The Lord of the Rings Challenge

Day 3 as an Orc

 

Thank you newbobido!

A clean day deserves a clean night.
I crave for hobbit-joy and adventure. Nothing else!

 

26 days completed

I'm definitely feeling that my mind is sharper. Or, in other words, less brain fog. For me, this is, by itself, enough reason to do NoFap.

 

Checking in on day 97 with replies to a couple of supportive brothers:

Thank you friend. I have to believe we're not the only ones tempted in that exact scenario, and it's tough not to feel vulnerable to those urges when you've fallen to them many times before. I wish I had better advice to give others struggling with the shower as a faptation (just made that up--definition of "faptation" is something that tempts you to masturbate). How does a person reprogram their mental, physical, and chemical responses so that being naked in a private space with unlimited lubricant and easy cleanup does not trigger the urge to fap? For me, the reprogramming is defintiely not complete, but I think it begins with constantly reminding myself of what fapping does to me as a person. After self gratification, I become more self centered, more prone to justifying ways of seeing and being that objectify other people, more self indulgent, and more prone to engage in other self indulgent behaviors. I lose a measure of empathy, patience, and kindness after fapping, and I gain a lust for another dopamine fix, another seratonin release, and whatever will help stimulate and facilitate those temporary and addictive highs. There is no denying that masturbation can be simple, fast-acting medicine for easing the symptoms of feeling stressed, loneley, or inadequate. But it does nothing to address the underlying causes of those feelings, and the high wears off quickly and leaves you sicker than you were before. It's a bad deal in the long term, like any addictive behavior. Thanks for commenting, because I think that many more of us relate to these patterns and what is hard about them, and victories should be celebrated.

This is such great advice--not just for relapsing, but for coming close like I did. I think that when I look at the last ten days there is a glaringly obvious difference from before: I've been eating haphazardly and indulging in whatever food sounded good to me, and while I believe enjoying our nourishment is healthy and important, eating out every other day and overeating are clear signs that I've let go of the reins of my nutrition. I've been using food for comfort and stress relief, and that led directly to a cumulative loss of willpower and motivation. I will take a step back from the edge and ground myself again, tying my daily fitness program to conscious enjoyment of wholesome food, not too much, mostly plants. I will stop fearing what might happen in the shower and focus on the practical aspects of hygiene and finishing with cold shower therapy in an efficient amount of time. And I will keep being open and honest about each step of my journey, here and with my wife, no matter how embarassed, vulnerable, or mortified it feels to disclose so much struggle.

 

Back to Nazgul for me. Grrrr. I will succeed! I need to go back to working my action plan. That has gotten me to Hobbit, and it should help me get beyond.
Wish me luck!

 

I'm curious as to how many of us read Christopher Tolkien. I am reading The History of the Lord of the Rings, part 1: The Return of the Shadow. It's the history of how J.R.R. wrote The Fellowship of the Ring. Parts 2 and 3, of course, are on the second and third books of LotR, respectively.

Is anyone else reading Christopher's books? There are twelve "History of" books in total, I believe, which I guess cover everything from The Silmarillion to The Hobbit and beyond. Also, he has other books on J.R.R.'s writings.

 

Checking in day 149.

 

Day 101

It almost feels like day one all over again; back at the gym, eating well, healthy habits in place, so of course the urges return!

I wouldn’t say I came close to relapsing, but I recognised some old thought patterns that in the past would have led me to failure. Thankfully I had the afternoon off and was able to get on with some chores to distract myself - also sat down to watch The Hunt for Red October, what a brilliant film!

 

Day 22, all good

 

Day 421

 

Day 249, end

 

Day 1 complete

thank you @SSS Vision I will have another streek. @RiseToGreatness you are right, I didn’t take any corrective measures, I just gave in to “all the things I need to do”, when I really needed to take care of myself and how I treat myself. I reached a point where I didn’t care about my routine anymore. On sunday I comitted to taking care of myself first for this week, but it was too late. It’s fucking pitty, sad that it happened, let’s continue

 

Day 33

Not much to say. Was in a webinar late and still have things to do before bed so I'm going to get to that. Keep pushing forward fellowship.

 

Day 7 - Orc, The Dark Tower Barad-Dûr

Some temptations but overcame them.
Soon Uruk-Hai once again

 

Day 14

 

Day 7!

Had a really lucid dream last night, and then it started to become sexual and I remember asking myself if it counts as porn. But then the dream became a nightmare and shit started blowing up around me and I remember thinking “Good! I’m not relapsing today”

One week done! Everything is still on thin ice, but I’m not letting myself fall anymore.
Good luck today everyone