How "75 Hard" Saved My Life: The Secret Origin of Coach Kame

I believe introductions are in order.

I'm Jake, AKA Coach Kame; native to sunny Pensacola Beach, Florida. I work freelance as a Health Coach, Personal Trainer, and Transformation Specialist, writing about All Things Fitness and carving beach-bodies for fun and profit.

But as recently as January 2024, I was an executive-level administrator for a local resort, working as Director of Safety and Security - overseeing a team of (awesome) employees, making decent money - and was well on my way to an early grave.

Here's the thing; resorts don't exactly close at night, and as a result, a full night's sleep wasn't part of the benefits package. And I (like you, maybe) was under constant stress, dreading the late-night emergency calls and the early-morning meetings with the CEO. I was diagnosed with hypertension (that's fancy-talk for high blood pressure) and chronic sleep deprivation, controlling my God-awful anxiety with prescription drugs, and washing them down with a gallon or so of beer on the weekends (if you've never been, Pensacola Beach is an idyllic island Paradise. But for all its beauty, Paradise has a drinking problem.)

Most egregiously, my fit, formidable physique had ballooned into a 240-plus-pound wad of pale flesh, the color and consistency of wet pizza dough (see below.)

Enter 75 Hard

Here's some context; for my entire adult life, 20 years and counting, I've been what some might diplomatically call "fixated" (and less generously, "obsessed") with health and fitness. Former endurance athlete. Former marathon runner. Former CrossFit junkie. The list goes on...ad infinitum. My own drive to devour more knowledge and perspective on the subject led me to a number of certifications and accreditations in nearly every aspect of All Things Fitness, and to endlessly annoy my friends and colleagues when I inevitably turned the topic of conversation to diet and exercise (sorry, not sorry.)

Suffice it to say, I'm an expert. As in, a guy with no excuse.

While scrolling through posts on a fitness website (I was never a social media guy, so I was a bit late to the game) I stumbled upon a "mental toughness challenge" that had been getting a lot of attention on TikTok and elsewhere, called 75 Hard.

75 Hard is the brainchild of Andy Frisella; entrepreneur, motivational speaker, podcast host. I'd never heard of him.

But I'd also never been one to back down from a challenge, and "Take Control of Your Life in Only 75 Days!" definitely sounded enough like a challenge to elicit a Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson-esque raise of the eyebrow.

The rules seemed fairly simple.

75 Hard Rules:

• Two 45-Minute workouts (minimum) per day. No rest days, no off days.

• One of the two workouts MUST be outdoors, regardless of the weather or temperature.

• Drink a minimum of 1 gallon of water per day. Just water - no additives, no flavorings.

• Choose a diet - any diet (but only one.) Stick to it religiously for 75 days. No cheat meals.

• NO ALCOHOL.

• Read, at minimum, 10 pages of a non-fiction, developmental book every day.

• Take a progress photo every day.

Oh. And...

• If you miss or fail ANY of the daily tasks, you must start the challenge over at Day 1.

Like I said. Simple.

Luckily, my wife Michelle (likewise a Master Trainer, and fanatical about fitness in a way that makes me look like a dilletante by comparison) had heard of the Challenge before and was beyond enthusiastic to join in; shortly after my 42nd birthday, we started the Challenge on the same day, side by side.

If you're curious about the specific parameters I chose for the Challenge:

• For my diet, I opted for an animal-based, ketogenic "carnivore-ish" plan - primarily red meat and eggs, with no starches, no grains, and no processed or refined foods allowed. I allowed myself minimal spices and seasonings, and black coffee (because some things in life are non-negotiable.)

• My exercise program consisted of traditional weightlifting (good ol' iron, baby - standard PPL Split) and a full bodyweight routine every morning (pushups, sit-ups, squats, lunges and burpees.) For my outdoor workout, I would take a run, jog, or (brisk) walk on the beach, dependent on weather - one of the few mercies of the Challenge is that the workouts are scalable to suit the victim's (sorry, "participant's") fitness level.

• To keep track of my water intake, I decided to make things easy. I purchased a 1-gallon insulated IronFlask (a behemoth made entirely of stainless steel, which was quickly dubbed "the Bowling Ball"), filled it with ice and water every morning, and drank out of it throughout the day. No math, no tracking; just drink 'til it's empty.

