hot girl walk

A hot girl walk is a long walk, usually around four miles, where you think only about what you’re grateful for, your goals and how good you feel. Anyone can do one; the “hot” is about confidence, not looks.

What a hot girl walk is

The original rules, as creator Mia Lind described them, are simple: walk about four miles, and while you do, focus on three things. What you’re grateful for, your goals and how to reach them, and how hot you are, meaning confident and good in your own skin. Lind has said the challenge isn’t about losing weight.

In everyday use, people call almost any solo walk with headphones and a good mood a hot girl walk, whether it’s two miles around the block or a long loop through the park.

Examples

• “Can’t talk, I’m on my hot girl walk.”
• “Hot girl walk, iced coffee, a podcast. Perfect morning.”
• “A hot girl walk fixed my whole mood today.”

Where it came from

Lind, then a student at the University of Southern California, started it during the COVID lockdowns, posting on TikTok as @exactlyliketheothergirls. Sources differ on the first video: Wikipedia says January 2021, Know Your Meme says February 2021. Wikipedia says the name was inspired by Megan Thee Stallion’s 2019 song “Hot Girl Summer.” The hashtag went on to rack up hundreds of millions of TikTok views.

It also got complicated. Lind trademarked the name in 2023, and according to Wikipedia she sent cease-and-desist letters to free walking groups using it. A July 2024 lawsuit against one community organizer was dismissed less than three weeks after it was filed.

Does it actually help?

A walk is a walk, so the physical benefits are the usual ones. On the mental side, Tufts psychologist Alice Connors-Kellgren told NBC Boston that this kind of mindful walking can ease anxiety and lift your mood, but that it isn’t a substitute for real mental health care.

Related terms

• Soft life: a calm, low-stress way of living.
• Main character: living like the star of your own story.
• Side quest: an unplanned detour.
• Glow up: a change for the better.

See more terms like this in our TikTok slang guide.