Hello Everyone!

Hey Everyone,

I am a computer engineer, 48, started masturbating when I was 9 or 10, discovered porn during my early teens. Escalated from clipping topless models from newspapers and lingerie models in mags to regular porn mags, to internet porn, to more extreme fetishes. Have tried a number of times to escape the porn over the last few years, including SAA meetings and various courses, with limited success. Until last year, the longest I managed to avoid it was about three weeks. Something changed in September last year (no idea what!) and I managed to completely avoid porn for three months until just before New Year when I relapsed briefly. On the other hand, I have never seriously tried to stop masturbating. First and foremost I did not believe it would be possible. I have masturbated at least every two or three days for as long as I can remember, except for a couple of periods when I was unwell, or made a weak attempt at stopping. My longest nofap "streak" was about 4 years ago, and lasted about 11 days. I've also used masturbation to kill any particularly strong urge to watch porn (not always successfully, I might add.)

Shortly after Christmas I discovered the NoFap forum on Reddit. I could see various people posting success stories, and for the first time started to believe I might be able to do this too. Which brings me to where I am now. Aiming for a 90 day reboot, hard mode since I don't currently have a partner. Presently on day 24.

Good luck everyone, I trust we can support each other on our journey.

AA

 

Thanks LEO. That's kind of the plan, but I'm taking it one day at a time to start with.

 

Thanks everyone.

DJ - My main strategy is avoiding triggers like the plague. Apart from Reddit with a NSFW filter, I have pretty much abandoned social media. Deleted anything questionable (not just porn) I had downloaded previously. Reset learned words on my phone/tablet keyboard so they don't suggest #### every time I open a new tab in a browser (that was particularly annoying). Keep electronics out of reach when I feel I might be tempted. Leave the bedroom door open at night (this helps even when there is no-one else at home). Mentally cut off any fantasizing as soon as I notice I'm doing it (this is especially helpful).

If triggered or feeling antsy, I have been following the protocol on urgezapper i.e. accept the fact that I have the urge to act out and wait it out, usually by concentrating on my breathing for up to 10 minutes. In all but one case this has been sufficient for the urge to pass, for that one exception it had diminished sufficiently for me to ignore it.

Apart from this I have been trying to sleep more so I'm not so tired, exercise regularly and eat sensibly. Still room for improvement here.

 

Thanks.

 

That's an interesting observation - I've not really thought about why I don't fap when I'm under the weather. Logically, if it actually made me feel better I should want to do so more.

I like, and totally agree with, your signature by the way.

 

Thanks Andy, itstimetofight.