Shadowing Practice: I Did A Dopamine Detox For 30 Days... It Fixed My Brain - Learn English Speaking with Video

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social media sugar fast food nicotine alcohol for the first time in human history

we have access to artificial dopamine 24 hours out of the day

which made me wonder how much potential are these things really

stealing from us in one year the average american will have a screen time of 98 days

and if you live to 70 years old

that is almost 19 years of your life staring at a

screen the average American will also consume 25 ,000 grams of sugar in one year.

One in three

Americans eat fast food every single day.

And over 1 .2 billion people are actively using nicotine or tobacco products.

That's not even counting alcohol or pornography or other drugs.

I genuinely believe that this is more of a problem than most of us realize, especially with social media.

All of my favorite YouTubers are drinking, partying, using nicotine.

They got rainbed deals.

They're gambling every single day to the point where it's become

so normal that we don't even realize

that it affects every single person on earth

so to see how dopamine really affects the average person

i'm going to go 30 days with no artificial dopamine one to fix my relationship with dopamine

but two just to show you guys what will happen to

your brain what will happen to your body what will happen to your mind

if you go 30 days cutting out all bad habits in your life

so here are the rules for the next 30 days

i am not allowed to consume these things no social media

no scrolling no video games no sugar no fast food no drugs no alcohol no nicotine

i'm not proud of it

but i'm man enough to say it i've been using zins for the last year

or so of my life to get work done

and i'm a little nervous for that one oh yeah

and we also just finished 75 hard which means it's time for phase one

which is exactly 30 days so on top of the dopamine detox we gotta do two 45 minute workouts, drink a gallon of water,

read 10 pages of a book, take a progress picture, take a five minute cold shower,

10 minutes of visualization, and complete eight critical tasks for my business every single day.

So in other words, I'm not allowed to have fun for these next 30 days.

I'm stoked.

I think one of my worst habits is the first thing I do in the morning is immediately grab my phone.

I scroll, I check the views of my videos, I look through emails.

So cutting out my phone in the morning felt a little weird,

but I replaced it with immediately drinking water going outside I'm not really sure why.

ChatGBT just told me to Had something to do with helping brain fog.

When you cut out sugar, fast food, scrolling and especially nicotine

Your brain gets really foggy.

So I found the best way to fix the brain fog is creatine

So I up my dose to 15 grams a day, which is three scoops

Here's how my physique is looking on day one.

Definitely need a cutout sugar and fast food.

Made myself some yogurt, got ready for the gym, and contemplated the next 30 days of my life.

Day one is kind of funny.

It's like this mixed feeling of being undistracted and excited, but also feeling unmotivated and a little bit foggy in my brain.

Like, I'm really excited for these next 30 days, but at the same time, I have a lot of videos to edit right now,

and I don't have a whole lot of motivation to sit down and lock in without a zen in my mouth.

Other than that, I feel good.

I don't feel like my brain is overstimulated, but I do feel a little bit stupid.

Like my mind is just like kind of coming back too.

I know that it's only going to get worse in the next couple of days.

And when I said things were only going to get harder, man, was I telling the truth.

Days one, two, and three were so hard for me to sit down and lock in and edit.

On day three, I had a big interview for this BYU documentary,

and I seriously contemplated popping his in just so my brain fog would go away.

Whoever told me that brain fog peaks after three days was lying, bro.

It's day four and my brain feels so foggy still.

I've also been getting pretty irritated and I get on edge real easily.

I feel like I've been crashing out over nothing.

One thing I didn't even think about is how hungry you get when you cut out nicotine.

And my dumb ass decided to mix that with a caloric deficit.

And bro, all I can think about is having a donut, eating Chick -fil -A, and my cravings for food are crazy right now.

So I'm really hungry.

My brain isn't functioning.

And I'm honestly not that stuffed.

I'm just barely hanging in there.

Even though I've been struggling with my mood and brain fog, I think my favorite part of this whole challenge has been doing my outdoor workouts.

I've been going on runs and just going on 45 -minute walks.

And when you put your phone away for 45 minutes and you just go outside, it seriously clears your brain so much.

I've been saying prayers and coming up with video ideas.

