The ‘That Girl’ routine – recreating the healthy lifestyle made easy
Three years ago we introduced you to the That Girl routine as a blueprint for a healthier everyday life. In the meantime, the trend has amassed billions of views, faced backlash, and evolved. What remains and what you should do differently today.
In May 2022 we explained the That Girl routine here: early rising, meditation, green smoothie, workout, journal. Three years later it’s clear what the trend really was. A staged showcase of self-optimisation that racked up more than 17 billion views on TikTok by August 2024-and was simultaneously criticised by researchers and users alike. The short answer up front: the individual building blocks still work. The perfectionist pressure behind them belongs in the bin.
- That Girl took off in 2021 with a viral TikTok from @angelxadvice and grew to over 17 billion views by 2024.
- Research shows comparing yourself to flawlessly staged routines tends to drag down mood, body image and self-worth rather than motivate.
- By 2025 and 2026 the Soft-Girl and anti-perfectionism movements have replaced the high-gloss demands.
- The useful parts remain: prioritise sleep, embed movement in daily life, carve out a real hour just for you.
- What matters isn’t whether you tick every box, but whether it actually does you good.
What Became of the Trend
The term originated in a 2021 TikTok clip. @angelxadvice danced to a list of good resolutions like eating more fruit and reading more, and it spawned its own genre. The visual language was consistent everywhere: immaculately tidy desks, the 5 a.m. alarm, beige Pilates sets, celery juice. By August 2024, videos under the hashtag had racked up more than 17 billion views. This was no niche phenomenon-it was a template for what a “proper” life should look like.
It was this template that sparked the backlash. A 2025 study published in the journal Social Sciences delivered an uncomfortable finding: consuming That-Girl videos measurably worsened mood and body satisfaction among participants and stoked diet intentions. Instead of inspiring, the constant comparison with a uniform body and behavioral ideal dragged self-image downward. The trend that was supposed to make you better ended up making many people unhappier.
A routine is a tool, not an exam. It’s meant to carry your day, not become another list you fail.
Why Perfect Routines Backfire
The issue isn’t early rising or green smoothies. The problem is that the trend only shows the finished state and never the path to get there-no snoozed alarm, no unmade bed, no skipped workout. Taking that as the benchmark means chasing a curated highlight reel and mistaking your own, ordinary life for a shortfall. Critics call this toxic productivity: self-care becomes just another performance metric where even relaxation has to be optimized.
Add to that the pace of the platforms. In a culture that measures self-worth in likes and visible outcomes, a morning routine quickly turns into a stage. You’re no longer doing things for yourself but to prove you’re doing them. What’s fascinating is how communities responded in 2025 and 2026. The Soft-Girl movement deliberately prioritizes slowness and boundaries over constant output, while a broader de-influencing wave demands unfiltered, honest, and sometimes messy content instead of polished perfection.
What to Take Away Today
The good news: the building blocks themselves are sound-you just need to free them from the pressure to perform. Four of them still hold up.
Sleep first. No habit delivers as reliably as a consistent sleep rhythm. Going to bed early and waking up naturally leaves you more balanced for the day ahead. This isn’t aesthetics; it’s physiology. For tips on turning your bedroom into a true sanctuary, see The Heart of Recovery in Your Home: The Bedroom.
Move in ways that fit. It doesn’t have to be competitive sport or a 6 a.m. workout staged for the camera. The key is embedding movement where it fits without drama: before the office, during lunch, on the way home. Even a short, consistent mobility session can anchor the day. Our sister magazine shows how little is required with the 15-Minute Mobility Routine.
One real hour to yourself. It doesn’t need to be squeezed into the predawn light. Midday or evening counts just as much. Reading, a phone-free walk, a few quiet minutes-whatever lets your mind reset. For an antidote to hyper-scheduled self-optimization, try Forest Bathing.
Your planner as relief, not judge. A planner keeps you on track and sorts your thoughts, even as a journal for feelings and small wins. It only becomes a problem when unfinished tasks glare back like accusations at bedtime. A short, honest list beats a perfectly feathered double-page spread.
The Routine That Actually Supports You
That Girl was never wrong because healthy habits are wrong. The trend went off the rails when it elevated a single, flawless image to the status of norm and made everything below it look like failure. The version that still makes sense in 2026 is quieter: pick the two or three habits that genuinely do you good and leave the rest behind. No 5 a.m. alarm because the internet demands it. No smoothie staged for the ’gram. Your well-being comes first, not your performance. A good routine never harms you; the pressure to be perfect at it does.
Quick Answers
▸Is the That-Girl routine still a thing in 2026?
The hashtag is still going strong, but the high-gloss expectations have noticeably cooled. Since 2025, the Soft-Girl aesthetic and a growing de-influencing movement have shifted toward slowness, boundaries, and honest, unfiltered content-replacing the relentlessly polished showcase of a perfect life.
▸Why is this trend under fire?
A 2025 study published in the journal Social Sciences found that consuming That-Girl videos worsened participants’ moods and body satisfaction while fueling diet intentions. The constant comparison to an unattainable ideal does more harm than good.
▸Which parts of the routine actually hold up?
Four elements survive scrutiny: a reliable sleep schedule, movement that slips into daily life without fanfare, a dedicated hour just for you, and a planner used as a tool-not a judge. The key is doing it for yourself, not for the camera.
▸Do I really have to wake up at five?
No. The early wake-up is pure theatrics, not a magic formula. What matters is enough sleep and a rhythm that fits your life. A quiet hour for yourself works just as well at noon or in the evening.
