Food and its effects

Avoid excessive sugar and caffeine. If you over do it and get really worked up/jittery/anxious … eat bland foods.

 

I'd avoid alcohol all together...unless you won't be alone at all if intoxicated then just best judgement.

Also, I'm finding small bits of dark chocolate help me fend off urges for some reason. Maybe giving me just a little reward in my brain? Dunno.

Also, eating an overall healthy diet is important. Eat lots of fiber too. The better you eat, the better your gut will communicate happy thoughts to your brain.

 

As I have posted elsewhere during my own long abstinence in which I had a heightened sense of the effects of my diet, there are certainly some foods to watch out for.

SPICES

Black pepper, white pepper, cinnamon, cloves, etc. are irritants to the bowels, and stimulate more blood flow to the abdominal region. The warming effect upon the nether regions, coupled with the irritation, is sure to be distracting, at minimum, and potentially derailing of your progress entirely. Keep spices and spicy foods to a minimum--it's best to avoid them altogether for awhile. Note that by "spice" I refer to the saltshaker varieties, and not to the fresh hot peppers that come in vegetable form--these did not have a stimulant effect on me, but feel free to take notes for yourself as to what will work best for you.

HORMONES / ANIMAL FOODS

Meats, milk, and eggs all have animal hormones which may impact human physiology and lusts as well. Milk is benign, and seems harmless from my point of view, but eggs greatly heightened my libido within 24 hours of eating them. As a lacto-ovo vegetarian, I did not have meat, but would expect meat to have a similar impact to that of the eggs. I would recommend avoiding these foods for awhile. Once I reached the 60-day mark, I was strong enough to put eggs back into my diet without greatly upsetting the balance of things.

DRUG STIMULANTS: ALCOHOL, CAFFEINE, NICOTINE

Definitely avoid these things. Caffeine will increase one's blood pressure, and bring on a feeling of "stress" which it might be tempting to "relieve" with some other activity--you don't want to go there. Alcohol, in addition to stimulating blood flow throughout the body and potentially psychologically prepare one for sex (if one has habituated oneself to this), will reduce one's good judgment and powers of discernment such that one might end up doing something with hardly a thought or realization to what it was--and you don't want to end up regretful instead of satisfied and confident that you have done the right thing. Nicotine, of course, does nothing good at all, and it will only provoke a desire for caffeine and/or alcohol which could be the end of your success.

PERSONAL / INDIVIDUAL FOODS (TBD)

Each individual will have certain foods that tend to provoke desire more than other foods. A friend of mine swore that peanut butter did it for him. Buddhists avoid the five pungent herbs (including onions, leeks, garlic) as they suspect them of arousing desire--though I have never had any issue with these. Fiberless foods or any that tend toward constipation, such as sweet pastries, donuts, etc., would probably be good to avoid. Be on the watch for foods that you should avoid even though others have not reported problems with them, because each person is a little different.

 

The only "safety" in this is your willpower. You can learn from any mistakes without failures by exerting sufficient force of willpower--but to avoid the exertion, just don't make the mistake again.

I remember the time I went to a group meeting and they had no vegetarian food for me for lunch--so one of the ladies cooked up a package of instant noodles, including the spice packet. As it was my only vegetarian option and had been made specially for me, I dutifully and politely ate it. I had no special problems that day, but, boy, oh boy, the next day! I woke up with intense desires, and found it difficult to focus/concentrate on anything much of that day. I successfully resisted the urges, but I sure was not inclined to make that mistake again! For me, spices were worse than the eggs, I think.

I found it helpful to inform those cooking for me that I preferred to avoid these stimulating foods. Fortunately for me, the cooks were all quite understanding.

Definitely keep in mind, though, that foods cannot ultimately be blamed for one's own choices. Avoiding stimulating foods just makes your choices a little easier, and it is quite sensible to want to keep the battle easy when one is first setting out on the campaign toward change--but do not allow a food reaction to give your mind some excuse for failure. You don't need excuses. You just need to stay strong.

 

I second this, avoiding alcohol is a must.

 

Top work, thanks for this. Never knew that spices were a potential food to avoid (I don't eat spicy anyway, but still interesting to know)

 

Weed too. Weed ALWAYS made me relapse.