And even though I've been crashing out, it seriously helps me to just be more present and to be a lot happier during the detox process.

It is day six.

Feeling a little bit better.

My mind is still a little bit foggy.

I've still been really hungry.

I will say I was a little bit worried about my sleep

when I started this because everyone says your sleep is pretty bad for the first week or two, but I've been sleeping really good.

And I think the reason is because of the sauna and the cold plunge.

It's probably the thing that I look forward to most every single day.

One, it helps with your mind.

It helps with the brain fog.

It helps with your sleep.

You sweat out all the toxins in your body and you just push yourself in the sauna.

You push yourself in the cold plunge.

When you get done you feel so much better

and i seriously don't think i would be able to get through 30 days

if i wasn't hitting the cold plunging sauna every single day

so we just pulled up to flow house

this is hands down the best place in utah the energy in there is just

so epic they have like meditation classes they have sleeping classes

and it's been so good for my brain

so i'm gonna go rip cold plunging sauna before i end the day

and sleep like a damn king what are the benefits to cold plunge

and sauna for me my favorite benefit is like the full nervous system reset

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it actually allows you to be present with your breath your heartbeat

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and just your body so it allows you to fully encompass all of these feelings

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and when you realize you're in charge of them by simply breathing it allows

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that nervous system reset to happen

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when you do cold plunge it releases natural dopamine in your brain right 250 percent immediate increase that's crazy

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so after a cold

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The cold plunging metabolism is actually working for six hours after you plunge.

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It's building this wonderful thing called brown fat, which is a fat that your body kind of grows into, if you will.

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It works for up to six hours after the cold plunge, giving you just this continuous energy that's natural.

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It's pretty cool.

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So what you're saying is if you don't do cold plunging sauna, then you're absolutely blowing it.

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Oh, if you don't do cold plunging sauna, you're just missing out on life.

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It is currently day eight.

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My energy's been good.

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I've been crushing my workouts.

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crushing diet.

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I've been running a little bit more, five minute cold plunge every single day, sauna every single day, visualization, reading, no sugar, no fast food.

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And I'm gonna be honest, I got some brain fog.

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It's pretty hard to focus, especially when I have to have real conversations.

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I had to talk to the prosecuting attorney today for my BYU court case,

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and my brain is just not functioning the way that it's supposed to.

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I do feel better than when I first started, and I'm slowly starting to come back to my clear mind self.

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But as of today, I feel pretty fogged.

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It's definitely hard.

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I'm like fully resetting my entire mind, but it's good.

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We're pushing through.

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We got 22 more days left, so I got busted on my energy.

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I don't know.

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After week one, my brain was slowly starting to function normally, but as I was eating less, I just started getting hungrier and hungrier,

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and it was hard to feel satiated and full because I was only eating 1900 calories.

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However, I will say cooking slowly became something that I really looked forward to

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and finding meals that were healthy and tasted good was something that I genuinely found fun.

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And even though I was hungry, I did find that it was so much easier for me to wake up in the mornings.

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One meal that I was stoked about were these breakfast sandwiches.

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I found these low calorie bagels that had 15 grams of protein and no sugar.

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And this was the meal that I started eating every morning during my dopamine detox.

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Wow, I think that was seriously the first time that I felt truly full on my cut in the last 11 days.

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And it was delicious.

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I'm so happy on that.

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I think those might be my new go -to bagels.

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Bro, they were good.

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It's 9 .30 a .m.

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We already hit the gym.

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We already did our visualization, cooked breakfast.

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And now I'm going to go read and get some work done.

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So far, my brain feels really clear in the morning and when I'm working out and when I'm running.

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But as soon as I start cooking and sitting down and kind of just chilling, that's

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when my brain fog kind of kicks in like I just start to feel like a little bit stupid

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I kind of like forget what I'm doing I know I should go

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and get to work right now

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but at the same time like I just don't have the same motivation

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that I would have when I pop this in after breakfast

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and I get so excited to go work you know work just seems a little bit more boring

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but I think those are the things

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that you kind of have to push through but yeah

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so I'm gonna go sit down turn on a timer for one hour on my phone

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and just force myself to get some work done may not be as fun as

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when i got another decade

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but i gotta kick the habit somehow you know a few moments later

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i was on my way to a coffee shop to go sit down

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and work for an hour

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and i decided to check the mail i got this package from a brand

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that i've never talked to sometimes sometimes packages just show up on my door

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and i don't know how they got my address i open it

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and it's crazy bro the first product i see is like a gruba mate

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and it says this has been crafted to promote mental clarity, endurance, appetite control.

