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changemylife
Guest
Day 3
Stronger urges to fantasize in the morning but I've done a good job thinking about something else and not "watching" porn in my mind. And stronger urges overall to PMO, I would say 5/10. I am preparing for harder times. One who is prepared, deals with the problem better.
Staying away from triggers is now imperative. In the beginning, after you relapse and the urges have calmed down, you tell yourself you will do it with willpower, you can stay away from triggers, if triggers show up by mistake, you can close them, but it's not really like that. Always take safety measures. Make porn and triggers hard to access. It's always easier to prevent than cure.
Stronger urges to fantasize in the morning but I've done a good job thinking about something else and not "watching" porn in my mind. And stronger urges overall to PMO, I would say 5/10. I am preparing for harder times. One who is prepared, deals with the problem better.
Staying away from triggers is now imperative. In the beginning, after you relapse and the urges have calmed down, you tell yourself you will do it with willpower, you can stay away from triggers, if triggers show up by mistake, you can close them, but it's not really like that. Always take safety measures. Make porn and triggers hard to access. It's always easier to prevent than cure.
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changemylife
Guest
WoundedSparrow said:
I had this going on with me many times. It was like a fight inside me. Half of me said: "You have no reason to stop this because you started watching porn and edging anyway. Just imagine how great it will feel after you O." And the other half said: "Nooo! Stop this shit right now! Come on, you can walk away!" I just sat there, in front of the computer knowing I had to stop but the addicted half of me won.
HandSolong
Member
changemylife said:
Dilly, Dilly!!
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Psyc Ops
Guest
It is easy to overthink this, and the addiction invites us to overthink it. Overthinking it makes it complicated; complicated is difficult to solve. The addiction wants you to believe it is difficult to solve. It is not difficult; painful, yes, difficult no. It was easy to train our brains to become addicted because the dopamine response we get from using feels good. It is painful to train our brains not to get that response via porn because A) it does not feel good, as in it does not result in a dopamine high, and B) it hurts, because of withdrawals.
The simple solution of quitting any addiction is abstinence. Not using.
Day 3 of this challenge. Not using.
Thank you changemylife.
The simple solution of quitting any addiction is abstinence. Not using.
Day 3 of this challenge. Not using.
Thank you changemylife.
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changemylife
Guest
Psyc Ops said:
I agree with this. Obsessing about it makes it more difficult to solve. Quitting porn is definitely painful but we don't have to make it complicated because we know what we have to do.
Strong 24/7, even in sleep.
HandSolong
Member
Day 3 and still going strong over here as well. I faltered a little bit by searching these forums for stories that would spike my dopamine levels but I ultimately ended up disappointed. I feel better today.
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switched_off
Guest
I'm late to the challenge, however having realised while I've managed successfully to break my porn habit, I continue to use Instagram for dopamine micro-doses. So I'm in - no Instragram surfing, no flicking through news articles just because there was a glam image. I need to give my brain a chance to get used to normal dopamine levels.
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changemylife
Guest
switched_off said:
That's exactly what this challenge is for: Staying away from ALL artificial stimulation. Only getting pleasure from normal things in life, not screens.
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changemylife
Guest
Day 63! That's outstanding progress, man!Jones said:
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changemylife
Guest
Day 4
Morning is a minefield for me. It's the moment when the urge to edge and fantasize is strong because it has become routine. The reptilian brain makes me believe I would feel amazing if I PMOed but I've been through this before and I actually didn't enjoy it. When I tell it this, it really makes it so believable that this time it will be different. This time the "high" will be better. But what about that depressed feeling I get every time I relapse and that interferes with the "high", making it weaker? This is the "thinking" part of me trying to beat the animal part down with a baseball bat. And I'm doing a good job so far. 4 days and still going. Overall urges have increased to, let's say 6/10. Still careful. Still following the plan like reading the manual.
Morning is a minefield for me. It's the moment when the urge to edge and fantasize is strong because it has become routine. The reptilian brain makes me believe I would feel amazing if I PMOed but I've been through this before and I actually didn't enjoy it. When I tell it this, it really makes it so believable that this time it will be different. This time the "high" will be better. But what about that depressed feeling I get every time I relapse and that interferes with the "high", making it weaker? This is the "thinking" part of me trying to beat the animal part down with a baseball bat. And I'm doing a good job so far. 4 days and still going. Overall urges have increased to, let's say 6/10. Still careful. Still following the plan like reading the manual.
HandSolong
Member
Day 4
Still "sober." Triggers are powerful things and they can come at the most inopportune times from unexpected directions. My ex-wife had hip surgery. Because of this she sent me a picture of her X-ray a month after the surgery. In the x-ray you can see the contours of butt cheeks, and it appeared as though you could see her pantie line (but she wasn't wearing any. Nonetheless, I was charged up most of the night from seeing this x-ray. I was so tempted to ask her to sext me a picture but I didn't. I think I had a 50/50 chance of actually receiving one even though she knows all too well about my porn addiction.
