I will make it -- Looking forward to taking my life back

First_step_thousand_miles

First_step_thousand_miles

Respected Member
NYC said:
Gotcha, thanks, i started taking it just like 2 months ago, did notice an improvement to morning wood.
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100%. The 3 critical elements to testosterone / erections are zinc, magnesium, and vitamin d. I found out I was deficient in the latter two when I had a mental health crisis (anxiety, mild depression) in my early 20s via my GP and corrected that years ago. But hadn't looked at zinc (very uncommonly tested and I hear it's hard to test for) which is the last piece, I already seem to be getting good results. It's also great for immune function, I took it for like 1.5yrs back in college and never got sick during that time (used to get sick like 2-3x per year before that). Don't know why I stopped honestly, but now I'm back on the train for life. It's a cheap supplement with loads of benefits

Read a lot of folks reporting similar experience to you on MW. I do get some MW now (didn't used to at all last year even 1+yr into my reboot) but it's inconsistent, though I hear a big part of MW is when you wake up in the sleep cycle and more to do with your urge to pee than whatever else. Getting the random erections during the day is amazing though, I don't remember having these since I was a teenager

Not sure where you are in the reboot process but would just stress 1 more time that quitting porn is like 90% of it (unless you are obese / very overweight in which case also fix that alongside quitting porn). Supplements are just the last 10% to optimize IMO. For me, it also adds some mental comfort that I've got all the pieces in place -- many rebooters never use any, some have when they want to get that last 10%. Other supplement I've heard fantastic things about is L-Citrulline. It's very safe for LT use and used heavily for gym-goers as it increases vascularity / pumps via increasing nitric-oxide production in the body (which zinc also helps facilitate btw).

I'm planning on doing my 90 days zinc and then deciding if I want to try L-Citrulline (there's no downside btw, I did a TON of research -- just want to introduce this stuff one at at time and take things slow for my own preference). I am weightlifting as well so it's a dual benefit (it's found in a low of pre-workout supplements as I recently found out). Anyway, just wanted to share the knowledge in case it was helpful to anyone
 
First_step_thousand_miles

First_step_thousand_miles

Respected Member
Day 797 no porn
Day 30 no MO
Daily cold showers
Daily meditation
Daily gratitude

30 days no MO. Very proud to be here, during previous no MO cycles sometimes I have peeked (though not masturbated) to stuff I shouldn't have. This time I've been completely clean. I guess it reminds of a video of Gabe Deem I saw some time back where you encouraged going to rewire pretty quickly into the reboot because it gives you a REASON to stay clean. With this new girl, I feel an actual reason to now to abstain from MO. Feels good, going to keep moving forward. Excited for what things look like when I hit 1k days an then 3yrs
 
NYC

NYC

Member
First_step_thousand_miles said:
100%. The 3 critical elements to testosterone / erections are zinc, magnesium, and vitamin d. I found out I was deficient in the latter two when I had a mental health crisis (anxiety, mild depression) in my early 20s via my GP and corrected that years ago. But hadn't looked at zinc (very uncommonly tested and I hear it's hard to test for) which is the last piece, I already seem to be getting good results. It's also great for immune function, I took it for like 1.5yrs back in college and never got sick during that time (used to get sick like 2-3x per year before that). Don't know why I stopped honestly, but now I'm back on the train for life. It's a cheap supplement with loads of benefits

Read a lot of folks reporting similar experience to you on MW. I do get some MW now (didn't used to at all last year even 1+yr into my reboot) but it's inconsistent, though I hear a big part of MW is when you wake up in the sleep cycle and more to do with your urge to pee than whatever else. Getting the random erections during the day is amazing though, I don't remember having these since I was a teenager

Not sure where you are in the reboot process but would just stress 1 more time that quitting porn is like 90% of it (unless you are obese / very overweight in which case also fix that alongside quitting porn). Supplements are just the last 10% to optimize IMO. For me, it also adds some mental comfort that I've got all the pieces in place -- many rebooters never use any, some have when they want to get that last 10%. Other supplement I've heard fantastic things about is L-Citrulline. It's very safe for LT use and used heavily for gym-goers as it increases vascularity / pumps via increasing nitric-oxide production in the body (which zinc also helps facilitate btw).

I'm planning on doing my 90 days zinc and then deciding if I want to try L-Citrulline (there's no downside btw, I did a TON of research -- just want to introduce this stuff one at at time and take things slow for my own preference). I am weightlifting as well so it's a dual benefit (it's found in a low of pre-workout supplements as I recently found out). Anyway, just wanted to share the knowledge in case it was helpful to anyone
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Thanks for such a great rundown! Im like 16days no P. Had gone 90+days last Sep thru Dec. How much do you take of Vitamin D? I look to share more on my thread "Alast, Back on the Path to PMO Sobriety".
 
