I’m sure if you’ve spent any time on TikTok in the past year you would have heard of the ‘That Girl’ trend.
But who is ‘That Girl’?
‘That Girl’ resembles a moving Pinterest board – she wakes up at 5 am every morning to work out in her aesthetically pleasing gym gear and effortlessly makes herself a healthy breakfast. She strives to be the best version of herself by focusing on productivity and wellness. And somehow she manages all of this whilst sticking to a minimalistic aesthetic.
Why is the ‘That Girl’ trend unrealistic?
On the surface, the ‘That Girl’ trend appears to be a positive and motivating trend with its focus on becoming the best version of yourself. However, as the trend only encourages an aesthetic lifestyle, in practice, it is clearly unattainable to truly be ‘That Girl’. When you dig deeper into the ‘That Girl’ trend, it becomes apparent that it promotes only one limited way to be productive. The trend suggests that if you’re not waking up at 5 am each morning and eating colour coordinated smoothie bowls then you are not leading a productive or healthy lifestyle. Arguably the trend is therefore not about becoming the best version of yourself, but rather about fitting into a mould of so-called productivity. When you browse through the ‘Becoming That Girl’ hashtag on TikTok it is clear that the trend is not inspiring to all, but in reality, it is promoting one non-diverse image of health – thin white women. With its focus on unrealistic healthy eating and exercise, coupled with limited suggestion of balance, this trend also promotes unsustainable and conceivably unhealthy eating habits.
The TikTok community have noticed the issues with this trend and have clapped back with the creation of a new trend: How to realistically become ‘That Girl’.
So, here are my top tips to become ‘That Girl’ realistically:
1. CreatE a routine
It’s important to have a routine because it helps us maintain positive daily habits. That being said, to expect yourself to achieve the same routine every day is unrealistic. So, my suggestion is to make three different daily routines for you to choose from depending on your energy levels each day – high, moderate, and low energy. For example, if you have loads of energy you could follow your high energy routine which could include activities such as an intense HIIT workout followed by reading a couple of chapters of a self-help book. Similarly, if you haven’t got tons of energy but still feel motivated you could follow a more moderate routine which might look something like a 30-minute walk followed by finishing your assignments. Finally, if you lack energy and aren’t motivated you can follow a more minimal routine which might just involve doing your skincare and making your bed.
2. HABIT STACKING
One step towards becoming ‘That Girl’ is to start to build healthy habits. Habits take time to establish and are difficult to form without resistance, so following the habit stacking method to implement new healthy habits is worth a try. Habit stacking involves grouping together small activities into a routine that you link to a habit you already have. For example, if you wanted to start journaling every day, you could implement this habit successfully by leaving your journal next to the computer you sit at every day. As using your computer is already a habit, seeing your journal next to the computer successfully attaches journaling to this pre-existing habit and prompts you to journal.
3. HOT GIRL WALK
A large focus of becoming ‘That Girl’ is exercise. One way to easily incorporate exercise into your daily routine is by doing the ‘hot girl walk’. The ‘hot girl walk’ is a fun and simple way to both exercise and grow mentally. The ‘hot girl walk’ simply involves walking every day to your favourite hot girl anthems whilst you think about things you’re grateful for or that you want to achieve, and of course, how hot you are.
4. JOURNALing
In order to become the best version of yourself, you shouldn’t only focus on your physical wellbeing but also on taking care of your mental health. One way to focus on your mental wellbeing is by journaling. Just spending 5 minutes a day writing down your thoughts helps to organise your mind and find the root cause of any stress or anxiety you may be experiencing.
5. MAKE YOUR BED
In every single ‘That Girl’ TikTok, the first thing they always do is make their bed. I know that it may seem like a mundane task and yes, you might not have the same aesthetic bedding as ‘That Girl’, but completing this simple task kickstarts your day and helps you establish a positive routine.
The most important thing to remember is that the core of the ‘That Girl’ trend is trying to become the best version of yourself. The only way to do this is by focusing on yourself and not striving to fit into an unrealistic mould.