The Dopamine Detox Challenge *(Science Based)*

Too much social media. With friends I should be short but at the same time as open, friendly and clear as possible. Joking around, sending anything else then real own messages and especially sarcasm is not the right way. I want to purify it or put it on the real life track.

 

Awesome! Welcome bro.

 

Great! We're waiting for you.

 

It's up to you. I remember David Goggins saying that he doesn't listen to music while working out, because he doesn't want to depend on it, for his mood, motivation or training efficiency.
I think, it's a valid argument. On the other hand, how bad can it be, to listen to music now and then during the work-out?
What do you think?

 

Day 0 Again

 

I've made a spreadsheet and each day I'll fill in my wins and fails in all the dopamine detox categories as well as for some good habits. That's my foundation and I'll come back to report here in less detailed manner.

dedicated to rock this shit!
CU soon

 

MY PLEDGE

From now on and for the rest of the year I won't watch movies alone anymore

This means watching anything together with someone else is allowed. But when I'm on my own, I won't watch

1. a movie

1a. documentaries are still allowed ​

2. an episode of a serials
3. an entertaining (rather than educational) youtube video


I'm thinking of making more of such pledges, by and by. Like maybe The Nine Rings, or something more positive with a connection to LOTR.
But one step after the other.

EDIT: this doesn't go for porn. So a porn relapse is not a break of my pledge - as long as I don't follow up with non-sexual entertainment.

 

(Edited) I decided, this isn't part of my pledge but part of the "dopamine detox challenge" - a ruleset that I want to adhere to as good as I can.

Podcasts.
I won't listen to these podcasts anymore:

• (non-fictional) entertainment without any meaningful theme
  
• crime
  
• drugs (unless it's in the context of medicine)
• news and most of politics
• all other subjects that have no place in my field of interests and that have little merit to me

I'm trying to define more and more what's in this field of my interests. Of course it's not about what I'm just "interested in" in an impulsive and not reflected way. But rather about well thought-out decision about how to spend my time.

 

6. All news media, unless I need specific info regarding to my own life and well-being.
- I think this one is both doable and important for me atm. I won't include it in my pledge, however I'll try to treat it as such.

4. Video games.
- usually, the only computer games I play are porn games. So how about this: I promise to stop playing all games, even porn games. In the event of a relapse I'll still avoid porn games. I think this totally doable for me. Although it's not so obvious why it helps to exclude this, while I still may edge with porn pics and vids for hours, it would actually be progress for me. Plus, porn games are a special kind of danger.

0. PMO/P-Subs/edging.
- I'll change this to Daily Re-commitment ritual

1. Movies/ T.V. series
2. YouTube, unless it's for learning
- All these are included in my pledge already. Which is quite awesome!

3. All social media, except from short, important and meaningful messages
- I've found my mode and I change it to: Limited social media

5. Music
- not important right now. Let's not be distracted here!


So this is my new list:

1. Movies/ T.V. series
2. YouTube, unless it's for learning
3. All news media, unless info is very important to me
4. Video games
5. Limited social media

1. Daily Re-commitment ritual
2. Healthy diet
3. Cold shower or bath
4. Exercise
5. Study

 

Pledge
1. Movies/ T.V. series / undemanding podcasts
2. YouTube, unless it's for learning
3. Internet games ​

4. Radio and News
5. Social media (limited)

1. Daily Re-commitment ritual
2. Healthy diet
3. Cold shower or bath
4. Exercise
5. Study

 

Day 1

 

Ok, some kind of relapse. But what about the positive things? What did you do?

 

nah I didn't relapsed Is just How I feel rn My feels like is going to explode

 

Ok, and it's day 1 anyway. But what did you reset for, yesterday? And what are your wins?
For example not having watched porn is something to be proud of. It'a win.

 

Yeah is good is a win really considering starting it is that hard part and also

 

Pledge
1. Movies/ T.V. series / undemanding podcasts
2. YouTube, unless it's for learning
3. Internet games ​

4. Radio and News
5. Social media (limited) (a friend was sad and depressed. She needed to talk to me)

1. Daily Re-commitment ritual
2. Healthy diet
3. Only COLD shower or bath
4. Exercise
5. Study

 

I would like to join this challenge as a standard modus operandi during any nofap streak. Meaning that a break in any of these means a reset of my nofap counter.

The reason for this is that porn and fapping are just very extreme versions of the pleasure-seeking habit. And i want to get rid of this completely. One leads to the other. During downtime from work (work 80h/ week) i still crave that movie or weekly fast food meal. In stressfull situations, i still grab for that smoke. This shit has to stop. I want to be completely free from all types of craving and aversion. This is a spiritual journey for me and i will fight until the end!

Banned activities:
0. PMO/MO/P-Subs/edging.
1. Movies/ T.V. series.
2. YouTube.
3. All social media.
4. Carby/ sugary foods. (Fruits allowed)
5. Video games.
6. Music. (One party a month allowed)
7. Disturbing news media.
8. Smoking

Focussing on:
1. Meditation
2. (Spiritual) Study
3. Excercise
4. Clean food
5. Physical purity

 

Very good, friend! I root for you.

