I Quit EVERY Modern Day Poison

Summary of key wellness strategies, self-care, and productivity tips

“Quit modern poisons” experiment (7 days)

• Eliminated multiple commonly consumed/used items at once to observe changes in body and mind.
• Tracked measurable baselines and outcomes, including:
  • Brain scan (attention/cognitive network activation and impairment)
  • Starting and ending weight
  • Sleep scores/readiness scores
  • Skin changes (vibrancy/smoothness; reduced redness and bloat)

Main “poisons” removed (as stated in the video)

• Sugar
• Fast food
• Alcohol
• Taxes (joked about, but referenced as part of the “modern-day poison” framing)
• Supplements
• Snacks (especially processed snack foods)
• Coffee machine / caffeine
  • Later explicitly: caffeine and artificial sweeteners were major withdrawal triggers
• Apps / social media / phone scrolling
  • Including deleting apps and breaking phone habits
• “Seed oils” (called out as controversial and included in the list)

Environmental design: remove temptation from daily life

• Removed temptations from the house (with a short list of exceptions).
• Practiced “friction” and replacement:
  • Deleted apps; reduced easy access to Instagram/YouTube
  • Replaced screens with offline activities (books, reading, walking)

Nutrition / grocery strategy improvements

• Shopping rules:
  • Avoided plastic-wrapped produce/meat; looked for unwrapped options
  • Sought glass-container yogurt and “outside of the grocery store” produce
• Prioritized whole foods and simple meals over ultra-processed options.
• Adjusted meal composition for satiety and consistency:
  • Higher-quality, nutrient-dense foods helped stay full longer than chasing low-fat “volume” foods
• Increased “real foods” for drinks:
  • Water and peppermint tea
  • Later avoided energy drink/diet soda cravings

Sleep and bedtime self-care

• Reduced phone usage before bed to improve sleep quality.
• Key idea (quoted from “Dr. Resza”):
  • Reduce digital cognitive load, not just light exposure.
• Reading vs. scrolling:
  • Reading supports slower attention (“page by page”) compared to social media’s fast switching.
• Night routine:
  • Switched to a book at night (goal: read ~30 pages)
  • Reported faster sleep onset and improved sleep scores

Attention / mental health reset

• Treated phone habits as an addiction:
  • Noted compulsive reaching for the phone (framing it as “scary awareness”).
• Built self-reflection and used downtime differently:
  • Walks and outdoor time became the default when old cravings hit.
• Reading and offline recreation:
  • Started reading when it wasn’t previously a habit
  • Reported improved ability to sustain attention day-by-day

Training and productivity boosts (indirect but repeated)

• Workout benefits:
  • Faster workouts (no phone checking between sets)
  • No-phone training felt more enjoyable and “therapeutic” due to fewer distractions
• Productivity / work-life balance:
  • Reported improved work output and better work-life balance
  • More time out of the house doing things instead of consuming media

Replacement activities to prevent “craving loops”

When cravings/urges rose, the “replacement” options included:

• Book reading
• Walks / being outside
• Cleaning and homemaking tasks
• Chess, and tag with a pet (backyard activity)
• Red light therapy (15 minutes)
• Light routines like picnics and cooking (to keep hands/boredom occupied)

“Withdrawal” management approach

• Acknowledged withdrawal symptoms (headaches, agitation, cravings for caffeine/artificial sweeteners).
• Coping style:
  • Redirected energy into actions (“non-stop productive or not”)
  • Accepted discomfort as part of adaptation

Exposure therapy at the end (to test resilience)

• Reintroduced triggers in a controlled way:
  • Gas station (energy drinks / Coke Zero / protein bars)
  • Food court (highly palatable processed foods)
  • Coffee shop (caffeine trigger)
• Result:
  • “Not as hard as I thought”; cravings became manageable
  • Stayed committed to not reverting to the old foods

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Reported outcomes (as described)

• Weight
  • Down ~2 lbs by the end of the week
• Sleep
  • Sleep scores improved to “optimal/well rested” range; readiness score increased notably
  • Consistently better sleep than previous days
• Skin
  • Less redness, smoother skin, less facial bloat, more “glow”
• Training / joints
  • Elbow/knee tendinitis symptoms improved significantly; needed less warm-up
• Cognition / attention
  • Reduced mind-wandering into phones during reading
  • Brain scan showed reduced issues (redness/activation reduced)
• Cravings / food noise
  • Reduced cravings and less “food noise,” attributed to whole foods and fewer processed foods
• General life quality
  • More energy, less stress, feeling “connected,” and more desire to eat better and be outside

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Presenters / sources mentioned

• Dr. Resza (quoted about reducing phones before bed and lowering digital cognitive load)
• Katie (mentioned as part of household; pet’s name used in activity context)
• Whole Foods (visited as part of the grocery-shopping challenge)
• Bonnie Blue (referenced humorously in describing “disease”)
• The Silent Patient (book recommendation referenced)
• The algorithm / targeted ads (discussed as an indirect influence)