The 75 Medium Challenge is an informal 75-day routine challenge with flexible rules. There is no single official version that everyone must follow. People commonly include movement, meals, hydration, reading or reflection and some form of progress tracking, but a social-media checklist is not a personal healthcare plan.
Start by choosing a few actions you genuinely want to repeat, then decide how you will adapt them when you need rest or your circumstances change. You do not need a body-transformation target, daily photographs or a punishment for missing a task.
Cleveland Clinic's overview describes the lack of one official rule set and cautions against overexercise, ignoring injuries and becoming overly focused on body image. The example below is our optional planning approach, not an official challenge or a medical prescription.
What Are the Common 75 Medium Rules?
Most versions use 75 consecutive calendar days as the period for a personal routine. Beyond that, the details vary.
| Area you may see online | What you can decide for yourself |
|---|---|
| Movement | Whether an activity fits your experience and circumstances, including when you need rest |
| Meals and hydration | How to support ordinary nourishment without copying a restrictive diet or fluid quota |
| Reading or personal interests | Which activity you actually want to make time for |
| Reflection | Whether a brief note helps you notice what you did and what you need |
| Tracking | Whether you prefer task checkmarks, notes, optional photographs or no visual record |
A common rule is not automatically a suitable rule for you. Do not change treatment, prescribed fluid guidance or an existing care plan to match a challenge. If you are managing a health condition, pregnancy, an injury or eating-related distress, discuss relevant changes with an appropriately qualified professional.
Choose Three Actions Before You Choose a Perfect Checklist
Write three sentences beginning with “I will.” Make each sentence specific enough that you can tell what you did without rating your appearance or worth.
For example:
- I will read a section of a book I chose.
- I will make time for a conversation with someone I care about.
- I will follow the activity or rest decision that fits my existing plan.
These are examples, not required categories. You might choose a creative project, preparing for the next day or a short personal reflection instead. Do not add exercise merely because someone else's checklist includes it.
Avoid vague promises such as “be healthier” or “stay disciplined.” They leave you deciding at bedtime whether the whole day was good enough. “I read the next section” describes an action. “I failed at self-improvement” does not.
Define Your Ordinary Day and Your Difficult Day
A useful plan accounts for the days you actually have. Before you begin, write what you intend to do on an ordinary day and what you will do if you become ill, travel or face an unexpected commitment.
| Chosen action | Ordinary-day example | When circumstances change |
|---|---|---|
| Read | Read a section after lunch | Leave it unfinished and record where to continue |
| Connect | Call a friend at an agreed time | Send a message asking for another time |
| Reflect | Write what I did and what I need | Skip the note if tracking feels burdensome |
| Activity or rest | Follow my existing suitable plan | Rest, pause or seek advice when needed |
You do not need to replace every missed action with a smaller one. Sometimes the appropriate alternative is to do nothing and rest. A challenge should not require you to turn an illness into another productivity task.
If you change a rule, record the change plainly. “I changed the reading time because evenings no longer suit me” is enough. You do not need to pretend the original plan worked unchanged.
What Happens if You Miss a Day?
Because 75 Medium has no universal governing rules, no official authority requires you to restart. Decide how you want to record a missed task without imposing a penalty.
You can continue counting calendar days, note that you did not complete an action and resume when appropriate. You can also pause or stop the challenge. Neither choice changes your value or makes the rest of your effort disappear.
Do not compensate for missed exercise with extra sessions, skip food to offset eating or stay up late to complete a checklist. The plan should accommodate your life, not require you to ignore basic needs to preserve a streak.
Fictional Example: A Day That Does Not Fit the Plan
In this fictional example, Elena planned to read after lunch, call a friend and take part in an activity she already enjoys. An unexpected meeting takes longer than planned, and she feels unwell by the evening.
Elena tells her friend she needs to reschedule. She leaves the reading marker where it is and chooses rest instead of doing a late workout. Her note says: “I needed rest today. I will reconsider tomorrow.”
She does not declare that rest secretly counts as finishing every task, and she does not restart the whole challenge as punishment. She records the day honestly and changes what needs changing. This example illustrates a planning decision, not a promised health result.
Set Up the Tasks You Actually Chose
After you have written your own rules, use Her Glow Up: 75 Day Challenge to create a custom challenge and mark your chosen tasks complete. Enter the three actions you selected rather than copying every item from an online template. Review the task wording before you begin so that each checkmark records something you really did.
You can add progress photographs if you want that record, but you do not need them to make a challenge meaningful. If photographs encourage repeated appearance-checking or distress, leave them out. The app organizes a challenge; it does not determine which activities are medically appropriate or guarantee a transformation.
Keep Tracking Useful
Record actions rather than judging your body. A simple note might say “I read,” “I contacted my friend” or “I paused because I was unwell.” Avoid turning a task list into a daily grade for your character.
Review the plan when you notice a practical problem, not only at a predetermined milestone. Ask whether the task still matters to you, whether the timing fits and whether you need support. You can remove an item that no longer serves you.
If you find yourself repeatedly checking, bargaining with the rules or feeling unable to rest, step back from the challenge. Consider talking with someone you trust or a qualified professional, particularly if you feel distress around food, exercise or appearance.
Copyable Personal Challenge Agreement
Why I want to try this:
Write a reason that does not depend on changing how your body looks.
My chosen actions:
List the few activities you actually want to include.
How I will record them:
Choose task marks, notes or another format that does not create extra pressure.
When I will pause or adapt:
Name circumstances such as illness, pain, changing care needs or a schedule that no longer fits.
What I will do after a missed task:
Write a response without extra exercise, food restriction or punishment.
Who I can ask for support:
Choose someone you would feel comfortable contacting.
What Happens After Day 75?
Review what you want to keep, change or stop. You do not need to begin a harder challenge immediately. An activity can remain worthwhile without a numbered countdown.
Ask which action you chose freely, which one fit ordinary life and which one became an obligation you no longer wanted. Keep the useful parts and let the others go. The next step is not to make the rules stricter; it is to choose what you want to do next with the information you gathered.