{"id":268,"date":"2026-02-26T04:13:28","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T04:13:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stories.j-proj.com\/thebarbellpress\/?page_id=268"},"modified":"2026-02-27T18:17:35","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T18:17:35","slug":"one-step-forward-three-steps-back-why-some-goals-send-you-in-the-wrong-direction","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/stories.j-proj.com\/thebarbellpress\/one-step-forward-three-steps-back-why-some-goals-send-you-in-the-wrong-direction\/","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-page\" data-elementor-id=\"268\" class=\"elementor elementor-268\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-99e239e e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"99e239e\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-bb140ea elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"bb140ea\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">One step forward, three steps back: Why some goals send you in the wrong direction<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-69886033 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"69886033\" data-element_type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-67835cb6 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"67835cb6\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n<p>When Kayla Rampersad set out to try 75 medium, a TikTok fitness trend, she was determined to build new healthy habits. But by day 60, she realized continuing with the challenge was doing more harm than good.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n<p>In the summer of 2025, Rampersad decided to follow a 75-day goal that had become popular online. The challenge, which requires people to introduce a rigid schedule of daily habits, has three levels: 75 hard, medium and soft.<\/p>\n\n<p>\u201cThe 75 medium felt like a good midway point, something I could achieve without pushing myself to my absolute limits,\u201d said Rampersad.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n<p>Although each ruleset can differ, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.womenshealthmag.com\/uk\/fitness\/a63431656\/75-medium-challenge\/\">Women\u2019s Health<\/a>, the base requirements for 75 medium include:\u00a0<\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Drinking half of your weight in water each day\u00a0<\/li>\n\n<li>Exercising for 45 minutes a day<\/li>\n\n<li>Stick to your diet 90 per cent of the time<\/li>\n\n<li>No drinking alcohol\u00a0<\/li>\n\n<li>Read for 10 minutes every day\u00a0<\/li>\n\n<li>Meditate or pray every day\u00a0<\/li>\n\n<li>Take a progress photo each day<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p>In comparison, the hard level required two workouts per day &#8211; one outside regardless of weather and no cheat meals or alcohol, with any misstep sending you back to day one.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n<p>During the summer break between her time as a University of Ottawa student, Rampersad worked as a local outdoor jewellery vendor. Her long hours and time in the heat made continuing her fitness challenge draining.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n<p>\u201cHow I felt physically was pretty good at first (but) over time, the heat exhaustion was getting to me,\u201d said Rampersad. \u201cIt started going downhill near the end.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n<p>To prioritize her health, Rampersad stopped the challenge 15 days shy of completing it, but she doesn\u2019t see her journey as a failure.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n<p>\u201cI felt really good about myself because I was making small changes to my daily habits to better myself in general.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n<p>For Rampersad, adding small adjustments to her current routine made the challenge more achievable and lasting compared to her previous attempts at counting calories and creating rigid workout schedules.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n<p>\u201cI found it was much too restrictive to the point where I wouldn\u2019t even want to go and do it (exercise),\u201d said Rampersad.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n<p>For Rampersad, having goals that were too strict and intense made her burn out quickly, which is why the flexibility of the 75 medium appealed to her and remains a goal that she\u2019d be interested in pursuing again.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n<p>\u201cFitness didn\u2019t have to be some big thing. It can just be (about) making small changes.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" class=\"wp-image-269\" src=\"https:\/\/stories.j-proj.com\/thebarbellpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/02\/image-2-768x1024.jpeg\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stories.j-proj.com\/thebarbellpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/02\/image-2-768x1024.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/stories.j-proj.com\/thebarbellpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/02\/image-2-225x300.jpeg 225w, https:\/\/stories.j-proj.com\/thebarbellpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/02\/image-2-1152x1536.jpeg 1152w, https:\/\/stories.j-proj.com\/thebarbellpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/02\/image-2.jpeg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n<p>Richa Kewalramani eating dinner while studying on Feb. 2 (Photo: Robyn Lanktree)<\/p>\n\n<p>For computer science student Richa Kewalramani, trying to gain weight has been challenging.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n<p>After an increased workload from both her school and job, Kewalramani lost over 15lbs from skipping meals.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n<p>Wanting to gain weight right away, Kewalramani hoped to eat more consistent meals, but found the stress and anxiety from work kept her from building concrete changes in her routines.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s tough. It\u2019s been like seven months, and I\u2019m still trying to gain weight.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n<p>To keep herself from losing more weight and underfuelling her body, Kewalramani is trying to get less exercise as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n<p>She self-identified her problem as having too vague a goal without taking the steps to pursue it.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not being as serious as I should be, even though it means that much to me. That\u2019s why I\u2019m not seeing results.\u201d<\/p>\n\n<p>Now, Kewalramani is trying to be more intentional with her progress by piecing together small habits beyond just food, like getting enough sleep, drinking water and walking.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n<p>As a start, Kewalramani wants to eat three meals a day without fixating on calories.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n<p>\u201cI think having better guidelines (will make it) so that it\u2019s more achievable and is not going to drag on for months and months,\u201d said Kewalramani.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n<p>For both Rampersad and Kewalramani, staying on track meant avoiding goals that were both too strict and too vague.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n<p>Creating consistent and healthy goals meant adding small adjustments to their current routines that would have a positive, long-lasting impact.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n<p>\u201cNot all fitness goals have the same methods of getting there,\u201d said Kewalramani. \u201cSo just try to figure out what works with you and your body.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One step forward, three steps back: Why some goals send you in the wrong direction When Kayla Rampersad set out to try 75 medium, a TikTok fitness trend, she was determined to build new healthy habits. But by day 60, she realized continuing with the challenge was doing more harm than good.\u00a0 In the summer [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-268","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stories.j-proj.com\/thebarbellpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/268","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stories.j-proj.com\/thebarbellpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stories.j-proj.com\/thebarbellpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stories.j-proj.com\/thebarbellpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stories.j-proj.com\/thebarbellpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=268"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/stories.j-proj.com\/thebarbellpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/268\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":343,"href":"https:\/\/stories.j-proj.com\/thebarbellpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/268\/revisions\/343"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stories.j-proj.com\/thebarbellpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}