First_step_thousand_miles

First_step_thousand_miles

Respected Member
NYC said:
Thanks for such a great rundown! Im like 16days no P. Had gone 90+days last Sep thru Dec. How much do you take of Vitamin D? I look to share more on my thread "Alast, Back on the Path to PMO Sobriety".
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I do 5k IU daily (with K2 for absorption). But bear in mind you should go get your levels tested with your doctor and confirm the dosage with them first. If you are NOT deficient, then I can't imagine it would do much for you and you also don't want to get too much either. I did before / after blood tests on magnesium & vitamin D in my early 20s under my doctor's supervision

The zinc was via research online, did a ton to make sure 30mg was a safe dosage for 3 months and 15mg longer-term (which both are). Even if there's a little excess, it's just converted into more sperm / bigger loads in the case of zinc so no issues there. But even with zinc for example, if you're taking 50mg doses or more then you risk copper deficiency (can cause depressive symptoms). That's why the dosage is so important. Again, I'll stress that the supplements are just the last piece so in the stage of the reboot you are in (16 days) I'd focus more on staying clean of porn and general lifestyle (sleep, diet, exercise). Just my humble two cents

I'm also hesitant to give a ton of advice right now given I'm still rebooting myself. Have had successful sex a few times with 50mg Viagra and then tapering down to 25mg as well (though these are big successes since back in late 2021 I couldn't get hard if I tried during sex with 50mg). Moving forward, going to stop using V altogether as it's more a mental crutch
 
First_step_thousand_miles

First_step_thousand_miles

Respected Member
Double post today but just wanted to share some good news -- did a full hormone blood work up finally with urologist, everything came back in range. My total Testosterone levels actually came in at the very high end for my age! It was 679, I think the avg for people my age is usually around 550-650 depending on who you ask. My regular bloodwork from GP last year came out fine as well, so I can definitively rule out physical causes. Wonder what my readings would have been before starting zinc haha. Anyway, finally happy to report it all and just relax into the rewiring process
 
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First_step_thousand_miles

First_step_thousand_miles

Respected Member
Day 801 no porn
Day 34 no MO
Daily cold showers
Daily meditation
Daily gratitude

Forgot to mention, night before last I had a wet dream. Don't actually remember the dream itself, but woke up at like 4am or so with some...contents...in my boxers. Little uncomfortable feeling, but I supposed it's a nice little sign that everything is working as it should. 2nd wet dream I've had since starting this no MO cycle and zinc. Been getting random boners as well, and woke up with some morning wood this morning that legit took like 20min to go away. Goddamn I'll say this again but I'm really glad I got tested on the T-levels, feeling like a BEAST!

Just a quick note on diet gents -- beyond avoid parabens / other estrogen inducing chemicals (heating food in plastic, certain cheaper shampoos and soaps, etc) it's also good to just avoid soy (soy milk, tofu, etc). I never really ate much anyway but it also increases estrogen production which as a guy you don't want. I'm sure every once in a while it won't hurt, but just wouldn't have it as a regular staple

Life is pretty good otherwise, continuing to stay on the path
 
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First_step_thousand_miles

First_step_thousand_miles

Respected Member
Day 804 no porn
Day 37 no MO

Bunch of random musings here, be forewarned

I feel so clean mentally, damn. Urges for porn have been minimal to nonexistent -- I wondered if this day would come but I can say even without being perfect it's possible to escape porn. I'm a little over 2yrs in and it's one of the best decisions I've ever made. Now to be fair, I'm sure there will be an urge at some point as they can sporadically appear and that's fine but just steady state feeling awesome.

Continuing to get random boners daily since I started the zinc and this no MO cycle. I'm feeling healthier, on avg walking 10k steps daily and lifting a few days a week which I'm sure is contributing as well.

For anyone reading this and wondering, one big insight I had as to why I've been so clean this no MO cycle (vs. constant urges) is just seeing a girl. If you are seeing a girl, it really increases your motivation to get and stay clean as soon as possible. I remember Gabe Deem mentioned it in a video once but I didn't pay too much attention to it. Now I know, finding a partner after the initial 90 days reboot would have been the move.

When I see a hot girl wearing something risqué (which is pretty much everywhere outside in a city or at the gym lol), I don't feel that porn brain urge activate anymore which happened to me A TON even a year+ into the reboot. Sure I'm a man so there's a bit of an urge to look / stare but I can kill it quickly and keep it to a brief glance or sometimes just not look. What's the point staring? Either make a move or don't, but just don't sit and stare. Again I HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommend the book Models by Mark Manson if you haven't been great with girls (I certainly haven't, but WAY better now vs. pre reboot)

Watching anime FAR less these days too. I have admitted this earlier in my thread but one of the messed up categories I used to PMO to was animated porn. But these days I never watch anime that is risqué (let alone animated porn of course), and even if a scene comes on that I would have been tempted to then PMO to something similar (we all know the doppelgänger search lol), I just don't feel the urge or it's so mild it's like a fly I can swat away. I kind of just roll my eyes at that stuff these days. Which is awesome, I wondered when this day would come. Otherwise, can't believe how fast summer is flying by!
 
chap

chap

Active Member
im here for all of this! im super inspired by your journey and aspire to be where ur currently at soon. with patience. i attest to ur point about seeing a girl, ive been entangled with a lady of mine and she is aware of my journey and is supportive of it. lately i dont have the urge for P (whatever form it is, bc i can understand watching anime got me into a deep hole of animated P); instead, i imagine my girl and getting it on with her.

anyways, i really appreciated reading ur insights!
 
