The Pregnant Girl Walk
If you’re on the right side of TikTok chances are you’ve come across videos talking about the Hot Girl Walk.
The viral trend was coined by a 22-year-old named Mia (@exactlyliketheothergirls). The original video has almost a million likes while the hashtag #hotgirlwalk has accumulated over 41.4 million views, and counting. Mia even created a playlist on Spotify to accompany your hot girl walk which has amassed over 100,000 likes.
So what is the Hot Girl Walk? It’s an exercise and mindset movement, and the concept is quite simple. Go on an hour-long walk, get your steps in, get your miles in and move your body. While you are on your walk you are only allowed to think about three things: what you are grateful for, what you’d like to achieve, and how hot you are. No anxiety, no drama, no worries are allowed to enter this space. For best results the creator encourages you to do this daily, outdoors and you should target about 4 miles. In follow up TikToks, however, she emphasizes that more than anything the Hot Girl Walk is about mindset not weight loss, so if you don’t hit those 4 miles do not stress.
While we love the Hot Girl Walk, it’s proven to be unrealistic for certain stages of our pregnancy. As we entered the third trimester we noticed our bodies couldn’t go quite as far or as fast. Enter, the Pregnant Girl Walk. We’ve taken the best part about the Hot Girl Walk (mindset) and added few caveats to best accommodate our bodies.
Again, the concept is simple. Let’s start with the major physical change first. We’ve cut down that hour-long walk to 30 minutes. That’s the daily recommended movement by the Mayo Clinic, as always, however, listen to your body.
We love Mia’s three rules about mindset and think they’re especially important as it relates to pregnancy. During pregnancy you often feel like you have a constant running to do list as you prepare for baby. If it’s the to do list occupying your mind, maybe you’re anxious about a myriad of things that comes with being pregnant. Or maybe you’re stressed about your body and the physical changes you’re enduring, which is completely natural.
Take these 30 minutes a day to give your mind a break from these very real stressors, that half the time we don’t even realize are taking up space in our heads. Run through what you are grateful for. It can be as big as your bodies ability to grow this life inside you, or a minute as your partner making you tea. Try and hit at least five per day. Next, review what you are looking to achieve. Maybe it’s simply getting in your daily movement, or maybe it’s clearing your mind to become more present for your child. Whatever your goals may be take this time to get clear on them and make the commitment to yourself to follow through. There is nothing more important than our commitments to ourselves, they are the foundation that allows us to tend to others. Lastly, think about how hot you are. It may sound ridiculous or superficial but its important. As females we are constantly inundated with images of how we “should” look, which are only amplified during pregnancy. Praise your body for the miracle it is. Love yourself and the universe will show you that love back.
Lastly, the music. For us the playlist created by Mia wasn’t quite right. It was a little too distracting. Instead, what we found helped our mindset best, were podcasts. We have a couple recommendations below:
Mimi Bouchard’s Super Human App (formerly known as the Mimi Method)
This app boasts a number of walking meditations. This is great if you find it hard to concentrate with background noise.
The Skinny Confidential
This podcast brings experts from across industries and the world right to your ears, allowing you to discover new wisdoms, products and practices. If you’ve never listened to this podcast before we suggest starting with their Ed Mylett episode, where you’ll get an extra dose of motivation.
How I Built This with Guy Raz
This NPR podcast interviews entrepreneurs such as Stacy from Stacy’s Pita Chip or Sara Blakely creator of Spanx. For us, hearing these incredibly successful entrepreneurs and the hoops they had to jump through to get to where they are today helps us keep centered and focused on our goals, however small or large they might feel.
The Pregnant Girl Walk is the total package in our opinion. It prepares your body for labor and your mind for motherhood. Give the Pregnant Girl Walk a try and let us know your thoughts.