Got three months? You can conquer the world. That’s (almost) the promise of the winter arc challenge, a trending Google Search term and trend late last year that’s showing a resurgence as 2025 chugs into cold weather months. I consulted experts—therapists, hormone doctors and fitness experts—for guidance on how to start and continue this wellness until completion. Here’s what I learned—maybe it will inspire you to challenge yourself like it did me.
The Winter Arc Challenge Trend, Explained by a Therapist, a Fitness Coach and a Hormone Expert
Including 6 pro-endorsed ways to try it yourself
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Published Sep 14, 2025
Karetoria/Getty, Merach, Ana Rocio Garcia Franco/Getty
Meet the Experts
- MK Clarkin, LCSW, LMSW, is a therapist and Executive Clinical Director of LifeStance Health.
- Mike Kocsis has an MBA with a focus on healthcare administration and is an entrepreneur and medical case manager for Balance My Hormones which offers medical services in the UK and Europe.
- Mia Luo is a Fitness Expert Manager at Merach, a home fitness equipment maker.
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What is the Winter Arc Challenge?
Basically, it’s a self-set goal that lasts three months, October through December, and consists of whatever wellness or self-improvement goal you want to achieve. It can be fitness, or maybe financial, or perhaps dating-related—the flexible parameters of the winter arc challenge are one of the reasons why it’s got so many people talking. Once you’ve picked your goal(s), you then set daily or weekly mini goals in order to track your progress.
After consulting a wide array of professionals, I came away with the idea that the undertaking is a lot like a more protracted and less failure-coded New Year’s resolution. I’m poised to try it, except I have so many areas I’d like to improve in my life, I don’t know what specific goals to set—if you’re in the same boat, keep reading for six expert-backed ideas for where to start.
Why Is the Winter Arc Challenge Trending?
Yep, you guessed it: It’s the turning of the seasons that makes the winter arc challenge resonate so deeply with so many people. “In most of the U.S., fall and winter are generally associated with staying inside more, a parallel to hibernation that may induce a sense of reflection and contemplation,” says Clarkin. “Additionally, the bustling of the holiday season may also lend itself to people foregoing their usual routines because life gets busy between family gatherings, winter breaks from school, planning for the holidays, etc. We also tend to associate fall, winter and the holiday season with more food, less physical activity and less routine, leading to many taking ownership of their routines and self-improvement rather than accepting this time of year will ‘just be unhealthier,’ the expert adds.
Our hormonal shifts also come into play, says Kocis: “As the weather gets colder and darker, our cortisol rhythms shift, making us feel sluggish, dopamine levels dip, which makes us seek little wins, and reduced sunlight triggers winter blues by dropping serotonin levels,” he says. As such, the hormonal expert endorses a three-month challenge that can offer consistency, personal rewards and mood-boosting habits.
Merach
Is the Winter Arc Challenge Healthy?
So, brass tacks: Is this three-month timeline a sustainable goal-setting method, or is this just another Hard 75-type "all gas, no breaks" fad that I am going to look back on ruefully? I asked Clarkin, and she understood my skepticism. “Mental health clinicians are all about self-improvement, which is what we spend our careers helping others achieve. That said, the goals must be realistic, achievable, and sustainable. A good rule of thumb is to ask yourself if you could healthily and reasonably sustain this particular trend for 6 months. If the answer is no, it may be helpful to reconsider your intention and long-term goals,” she said, reminding me that lasting changes are made in the micro-choices we make every day. (It reminds me of my fitness coach’s mantra for me: “A little bit of something is better than a whole lot of nothing.”)
But beware, cautions Kocsis: “Challenges like this do have a risk of backfiring if you overload yourself with too much at once. An endless checklist of strict, unachievable goals can spike stress hormones and cause burnout. Focus on a few habits that support your wellbeing—regular activity, quality sleep, nutrition, mindfulness—that can be practiced consistently into the new year, rather than a fad that is soon forgotten about.”
6 Winter Arc Rules for Feeling Your Best
- Cook more at home: “Not only will cooking at home more often save you money, choosing whole, fresh ingredients provides your body with the nutrients it needs to support digestion and gut health, promote a healthy metabolism and even improve brain function,” Kocis says. He advises people to treat meals as a mindful ritual, rather than something you have to do, to build consistency.
- Meditate: Meditation calms the HPA axis (aka the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, a hormone superhighway), which reduces stress, improves memory, reduces blood pressure, helps with emotional regulation and even supports immune function. Start with a few minutes a day, gradually increase the duration over time. You can combine it with an existing habit, like adding it to your pre-sleep routine to make it easier to begin, and make it stick suggests Kocsis.
- Decrease alcohol consumption: No surprise, the hormone expert isn’t a fan of overindulgence. “Alcohol raises blood sugar, affects gut health, slows muscle repair, increases inflammation and impairs hormone balance,” he says. So setting an intention to be more mindful of your intake and reduce consumption makes good sense in a season where alcohol consumption often rises.
- Prioritize sleep hygiene: “Consistent, quality sleep is essential for mood and metabolism, as well as energy levels,” Kocsis says. Create a relaxing pre-sleep routine, limit screens for at least an hour before bed and set a regular sleep/wake time.
- And set a screen-down intention: Clarkin endorses upping activities that don't involve scrolling or using screens. “Perhaps we set the winter arc rule of finding a new hobby or investing in relationships. This can be especially helpful throughout the cooler, darker seasons when the sun sets earlier and many of us feel lonely or down during the winter months,” she says. “Engaging in this winter arc rule could look like spending one day a week taking a pottery class or calling a sibling every Tuesday night to check in.”
- Get outdoors: “Sunlight boosts vitamin D levels and serotonin, and aligns your circadian rhythm which is crucial for your sleep cycle,” Kocsis reminds me. “When the hours of daylight of shorter in the winter, it's more important than ever to get outdoors and get some sunshine; even a quick 10-to-20-minute morning walk can make a big difference.”
My Takeaway
After speaking with all the experts, I came away inspired not to train for a half-marathon, but instead to set small, doable goals for every other day that would help lift my spirits to counteract the seasonal affective dip I know is coming. Who knows how it will go, or if I’ll evangelize about the experience on social media like so many people I follow. What I do know is just the contemplation of easy and doable goals…well, that’s already making me hungry to feel happier and healthier well ahead of any resolutions down the road. Challenge, accepted!
