The 66-Day Challenge Moms Swear By (No, It’s Not 75 Hard) | Work Like A Mother Podcast, Episode 52

Marina Tolentino dives into Operation 66, the 66-day wellness challenge designed for women who want practical, lasting habits without the pressure of extreme programs. In this fun and relatable episode of Work Like a Mother, Marina shares why this challenge is the ultimate alternative to 75 Hard, breaking down six simple steps that fit perfectly into the busy lives of moms and entrepreneurs.

From morning water rituals and ditching screens before bed to enjoying cozy cardio (Gilmore Girls, anyone?) and guilt-free indulgences with a 90/10 diet, Marina gives actionable tips to help you feel better without burnout. Tune in for inspiration, humor, and a fresh perspective on self-care that aligns with your real life.

Whether you're a mom juggling it all, a business owner craving balance, or a woman ready to feel your best, this episode is your guide to a manageable reset before the new year. Don’t miss it—your future self will thank you!

🎧 Share it with your besties, moms, and girlfriends!

Marina Tolentino
https://www.marinatolentino.com/
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Transcript

0:00

There's this new thing called Operation 66. So let's just break it down what it is, and it's really to help us establish lasting habits. Step number two, you're gonna avoid social media and screen time for the first and the last hour of the day. Try new recipes that are whole foods, and maybe try like a meatless Monday even and just experiment right now. So big thing here to be successful. We do wanna track progress. Just take better care of yourself. I think that would be a big goal. There's a new 75 hard challenge town as we approach the new year and getting all of our wish lists out of the way for the year. Goals and ambitions. I mean, it's that time of year. But good news is it's not 75 days and it's not as hard. It's called Operation 66 and it was made for women. So let me break it down to you and just kind of put this through a filter in your brain. Is this something that would benefit me and is this something I think I want to try? Because I think 66 days is pretty doable. And we know how habit stacking works. If you can just do it for 30 days, we're getting in the groove. 66 days is pretty good. So let's dive into what operation 66 is. So for context, I've done, or I should say I've attempted 75 hard twice in my life in the last four years. And each time I did it, I was miserable. Like, literally hating my life because trying to drink a gallon of water a day, first of all, is so hard and you're just peeing all the time. So it's like really hard to be productive when you have to pee every 20 minutes or go anywhere and find a bathroom. Like, it's just a hard thing. Secondly, two workouts a day can be really, really challenging, especially when you have little ones and so you need someone to take care of the kids or whatever, and then you're just like, sweaty. I don't know. It was just really, really challenging for me to stick to it. I could probably do five days out of the week at that rate. But seven days a week for 75 days is super intense. So there's this new thing called operation 66 and I love this. So let's just break it down, what it is and who. I don't even know who created it, but I. I think it's going around on TikTok. I'm reading a blog article as I break this down for you, but what it is, it's a 66 wellness challenge and it's really to help us establish lasting habits. So like let's break it down, six rules. Number one, you're going to drink 16 hour ounces of water first thing in the morning. So that's doable. You could just have that 16 ounce cup ready to go by the sink in your bathroom and just chug it. Like I could do that. Take your vitamins, call it good. Step number two, you're going to avoid social media and screen time for the first and the last hour of the day. Ooh, I love this one. Honestly. Because how often do you like wake up with your alarm and then you scroll social media for the first 15 minutes before you get out of bed? Cuz heaven forbid we missed out on anything while we were sleeping. Like this is such a good one. That will have lasting impacts not only on your mental health but also on your sleep. So avoiding it the last hour of your day would be great. That means we're going to be reading, we, we're going to be unwinding like no screens, not even TV before we go to bed. I actually really love this one. Step number three is you're going to do a 45 to 60 minute of movement. And it can be any kind of movement you enjoy. Emphasis on any kind of movement. Doesn't mean we're doing cross training. Doesn't mean we're running. It could be cozy cardio with your walking pad, like watching a video. Um, it could be pickleball, it could be tennis, it could be just a walk on the beach. Like I love that. It's just any kind of movement. We love these things. Hey ladies, real quick. If you are looking for a mentor, I just wanted to remind you that I offer mentorship to entrepreneurs. So if you're someone who has a never ending to do list and you're smiling out of control and feel like your business doesn't have a track plan, I want to work with you every single week for a month at a time. It's super simple. But I come from over 10 years of experience doing this myself and now I'm willing to give that information back to people. So I've mentored real estate agents, I've mentored