Shadowing Practice: 8 Simple Hacks to Improve Your Health - Learn English Speaking with Video
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So health is arguably the single most important area of our life.
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Without our health, we can have all the money in the world, the best career, the best relationships, the most fun hobbies, and we won't be able to enjoy any of them because our health is miserable.
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But even though we might know intellectually that our health is important, when it comes to how we spend our time, it's often the first thing that goes.
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Work and life gets busy, and the first thing we do is we stop sleeping properly, we stop eating well, we stop exercising because who's got time for those things?
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Now, as a former doctor turned entrepreneur and productivity expert, I've been on a mission recently to my health and fitness and wellbeing.
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So I've been reading a bunch of books about health, working with an online health coach and interviewing a bunch of experts on my podcast all about physical health, mental health and even emotional health.
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But a lot of the stuff that I've learned can be pretty dense.
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And so I've been trying my best to translate the things that I've learned into simple, actionable, evidence -based hacks that can seamlessly integrate into my life
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so that the important aspects of my health are on autopilot so I don't have to think too hard about them.
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And so in the video, I wanna share eight of these health hacks that have improved my life.
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And I hope you'll find something to take away from these that you can apply to your life as well.
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Now, according to the CDC, one in three adults in the US report not getting enough sleep and not getting enough rest in the day.
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I suspect the actual number is higher than this
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because I very rarely meet people who feel as if they're getting enough sleep.
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Now, one simple hack
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that I found for improving my sleep in a very easy to remember way is the 3 -2 -1 method, which comes from my online fitness coach, Dan Go.
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So the 3 in the method means to stop eating three hours before sleeping.
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This study, for example, showed that eating within three hours of your normal bedtime was associated with nocturnal awakening, which basically means that you're waking up at night and so your sleep quality is reduced.
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Two, which is to stop drinking liquids two hours before sleep.
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Now, you might know that drinking caffeine in the evening is likely to disrupt your sleep, but actually drinking any kind of fluid, even water, one to two hours before sleeping, has been associated with lower sleep quality as well.
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And then the one is to cut out screen usage one hour before sleeping.
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And again, there's a bunch of studies that show that if you look at a bright screen one hour before sleeping, that's likely to affect your sleep quality, and especially when it comes to phones and stuff, the overstimulation that we get from our phones,
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which is literally what our phones are designed to do, is something that can make falling asleep a lot harder than it necessarily needs to be.
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combat this is that I try my best to just not use my phone in bed.
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And instead, I have a Kindle and also a physical book on my bedside table.
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There was a study that showed that the backlight from a Kindle doesn't really affect sleep very much.
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And I find that generally my sleep is better if I'm reading fiction rather than nonfiction.
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So fiction helps my brain switch off.
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It helps me immerse myself in a new sort of new fantasy land and stuff.
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Whereas nonfiction, when I'm reading it in bed, I'm always thinking about my business.
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I'm highlighting stuff.
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I feel the need to take notes.
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And it's stimulating my brain in a way that fiction really doesn't.
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All right, so I've got this graph from 2020, and this shows how many steps on average I was taking each month.
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And you can see over here in August 2020, there is a significant dip.
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And this was when I first took a break from my full -time job of being a doctor.
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I ended up sitting on this desk all day, making YouTube videos.
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Now this is a graph of my body weight.
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And you can see that there is a fantastic correlation between
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when I stopped taking all these steps and suddenly my weight absolutely ballooned and I became really fat.
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So if you're watching this video, you probably have a job where you sit down all day.
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And you've heard this before, sitting is the new smoking.
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And they've done so many studies about this, is this golden bullet that just increases your risk of dying from all sorts of bad things.
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And as you might have heard, taking 10 ,000 plus steps a day is generally a very good thing.
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This meta -analysis of 15 studies, for example, showed that taking more steps per day was associated with a progressively lower risk of all -cause mortality.
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This study showed that in sedentary overweight individuals, 10 ,000 steps a day significantly lowered anxiety, depression, anger, fatigue, confusion, and total mood distress.
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And this study, for example, showed that for every 500 steps you increase per day, the risk of cardiovascular disease decreases by about 6%. And
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so what I've tried to do is add as many simple
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hacks to my life to get to my 10 ,000 steps a day goal.
