New and fighting the addiction

Hi everyone!
I'm 18 y/o f and I registered here about a week ago. I realized my porn addiction was getting the way of my life and interfering with too many of my goals, relationships, academics and even my hobbies.

I discovered porn when I was 10, disgusted by it I never went back - till I rediscovered it again at 15. At 15, porn turned me on and it gave me instant relief from whatever I was feeling. It numbed my everything and turned it into pleasure. I became severely addicted to it last year and that's when I started noticing how porn was eating into my thoughts and my time.

When I had to study for a test, I'd tell myself 20 minutes of porn shouldn't do harm, it'll be a nice break. Those 20 minutes turned to 1 hour, 2 and even 6 hours sometimes. Ended up pulling all nighters, not being able to concentrate because I was tired and nearly failed my tests.

I stopped painting, neglected my friends, didn't go to birthday parties, didn't get out of the house for a week straight, etc etc just because masturbation was so gratifying.

Sometimes I got so horny, I even wanted to cheat on my boyfriend with an online sexting-relationship because I felt I wasn't getting enough attention from him. I wanted to, thank God I didn't.

I haven't been addicted for years but I did use porn far too often to escape stress.
I'm here to redeem myself and my life back before its too late. I hope I can find some support here.

Wish me luck!
( and good luck on your journey too; thanks for reading )

 

Meditation and exercise are the key strategies, so far it has been going well. I've taken up yoga classes and practicing that every time I feel tempted to stray from my goal. I feel that is working best for me