS THE TIME – sometimes you have to find it: get up earlier, forego watching TV, take the lunch break you’re OWED and get your running kit on for 30mins. I will keep daily exercise, and aim for 90mins, but allow for a day off or just 1x in the day where my body feels drained! Over training is no joke. I did start to feel the effects of this : body aches, fatigue, bad mood, poor sleep…one to be aware of and not feel guilty for having a rest day.

⭐️in summary: I recommend taking a personal challenge such as this for 28 days to re-set, re-evaluate and add new healthy habits to your lifestyle for overall wellbeing!⭐️