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So firstly, the single best thing that I found for this is actually to get a treadmill underneath my standing desk.
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It was about $300, but it was totally worth it.
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It's the walking pad C2.
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I have no relationship with them at all, but would recommend you can check it out.
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And I've had this treadmill under my desk for a few months
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and I've used it 148 times and walked 255 kilometers in that time.
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In fact, today, according to my Apple Watch, I have racked up about 5 ,000 steps already and I haven't really left the house.
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So the treadmill has been a surprisingly simple hack.
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in more steps in each day.
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Secondly, wherever possible, I like to take Zoom calls while I'm walking.
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Thirdly, if I have to go somewhere for dinner or something, and it's within about 40 minutes of where I live, I'll often choose to walk rather than drive or take the train.
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And usually while I'm walking, I'll listen to a podcast or something, but again, it just gets the steps in because 40 minutes there and back basically gets me to about 10 ,000 steps.
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And it's just been helpful to monitor it with my Apple Watch.
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You can do this like basically any phone.
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You don't need a smart smartwatch, but every phone has a step counter in it as well.
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So if you have your phone in your pocket, you can see how many steps you've done.
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And since becoming conscious of the fact that I'm my step count each day.
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Okay, so earlier this year, I got a bunch of blood tests done.
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And then when the doctor was kind of talking me through the results afterwards, he asked if I have a particularly stressful job.
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And I said, "Well, no, I don't really have a stressful job.
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I just sit around making YouTube videos." And then he said, "Okay, but has anyone around you ever said that you need to take a break?" And I was like, "Yeah, everyone around me tells me I need to take a break." And he was like, "I thought so, because your stress markers are elevated.
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And that is like really bad for someone of your age." And I was like, "Wait, what?
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My stress markers are elevated?
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I don't feel stressed.
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I don't feel like I have a particularly stressful job."
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But then I look at my calendar and it's like back to back, one thing to another, to another, to another, to another.
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And this whole like running your own business thing, I thought it would give me more free time than kind of working in medicine, but actually it gave me a lot less free time than working in medicine.
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And there is that nice quote, which is that, you know, entrepreneurs work 60 hours a week to avoid having to work 40 hours a week.
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I think that's very true.
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And again, chances are, if you're watching this channel, I suspect your stress levels are high as well, because you're probably busy, you'd like to be productive, you've got lots of things going on.
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And what the doctor said is that I should meditate more.
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And I was like, "Meditation, like, Who cares?
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But then I saw some studies, and those studies showed that if you meditate, it reduces your blood pressure, it reduces your cortisol levels, which is a stress hormone.
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It reduces your heart rate, reduces your cytokine levels, which is a marker of inflammation.
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It can also increase your self -compassion and your attention and your focus.
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And so there's just like a mountain of evidence saying that meditation is good for you.
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And so I was like, okay, fine, I'll do some meditation.
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And then I thought, okay, what app should I use for meditation?
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Because obviously I want it to be easy.
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And obviously the name Headspace came to mind because they basically dominate the space.
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And so we reached out to them and they very kindly agreed to sponsor this video.
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So thank you Headspace for sponsoring this video.
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Headspace is great.
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I've been slowly working my way through the introductory course.
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And it's nice because you can choose different voices to guide you through the meditation.
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And doing just a five to 10 minute meditation, the first thing in the morning before I do my journaling and before I get my coffee, I've actually been finding is really helpful.
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One thing that it does is that it helps me kind of connect to the here and now a little bit more.
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your eyes, you're imagining like experiencing the sounds of nature around you, or whatever that might be.
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And it's just like a moment of respite before the craziness of the day starts.
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And it's become something I look forward to after I have my shower, I have a hot shower, then I turn into cold, then I get changed, and then I'm like, cool, five or 10 minutes,
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I can definitely find time to do five to 10 minutes of meditation on Headspace.
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The other cool thing about Headspace is that it's very non -judgmental.
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They basically say that there's no right or wrong approach to meditation and mindfulness.
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You can do whatever works for you.
