The Lord of the Rings Challenge

Welcome back brother!! Let´s do this!!

 

good idea bro. our very first ring destroyer Alex_Al, used that strategy also

 

yeah, the first 2 weeks are the hardest of them all. most people slip in this period. but there´s a lot of stuff you can do to overcome this, in fact so much that it´s long to post here . see "my story and tips", on my signature .

Hang in there my brother, we´re with you!!!

 

Good luck bro!!!

 

Checking in Fellowship!!!

Morning weekend check-in . Lot´s of stuff planned for today and i´m ready to hit the day . my back are still giving me a bit of pain, but i´m better than before.

On the addiction department, slight urges, nothing to worry about. All my strategy is being followed.

Nothing more to say brave Fellowship. Here´s a great excerpt that i read just now, right before entering the forum. The importance of dopamine for a normal functioning.

"Your brain on porn", page 66.

"Although symptoms such as erectile dysfunction, social anxiety, concentration problems and
depression are quite different, they share a common finding in the scientific literature. As I explained,
one brain change that occurs with addiction is desensitisation. Again, this term refers to a general
dialling down of a person's responsiveness to all pleasure – a baseline drop in dopamine and reduced
dopamine sensitivity. And it's worth repeating that the German researchers discussed in the previous
section found evidence of desensitisation even in moderate porn users.

In the case of porn use, desensitisation could potentially account for lots of symptoms heavy users
report. A decline in dopamine signalling is associated with all of these:

- Diminished sexual behaviour,[152] which, as noted, is a possible cause of sluggish
erections/climaxes,
- Decreased risk-taking[153] and increased anxiety, combined with a tendency toward angry
overreaction,[154] any of which can decrease willingness to socialize,
- Inability to focus,[155] which can account for concentration and memory problems, and
- Lack of motivation[156] and healthy anticipation, which can lead to apathy,[157]
procrastination, and even play a role in depression.[158]

In fact, when a medical student courageously allowed doctors to deplete his dopamine briefly
using a pharmaceutical,[159] look what happened:

During increasing dopamine depletion in this case, a range of subjective experiences
appeared and disappeared consecutively. These experiences resembled negative symptoms
[loss of motivation, dulled senses, decreased fluency, lower mood, fatigue, poor
concentration, anxiety, restlessness, feelings of shame, fear], obsessive-compulsive
symptoms, thought disorders, and anxiety and depressive symptoms. [Bracketed items are
listed elsewhere in the article cited.]

Addiction researchers have measured a decline in dopamine and dopamine sensitivity in the
brains of addicts of all kinds, including internet addicts.[160] We also know that this decline can
happen very quickly with ‘natural rewards’ such as junk food.[161] [162]

The flipside is that when dopamine and related neurochemicals are properly regulated, sexual
attraction, socializing, concentration, sexual responsiveness, and feelings of wellbeing are more
effortless. I suspect that a return to normal dopamine signalling helps explain why many guys report
similar sets of diverse improvements after they unhook from excessive consumption of internet porn."