I’m writing this on January 8th.
Which means I just spent the first 7 days of 2026 completely offline.
No phone. No laptop. No screens. No work. Nothing.
Just me, Ivy, some books, a lot of journaling, and way too much time staring at nothing.
And honestly? I feel like myself again.
Let me explain why I do this and what I learned that might help you.
Why I Started This In The First Place
I started doing digital detoxes over three years ago.
Not because I wanted to. Because I had to.
I’ve been dealing with nervous system issues for the past three years. It flares up when I get extremely stressed. Makes me exhausted. Causes pain. Basically my body’s way of saying “hey idiot, slow down.”
And for someone running a company, building a mission to help 10,000 people by 2033 and a million by 2050, coaching hundreds of members, creating content, showing up every day... the stress adds up fast.
I eat whole food plant-based. I train hard. I sleep well.
But here’s what I learned that changed everything: stress can completely eliminate the progression you make from eating clean and exercising.
You can do everything right with nutrition and training. But if your nervous system is fried from chronic stress, you’re fighting an uphill battle.
Chuck Carroll and I talked about this on the podcast. He’s in the same position. Massive mission. Public platform. Impacting millions. And the stress that comes with that? Most people don’t understand it.
It’s a lot.
So I started taking digital detoxes. First it was whenever I felt like I needed it. Then every quarter. Then every two months.
And then in June 2025, I committed to taking the first 7 days of every single month completely offline.
No exceptions.
What Happens When You Actually Unplug
Here’s what I’ve noticed every single time I do this:
I feel like a kid again.
I feel like this passionate person who just wants to go back out into the world and give more.
My creativity explodes. I come up with ideas I never would have had while staring at a screen all day.
I remember what it feels like to be bored. And boredom is where the best insights come from.
You know what’s wild? When you’re not doom scrolling Instagram or YouTube or checking emails every 20 minutes, you realize how long 24 hours actually is.
There’s so much time in a day when you’re not constantly distracting yourself.
The Book That Hit Me Hard
During this detox, I read a book that Dr. Laurie Marbas recommended to me over a year ago.
I’d bought it. Put it on my bookshelf. Started it a few times. But I kept resisting it.
Because the story was too similar to my late partner’s journey with breast cancer. The lesions. The lungs filling with fluid. The rush to the hospital.
Every few pages I’d read, I’d cry. So I’d put it down.
But something during this detox made me feel ready. And I’m so glad I finally finished it.
The book is called “Dying to Be Me” by Anita Moorjani. It’s her near-death experience after being diagnosed with cancer.
And one line in that book stopped me cold:
“Why do people wait to be extremely sick to start to change their lifestyle so that they don’t end up in a position to be sick?”
I sat with that for a long time.
Because even though I eat clean, train hard, and do all the “right” things, I was still letting stress destroy me.
I was still justifying why I couldn’t take better care of myself. “I’m running a company. I have employees. We’re doing all these things.”
But after being gone for two weeks during a longer detox I did last year, I saw how much we grew. How much we thrived. How the team held it down without me.
And I realized: I’m now in a position where I can afford to take a one-week digital detox every single month.
So that’s the new rule. First 7 days of every month. No work. No screens. No nothing.
Because why wait to get sicker?
Why not manage my stress now when I can prevent the issue instead of dealing with it five times a year like I used to?
What This Has To Do With You
I know what you’re thinking.
“Maxime, I have a regular job. I can’t just take a week off every month.”
I get it. I’m grateful I’ve built myself into this position.
But here’s the thing: the principle applies to you too.
Most of you reading this are dealing with your own version of this.
You’re juggling work, family, aging parents, health issues, relationship stress, financial pressure, all of it.
And you’re trying to transform your body on top of everything else.
But transformation isn’t just about training and nutrition.
It’s about stress management. Recovery. Sleep. Mental health.
We work with CEOs, entrepreneurs, people doing 50 hours of sales calls a week, parents with three kids, caregivers taking care of aging parents.
When your body’s in a stress state, it’s more likely to hold onto fat. Your cortisol’s elevated. Your sleep suffers. Your recovery tanks.
You can have the perfect meal plan and workout program. But if you’re chronically stressed and never giving your body a chance to actually recover, you’re making it so much harder than it needs to be.
The Lesson From Basketball
I was training with my basketball coach this morning.
We did a recap after. He said, “You did a really good job. But when you committed to dribbling right and driving to the net, the defender let you go left. You could have gone left and had an easier point. But you just powered your way through to the right and forced it in.”
He’s like, “You’re making it harder for yourself. You could have just read the defense and responded to it.”
And it hit me.
That’s what a lot of us are doing with transformation.
We’re committed to a certain path. And we’re trying to power our way through it with pure discipline, determination, hard-headedness.
When if we only read the defense, looked at our patterns, our stress levels, our habits, we could make the process a lot easier for ourselves.
Same result. Way easier path.
Everyone’s On Their Own Healing Journey
One thing I wrote in my journal during the detox:
“Everyone is on their own unique healing journey.”
When we coach someone and they struggle with compliance, or binge eating, or bad relationship with food, or they self-sabotage, or they obsess over small details that don’t matter... it’s because they’re dealing with their own stuff.
Just like me. Just like our coaches. Just like everyone on this planet.
