Does quitting coffee help with NoFap?

For me its a big pleasure so i keep drinking

 

I used to think coffee game me headache....
but now I have coffee with almond milk. I feel great.
Yes, it is a natural drug....but i think it boosts Testosterone. So I really want to continue to have coffee.

 

Lol i don't think so i drink a coffe a lot nowadays but without any milk or sugar

 

Nice streak, btw.

I wanted to respond because I've been through this.

Do you ever wonder WHY you need to drink coffee to wake up in the morning?

It is BECAUSE you drink coffee.

I feel like crap the next morning after I drink coffee.

What is the natural conclusion? Drink more coffee?

No, this makes the problem worse.

Brain fog, lethargy, confusion, and lack of motivation are all caused by coffee/caffeine.

Coffee stimulates dopamine. It's weird, I agree.

But if you quit for about two weeks, you will wake up with more energy,

and the energy is stable throughout the day.

 

Yes stability is the issue I think. I'm currently fine urge wise, but I've let a number of my self care routine slip. I think this may have all started with drinking a cold brew drink with about 200mg of caffeine.

For context, I almost never drink coffee and the only source of caffeine I may get is when I buy dark chocolate sometimes, and the little in green tea which has the benefit of theanine. I also know I have the genetics where it's harder for my system to process caffeine.

Just given the basic fact that caffeine is a STIMULANT, and PMO is STIMULATING that doesn't necessarily help even if it doesn't "make" you act out. When I think about how much endorphin experience, that is the actual pleasure and SATISFACTION I have day to day vs. the SEEKING of pleasure, it's definitely low and the seeking side high. And I know I can experience more of that satisfaction if I just slow down and do things I know that are healthy for me. Even if I don't break my no-PMO streak, my quality of life may not be the best when it's on stimulants whether that's a chemical one or a sensory one.

 

Yes, I have to play that game myself. I have been fearing relapse, on and off this streak. My solution was
to sometimes eat sugar and/or drink coffee.

It took my mind off of women, off of p-subs, and made me willing to go home and chill. I thought, I'll at least get some good time on a streak, which I have. But I haven't lost much weight as a result.

Caffeine and sugar seem to tie in to dopamine, the best I can tell. I don't think that a doctor on earth would agree, but I personally believe caffeine stimulates dopamine, and also sugar of course.

If I am drinking coffee and eating sugar, and I'm at home alone, I sometimes have relapsed. So they aren't a failsafe distraction.

I don't know if that is your reason for drinking the coffee, tea or eating unhealthy things or not.

It was the lesser of two evils for me.

That's what happened to me on this streak. I got time, but I am not at my peak shape. In my first reboot, I was hitting it out of the park on health, diet and fitness.

 

Actually it was a stupidly simple thing for me: It was on sale and normally costs more. This had protein in it so I justified hey, it's part of the morning meal. I have a slightly better diet but in spite of the 40 minutes of walking I have only lost about 3 lbs in 3 weeks. I mean I only had this like 2-3 times actually, and after the first time I knew it didn't sit right, but I'm a sucker for a bargain.. But that's only as far as money is concerned, everything also has a cost in the context of our health and our lives and the relationship there is not as simple as getting product X for price Y.

 

The reason I went back to coffee and sugar was more stupid than your reason.

I was playing open stages, but most of the performers there are either not interesting or

not talented, so I would leave the stage area.

It was a matter of time until I bought a coffee.

Also, I'd been oogling this brownie they made for about a month.

You mention walking. I walk too, I do an hour a day.

I used to run about a 5k every day, but I started getting dizzy.

Then my weight went up because I ate for fear. Isn't that ironic?

I ate because I was afraid of getting fat again.

Now my weight was getting higher, and I decided to fight back.

Of course, after 3 days on the ankle, and still fighting dizzy spells,

my ankle couldn't take any more.

But walking has turned this around, and my knee and foot and ankle don't hurt that much lately.

Walking is fun though, I might keep doing it.

The parks around here are awesome, and there's a lot of them. Wooded trails.

 

I am drinking coffee very moderately these days (and have always done since I didn't start drinking it until age 24-25 really) and do just fine on 1-2 cups a day and that's a good level to stay on I think. I rather enjoy 1-2 cups of great coffee daily rather than gulping 5+ cups a day like many people seem to do. I might sound prejudiced but those people (i.e. coffee addicts) seem to have several vices and/or addictions but coffee as I have met very few people who just over-consume coffee but nothing else.
Luckily, I never increase my tolerance level either since 3+ cups in a single day just makes me shaky, glassy-eyed, and makes my stomach go bad. But, I usually have one coffee-free day per week, just to detox the system a little.

 

I think the key is more the sense of satisfaction.

It's not about "even if people disagree", it's about the specifics both in terms of what the research actually found and who the specific individuals are.

The problem with this kind of generalization is, while true and backed by research - is not specific. What does "healthy" mean exactly? It may very well be physiologically "healthy" or "has benefits" (what?) but contribute toward behavioral stuff like PMO given what other things people has going on. As a simple matter of cause and effect if the genetic difference has to do with the halflife and the body processing it, it can easily be different for the simple reason it may extend the time frame where it starts interrupting sleep, (even if you have it first thing in the morning) and if sleep is disturbed there's that domino effect on health - even as it may be "healthy" (whatever that means) in other respects.

Not only is the brain complex as you mentioned in your second reply, PEOPLE are complex. The problem is it may be one variable in an equation for a particular individual, and other people has a different set of variables where that is not an issue. So this kind of answer is for practical purposes not helpful if people do not deal with their own complexity and difference.

And the thing is, there will be no study that works on any of us as individuals, it's up to us to look at all the lifestyle factors and put that together. AND - and here's kind of the key, even if with the best of intentions someone follows all the general researched backed findings and make black and white decisions like caffeine is okay, PMO is not, etc. etc. then they never consider how any of the variables INTERACT, it's just a laundry list of dos and don'ts. This is the problem with the "list of benefit" thinking which is of course often how people look at quitting PMO. That whole endeavor is a n=1 experiment in the first place. And if we do it like a study then a basic practice is controlling for different variables.

 

I am not so sure it helps from the scientific point of view, but it is another type of addiction for some people. So it is worth the try.

 

Yeah, after the withdrawals from caffeine is over, the second week, you wake up with

the kind of energy you have in the afternoon.

And it stays like that all day, at least for me.

Also, my moods get more stable.

Coffee is just not a necessity.

 

Hi Sober, coffee/caffeine is a drug. If it was introduced now it would be banned! I myself am trying to give it up.
I am morbidly obese and I have asthma, fibromyalgia and clinical depression. My energy levels are non existent a lot of the time. I over compensate by drinking cups of coffee. But pay a terrible price later. My nervous system becomes over stimulated and my pain rapidly increases.
On more than occasion it has triggered a relapse to PMO. Do your own research then decide. In my experience even one cup a day is too much.

Take care comrade.