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and improved mood.

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Definitely had mood swings from no nicotine.

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I definitely have brain fog, and I've definitely been starving.

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It was just kind of crazy that this product just showed up out of nowhere.

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And they also sent me some Stronghold product, targeted nutrition for lifelong muscle health.

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That's supposed to help you burn fat and build muscle, like every other product in the world says it's gonna.

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And then some protein powder, and the only ingredients are literally whey protein isolate cocoa powder

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and a couple sweeteners so i guess i'm gonna try

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and let you guys know what i think it was just like what are the odds

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that this shit just showed up on my doorstep as i'm waiting for someone to fix my mood

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and appetite and mental clarity

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and endurance i decided no coffee we're gonna mix up this yerba mat today

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and see how we feel maybe we'll get a little bit more focused on a coffee

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we give us i'm not sure if it was the magic focus potion

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that showed up on my doorstep or the fact that I'm almost two weeks into the detox.

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But for the first time in almost two weeks, I was able to sit down, lock in, focus, and edit for about three, four hours.

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So the hardest part so far in this dopamine detox, which has been the brain fog,

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was slowly starting to lift and I was able to feel like myself again.

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My natural creativity was coming back.

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And overall, I was starting to feel the actual benefits of what the dopamine detox is supposed to do

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but the real challenge is gonna be court tomorrow i'm gonna have to sit down with the prosecuting attorney and try

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and settle my criminal trespassing charges with byu

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it is day 13 of phase one of 75 hearts we had court today with byu

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and we officially settled the lawsuit we got the charges dropped to 500

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and i have to take a thinking errors class but other than that I paid the fine and we're done.

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It's over with.

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I don't have to worry about it anymore, which is awesome.

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It's been 13 days with no nicotine and honestly, I felt really good.

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I feel like I'm finally starting to feel like myself again.

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Earlier in the days, usually up to like 7 p .m., my mind is sharp.

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I'm thinking fast.

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My creativity is coming back and I just feel so clean.

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But as soon as nighttime hits and I kind of sit down and start unwinding,

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that's when the brain fog starts like coming in just a little bit.

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But I think I'm on the last couple days of brain fog

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because I have felt really good the last couple of days.

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I've been starving, obviously, being in a caloric deficit, cutting off nicotine.

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Obviously, I'm going to be hungry, but I'm pushing through.

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Finishing court was a big way off my shoulders today.

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So now it's time just to get to work and grind

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and continue this journey of getting shredded and resetting our mind completely.

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After two weeks of detoxing my brain, I started to find so much more joy in going outside, spending time with my family,

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and experiencing the life that God intended for us to live.

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I started finding more energy, more focus, and overall just more happiness in my life.

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I also found that when I was controlling the things that I fed my body and fed my mind,

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I was also able to feel much closer to God.

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It is day 18, and this week I was thinking about the last time that I did a detox like this,

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and I was cutting out all the bad habits in my life, and I felt really close to God.

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I felt like I heard him speaking to me more

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and I was finding more opportunities in my life to go chase my dreams

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The last time I was about two weeks in

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and I found a really cool opportunity to go work with Disney Be on the red carpet

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and it was an experience that really pushed my career forward

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And I remember correlating that experience with where I was in my life

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Completely cutting out all the bad habits in my life and listening to the spirit

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And I don't think it was a coincidence that I found that experience when I was in that phase of my life

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And I was thinking about that.

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And today, being about 18 days in, I just got an email from Netflix for another really big opportunity that'll probably push my career forward.

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And obviously I think it's important not to treat God like a cosmic vending machine and being like, oh, if I do these things,

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then God's gonna reward me with this.

