I've seen a lot of posts on people who are willing to take their commitment from no PMO at little further. As you know, I'm talking about fasting. Since I'm a Buddhist, it's not recommended that we fast, but if necessary, it can and will be done. On the other hand, we abstain from eating meat for a certain amount of days. Having said that, can anyone give me any tips on fasting? I plan on not eating from morning until 7PM just to start off...My dad wants me to fast at least once a month and gradually increase the hours and days of not eating. By the way, how does it feel to not eat for days on end?
A few months back and again the month before that, I went on 3- to 4-day fasts each month, where I only partook of prepared juice cleanses throughout the day. If one has never fasted, usually the first day is the most difficult (more of less), and after that the difficulty seems to subside (the stomach shrinks and settles), especially if you have it in the forefront of your mind what you plan and what the duration will be. BTW, I am not necessarily a disciplined person foodwise, and even I didn't find this fast too difficult. I also chose to do it along with a partner, and we did it during the work week as opposed to the weekend, so that our minds would be busy on work most of the day, and we would not necessarily be thinking about eating. Also, my primary reason for doing the fasts were for dietary, health, detox, and weight-loss purposes. That being said, in regard to fasting with PMO recovery, I noticed in both fasting periods that any and all sexual urges completely vanished - and I attributed this to the fact that as food was absent, two things might have been happening: 1) the body is more concerned with food than sex for survival, so it shifts attention away from sex during such time and/or 2) since PMO is really a dopamine, brain chemical addiction, the lack of food also further diminishes any spikes of dopamine in the brain that comes with eating; hence, any brain dopamine spikes or triggers seem to be absent as well. That being said, be prepared as to what occurs when one goes off a fast (particularly a 3- to 4-day fast). The first meal that you eat after coming off a fast tastes absolutely delicious, even just a salad is amazing. The taste buds come alive with every bite of food. However, such pleasure also causes a sudden dopamine spike in the brain, and all the sexual urges that you may have had before the fast all come back -- but for me, not during the actual fast. And, because they all come back and all at once, you have to be prepared for this so that you won't relapse. Hence, I don't know whether it would be worth fasting just for PMO recovery purposes (unless you're driving out a demon, aka, prayer + fasting -- ha!) - it may be easier for recovery to just keep a constant stride of regular-level urges everyday, than a dangerous high-spike urge that may come following a 4-day carefree period of no urges. Hope my experiences help. Best wishes!
Hey! Short, but unhelpful answer : I found fasting has taught me a great deal about hunger, self-control, and the limit of our bodies (I used to think I'd drop dead if I skipped a meal... turned out I can fast for 20h+ and stay alive ^^). It helped me stay fit to. So I encourage you in experimenting a bit and wish you luck and courage with this. Longer answer: I don't like to sleep on an empty stomach, so dinner is a must for me. If you happen to skip breakfast sometimes, maybe you can just do that and make it till lunch (I used to do that). If you wake up hungry or are worried about skipping breakfast, have a nice, meaty one and see if it can last you till dinner. Another option (mine at this time) is having dinner, fast till next day evening and have dinner again. I'd still advise not to do this more than twice a week. Much longer answer: not written by me, but by a guy I have been following for some time. The "Why Fast?" series are awesome :http://www.marksdailyapple.com/fasting-weight-loss/
I'm Muslim, so I know all about fasting. In the holy month of Ramadan, we abstain from all food and drink from sunrise to sunset. It is customary to wake up before sunrise and eat a hefty meal. This gives us energy to perform the act throughout the rest of the day. Outside of Ramadan, I fast every Monday and Thursday, in order to establish more self control over myself. I recommend it, as you really do see the value in food,and learn to control your body.
To add to this; Single Muslims are encouraged to fast particularly if they cannot control their temptations and urges. Since your energy is low you won't feel the need to PMO or do things that require lots of energy. On the other hand if you stuff yourself, particularly with lots of carbs, you will get a boner and will think "this thing ain't going down". You will then take it out and whack it off. Then you will sit and regret and moan. Then you will think "since i done it once lets do it again".
I am muslim too and I can assure how the feeling is awesome after a full month of fasting from sunrise to sunset, on both spirtual and physical levels. aside from spirtual effects, sure if you tried it you will feel the physical improvments in cleaning your body and stomach, those urges will vanish, and you will feel more in control of yourself.
Not really. We eat right before sunrise. Infact, we have to wake up early every day anyways for prayer before sunrise, so really, the sunrise is the start of the day for many Muslims. Many spiritual thinkers, as well as science itself, has proven the benefits of waking up early, before sunrise. Therefore, we just think of the meal before fasting as a breakfast of sorts. In addition, I said it CUSTOMARY to eat a meal before sunrise. You don't have to. And maybe I shouldn't have said "hefty". It's just that I personally eat a hefty meal,but really, you could eat as much as you want.
Thanks so much you guys! This is probably the best advice I've ever received so far. My PMO addiction has gotten the best of me after all these years, and I just want to take a step a further in my commitment in ending this addiction. In Buddhist tradition, I usually fast for 2 days straight without any meat. I can still do this, and fast without food at all for just one day. Thanks I appreciate it
Fast only if you're still getting all your daily required nutrients. I recomend getting fit, hhaving a nutrition plan where you get all your macros and calorie needs, then fasting. Because you might aswell get fit while you intermittent fast. I fast everyday until about 2pm. So I skip breakfast, I burn fat while I fast.
I will never fast. I was 98 pounds till I was 18 so I have a terrible fear of being a walking toothpick
Interesting perspective. I'm actually starting to do weight lifting again and I've done power yoga for years. The only reason why I'm fasting is because of religious purposes, but for the most part, it relates to my PMO addiction. Like I said, I'm only fasting for 12 hours once a month before I move up the ladder. I'm better with getting fit, but absolutely terrible with nutrition. I really need to manage that.
Why not do both at once? I'd fully recommend it man. Fasting is great, it has many spiritual and health benefits. So Pair it with Lifting and you've got something brilliant there. Why not get nice aesthetically too? Win win situation I'd recommend Kinobody as the best lifting and eating regime, thankfully another nofapper on these forums showed me his work. Its truly awesome. take a look and see it for yourself dude! Kinobody on YouTube
Well I did managed to do my first fasting yesterday. It wasn't too bad, but I was hungry as all hell. Eventually, I want to fast several times a month. And thanks, I'll check out Kinobody sometime soon. It's just my nutrition that needs work.
I have done fasting before. I should probably start again pretty soon. For me, it gives me an assurance of self-respect, and self-control. It will probably also help keep me fit. Your stomach shrinks, and you will get out of the habit of clawing food straight in your mouth so quickly.
Fasting is such a great choice but I think you should start with something more than once a month. Anyways, I was able to achieve my highest streak of 80 days during the month of Ramadan (with some before and some after the month). And I gotta say that Nofap during Ramadan was a piece of cake. You have reminded me to fast again actually. Thanks, and good luck!