First_step_thousand_miles

First_step_thousand_miles

Respected Member
chap said:
im here for all of this! im super inspired by your journey and aspire to be where ur currently at soon. with patience. i attest to ur point about seeing a girl, ive been entangled with a lady of mine and she is aware of my journey and is supportive of it. lately i dont have the urge for P (whatever form it is, bc i can understand watching anime got me into a deep hole of animated P); instead, i imagine my girl and getting it on with her.

anyways, i really appreciated reading ur insights!
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Thanks so much man, glad it's helpful -- it's bee a ROUGH journey to get here though. All you need to do is go thru my post history (not saying you should, there's a lot there lol) to see that. Have struggled quite a bit to get here

Glad you have a partner to reboot with man, esp. a woman who understands and supports you. Frankly I didn't and it terrified me in the early days of how I'd try to explain this to a woman I had just gotten to know. Should've gone for it anyway in hindsight but oh well
 
First_step_thousand_miles

First_step_thousand_miles

Respected Member
Day 805 no porn
Day 38 no MO

Had a wet dream last night I don't remember (just woke up in middle of night with some stuff in my boxers). Also had another wet dream I do remember which was porn-like so I guess I spoke a little too soon about clean thoughts! But in general, the thoughts have indeed been good so can't really complain, it's just some of those vestiges working their way through. Onwards
 
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First_step_thousand_miles

First_step_thousand_miles

Respected Member
Day 806 no porn
Day 39 no MO

Just wanted to document here my plan of attack for the next steps I'm planning to take, might be helpful to others as well. Listing them in order of importance from most important to least at this stage of my recovery (in my humble opinion):

1. Rewire. Girl I'm seeing has been out of town for last week so I'll see her next week again. But just spending time with her and physically escalating (though she wants to take things slow so pace isn't totally up to me lol) is critical. Would be lying if I said I wasn't a bit nervous, but also excited to see where this leads. I'm into this girl in a way I've ever been into anyone else before and she seems really into me too which is fucking amazing.

2. Get to 100 days no MO. As my wise friend @Blondie said though, not going to assume that 100 days is the magical number or anything for a perfect cure -- it's just a goal of mine and I want to get to 100 days no MO without looking at images and crap. I haven't really done this before so it's a bit of spring cleaning to accelerate my journey

3. Lose body fat / recomp + moderate cardio. I'm around ~21% BF these days (down from I estimate 25-26% when I first started the reboot), I've been thinking a lot about this and I'd like to settle at 14-15% steady-state. For my age range a healthy body fat upper limit is actually ~19% (upper limit increases as you age so in one's 40s I think low-20s% is actually fine for instance). This is partially related to erectile function but weight loss has been a goal for MANY years. Regardless a TON of people have reported that as they move from the unhealthy range of BF to the healthy range their erections got way better. Going to continue to recomp alongside it as a weightlift. I'm lifting 2-3x weekly and doing mild cardio another 2-3x weekly right now (running seems to be the best method though at least brisk walking is good as opposed to casual walking to get to moderate intensity)

Screen Shot 2024-07-30 at 12.12.08 PM.png

4. L-Citrulline. It's the last element I'm hoping to integrate in, it's cheap and seems to be very effective. Main purpose of the compound is for exercise (not erections) in terms of increasing vascularity and performance -- found in a lot of pre-workouts for example. And girls do love veins on a guy for some reason so that's a big bonus haha. I've fixed all my dietary needs by eating a decent bit better and supplementing (fish oils, magnesium, vitamin d, and now zinc finally) and my erections are pretty darn good and frequent now. This is the last piece from a supplement side to just max it all -- have also heard some folks prefer beetroot powder instead of citrulline though latter seems to have better evidence. Probably won't add this in to my routine until Sept or Oct though, don't see the rush. The 3 items above are much more important anyway

I've done a lot of research on Kegels as well, have mentioned it a bunch of times in my thread. So they can be helpful but also can be hurtful as well -- doing them wrong can lead to actual ED issues. And many folks report they don't really help much with erection hardness but more so with orgasm intensity which is fine but I'm perfectly happy with my orgasm intensity already. I'm sure under the supervision of a pelvic floor therapist it could probably help stuff, but I think this is not 'necessary' for me IMO -- moderate intensity cardio should be sufficient to deliver better blood flow and a stronger pelvic floor anyway. So I'll keep this in the back pocket but probably not super interested at the moment

God bless you all, proud to be on this journey with everyone and go thru the struggles to come out the other side a better, more fulfilled man. The best things in life rarely come easy
 
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