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And everyone seems to have a different routine, a different frequency, a different favorite type of content, and that's totally fine.
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Now, if you're interested in trying out meditation and you want to use Headspace, you can click the link in the video description or use the QR code on screen.
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And that will let you sign up for a completely free 60 -day trial.
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So you can literally try it every day for two months and you can see if you vibe with it.
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I've been vibing with it so much that I now pay the monthly subscription for Headspace and it's totally worth it.
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So if you'd like to give it a go, you can try it out.
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You can see if you like it.
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And you'd also be supporting the channel as well.
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So thank you so much Headspace for sponsoring this video.
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Okay, this is a really cool one.
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This is a hack that I've been recommending to literally all of my friends and about half of them have done it.
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And they've said, oh my God, this was game changing.
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And it's gonna sound weird, but that is to do a DEXA scan.
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And a DEXA scan is basically a full body X -ray.
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And in hospitals, we use DEXA scans to measure the bone density of patients who might be having osteoporosis.
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But the really cool thing about a DEXA scan is
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that it can tell you how much muscle you have and also how much fat you have.
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And also the distribution of the muscle and the fat around your body.
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First thing to say is that they are somewhat expensive.
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Well, you know, it's about $120 to get a DEXA scan, depending on where you go.
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I personally think that it's absolutely worth it because any amount of money you can spend on your health, if it changes your behavior, will pay dividends further down the line.
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But obviously your mileage may vary depending on how much disposable income you have.
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But every single person that I've recommended a DEXA scan to who has done the DEXA scan has been like, oh my God, this is the best money I have ever spent on my health.
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Because within like 15 minutes, the scan will tell you where your body fat is.
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And you might think that you're pretty skinny.
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But then turns out I was actually 25 % body fat, and most of it was in the abdomen.
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It was in the visceral adipose tissue, and it's the visceral adipose tissue that's most highly correlated with cardiovascular disease and strokes and like diabetes,
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and all of the bad things that can happen later in life.
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And so since doing that first scan about a year and a half ago, I've now been doing DEXA scans about every six months, and it's been an amazing way of actually tracking my progress in the gym, tracking my progress with weight loss,
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and seeing how the numbers are changing over time.
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And yeah, you could use scales, and you could use those body fat scales you get in the gym, So after my first Dexa scan, I realized I had all this adipose tissue, and so we made a plan to lose some weight.
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But then, six months later, I found I did lose a lot of weight, but most of it was muscle, because I didn't have enough protein and because I didn't work out enough.
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And then I was like, "Oh my god, like, okay." I can literally see
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that I've lost about two kg of muscle and only one kg of fat.
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"That's kind of annoying." And then we made a plan based on that Dexa scan.
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And then six months later, I'd gained one and a half kg of muscle and lost one and a half kg of fat, which was very nice.
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And for me personally, I love the fact
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that I have access to these numbers and I love the fact that the numbers don't lie.
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And just doing a Dexa scan every six months has been the single most worthwhile expense I've ever made for my health.
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If you're based in the UK, the company I use is BodyScan.
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We've got a bunch of different places around London.
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If not, just search Dexa scan your location.
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And I'm sure you can find a place.
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But genuinely, Dexa scans are absolutely sick.
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Okay, speaking of protein intake, because that first time around for the first six months, and I also didn't work out enough, and I actually lost two kg of muscle.
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What I've realized is I need to automate my protein intake.
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Now the amount of protein you need depends massively on who you ask, where you look at the source, and there doesn't seem to be much of a consensus in the scientific literature about it.
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The World Health Organization, for example, says you need 0 .83 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day.
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But most personal trainers and fitness experts that I've spoken to say
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that that is nowhere near enough to actually build muscle if you are trying to build muscle.
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And so for me, I'm roughly aiming for around 1 .5 to 2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight.
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hard to get in in my diet because I tend to skip breakfast and then like lunch and dinner, it's like I have to actively think about protein.
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But one thing that I've started to do to automate my protein intake, again, based on advice from my fitness coach Dan Go, it's really simple.
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It's basically to just have a protein shake in the morning.
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And when I have a protein shake in the morning, I get at least 40 grams of protein, sometimes 50, depending on which product I use.