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But at the same time, I truly believe that if you are doing the things

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that you're supposed to be doing and you've cut out the bad habits in your life so you can hear his voice,

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then God is gonna give you opportunities to chase your dreams and to accomplish something great in life.

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And I just think that it's really cool that whenever I am doing the things that I'm supposed to be doing,

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that I find that opportunities like that just fall into my lap.

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If you have a dream that you want to chase or you want to accomplish something big in life,

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I think it's going to be a lot harder to do that on your own versus doing it with God.

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And I think a detox like this is truly a way to get closer to God

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and to hear the spirit and to find what you're actually supposed to do in life.

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Once I hit day 20, I honestly just started to feel a little bit superhuman.

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My mind was so sharp.

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I had so much focus.

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I had no distractions.

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However, I will say even after 20 days of no scrolling on social media, it was kind of crazy.

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I still found myself pulling out my phone to go scroll on Instagram.

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My mind and just still wanted to go brain rot on TikTok.

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But once I started to push myself not to fall back into my own habits,

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I just found myself with so much more energy and so much more happiness.

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I had more joy in doing chores and completing tasks around the house that I was avoiding to do.

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It is currently day 24 of phase one of 75 hard.

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And I think this is the first day start to finish that I felt really mentally sharp and clear.

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Today's Sunday, so I didn't set an alarm.

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I woke up at eight o 'clock and I felt so energized.

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I was ready to go.

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I immediately just cleaned my room.

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I cleaned the kitchen.

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I did my laundry, went to the gym, went to church.

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I had this fear of not being productive when I was off nicotine

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because I felt like I was only productive when I was popping zins or whatever.

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But as far as my editing goes, I feel like my natural creativity is fully back.

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I feel happier to do chores and to clean my room and do the dishes and do laundry than I did before.

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I just feel like overall much happier, much more excited, way more energy.

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My mind is way more clear.

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The difference in how I feel now compared to day one is so crazy, but I'm like, I feel like it's superhuman.

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Today was also fast Sunday and it's six o 'clock and I haven't eaten anything.

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I've I'm so hungry.

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So I made myself some protein cookies.

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15 grams of protein per cookie.

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And this has protein milk, 24 grams of protein or soda.

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If you were wondering, the cookies were made probably because they're sugar -free and protein cookies.

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The last week, I started thinking a lot about instant gratification

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and how our bodies can become so dependent on the next short hit of dopamine.

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And we don't even realize how much strength, energy, and focus that these addictions really take from our lives.

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It is day 26.

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I just finished my workout.

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I had so much energy in my workout.

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I was literally in the gym for two hours and I could have kept going.

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I did 20 minutes of cardio.

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I hit four exercises of back, four exercises of biceps and abs.

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And I just was completely juiced the whole time.

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I had so much strength, had so much energy.

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My mind felt so clear.

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I genuinely am probably like peaking in my life right now like this is probably the best

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that I've ever felt not even 9 a .m.

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we've read we visualized we crushed our workout now we're gonna go make ourselves some food

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and go crush the day I think in life we get

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so caught up in our habits and we're so used to immediate gratification

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and I think that's why people get so caught up in nicotine

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and smoking weed and drinking because it feels good in the moment

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and then they wonder why it's hard for them to accomplish their dreams.

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They wonder why it's hard for them to wake up in the morning, why they're so tired, why they're not making progress in the gym,

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why they don't feel good.

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All I'm saying is if you can go 30 days cutting out all the bad habits in your life, not only will you feel incredible,

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but you'll just level up in your life.

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Every single aspect, your relationships, your mental health, your physical health, your finances, your relationship with God like

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if you can just cut out all of the shitty habits just cut out all the things

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that aren't serving you and just practice delayed gratification for 30 days

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and i promise you your whole entire life will change

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and like i wish you could just feel what i'm feeling

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because my mind is so clear i feel so good

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and i'm ready to go take over the world just imagine your life 30 days from now

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if you cut out all the bad habits like think about where you would be financially mentally physically

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spiritually with god like think about where you could be in your life

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if you just locked in for 30 days the last couple of days i was honestly on a roll

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and everything was starting to become so much easier until i got to day 28.

