I try out TikTok ‘It Girl’ trends the week all of my assignments are due
Waking Up at 6 am
Okay, so not off to the best start. I did not wake up at 6 am (not even for journalistic integrity). I’m definitely not a morning person, despite the fact that I start getting mentally ready for bed at 9 pm. I did however push myself to get up earlier than normal and that was surprisingly nice. If you ask my flatmates, I’m normally on a murder rampage in the morning but pushing myself to get up earlier meant that I had more time to do admin, chores, or I could just go about my morning routine in a relaxed way. You gotta make sure you’re not going to bed at 4 am for this one to work though, otherwise you literally disassociate until 2 pm.
7/10, only because I got to see a sunrise.
No Caffeine
This was really easy since caffeine normally gives me a headache to begin with. I’ll admit there were times where I wished V made those condensed energy shots, but drinking cold water and going for a quick walk turned out to be my solution for every time I got really sleepy. I still felt like shit but sometimes those cheeky afternoon naps make you feel worse. I did quit my daily pre-work hot choccys and that probably made me feel worse than any caffeine withdrawals could, On the flipside, I didn’t have to worry about forgetting my keep cup.
8/10.
An Actual Skincare Routine
Freddie Highmore’s MOIST skin really inspired this one. Luckily for me, I haven’t experienced any major acne outbreaks since high school, but what better week to put that to the test than the week where everything is happening? I wish I was consistent with a seven-step skin care routine, but by the end of these five days I think I’ve gotten a five-step routine? Plus, I’ve stopped picking at my skin and started drinking more water. I don’t actually think my skin’s gotten that much better and if I didn’t know my skin type already, this would’ve been so much more stressful and expensive to do.
5/10 because fuck society’s perfect skin standards.
Healthy Eating (a.k.a. no carbs)
Besties, I’m Asian. Rice is such a staple for me so I also modified this one. Instead of going fully carbless, I reduced my carb intake especially for breakfast and lunch. Out of literally all the ‘It Girl’ trends, I’d recommend this the most. Maybe don’t cut out carbs completely, but reducing my carb intake at lunch especially helped me fight off the afternoon sleepies and I loved the fact that I was hungry ? at ? the ? appropriate ? times? Instead of carbs, I major loaded on proteins such as frozen spinach in my morning smoothies or extra tofu for lunch, as well as cutting out cookies for homemade bliss balls (they’re definitely a WIP though).
10/10, but wouldn’t have been able to do it without Harvest Snaps.
Dressing Well
This one is kinda controversial. I took dressing well to mean a balance between comfort and looks and doing some light makeup everyday, but there were times where I definitely felt super self-conscious. I know that if I had tried dressing myself like the ‘It Girls’ on TikTok, I would’ve had the WORST time. But I think attitude is the most important part of this. When I was confident and happy with what I was wearing, I definitely got more compliments/interactions with people, whereas my anxious outfits resulted in me picking up my entire wardrobe off the floor when I got home.
4/10, because fashion is a personal learning journey as opposed to an indicator of ‘social put together-ness’.
Exercise
Normally I go for daily walks. It helps that I live with a dog who adores them but sometimes depression really yeets the metaphorical rug out from under your feet and being active is the last thing you want to do, despite your doctor literally prescribing you to go on daily walks. Plus with hundreds of pages of readings to go through, it can be hard to find time for a two-hour pump session at the gym or a spin class that fits perfectly with uni, social life, work, extra curriculars, and looking after yourself. I promise though, moving helps. I managed to do a few 15 minute yoga stretches off YouTube and that felt okay. For days where I didn’t even want to unroll the mat, I blasted some boppy tunes and wiggled my toes.
9/10, only because I wrote “toes.”
