19 Years old; Day 37 and counting!

*This may be a long post to some but if you feel like reading it, it may help.*

Alright, so I intended on doing NoFap without actually creating an account, but since reading other people's success stories seems to help me, I figured if I make my own I could be helping someone else so here I am.

But anyways, my background info is pretty much the same as anyone else. I started masturbating when I was in the 8th grade (age 13; I am now a sophmore in college and almost 20) and I have been hooked ever since. I found myself doing it no less than twice a day, often times more. I even used to do it simply because I was bored or to pass time, regardless of whether or not I was actually horny. I guess I never really paid attention to the effect that PMO has had on my life until I discovered yourbrainonporn and started to put the pieces together. I've always associated my poor self-esteem, lack of confidence, social anxiety, etc. with the fact that I have always been a skinny / weak guy and am often teased for it on a daily basis, especially throughout high school when I PMO'd the most. I guess you can say I would be classified as an ectomorph (for those of you who are familiar with somatotypes and the psychological traits that are said to be associated with them). So if the psychological traits that are associated with being an ectomorph are true (things such as social anxiety, shyness, lack of confidence, introverted personality, you know.. the works), then I'm here to tell you that PMOing has done nothing but amplify them.. BADLY!

So after finding NoFap in late January of this year, I began my first streak on Feb 2 and it lasted 14 days. During that streak I began feeling like a whole different person; better at maintaining eye contact, less nervous in social situations, reduced anxiety.. then immediately after my relapse it all went down the drain for the next few days, and from that moment forward I've been dedicated ever since and I'm now on day 37! I can honestly say I feel much better than I ever have. Before NoFap, whenever I'd talk to people who I wasn't already close friends with and sometimes even my close friends, I'd be full of nervousness and anxiety and it would just make the interaction so awkward. I couldn't maintain eye contact to save my life, my body temperature would rise dramatically causing sweating, I'd start trembling and it was just terrible overall. These things would be most evident when I would be talking to girls, especially girls I was attracted to, and this is what bothered me the most. Whenever I would make eye contact with a cute girl I would look down or look away immediately, not paying attention to whether or not she was checking me out (which I now see that many of them actually were/still are).

But now I've noticed so many cute girls looking at me during my current streak that it really makes me wonder how many opportunities I've missed in the past. In fact, today (March 22) I was in line behind one to get my card swiped in the cafeteria at my college, and she constantly kept looking back at me, and then when we both were at the drink machine she looked at me again so I smiled, then she smiled back and kind of began blushing and looked away. That is just one example out of many over these past 30+ days. However, I haven't really seemed to build up the courage to approach a random girl yet, but I feel much closer every day and I have to say that that's a confidence booster in itself for me. I'm also beginning to not objectify women; Whenever I talk to a girl, especially one that I would consider to have a nice body, I can focus on the conversation and actually listen to what she's saying rather than just thinking about what she would be like in bed or how she would look naked.

As far as battling urges, I've been channeling my energy towards calisthenics and have been seeing some decent gains so I'm really excited about that. Ever since I was a kid I've been a huge fan of Bruce Lee and martial arts, boxing, UFC and stuff like that and I've always dreamed of having the "Bruce Lee physique" and knowing that PMO has a negative effect on making gains from my workouts it has been very easy to refrain from doing it. Also whenever I get an urge I just think to myself, "Why waste time looking at girls on a screen whom I will most likely NEVER meet in real life, when there are so many beautiful girls on campus and in the city that I have the opportunity to form real relationships with". Repeating that to myself combined with working out is honestly all I need to battle urges and it works pretty well for me. I don't take cold showers because I just love the feeling of a nice warm shower haha!

As far as the flatline, I haven't really noticed any of the symptoms of a flatline period yet.. I don't know if I haven't been in one yet or I just feel so good that I don't notice it but whatever the case is, I can honestly tell you all that NoFap most definitely works and even though I am only on day 37, I am definitely reaping some of the benefits (at least the ones that I wanted the most) and hopefully there are many more to come.

In summary, after starting NoFap I've noticed:
-More attention from girls (or maybe the same amount of attention but since I no longer look away like a shy little bitch when they look at me I actually notice it)

-Anxiety reduced greatly!
-No brain fog
-Better concentration for my school work

-Large confidence boost in the sense that I now look in the mirror and see an attractive young man and not a timid, unmanly piece of shit full of shame and guilt.

-The desire to go out and be more social. I used to sit in my room and play video games and masturbate all day, but now that shit is so boring that I often find myself begging for social interaction and I'm even contemplating selling my PS4.. though I feel like I'd be more bored without it than I am with it, however I have heavily reduced my time spent on it, and being that I am a computer science major it's pretty hard to avoid the use of computers and the internet but at least it's mostly for productive things now!

-Better sleep / less sleep required to feel rested for the day
-Better at maintaining eye contact
-More active in conversations and social gatherings

Now I will say that for anyone struggling with keeping their streaks going, you've got to want it! Just because it's easy for me so far, it may not be as easy for you, but if you find the right motivation to keep going, it'll definitely help.

My motivation for this whole thing was that I was tired of being afraid to talk to girls, and being anxious, shy, nervous and awkward whenever I was around them or strangers in general, and since I've seen these things reduce significantly, I have all the motivation I need to never PMO again! So I hope I helped you guys.. Peace!

 

Glad to know that I'm helping bro! Stay strong and keep fighting!

 

Yea man! It felt like within seconds after my relapse all of the anxiety, brain fog, etc came rushing back in! Now I'm on day 42 and I feel great!

 

Thanks man!

 

Same here man! I had problems keeping eye contact with my professors, and even waiters/waitresses, store clerks, pretty much everyone. But now it's almost effortless! And you're right, relapsing is most definitely not worth it so keep going!