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And now it's way easier to hit my protein goal because
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if I just have like a 30 gram serving of protein for lunch
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and then a 30 gram serving of protein for dinner, that's like 110 grams.
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That's pretty reasonable.
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Now, the two Firstly, Huel, I use Huel Black, 400 calories, 40 grams of protein in the morning, if I feel like making it.
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Or if I'm on the go and I don't feel like making it, I'll use the Optimum Nutrition pre -made protein shake, which is 50 grams of protein for 300 calories, which is quite nice.
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No affiliate relationship or anything with these brands, although Huel do sponsor some of the other videos on the channel, but they're not sponsoring this one, so whatevs.
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But ever since I started automating my protein and shake by literally just having a shake first thing in the morning, I have actually been hitting my protein goals broadly.
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And I've seen that reflected on the DEXA scan.
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You know, the scan I had a year after my first one showed that I gained 1 .5 kg of muscle
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and five kg of fat.
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And in those six months, I made an active effort to up my protein intake.
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All right, next we come to the idea of flexibility and mobility.
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Now I'm not at all very flexible, and I'm not at all very mobile, But there have been some pretty reasonable studies that show that if you do have a baseline level of flexibility and mobility,
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it helps reduce the risk of injury when you're exercising, which is always a good thing.
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And for example, this meta -analysis found that the benefits of stretching in middle -aged to older adults reduced arterial stiffness, heart rate, and blood pressure, and improved vascular endothelial functioning.
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And so if stretching is good for middle -aged to older adults, it's probably good for younger adults as well.
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Now, I've tried so many ways to incorporating stretching into my life, but two of them have so far worked.
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The first one is that every now and then, I will randomly put on a stretching routine on YouTube.
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Juice and Toya, who have like great videos with stretch routines and things like that, so that's great.
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In particular, I love their routines for tight hamstrings and hip flexors, which are the two areas I struggle with most.
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And recently I've also started using an app called Plyability.
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Again, like no relationship with this app at all.
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They do not know I exist, but Plyability, if you're watching this, let me know.
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But basically it's an app that every day just gives you a stretching routine to do.
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And it's like a 20 minute thing that I do in the evening.
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I just roll out my Lululemon yoga mat, and for 20 minutes before bed, I just prop my phone up.
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And it's like nice because it's very static stretches.
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It's like you're in each pose and you're just holding it passively for like three minutes at a time.
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And there's nice relaxing music and the production value is nice.
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And they occasionally have dogs and stuff that go into the frame.
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And it's a very nice way to wind down for the evening.
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And so it sort of doubles as a bit of a meditative thing as well, because I can help switch my mind off.
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But then it's also helping me improve my flexibility and mobility through these sort of passive stretches that don't take much effort.
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All right, the penultimate hack is one of these.
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So I used to really struggle with actually being consistent with taking my pills.
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I take a couple of supplements.
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I take the Heights Smart Supplement, which is a big multivitamin thing that has like blueberries and stuff.
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I take the Heights Smart Probiotic, which is a probiotic.
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And I take a couple of bits of medication like finasteride and minoxidil for my hair loss.
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But I would always be very inconsistent in taking these because it wasn't built into my routine until I realized that, you know, when I was working as a doctor,
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we would give these Doss It boxes to our patients and it would help them take their pills.
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And so I just thought one day, from Amazon.
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And so I bought one of these from Amazon and now, it helps me stay consistent with taking my pills, which is fantastic.
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So if you take any supplements or pills or anything, and you're having to, bring them out manually.
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It's such a faff.
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It's so nice just being able to once a week, just fill this up for the whole week.
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And yes, I know, I forgot to take them yesterday because even then I still forget sometimes.
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But today's Friday, I took them today, this morning.
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And then the final hack is my productive and evidence -based skincare routine.
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And this basically involves just three products.
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I've talked to a bunch of dermatologists and this is broadly the stuff that they recommend.
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And I've got all the details about that in this video over here, which is my evidence -based skincare routine.
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So if you're interested, then do check that video out.
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And I promise it will change the way you approach your skincare routine.
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So thank you so much for watching and I'll see you in the next video.