 

Hey guys,

I was on this thread a few months ago but I gave up for some reason. My main problem back then was no.8 , which is not a problem these days, so that's a big positive for me.

Now, I am back. I will be abstaining from all the activities, but especially 2 and 3 which I have been struggling with lately. No.8 must also be in the back of my mind but I wont think about it too much since I haven't been having that problem recently.

Only 15 minutes of no.3 i.e. social media will be allowed per day and that will be around 11 pm

There's also one more thing I would like to add to my challenge, that is SLEEP ROUTINE ADJUSTMENT. I will sleep at 11 pm everyday and wake up at 3 30 am. Then I will sleep in the afternoon for an hour and a half. This is an essential part of the challenge. I have been wanting to do this for very long now, but unfortunately, I have never given it a very serious try. This is going to be that serious try. I will finally do this thing that I have been wanting to do for so long.

My main focus will be to just stay awake after 3 30 , no matter what I do. There are two things that wont be allowed though , i.e. social media and youtube.

Things that are allowed: Worldly Study, Religious Study, Prayers, Recitation, Exercise, Morning walk, Reading some book, Meditation, Just doing nothing and sitting around will also be allowed in the first 3 weeks.

What if I wake up later than 3 30 one day or I sleep again after waking up at 3 30? Then I will not binge. I will get out of bed as soon as my eyes open no matter what the time is. I will count it just as a reset. However if I binge, then that will be counted as a relapse.

What if I don't sleep at 11 pm one night? Again this will be a reset except for a genuine reason but I must sleep as soon as possible. However, I must not add this to my sleep time. I must still wake up at 3 30 , no matter when I sleep. If I don't wake up at 3 30 because I didn't sleep at 11pm, then that will be a relapse.

I will do this as if my life depends on it. No more living the same unproductive life again. Just as I have been able to beat PMO addiction, I will beat this one as well.

 

Alright then this is it.

Things have changed in the past few months. In 2022 i started tracking all activities/ duties/ goals meticulously on a daily basis.
Gradually I started getting consistent and efficient again in all activities of life, reaching an 80%+ efficiency score in March.

At the beginning of April I started meditating and studying more, which have led me to be ready for the following changes;

1. Simplify tracking across all devices (abolished personal PC, less metrics, realignment of activities with life purpose, only one vs three documents)
2. Purity metric = NoFap + Dopamine Detox + Clean food, body & environment
3. Cleaned up diet to perfection; no more sodas & no heavy meals after lunch
4. Excercise now focusses on endurance and health cultivation instead of bulking up and muscle mass/ aesthetics
5. Tracking weight and kcal has stopped, as it has nothing to do with spiritual development
6. The main focus in my life is now on seeking enlightenment through breath meditation, not on outside pleasures or achievments
7. NoFap has become a non-negotiable through an unbreakable oath spoken out loud twice a day;

"I pledge, as an unbreakable oath to my Higher Self, to never watch porn or masturbate ever again, even to the peril of my life"


Tracking;
As of 18th of March 2022 i will track the following "7 Holy Activities";
Duty = Efficiency and effectiveness in the performance of my responsibilities and duties (waste no more than 10 min)
Excercise = Excercise four times a week; 2 cardio and 2 full body sessions focussed on endurance/ strength
Sleep = Concistent 7 hours of sleep, wake up at 6, go to bed at 23
Meditation = Meditate 1 hour in the evening
Study = Study texts on breadth meditation, rebooting, brahmacharya, nofap success stories, ... before meditation
Precepts = Follow the 5 buddhist precepts; no killing, stealing, lying, (illicit) sex, intoxication
Purity = NoFap (not using porn & NoMasturbation) + Dopamine Detox + Clean food body & environment (clean house, workplace, car, ...)

Accountability;
I will report on a weekly basis about my activities, which streak i am in, feelings, thoughts, withdrawal symptoms, ...
Streaks are counted in WEEKS, and will be kept track of in the same document as the 7 holy activites
Streaks take into account ALL 7 ACTIVITIES, not only about Nofap.

Why all 7 activities?
Over time i have noticed that indulgence in masturbation/ porn is always correlated to indulgence in outside pleasures.
Such as; fast food, music, movies/ series, a party.
A break in nofap always happens at the same time i am indulging in one of these activities.
The reason for this is that at those moments, my guard is down, and i loose my center (the breadth).

Thus, i have decided to join the dopamine detox, simplify tracking and decide for once and for all what i want:
A Happiness, independent of outside pleasures.

In order to achieve this, I must be centered and balanced in the body at all times, not loose my center through indulgence in one of the senses.
The 7 holy activities are the means to this end, because these are the activities during which i CAN stay centered, or the activities i must avoid where i CANNOT stay centered.