Justin Kan is all about the Internet. Before co-founding the popular streaming platform Twitch, Kan co-created Justin.tv, another live streaming platform started back in 2007 when Kan hosted a live feed of his day-to-day life, 24/7 for about eight months. These days, the 37-year-old has various ventures, including his own YouTube channel. But all that focus on social media and technology can wear a person down. Two years ago, Kan decided to improve his mental health by temporarily scaling back his phone use.

“I locked it. I deleted all the apps. You can actually turn off the App Store. And I gave the passcode to my wife so I didn’t have the passcode to reinstall the App Store. And I deleted all social media apps and e-commerce apps,” Kan says.

Now that he’s back online, Kan spoke with Dr. Drew Ramsey on Instagram for a Men’s Health Friday Sessions on the steps he’s taken to be healthier physically and mentally. Recently, Kan began meditating and writing in a gratitude journal. And two years ago he made the conscious decision to stop drinking. He announced his intention in a tweet. To keep himself accountable, he also used a habit tracker, which he likened to “those chips they give in AA.”

“Alcohol was this crutch for me,” Kan says, “to be able to be confident or go do those things I was scared to do. Eventually, I was like ‘Oh, this isn’t serving me anymore.’”

Kan also briefly cut an unlikely habit from his life: food. For five days, Kan only ingested water. “I ended up just one day YOLOing it like nine months ago,” Kan says. “The second day was the toughest. Then after that I was just weak. For days three through five I was just super weak. And it was good though. It gave me a lot of mental clarity.”

Since his fast, Kan eats healthier than he did before, with a low-carb diet with lots of fish and vegetables. He says diabetes runs in his family, so it was important for him to focus on eating less for impulse and more for longevity.

As for his mental health, Kan says it took some time for him to realize his success didn’t mean he automatically became healthier mentally or physically. But accepting whatever life threw at him, good or bad prepared him for life’s daily challenges.

“The human experience contains ups and downs no matter who you are,” Kan says. “For me, the process of finding peace in my life was to get right with that and accept that the human experience is a rollercoaster.”

See the rest of the conversation below:

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