100 Days of Sweat

For years I have struggled with maintaining a healthy lifestyle. I’ll do great for a few weeks or months then fall off hard and have to start all over again. I could never get my nutrition where it needed to be and I could never maintain a consistent workout routine. Cheat days would turn into cheat weeks and any progress made would vanish in the blink of an eye. Challenges with friends didn’t work. Setting goals and offering myself rewards for achieving those goals didn’t work. Basically everything I read online about how to create and maintain a healthy routine was crap for me.

In mid-August, I stepped on the scale and was shocked by what I saw. Granted, I was coming off a four week stretch that included two vacations and very little exercise, but 251lbs was a bit much. Actually, a bit much is a bit of an understatement. It was the largest number I’d seen on a scale in many years. I was embarrassed by that number and felt dejected and sad, then I saw a video on YouTube that changed everything.

I had been a fan of the Yes Theory YouTube channel for a few months prior to finding the video in question. I was drawn in one random day by a video of these guys staying in a life raft out at sea for 24 hours just to see what it was like. I was hooked immediately and subscribed to their channel. I watched their older videos and fell in love with their whole philosophy on life. The Yes Theory guys are all about seeking discomfort and stepping outside of the boundaries of our normal lives to experience things we may otherwise miss completely. They do things like walk across entire countries and strand themselves in random cities for 24 hours with no money, relying on the kindness of strangers to get a meal or find a place to crash.

The video that started my journey of wellness was titled 100 Days of Sweat. Suffering a stretch of depression and lack of motivation, Yes Theory host Ammar challenged himself to sweat every day for 100 straight days. Ammar’s goal was to sweat enough that at least one drop fell to the floor. Didn’t matter what the activity was, as long as one drop of sweat fell off his body and hit the ground. He did this for 100 straight days and challenged Yes Theory fans to do the same. I figured this would be an interesting challenge to at least see if I could establish a routine. It ended up being much more than that.

I made the commitment on August 28^th to workout for 100 straight days. I didn’t really have any idea what I was doing, nor did I have any goals in mind other than getting through as many days as I could. I had little faith in myself that I would finish, it just seemed like an impossible thing to do, so I decided to post pictures of my sweaty face everyday on Facebook as a way to stay accountable. That was when all the love and support of my friends and family came flowing in. I was overwhelmed by the encouragement coming from almost everyone I knew. Likes and comments and all other manner of love came pouring in with each new pic I posted. People who saw me in real life commented on how inspirational it was and how proud they were of me. It sounds a little silly to say that out loud, but it really was the number one thing that kept me going.

The excitement of the challenged carried me through the first few weeks when I would have been most likely to quit, then the routine set in. Going to the gym just became part of my day, like brushing my teeth or going to work. I am fortunate to work for a company that provides a gym right at our office, so working out after work literally just means going downstairs. It was pretty easy to say “this is part of my workday and, like the rest of my work, I don’t get to leave until this is done.” I found the Athlean-X YouTube channel to give me pointers on how to maximize my workouts. Host Jeff Cavaliere is the only online fitness personality I found that wasn’t a complete douche. His message was based in putting the science back into strength and he preached sustainable routines and moves that were both effective and helped prevent injury. I really cannot stress enough how much his videos helped me develop my routine and nutrition. Jeff explains thing exceedingly well and offers tips for everyone from absolute beginners to pro athletes. His credentials are impeccable. He’s got a bunch of letters after his name that mean he’s studied this shit and he’s worked with guys from the NFL, WWE, and MLB – where he served as a trainer for the New York Mets. He is not some roided out maniac with a camera and a gym membership who eats boiled chicken and broccoli 97 times a day. 

I quickly fell in love with a Push/Pull/Leg split with some cardio days sprinkled in. My routine is below for anyone interested. I will say now that I am not suggesting this is the only way to workout, and I am not really interested in hearing anyone’s critique of my routine. This is simply the routine I found works best for me and the pursuit of my personal goals. I encourage everyone to find such a routine for themselves.

Monday – Push Day (Chest, Triceps, Shoulders)

Tuesday – Cardio (45 minutes on treadmill, bike, or elliptical)

Wednesday – Leg Day

Thursday – Pull Day (Back and Biceps)

Friday – Cardio

Saturday – Full Body (Less intense focus on all muscle groups)

Sunday – Light Cardio or Yoga

All this working out really shone a bright light on my nutritional habits. I have heard the saying “you can’t outwork bad nutrition,” and I firmly agree. All the work I was doing in the gym would not mean shit if I kept stuffing my face full of all the delicious and terrible things I loved. Jeff Cavaliere played a big part in me getting this message through my thick skull. Again, his approach to nutrition is grounded in science and real life, not fads and bro mentality. I have adopted his hatred for the terms “diet” and “cheat meal.” If you really want to see consistent and maintainable success, you need to create a nutrition plan that is sustainable and does not make you dread meal time. It’s not the easiest balancing act, and I still struggle with it at times, but through some trial and error, I created a nutrition plan for myself that will allow me to achieve my goals and still feel satisfied after dinner. Having a healthy relationship with food, I now don’t feel guilty or like I’m “cheating” if I go out and have a not so great for me meal and a couple beers. I know that my food intake and work is on point most of the time and the occasional meal isn’t going to derail me. There is no need to dress it up with a cute little name that makes it sound like I should be shame eating cheeseburgers alone in the dark.

Through the 100 days, I was amazed by a couple things. First, how easy it really was to workout every day. There were definitely days I didn’t want to go or my body was a little sore, but for the most part I felt pretty good about getting it in every damn day. I did miss three days in my challenge, two due to illness and one due to Thanksgiving, but I made up for them. The challenge should probably be called 100 days of sweat out of 103, but it just doesn’t sound all that good. Again, the love I received from all my family and friends was a big factor in keeping my spirits and motivation up throughout the challenge.  

The second, and more profound, thing I noticed was the affect it had on other parts of my life. Sure I saw and felt physical improvements, which was expected, but the mental improvements far outweighed anything I saw in the mirror. My confidence went up and up with every day I completed. I had more energy to attack hobbies that had fallen by the wayside, like writing and playing my guitar. The sense of accomplishment I felt upon finishing was unlike anything I’d known before. I truly feel like I made a monumental change in my life, one that will carry me through not just physical wellbeing, but mentally and spiritually as well. The success of this sweat challenge and the confidence it gave led directly to my 100 days of writing challenge (currently in day 4 as of this posting). I know it is possible to complete and I know it is a great way to create and maintain a positive routine.

So that is my story. 100 (or 103) days of sweat. 251lbs on day one, 231lbs on day 100. As you can see below, much less face as well. During the challenge I completed my first two 5K runs and successfully achieved my goal of finishing in under 30 minutes on the second race. If you’re inspired by all this, I encourage you to attempt your own 100 day challenge. It doesn’t have to be sweat related, just some habit you are trying to create, maintain, or rekindle. Doing anything for 100 straight days is a great way to create that habit and the sense of accomplishment you feel when it is done will propel you to any other challenge you undertake.