I don’t half-ass anything. I either go all-in or don’t bother (sometimes to a fault): I rival Monica Geller’s obsession with cleaning, and I’ve been known to try every workout trend under the sun—from CrossFit and half marathons to Pickleball and pole dancing—when (as we know) a hot girl walk and some basic weight lifting would do just fine. While my go-big-or-go-home MO had me intrigued by the 75 Hard Challenge, the wellness journalist in me was sounding the alarms and telling me to heed the warning signs that it’s too extreme. So when I got word of Operation 66, a challenge created by a woman for women (but also everybody) to help build lifelong healthy habits, it was an immediate green flag for me.
“I felt like I wanted a big change in my life; I wanted to become the person I had always envisioned,” explained the creator of the wellness challenge, Angelina Nicolle. “I needed a challenge that would help me do this, and 75 Hard never really felt like it fit in with my lifestyle. When I heard that it takes 66 days for a habit to become automatic, I decided to challenge myself for 66 days and created the habits that I felt would help me reach my full potential.” Sold yet? Keep reading for the lowdown on the Operation 66 Challenge, including what experts have to say about it and how to give it a shot.
Experts Consulted
At The Everygirl, we believe that wellness advice should be grounded in accurate, science-backed information to ensure our readers can make informed decisions about their health and well-being. That’s why we prioritize consulting trusted, credible experts—so every piece of content is both reliable and empowering.
DR. ZULIA FROST, MD
Dr. Zulia Frost is a doctor of general medicine, paediatrics, and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and acupuncture and the co-founder and clinical director of Recharge Health. Driven by energy, nutrition, movement, and mindset as the cornerstones of recovery, she guides others in harnessing the power of light, electricity, and sound to relieve pain, restore health, and optimize well-being.
MICHAEL BETTS
Michael Betts is a personal trainer and director of TRAINFITNESS, with over 30 years experience in exercise programming, management, and education. Betts has built a career dedicated to helping individuals transform their health and achieve their fitness goals. Under his guidance, TRAINFITNESS has educated tens of thousands of personal trainers, setting the gold standard in fitness education.
What Is Operation 66?
Operation 66 is Nicolle’s 66-day wellness challenge brainchild she developed to help women establish a lasting wellness practice (quick fixes, be gone). To complete the challenge, Nicolle laid out the six simple “rules” or habits to follow for 66 days:
- Drink 16 ounces of water first thing in the morning
- Avoid social media/screen time for the first and last hour of your day
- Do 45-60 minutes of movement (it can be any kind of movement you enjoy)
- Dedicate 30-60 minutes toward a personal goal or hobby of yours (something outside of school or your job)
- Stretch for 10 minutes
- Adopt a 90/10 diet where 90 percent of your diet is made up of whole, unprocessed ingredients, and the other 10 percent is indulging in whatever you want (including alcohol)
“Studies have shown that it takes about 66 days for a habit to become automatic, so the goal is that after the challenge is over, these six habits will be ingrained into your routine,” Nicolle said. But Operation 66 is not just a one-and-done challenge; it’s not meant to be something you do once and never do again. Rather, it’s an impetus to make permanent positive changes to your life, long after the 66 days are over. As Nicolle emphasized in a TikTok video, “It’s designed to change your life.”
What Sets It Apart from Other Wellness Challenges?
Unlike other wellness challenges like 75 Hard, Operation 66 is more realistic and individualized and intended to continue long after the “test” is finished, making it a sustainable regimen instead of a band-aid solution. With 75 Hard, if you slip up on any one of the five rules, you have to start over from day one. But if you skip a day or don’t follow through on one or more of the Operation 66 rituals, Nicolle said you just pick up where you left off the next day (“Sometimes, life just happens,” she pointed out). Plus, you can easily tailor the six-step routine to fit your lifestyle. “The movement can look like whatever exercise you enjoy; your diet can be whatever suits you best; you can choose to focus on any goal or hobby of your choosing,” she added.