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Bye -bye.
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![[B2] The Importance of Sleep | English Listening & Speaking Practice](https://img.youtube.com/vi/XFkbrlg4glw/mqdefault.jpg)
B243
52 sentences
[B2] The Importance of Sleep | English Listening & Speaking Practice
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B2 speaking lesson is built on the video “8 Simple Hacks to Improve Your Health”. This video has 215 sentences and 3653 words to shadow. The speech runs for 13:22. 83% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| scan verb | /skæn/ | To examine sequentially, carefully, or critically; to scrutinize; to behold closely. |
| meditation noun | /mɛdɪˈteɪʃn̩/ | A devotional exercise of, or leading to, contemplation. |
| gram noun | /ˈɡɹæm/ | A unit of mass equal to one-thousandth of a kilogram. Symbol: g. |
| sponsor noun | /ˈspɒn.səː/ | A person or organization with some sort of responsibility for another person or organization, especially where the responsibility has a religious, legal, or… |
| intake noun | /ˈɪnteɪk/ | The place where water, air or other fluid is taken into a pipe or conduit; opposed to outlet. |
| pill noun | /pɪl/ | A small, usually round or cylindrical object designed for easy swallowing, usually containing some sort of medication. |
| adipose adjective | /ˈæd.ɪ.poʊs/ | Containing, composed of, or consisting of fat; fatty. |
| automate verb | /ˈɔ.təˌmeɪt/ | To replace or enhance human labor with machines. |
| skincare noun | /ˈskɪn.kɛɹ/ | The care and treatment of the skin, especially of the face. |
| treadmill noun | /ˈtɹɛd.mɪl/ | A piece of indoor sporting equipment used to allow for the motions of running or walking while staying in one place. |
| marker noun | /ˈmɑː(ɹ)kə(ɹ)/ | A felt-tipped pen, a marker pen. |
| stressful adjective | /ˈstɹɛsfəl/ | Irritating; causing stress. |
| flexibility noun | /ˌflɛksɪˈbɪlɪti/ | The quality of being flexible, whether physically or metaphorically. |
| mobility noun | /mə(ʊ)ˈbɪlɪti/ | The ability to move; capacity for movement. |
| elevate verb | /ˈɛləveɪt/ | To raise (something) to a higher position. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| work out verb | /ˌwɝk ˈaʊt/ | To calculate. |
| cut out verb | To refrain from (doing something, using something etc.), to stop or cease (doing something). | |
| end up verb | To bring to a conclusion. | |
| look forward to verb | To anticipate, expect, or wait for, especially with a feeling of approval or pleasure; to be excited or eager to. | |
| roll out verb | To deploy or release (a new film or software, etc.); to launch (a product or service), especially in a gradual fashion across multiple regions. | |
| see over verb | To inspect something fully. | |
| sit around verb | To spend time sitting idly, not doing anything important. | |
| sit down verb | To assume a sitting position from a standing position. |
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — an action that started earlier and is still going on | I've been reading · I've been trying · I've actually been finding |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | I've been · I've learned · have improved |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | people who feel · Two, which is · quote, which is |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | was associated · has been associated · are designed |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 89 contractions and reduced forms, such as I've, you're, I'm. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: worthwhile /ˌwɜː(ɹ)θˈwaɪl/, underneath /ˌʌndɚˈniθ/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: meditation /mɛdɪˈteɪʃn̩/, actionable /ˈæk.ʃə.nə.bəl/, inflammation /ɪnfləˈmeɪ̯ʃən/, correlation /ˌkɔɹ.əˈleɪ.ʃən/, compassion /kəmˈpæʃ.ən/
- Long words — get the stress right: flexibility /ˌflɛksɪˈbɪlɪti/, mobility /mə(ʊ)ˈbɪlɪti/, probiotic /ˌpɹoʊ.baɪˈɑ.tɪk/, cardiovascular /ˌkɑːdi.əʊˈvæskjʊlə(ɹ)/, entrepreneur /ˌɑn.tɹə.pɹəˈnɝ/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Shadow it sentence by sentence at normal speed, repeating each one until your rhythm matches the speaker.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like scan, meditation, gram.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.