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this is day 28 i kicked ass today and it's

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so good i just got back from cold plunge

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and sauna i got home i took my melatonin

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and my magnesium i was about to go asleep

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and i just realized i didn't go on my walk it's like 10 30 p .m

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and i just totally spaced it i didn't do an outdoor workout today

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and i just took my melatonin i was so ready for bed

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i'm just sitting here contemplating because i have two days left

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and i could just fucking quit and go to sleep

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and call it i'm gonna go on my walk my melatonin in my system even though i'm extremely tired and

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so ready for sleep i don't know how i forgot to do my go to workout

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i don't even know what happened oh yeah two days left

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two days left oh damn dude just pure willpower at this point

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i've done the live hard program two times all the way

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through this is this is number three do i really need to go on a walk right now like really

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but i'm gonna because i told myself that i would right side it's a damn flexor on side so that's Awesome.

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Stoked.

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The best part of completing a challenge like this isn't even necessarily how you feel or how you look.

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It's the confidence that you develop in yourself after doing what you say you're going to do.

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Because in life, if you want to accomplish something great...

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You're not going to get there by only working when it feels easy or convenient.

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Day 30 is the final outdoor workout.

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One thing that I have been trying to work on this week is my thoughts and controlling the negative thoughts.

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So I have more positivity in my mind.

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I've realized that it's so easy to like get discouraged

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and get angry and start dwelling on the negative thoughts that come into your mind.

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And that's the energy that you're radiating to the world and

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so this week specifically I made it my goal to overcome all my negative thoughts with positivity

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and just take a deep breath and immediately think of things

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that I'm grateful for

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and you just start to feel happier you start to feel more joy you start to feel more grateful

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and you start feeling closer to God you tune into his frequency

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and you cut out all the negativity so that's one thing

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that I've been trying to focus on this week

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but it's kind of funny because today was the closest

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that I've ever been to quitting I feel like all like the negativity kind of just grew up inside of me.

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I was about to crash out.

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I wanted to quit.

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I wanted to give up a day early and I got through it.

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I took a deep breath and started thinking about how I want to finish strong.

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So I kept going, but I don't know.

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It's interesting the difference thoughts can make.

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If you can control your thoughts, you can control your future.

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After 30 days of fully detoxing dopamine, I felt happier.

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I felt more grateful.

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I have more motivation to continue chasing my dreams and doing the things that I'm supposed to do in life.

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This is the final supper.

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Get ourselves a nice ribeye steak and some rice because I was too lazy to cook potatoes.

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I'm so excited to not be hungry all day, every day.

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I've also learned to not rely on artificial dopamine or circumstances in my life in order to feel happy.

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All I got to do left is cold shower.

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I'm done.

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and I know life can get overwhelming sometimes and it's

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so much easier to turn to drugs and turn to alcohol

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and turn to scrolling but true peace

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and happiness in your life are never going to come from those things

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and if you can't learn a healthy balance in your life then sometimes those distractions can become idols

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that prevent you from hearing what God is trying to tell you

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so if you learn one thing from watching this video it's don't waste your life

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if you have dreams go chase them go work hard

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and discipline yourself

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if you're struggling with mental health problems go outside put your phone away fill your mind

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and your body with the right things to actually give yourself

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a chance to be happy instead of focusing on the things

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that you're depressed or anxious about i can safely say

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that this is probably the hardest thing i've ever done in my life

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but it was also the most rewarding

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and beneficial thing i've ever done for my mind

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and for my body ladies and gentlemen phase one of 75 hard is complete usually

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when i finish 75 hard

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or one of the phases

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i already have my cheat meals planned out for what i want to eat the next day

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i almost just forced myself to eat fast food and sugar

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because i went so long without it

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so this time i decided to stay locked in until i get a very specific craving for something delicious

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so for the first meal back after finishing phase one of 75 hard

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I got an Acai Bull I truly don't think I've ever felt this energized

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and this focused this grateful and this happy ever in my life

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and all it took was 30 days of cutting out all the bad habits in my life

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it's changed the way I think it's changed the way

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that my brain has been wired

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and the only way to rewire your mind is to detox your mind

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and your body from the artificial dopamine that you're feeding it every single day.