Some people are control freaks. They want every micronutrient and microgram to align perfectly for every single meal. If life throws a curveball, they’re stressed because it’s not perfect.
Some people feel like if they can’t do something 100%, they don’t even take it on because it’s not worth it.
Some people have had trauma with family, relationships, careers. They got burned. They got mistreated. So they pull back and don’t ask for help when they need it.
Your willingness to work on why you have those behaviors, patterns, and habits is what will allow you to move forward.
Because transforming your body is actually pretty straightforward.
It’s the rules, the patterns, the habits, our perspective on the situation that make it more complex than it needs to be.
What’s The Point If You Can’t Enjoy It?
Here’s the other thing that hit me during this detox.
Ivy and I went to Santa Barbara to celebrate our second wedding anniversary. Two years married. And honestly, it feels like we just got started.
We spent quality time together. Walked along the beach. Had slow dinners without checking our phones. We played cards. We cooked together. We took our time with everything. We just... existed together.
And I realized: what’s the point of doing all of this if I don’t have the person I love by my side?
What’s the point of building this massive mission if I’m too stressed, too burned out, too fried to actually enjoy my life?
I can’t pour from an empty cup.
So these digital detoxes? They’re not just about managing stress and staying healthy.
They’re about making this journey sustainable.
They’re about ensuring I can keep showing up for our members, for my team, for Ivy, for myself.
They’re about creating memories with my incredible wife instead of just grinding 24/7 and missing life.
You Don’t Need A Digital Detox. But You Need Something.
I’m not saying you need to take a week off every month.
But I am saying you need to figure out what fills your cup.
For some people, it’s massages and meditation. That’s great. That doesn’t work for me.
For me, it’s completely unplugging. Getting bored. Reading. Journaling. Sitting outside doing nothing.
For you? It might be something completely different.
But you need something.
Because if you’re constantly running on empty, trying to transform your body while juggling everything else, you’re making it so much harder than it needs to be.
We talk about this with our members all the time.
Recovery and stress management is a huge part of what we do. Not just training and nutrition.
Because we work with busy people. Real people. People with full lives and real stress and actual challenges.
And we’ve learned that if we don’t help them manage stress, improve recovery, and create sustainable habits, the training and nutrition don’t matter.
The Finite Time Principle
I read another book during the detox called “4,000 Weeks” by Oliver Burkeman.
It’s about time management. But really, it’s about how finite life is.
Most humans move through life thinking we’re somewhat immortal. We’re aware we’re going to die one day. But we don’t live like it.
We say “I’ll do that later.” We don’t do the things that make us feel alive because we think we can always do it later.
But the average human has about 4,000 weeks on Earth.
And most of us are living like we have a hundred billion dollars in the bank. We say yes to everything. We spread ourselves thin. We never put our finite attention and limited energy toward the things we actually care about.
By saying yes to everything, you’re saying no to the things that matter.
I canceled a bunch of projects during this detox. Things I was working on that I realized I didn’t actually care about.
Because I’d rather spend my time on the things that make me feel alive. The things that fill my cup. The things that matter.
That’s what this is about.
Not just transformation. Not just hitting goals.
Living.
Here’s My Challenge To You
Figure out what fills your cup.
Not what you think should fill it. Not what works for other people.
What actually recharges you.
And then do more of that.
Because transformation is a marathon. Not a sprint.
And if you’re running on empty the entire time, you’re not going to make it.
I know from experience.
So take this as permission to slow down. To prioritize recovery. To manage your stress.
Not someday. Now.
Because why wait to get sicker?
I’ll be offline again February 1-7. Back to regular programming after that.
If this resonated with you, hit reply and let me know. I read every response.
Maxime Sigouin
Co-Founder of Mavy Wellness
P.S. - If you’re someone who’s been trying to transform while juggling everything else and feeling like you’re constantly running on empty, we get it. That’s exactly who we work with. And stress management and recovery are just as important as training and nutrition in our program. Because transformation isn’t sustainable if you’re burning out along the way.
Pre-Order Forever Fit Today
My new book, Forever Fit, is now available for pre-order! This complete system guides you through body recomposition, strength, and longevity with practical, step-by-step strategies you can start using today.
Every pre-order helps support our mission to help 10,000 people transform their health by 2033, and gives you a head start on building a stronger, healthier future.
➡️ Pre-Order Forever Fit Now and take the first step toward lasting health and vitality.
🔥 Your Path to a Leaner, Stronger Body Starts Here
Your Path to a Leaner, Stronger Body Starts Here
Stop guessing and start seeing results. The Body Recomposition Assessment is a quick, 3-minute quiz that gives you clarity, insight, and a clear next step toward building a leaner, stronger body.
Why take it? Because if you’ve been chasing results, you’ve probably run into at least one of these challenges:
Consistency: You keep starting over
Confusion: You’re not sure what plan actually works
Accountability: You lose momentum without support
This assessment uncovers your strengths, reveals hidden gaps, and shows the most effective path forward, no matter your current diet or fitness level.
Discover your next step today
🎗️ New Cancer Patient Contribution of the Month: Marissa
On behalf of our Mavy Wellness Family , we’ve made a donation to support Marissa as she fights Breast Cancer. Every bit of help makes a difference, and we’re honored to give back to those in need.