2 Weeks Hard - Here's What I Learned.

• Let's put this right out on Front Street. If you're not accustomed to drinking a gallon of water every single day...don't plan any long road trips, or even too long a stroll, because you WILL have to pee. Every. Ten. Minutes. Eventually, your body will get accustomed to the increased hydration, and things won't be quite as "time sensitive" (but consider some good-quality electrolyte supplements if you're susceptible to muscle cramps.)

• Regardless of how much of an aficionado you are of steak and eggs, you're going to have to get creative in the kitchen to maintain a healthy caloric intake and your sanity when you eat them for every meal. Since the diet restrictions for 75 Hard are ironclad (regardless of what diet you choose; keto, vegan, whole foods, pick your poison) fast food and restaurants will likely be impractical, if not out of the question. Make sure you know your way around the kitchen, and if you don't, make it a priority. (I'll talk about my Keto Experience later; that's a subject for another time.)

• Unless you have an accountability partner you can rely on, the 75 Hard Challenge WILL break you. Temptation comes from all sides; well-meaning friends and family, early-morning muscle soreness from yesterday's workout, or passing by your favorite Den of Deep-Fried Sin on your way to work every morning. Make sure somebody close to you (several somebodies, if possible) knows what you're doing - somebody who can cheer you on, and call you out, if (and when) your resolve is low.

This is your life now.

Life Happens - Ask Me How I Know

In the first two weeks of the Challenge, I felt pretty good - for the first time in a long time. Energy levels were up, my God-awful anxiety had decreased from "erupting volcano" to "tolerable pool of lava," and I was slowly but steadily feeling a positive shift in the way my clothes fit. Then I resigned from my job.

I won't go into the details here. Put simply, it was a decision made of conscience, and it was the right thing to do.

Watching one's career fly out the window is no small thing, of course. Given my previous track record, it would have been easy, very easy, to brush off the whole "75 Hard Thing" as a failed experiment, torpedo my progress, and drown my sorrows. Probably rolling out of bed a month or two later, putting on another ugly polo (permanently affixed with another ugly nametag) and going to another ugly job. Trading my finite lifespan, and ignoring my True Calling, for money and a false sense of security.

If it wasn't for the Challenge.

I'd made a commitment to myself, a week before I began. "I don't care if the world ends while I'm doing it. I'm finishing this Challenge...and I'm finishing STRONG."

Fortunately, I had a few things going for me. One, I had an impeccable, enthusiastic accountability partner who refused to let me give in to my baser angels. Two, I was a Certified Master Personal Trainer (and Sports Nutritionist, and Strength and Conditioning Coach, and...yunno what, just read my bio) with an encyclopedic knowledge of fitness science, and a sudden surplus of free time on his hands. Three, I had a modest amount in savings from my previous occupation - not a fortune, even a small one. But enough to buy me some time, and enough to effect change.

I devoted every spare second and every spare ounce of willpower to Finishing Strong. Waking up every morning before sunrise to complete my workouts (and when the calorie deficit had paid sufficient dividends to allow it, reuniting with an old acquaintance of mine - the local CrossFit Coach, turning two daily workouts into three.) Eating meat off the bone like a lion. Voraciously reading inspirational and developmental texts (the prescribed ten-page minimum was no longer enough), learning new skills, and day by day, bit by bit, forging a new persona; The Man I Was Meant to Be.

I'm very pleased to say that Michelle and I did, indeed, Finish Strong, competing in a Half Marathon on sunny Pensacola Beach to commemorate Day 75, and crossing the finish line side-by-side...myself 45 pounds lighter and once again the proud owner of a sleek, fit, formidable physique. Words don't do the transformation justice, and therefore I've left photo evidence - just please refrain from roasting me in the comments.

Thanks Andy Frisella! (Whoever you are.)

What can't be captured in photos is the way that undertaking a challenge like 75 Hard (not the first physical/mental challenge I've undertaken and definitely not the last) was able to remind me of who I was underneath - to give me the focus and fortitude to turn what may have otherwise been a dark chapter of my life into a Defining Moment - a decision to spend my life coaching and inspiring others to embrace and unleash their Inner Warrior, to see the Potential Within and to Make It Real.

If I can do it, so can you. You're never "too old." It's never "too late."

You've got this. I believe in you. - Coach K.