As we march towards the final days of the year, health and fitness influencers say there’s no finer time for transformative change.
The viral TikTok “winter arc” trend champions the adoption of a disciplined wellness routine that ensures you’ll feel and look your best by the first day of 2025 — and doing it right could mean losing weight without all the pressure of a New Year’s resolution.
Weight loss coach Kelly B. Story told The Post that a winter arc is “a short period dedicated specifically to making your goals for the next year your top priority.” Most agree that it spans from October 1 through January 1.
Why winter?
Story explained that when daylight dwindles during the cooler months of the year, we tend to have more time to dedicate to ourselves: “During a season where solitude is more common, it is a very convenient time to set your sights on the things you want to accomplish to improve your mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual health.”
She noted that instances of seasonal affective disorder (SAD) peak during the winter months. The condition is characterized by low energy levels, social withdrawal, brain fog, irritability, anxiety, weight gain, guilt, and cravings. SAD affects about 5% of US adults, while another 10% to 20% suffer milder winter blues, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
Story says being proactive about self-care is one way to beat these blues.
Her own winter arc strategy helps her wake up with a purpose and have something substantial to strive towards, and she noted that it boosts self-esteem and curbs stress.
Winter arc goals are as varied as the people who set them. One TikTok creator plans to work out four or five times a week, drink a gallon of water a day, read 20 pages a day, cook a new recipe a week, and save money.
A third social media user aims to give up alcohol, walk 10,000 steps a day, sleep six to eight hours a night, and remove toxic people from her life.
Yet Story said the winter arc is an ideal time to crush weight loss goals.
“Losing weight with this method can be easily done considering you are going into your winter arc full throttle with a strong mindset and an end goal to keep your sight set on,” she said.
“It is such a good way to build healthy habits and transition into 2025 with a strong foundation of progress without the daunting expectations of a New Year’s resolution.”
To ensure success, Story recommends doing the mental work before setting your goals.
“Be intentional about the things you want to accomplish. Physically write them down so at the end of every day, you can check off the steps you have completed and watch your consistency build over time,” she said.
Her number one tip for a successful winter arc is to banish negative self-talk.
“It is super easy to fall into an all-or-nothing mindset when setting strong timeline-oriented goals for yourself,” she said. “You need to enter into it with the expectation that there may be some bumps in the road, but when you realize that progress is a staircase and not an escalator, you can still make it to your destination in time.”
When you realize that progress is a staircase and not an escalator, you can still make it to your destination in time
Kelly B. Story
Story says that most people who embark on a winter arc start strong but experience setbacks around the four-week mark when the excitement of goal setting wears off.
“Discipline is a superpower, and when you can actively tap into it when you hit the wall, the spark and excitement will always return,” she explained.
Steps for a successful winter arc
- Write out clear goals that you can check off every day
- Wake up early
- Have a structured program
- Set nonnegotiables for yourself
- Banish negative self-talk
With the holidays on the horizon, Story offered up ways to navigate family stressors and unhealthy temptations in ways that support your winter arc.
“Ask yourself beforehand, ‘What is in my control?’ and ‘What actions can I take to enjoy my holiday experience?’ while not giving up on what is important to me,” she said.
“For me, this looks like doing my long-distance run the morning of Thanksgiving, eating intentionally and mindfully, and not spiraling about the things that aren’t in my control so I have a smooth transition into the following day.”
Previously, Dr. Nicole Van Groningen, an internal medicine physician in Los Angeles, shared her own top tip for a good winter arc: limiting your goals.