I know your pain brother. I wound up paying for Net Nanny to block porn on my devices and also to block Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest....etc. I would do the same thing but they eventually led me back to the path of PMO.
Still "sober." Triggers are powerful things and they can come at the most inopportune times from unexpected directions. My ex-wife had hip surgery. Because of this she sent me a picture of her X-ray a month after the surgery. In the x-ray you can see the contours of butt cheeks, and it appeared as though you could see her pantie line (but she wasn't wearing any. Nonetheless, I was charged up most of the night from seeing this x-ray. I was so tempted to ask her to sext me a picture but I didn't. I think I had a 50/50 chance of actually receiving one even though she knows all too well about my porn addiction.
switched_off said:
I know your pain brother. I wound up paying for Net Nanny to block porn on my devices and also to block Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest....etc. I would do the same thing but they eventually led me back to the path of PMO.
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Psyc Ops
Guest
Quitting is about changing patterns. We have one pattern, then, we change, and we have another pattern. Today I am running (2K) and...not watching porn. I won't use porn today to jack my dopamine response system.
Day 4. Clear.
If you are reading this, and you have the problem, you can too. It will mean giving up something that you do not want to give up, but which has no value in your life.
Only you can answer the question: Is it better for me with P in my life, or better for me without P in my life?
Tomorrow: Day 5.
It's OK. 4 days have not killed me. Tomorrow won't either.
Join us.
Day 4. Clear.
If you are reading this, and you have the problem, you can too. It will mean giving up something that you do not want to give up, but which has no value in your life.
Only you can answer the question: Is it better for me with P in my life, or better for me without P in my life?
Tomorrow: Day 5.
It's OK. 4 days have not killed me. Tomorrow won't either.
Join us.
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changemylife
Guest
Psyc Ops said:
This. How valuable it is for our lives it's the difference. We find pleasure in something we don't need. Many porn addicts have forgotten to find pleasure in normal life things.
Peace >-(^_^)-<
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HumbleRich
Guest
32/90 today. Keep on going guys!
Rich
Rich
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changemylife
Guest
Day 5
The brain is starved and begging me for any little micro-dopamine-rush. It pushed me to even watch a TV series and look at the girls there. It wants absolutely anything. Urges going up again, to 7/10. They're starting to bother me. I've had harder urges than this, I'm preparing myself to hit them in the following days.
Continued:
I had a moment of "I'm done with this, I will PMO cause it will feel good" but then I shook myself out of it. If I don't introduce my rational part in all this and let my animal part lead me, I will wake up after I've PMOed. I need to stop and think why I shouldn't do it. Urges fluctuate, going up to 8/10 then down to 7/10, even lower, throughout the day. If I understood one thing is that strong urges don't last forever. Also, images flood my mind like a river that just broke a dam. I have to keep brushing them away. It's how my brain tells me it needs anything for just a sip of rush. I look at normal girls and see PMO sources.
The brain is starved and begging me for any little micro-dopamine-rush. It pushed me to even watch a TV series and look at the girls there. It wants absolutely anything. Urges going up again, to 7/10. They're starting to bother me. I've had harder urges than this, I'm preparing myself to hit them in the following days.
Continued:
I had a moment of "I'm done with this, I will PMO cause it will feel good" but then I shook myself out of it. If I don't introduce my rational part in all this and let my animal part lead me, I will wake up after I've PMOed. I need to stop and think why I shouldn't do it. Urges fluctuate, going up to 8/10 then down to 7/10, even lower, throughout the day. If I understood one thing is that strong urges don't last forever. Also, images flood my mind like a river that just broke a dam. I have to keep brushing them away. It's how my brain tells me it needs anything for just a sip of rush. I look at normal girls and see PMO sources.
joepanic
Respected Member
Day 5 of the challenge day 34 of present reboot Ive been making sure I can be out of the house way more than usual hit a few triggers yesterday but ensured I was keeping myself busy so no real effect
Hope all are keeping up with us
Post often it helped me it will help you
Hope all are keeping up with us
Post often it helped me it will help you
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Psyc Ops
Guest
Day 5, no porn. Translation, no use of porn to achieve a dopamine rush. It is not that I don't like a dopamine rush, I do, but I realized that getting it through artificial sexual stimulation could be, and was, addictive and had negative consequences in my life. This is about humanity dealing with new tech. We are figuring it out. It is going to be OK. If you are a newbie reading this, take a deep breath and do not panic. Take some time to study the problem, and you will find a solution to it. There IS a solution, and the solution is simply not using P to achieve a dopamine hit. That takes time and effort; like studying for a test. But you can do it. Back tomorrow for day 6 clear.