The first time I heard of ‘That’ girl it was from my YouTube recommendations and I immediately thought, “Oh no, the vsco girls have grown up”. If you’re amongst the millennial age group and you’ve seen this trend, you most likely thought of the Tumblr girl era. The era that notoriously shaped and triggered many of the comparison and self loathing traits that will seemingly be passed down as long as social media exists. However, after further reflection I realized that out of all the ‘popular girl’ trends I’ve seen in my short 22 years, this is the first one that in some way actually inspires positive character growth. On the surface ‘That’ girl only cares about her aesthetic pictures and flaunting an effortless & euphoric lifestyle, but when you live the life of “That’ girl you see that in actuality it’s a structured self maintenance routine that requires a lot of self motivation and self control.
I want to share my journey on how I became ‘That’ girl and why I did it, keep in mind I’m still on my journey there. On my 22nd birthday, Sep. 29, 2020, I felt the most unfulfilled I had felt in a while. Even though I was passing all these milestones in my life, I still felt like I wasn’t meeting my full potential. I vowed that my 22nd year would be the year I grew into my young adult self and started laying the foundation for traits I want to have for the rest of my life. I started with the way I ate, growing up I’ve always been a picky eater so for me the goal was to try new foods and get a more colorful palette with more home cooking. The Food That Got Me Through Quarantine blog was dedicated to all new foods I tried over the past year and since then I start meal prepping at least one meal a week to eat at home. This change had a ripple effect on my bank account and energy levels, it’s personally the most exciting thing I’ve changed.
The next thing I changed was being more active. My motivations for getting to the gym were blatantly vain to begin with but at this point in my journey I realized that nothing makes me feel more alive and healthy than finishing a workout and going about my daily activities. Since I hadn’t been in the gym for a while, even before Covid, I started small with 10-15 minute at-home workouts, then 30 minute cardio with the infamous 12|3|30, and now I’ve gotten back into running and an hour workout. The plan wasn’t to be Serena Williams, but to be fit again and feel like a 22 year old with energy to do daily activities without feeling spent.
The biggest thing I changed in the past few months was waking up early, consistently & happily. This was initially a struggle for me after living the always partying, rarely sleeping lifestyle that was undergrad, but by month 6 I had my routine down: sleeping, exercising, errands, working, and then being so tired it eventually made me sleep earlier. There’s a difference between the way I wake up early now at 22 vs. when I was a grumpy sleep deprived 16 year old. Not eating late at night, having a steady gym routine & work schedule, and getting at least 7 hours of sleep every night have played the largest factors in my now energized demeanor in the morning.
On social media the only version of ‘That’ girl being circulated is this seeming perfect skinny, white, cis-gendered, young woman that has every detail and moment of her day in order. When in reality, characteristics of ‘That’ girl vary in each person’s life, some traits of my version of ‘That’ girl are: workouts 3-4 times a week, eats out once a week, gets a full night’s rest, is productive while spending plenty of time with friends and family, and makes financially sound decisions. I’m not a very aesthetic person, my only goal in my 22nd year was to genuinely feel the best I’ve felt my whole life, not just look like I am perfect on social media by posting cute pics and “thoughtful” words with muted colors.
Overall, my understanding of the becoming ‘That’ girl trend is to become the best version of yourself. The version that holds themselves accountable, and shows they can achieve the goals they never thought were possible. The way I feel about myself today is completely different than a year ago (if you knew me in college, no you didn’t), it started with a mental change and adding these physical changes helped elevate me even more. I’d like to think I’m not a selfish person, and that’s why I’m sharing this post, to tell you to go and do something that will get you one step closer to becoming the you that sees pride when you look in the mirror and isn’t ashamed to share it with others. If you are at a point in your life where you feel like you’re missing something and needing more, I recommend going on your own journey to becoming the best version of yourself, to becoming ‘That’ girl.
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