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But I appreciate you guys for watching.

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I know this was a very different video, but I also think it's something that's very important in our day and age.

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So if you enjoyed watching, like, subscribe, hit the bell so you don't miss the journey of us mumbling to Donald Trump.

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I love you guys, and I'll catch you all next week.

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Peace out.

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117 sentences

Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This speaking lesson is built on the video “I Did A Dopamine Detox For 30 Days... It Fixed My Brain”. This video has 388 sentences and 4743 words to shadow. The speech runs for 23:40. The speaker talks fast, about 200 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 82% 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

15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
habit noun	/ˈhæb.ɪt/	An action performed on a regular basis.
nicotine noun	/ˈnɪkətiːn/	An alkaloid (C₁₀H₁₄N₂), commonly occurring in the tobacco plant.
hungry adjective	/ˈhʌŋ.ɡɹi/	Affected by hunger; having the physical need for food.
workout noun	/ˈwɝk.aʊ̯t/	An exercise session; a period of physical exercise.
scroll noun	/skɹoʊl/	A roll of paper or parchment; a writing formed into a roll.
meal noun	/ˈmiːl/	Food that is prepared and eaten, usually at a specific time, and usually in a comparatively large quantity.
chase verb	/t͡ʃeɪs/	To follow at speed.
gram noun	/ˈɡɹæm/	A unit of mass equal to one-thousandth of a kilogram. Symbol: g.
mood noun	/muːd/	A mental or emotional state, composure.
grateful adjective	/ˈɡɹeɪtf(ə)l/	Of a person or their actions, feelings, etc.: expressing gratitude or appreciation; appreciative, thankful.
edit verb	/ˈɛdɪt/	To change a text, or a document.
artificial adjective	/ˌɑː.tɪˈfɪʃ.əl/	Man-made; made by humans; of artifice.
crush verb	/kɹʌʃ/	To press between two hard objects; to squeeze so as to alter the natural shape or integrity, or to force together into a mass.
cookie noun	/ˈkʊki/	A small, flat, baked good which is either crisp or soft but firm.
accomplish verb	/əˈkɑm.plɪʃ/	To finish successfully.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
cut out verb		To refrain from (doing something, using something etc.), to stop or cease (doing something).
sit down verb		To assume a sitting position from a standing position.
come back verb		To return to a place.
push through verb		To force (legislation or a plan) to be passed or agreed to or a decision to be reached.
get through verb	/ɡɛt ˈθɹu/	To overcome; to endure.
look forward to verb		To anticipate, expect, or wait for, especially with a feeling of approval or pleasure; to be excited or eager to.
come up with verb		To manage to produce, deliver, or present (something) by inventing, creating, thinking of, or obtaining it.
cut off verb	/ˌkʌt ˈɔf/ [ˌkɐɾ ˈɔf]	To remove by cutting.

Sentences worth repeating

Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:

Here's how my physique is looking on day one.
I feel like I've been crashing out over nothing.
I'm just barely hanging in there.
I've still been really hungry.
I've been crushing my workouts.

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 using · I've also been getting · I've been crashing
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	I've still been · it's been · energy's been
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	being undistracted · is overstimulated · was stoked
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing	hard which means · day, which is · fat, which is

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 141 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, I've, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “sh” and “zh” sounds: artificial /ˌɑː.tɪˈfɪʃ.əl/, crush /kɹʌʃ/, accomplish /əˈkɑm.plɪʃ/, sharp /ʃɑɹp/, motivation /ˈmoʊ.tə.veɪ.ʃən/
Long words — get the stress right: artificial /ˌɑː.tɪˈfɪʃ.əl/, motivation /ˈmoʊ.tə.veɪ.ʃən/, genuinely /ˈd͡ʒɛn.ju.ɪn.li/, creativity /kri.eɪˈtɪv.ᵻ.ti/, necessarily /ˌnɛs.əˈsɛɹ.ə.li/

How to practise with this video

Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like habit, nicotine, hungry.

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.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

Shadowing Practice: I Did A Dopamine Detox For 30 Days... It Fixed My Brain - Learn English Speaking with Video

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