Michael Betts, a personal trainer and director at TRAINFITNESS, called attention to the length of time the Operation 66 Challenge involves: “66 days is longer than the usual 30-day challenges, long enough to form habits that stick, not quick fixes. This extra time helps you form deeper habits and make bigger life changes.”
What Experts Say
Pros
“Operation 66 is a well-suited challenge promoting long-term habit-building and aiming for steady, realistic transformation rather than a drastic short-term overhaul,” said Dr. Zulia Frost, MD, a renowned clinician and researcher. “This program is a holistic approach supporting mental, emotional, and physical health as part of a comprehensive wellness routine, including physical activity, nutrition, stress management, and social engagement. It promotes consistency, a key to long-term success. By integrating these gentle practices into daily life, Operation 66 offers an accessible path to achieving a healthier lifestyle with minimal resistance.”
Betts agreed that the guidelines of Operation 66 build sustainable habits, especially compared to standard wellness trends that aren’t approachable for everyone and can’t be modified: “You set your own goals and choose tasks that match your personal needs and aspirations, so you’ll be more engaged and committed.”
Cons
The Operation 66 Challenge is a longer time commitment; Betts said 66 days can be a big ask if you’re already crunched for time or struggle with consistency. Dr. Frost echoed the same potential disadvantage, saying there are no immediate results with Operation 66, as improvement may be slower compared to more intense programs. “Since it’s self-directed, results will vary depending on individual effort and circumstances,” Betts stated. “Staying motivated without external support might be tough for some.” Then there’s the potential to feel overwhelmed by trying to do all six steps at once, and if progress is slow, you might burn out, get frustrated, or quit altogether.
How to Try It
Make the challenge work for you
Take advantage of the flexibility of Operation 66 by personalizing it based on your needs and what you want to achieve for your well-being. For Nicolle, a 90/10 diet looks like a high-protein vegetarian diet with occasional indulgences (as she said in a video). Case in point: Nicolle enjoying a beer and sandwich roll at a baseball game. Perhaps your take on the 90/10 way of eating means more animal-based products and cutting out alcohol completely in favor of satisfying your sweet tooth. Nicolle’s choice of workouts includes hot Pilates, running, and lifting weights, but that doesn’t make cozy cardio or the 4-2-1 method any less beneficial if that’s what gets your endorphins going.
Use habit or wellness stacking
Whether you call it habit or wellness stacking, setting aside time every day to carry out multiple healthy habits simultaneously (in this case, the six practices outlined earlier) takes the pressure of time-consuming self-care out of the equation. “I like to combine my habits so that it becomes more manageable,” Nicolle expressed. Maybe while drinking your 16 ounces of water in the morning, you also use that time to work on your latest hobby (FYI, friendship bracelets are making a comeback). Or maybe you cue a podcast episode on how to tap into your main character energy and romanticize the hell out of your life as you go on an hour-long walk.
Record your progress
According to a 2016 study published in Psychological Bulletin, the more often you monitor your development, the greater the likelihood you’ll succeed. Nicolle keeps a journal to keep tabs on how she’s feeling each day and how she’s making headway with her personal Operation 66 challenge (she also created downloadable worksheets to take the guesswork out of tracking each Operation 66 habit daily). By maintaining a log of your own Operation 66, you hold yourself accountable for completing the six practices every day (but, again, it’s OK if you miss a couple). And it makes it easier to identify what’s working and what could use some tweaking. But don’t forget to celebrate your wins along the way, too—they will keep the motivation coming the most.
Katherine Chang, Wellness Staff Writer
Katherine Chang is The Everygirl’s Wellness Staff Writer with over five years of experience in the health and wellness space. She navigates the latest wellness topics and trends through expert interviews and studies, and she’s always first in line to try them firsthand.
Feature graphic images credited to: Maksum Goncharenok | Pexels, Caroline Taborda | Dupe, Alaina Kaz