wedding photographers, I've mentored other business owners and they've come from a place of overwhelm mostly and they really just needed clarity and a couple of action steps to move the needle. And we've seen gigantum leaps and bounds in their business. Like I can't even tell you. So if you're interested and you want to know what that looks like, I want you to go to marinatolentino.com and there's a calendly link there to do a 15 minute discovery call with me. Just to see if we're a good. Vibe check to make sure we're on the same page. And I would love to work with you one on one to really boost your business to the next level. So let's dive back in. Step number four is going to be dedicating 30 to 60 minutes towards a personal goal or hobby of yours. So something outside of your job or you going to school or whatever. Like 30 to 60 minutes of fun stuff a day. Like, yes, give me more of this. Which again, this could involve your family or it could be 30 to 60 minutes of solo time. Like do we think that would be a good habit stack to like infiltrate some fun time every day by ourselves? Hell yes. I love this one. Step five is going to be stretching for ten minutes a day. That's totally easy. And now that we're not going to be in our screens, the first and last hour of every day might not make it 10 minutes in the morning and 10 minutes at night. That sounds heavenly. And then last one, step number six is going to be to adopt a 9010 diet where 90% of your diet is made up of whole unprocessed ingredients and the other 10% is indulging in whatever you want, including alcohol. Love this too. So with this one, I mean, again, it's not saying that you have to eat just everything super strict and you can't ever indulge. You get 10% of indulging. But it does mean we're going to be doing some tracking, right? Because you're going to want to know, oh, how much did I indulge today? But definitely pick up the cookbook. Whole 30 you can even get at your library. There's so many versions of it. Try new recipes that are whole foods and maybe try like a meatless Monday even and just experiment right now. I think that sounds totally doable. So six steps, drinking water, avoiding screen time, 40 to 60 minutes of movement, 30 to 60 minutes of fun time, stretching for 10 minutes. And a 9010 diet like this is so much better than a 75 hard. And I'm actually very excited about it. So if you guys are curious about it more and you want to see inspiration or how other women are doing it, there's a hashtag called operation66 on Instagram and on TikTok, you guys can check out. Um, so it's 66 days. So I'm recording this in the middle of November. That wouldn't put me like in the beginning of January, which would be a great way to honestly kick off the new year. If by the time we publish it, it's December already, then, you know, okay, it'll get me through the first month of January and then you can go right into your new habits of the year. But this is so much more chill and less stressful and like flexible. And that is what I think is going to make it achievable and actually a lasting habit for you to stick to. Also, just side note about the processed food stuff, you guys, we all know how bad it is. Read your ingredients, please, please, please, for the love of God, check your oils. Check all the colored dyes. Like, go natural when you can. Even if it's a little bit more expensive. Your body will. Thank you. So, big thing here. To be successful, we do want to track progress. So I'm sure out on the Internet there's some downloadable worksheets of like, checkboxes or things you could do on your phone, but honestly, you could just pull up a note in your notes app and do it that way too. And then it'd be great to look back at the end of 66 days and how has my life changed? Don't even make it weight loss related. Like, honestly, make this self care related. Just like, how can I take better care of myself, my brain, my mind, my health, so that in 66 days I feel better, I might look better. But that's not the goal. The goal is not to binge and like, be crazy weight loss focused. Just take better care of yourself. I think that would be a big goal and a big win. So I would love to hear from you. If you guys end up trying this, um, what's your feedback? I might give it a go. Why not? And I think this could be really fun and like, even looking forward to, like, cozy cardio. And like, I have a friend who puts on YouTube videos of walking through Disneyland, but she puts her walking pad on and so she pretends like she's walking through Disneyland on her living room. You can get really creative with it or watch a series, watch Gilmore Girls right now in the fall, watch your holiday movies and like, that counts as your workout. Like, hello. That's so fun. Anywho, I'm gonna go. But thank you guys so much for listening. I hope you guys are really enjoying all the episodes that we have I'm so grateful for each and every one of you who does tune every week. Like, I see the numbers, and it just makes me so happy to see that you guys are enjoying it. Please continue sharing this with girlfriends, sisters, moms, you name it. Like, this is really for us, the people that we were. Like, where are my people? I'm your people. Moms who are working, trying to do the work, life balance, and just going up against the cultural expectation to do it all, because that's just impossible. So just do the best we can with what we've got, and that's enough. See you later.