Day 1, 2, 3 No Lean — Young woman with tired puffy face and bushy eyebrows with text 'DAY 3: NO LEAN' at top

Day 1, 2, 3 No Lean

2020image macro / catchphrasedeclining

Published October 16, 2026

Day 1, 2, 3 No Lean is an ironic meme format where photos of distressed people or characters are captioned 'Day X No Lean' to pretend they are suffering withdrawal from the codeine syrup drink lean. Rapper Kasher Quon's December 2020 Instagram selfie seeded the joke, and by February 2022 YouTube edits showing iShowSpeed quitting lean had hit over 819,000 views in a week.

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Overview

Posts in the format put faces through a fake lean detox. The caption usually reads 'Day 1 No Lean,' 'Day 2 No Lean' or 'Day 3 No Lean' over a photo or screenshot of someone looking sweaty, hollow-eyed or defeated. Humor relies on the absurd gap between the withdrawal premise and whatever innocent image sits underneath, since figures like Seong Gi-hun from Squid Game4 or Charli D'Amelio6 have no connection to codeine syrup culture.

Video edits turn the still joke into mock mini-documentaries, with sad music behind footage of an internet celebrity struggling without lean. The format often overlaps with the related 'I Love Lean!!!' remixes7, and YouTube versions starring iShowSpeed, Nikocado Avocado and Mr. Incredible Becoming Uncanny edits came out within days of each other in February 202210.

Origin & Background

Platform
Instagram (origin) / TikTok, YouTube (viral spread)
Creator
Kasher Quon
Date
2020

Rapper Kasher Quon posted a selfie to his Instagram Story around December 11, 2020, captioned 'Day 2 no lean 😂💀🥺'7. That same day, the Instagram meme page incellectuuls reposted the image1, and iFunny user deftones mirrored it on December 152.

The original caption read as a self-deprecating joke about Kasher Quon's own sobriety streak. Later remixers turned the line into a template by attaching it to faces with no link to purple drank, which is when the format took on its ironic character.

How It Spread

On August 12, 2021, Instagram account memixes shared a slideshow of the format sourced from a now-deleted TikToker named @poopvato, hitting over 24,000 views in seven months3. The joke took off that October when Instagram user cbtyoungboy slapped the caption onto Seong Gi-hun's face from Squid Game4; account inhalemybees reposted that version to over 54,700 likes5. On October 25, 2021, severalkindsofmeme applied the caption to a Charli D'Amelio post6, which account sonoilkingdelledruoghe later re-uploaded for over 45,000 likes that December8.

TikTok joined in late 2021. On December 13, @haydenhartmeier filmed himself failing to lift a barbell on 'day one no lean,' topping a million views in three months9. On February 10, 2022, @salfanpage69 posted a clip joking that Robert Downey Jr. was sentenced to two days with no lean, hitting 2.2 million views in a month11.

YouTuber Meme zee opened the YouTube chapter on February 21, 2022, with a comedy edit titled 'Day 1 No Lean' starring iShowSpeed, reaching over 819,000 views in a week10. GodSlicky's Nikocado Avocado version and SubToMe's Mr. Incredible Becoming Uncanny edit arrived within five days, both tied to the same lean-withdrawal premise7.

Timeline

2020-12-11

Rapper Kasher Quon posts the original 'Day 2 no lean' selfie to Instagram; incellectuuls reposts it the same day.

2020-12-15

IFunny user deftones mirrors the Kasher Quon image, giving it reach outside Instagram.

2021-08-12

Instagram page memixes posts a slideshow of the format sourced from TikToker @poopvato.

2021-10-11

Cbtyoungboy applies the caption to Seong Gi-hun from Squid Game, which inhalemybees reposts for over 54,700 likes.

2021-10-25

Severalkindsofmeme adds the caption to a Charli D'Amelio photo.

2021-12-13

TikToker @haydenhartmeier posts a barbell-fail video, topping one million views in three months.

2022-02-10

TikToker @salfanpage69 jokes that Robert Downey Jr. was sentenced to two days no lean, hitting 2.2 million views.

2022-02-21

YouTuber Meme zee releases 'Day 1 No Lean' starring iShowSpeed, which clears 819,000 views in a week and sparks a wave of YouTube edits.

How to Use This Meme

To make a Day 1, 2, 3 No Lean post, pick a photo, screenshot or short clip of a person or character who looks miserable, exhausted or shaken, then overlay the caption 'Day 1 No Lean,' 'Day 2 No Lean' or 'Day 3 No Lean.' The subject typically has no actual association with lean, which is where the joke lands. Video versions often add melancholy piano music and progress through numbered days of mock withdrawal, as seen in Meme zee's iShowSpeed edit10.

Frequently Asked Questions