Hotness might not mean what you think it means.

A person’s “hotness” typically gets determined by others, whether that’s a Y2K “hot or not” website, or Paris Hilton. However, a social media challenge called “75 Hotter” is helping redefine what hotness means: Could it be more about how you feel than how you look? The challenge is a play on the super-intense 75 Hard challenge, a restrictive fitness, exercise, and lifestyle protocol that went viral in 2022. This iteration replaces a strict diet and exercise regimen with daily goals of hydration, steps, socialization, eating more protein and greens, and positive self-talk.

“Growing up, I never felt hot, [because] I felt like I didn’t look like these ‘hot girls,’” 75 Hotter creator Jade Brandt, an Austin-based content creator, tells Well+Good. “Now, it’s like something from within.”

Brandt created the challenge in Fall 2023, but it’s blown up this January as Brandt kicked off a new 75 days on January 6, garnering over 1 million views on Instagram and TikTok. People continue to join the challenge, commenting that they’re “in” even after the “official” start date. “OBSESSED w/this!! This is the energy we need for 2025,” said one Instagram fan.

Here’s what to know about the 75 Hotter challenge—including things to keep in mind if you want to take it on and experts’ take on reclaiming “hotness.”

What is the 75 Hotter challenge?

At the start of 2023, Brandt undertook the 75 Hard challenge, which requires 75 days of two workouts per day, a strict diet, a prescribed amount of water, and reading self-help books. The program also states participants must start the 75 days over again if they miss their requirements one day.

Brandt couldn’t wait for the challenge to end. She even started resenting reading. “It was unsustainable,” Brandt says.

But come fall 2023, Brandt still felt like she needed some sort of reset. So she crafted the 75 Hotter challenge, which takes a simpler, self-care-oriented approach to health and wellness. It caught on: her original 75 Hotter TikTok explainer video has over 5.7 million views. The 2024/2025 version is slightly different based on community feedback about how to be more inclusive and avoid toxic diet culture; weight loss was one of Brandt’s personal goals in 2023, which she has since de-emphasized. But the overarching goal is consistent: being “hot from the inside out.”

The 75 Hotter challenge includes the following steps, with some additional parameters listed in Brandt’s graphic below.

1. Take 10,000 steps per day
2. Prioritize protein and greens
3. Hydrate
4. Keep your space tidy
5. Connect with friends
6. When drinking alcohol, drink mindfully
7. Create a workout and recovery schedule
8. Do aesthetic/fun self-care
9. Track progress with photos that reflect state of mind, not just looks
10. Employ positive self-talk

What to keep in mind if you want to try the 75 Hotter challenge

Body-inclusive trainer and wellness coach Azul Corajoria is all for 75 Hotter—as long as people personalize it for themselves. Challenges or resets can be problematic, says Corajoria, because they can create an “all or nothing” mindset that sets people up for disappointment. But, everyone is different: some of her clients benefit from these frameworks when it comes to accountability and motivation.

Plus, Corajoria appreciates that 75 Hotter nixed “starting over” if you don’t follow one component to the letter. “It literally was so not motivating for me,” Brandt says of the stringent rule. “It made me live in fear.”

Both Brandt and Corajoria suggest that days where you don’t tick every box of the challenge can be learning opportunities. Did you drink more than you wanted to the night before? If so, why? Reflect on what led to your behavior and if there are any changes you can make for a different outcome in the future.

Corajoria also suggests customizing some goals, and Brandt is all for it. For example, says Corajoria, progress photos may be triggering or unhelpful for some people. Is there another way to reflect on your 75 Hotter challenge every day? Additionally, 10,000 steps could be a big change if you don’t normally walk much during the day. Instead, find a way to incorporate more movement that seems manageable. Corajoria specifically recommends adding on to something you already do. For example, if you normally take around 5,000 steps per day, try shooting for 6,000 or 7,000.

“It’s always going to be about progress over perfection,” Corajoria says. “When we’re talking about habit change, we want things to be sustainable.”

Finally, make sure to consider why you want to undertake this challenge and pinpoint any areas that might be detrimental to your mental health. In particular, Linda Baggett, PhD, a psychologist who runs a body-inclusive practice specializing in self-image, advises that if you have a history of disordered thinking or behavior around food and exercise, you may want to avoid the challenge components related to those aspects.

“Take an honest look at yourself and assess which components may carry some risk for you,” Baggett says. Overall, “be gentle with yourself.”

‘That’s hot’: 2025 edition

Being hot has been associated with sexual attraction and physical appearance since the 1920s, according to Mental Floss’s dictionary research. But in the last several years, it’s taken on a different meaning. “Hot Girl” authority Megan Thee Stallion explained that “being a hot girl is about being unapologetically YOU, having fun, being confident, living YOUR truth, being the life of the party, etc,” in a 2019 tweet

The term continued to transform during the pandemic, with the introduction of the “Hot Girl Walks” trend, in which TikTok creators popularized a new form of casual exercise: walking at your own pace, focusing on positivity and gratitude, and listening to something engaging on your headphones. The 75 Hotter challenge promotes this definition of feeling good, whatever that means to you.

“The more we move toward centering our definitions of attractiveness around how we treat ourselves and others, and away from very narrow beauty ideals of being thin, blonde, curvy with tiny waist, white, able-bodied, tan, etc., the better off we are as a society and individuals,” says Baggett. (She remains skeptical that “hotness” can be completely divorced from appearance).

For Brandt, hotness is all about being self-possessed. She says she feels “hotter” when she has a routine and sticks to it, connects with friends, and does something that makes her feel pampered (hence the “aesthetic” challenge component). Confidence is the ultimate hotness, and she hopes that others feel similarly.

“I just want people to feel empowered,” Brandt says. “That’s the vibe I want to cultivate.”

Reconceiving hotness as something you believe about yourself—and exude—is probably an “uphill battle,” since narrow beauty ideals are still so pervasive, says Baggettt. However, might reclaiming the word to cultivate a perception beyond looks be the first step? Could joining the challenge change how you think about your own “hotness”?

“It’s not insinuating that you’re not hot right now,” Corajoria says. “I like that it’s ‘hotter.’”