Sometimes people get stuck in a rut and they can’t seem to get past a week on nofap. No matter what they try, they always end up relapsing before a week. In this article, I’m going to list the 6 things you can do that are guaranteed to make you last more than a week on nofap.
I’ve been following the nofap lifestyle for the past 4 years and have been there. I also used to get stuck in a rut and couldn’t get past a week. After only 3-4 days I would relapse, get back on track the next day and end relapsing before a week again.
I realized I needed to change my lifestyle in order to get past a week on nofap. I needed to kick some bad habits out of my daily routine and incorporate some good habits into my daily routine to be able to get better at nofap.
Why You Can’t Get Past a Week on NoFap?
Before we discuss what should you do if you can’t get past a week on nofap, we need to discuss the reason behind why you’re not able to get past a week.
You’re not able to get past a week on nofap because you haven’t replaced porn and masturbation with something else.
If you’re like most men, you’ve been watching porn and jerking off from the age of 11-12. You’ve become dependent on porn and masturbation to give you pleasure.
If you just quit it and not replace it with something else, you’re more likely to fail than to succeed. Don’t see nofap as one thing, see it as a lifestyle change. If you wish to succeed at nofap and make it your lifestyle, you must replace porn and masturbation with something better.
You need to change your old lifestyle by eliminating bad behaviors/habits and incorporating some good ones.
What to Do If You Can’t Get Past a Week on NoFap?
Here are the 6 things that’ll help you get past a week on nofap and make nofap your lifestyle:-
1. Do Dopamine Detox For a Week
This is the first and the best thing you can do to get past a week on nofap. This will get your dopamine receptors back to their normal level and help you eliminate every distraction.
Whenever you indulge in PMO(Porn, masturbation, orgasm), your brain releases a chemical known as dopamine. Dopamine is a feel-good chemical that gives you the sensation of pleasure, that’s why those activities feel so good.
Porn and masturbation release a huge amount of dopamine. As a result, your dopamine receptors get desensitized, meaning they will now need a relatively more amount of dopamine to feel the same pleasure as before.
As a result, activities that can’t provide you with the same amount of dopamine as porn and masturbation start feeling boring and you keep going back to porn and masturbation to get pleasure. Activities such as exercising, studying, working, socializing start seeming boring and you start losing interest in them.
To know how porn and masturbation screws the “Reward System” of your brain, check out my detailed article on the topic by clicking here.
You need to quit every dopamine-releasing activity for some time in order to get your dopamine receptors back to their normal level. When your dopamine receptors get back to their normal level, you’ll start enjoying little things in life and you’ll no longer need to go to porn and masturbation to get pleasure.
Do a dopamine detox for a week. Quit all pleasurable activities and start enjoying boredom. Initially, it’ll be difficult, but with time you’ll start enjoying boredom too.
Here are the rules of dopamine detox:-
DON’TS
- Internet
- Mobile
- Computer
- Music
- Social Media
- Fast food
- Porn
- Masturbation
- Sex
- Drugs
- Alcohol
- Cigarette
- Sugar
- Sweetened beverages
- Shopping
- Going to the theatre
Give up all pleasurable activities for a week. Give up mobile, internet, music, junk food, social media, alcohol, cigarettes, sugar, etc.
After a week of doing dopamine detox, even the smallest of things will start to give you pleasure. Activities such as walking in the sun, looking at the rain, walking in a park/garden, talking to people, will start to give you pleasure and you’ll start enjoying boredom.
To know about dopamine detox in detail, check out my article on it by clicking here.
Dopamine detox will help you tremendously in getting past a week. When you start enjoying little things in life, you won’t need to go to porn and masturbation to get pleasure.
2. Exercise Daily For The Next Week
If you can’t get past a week on nofap, start exercising daily. It’ll help you a lot and will make your nofap journey a lot easier.
You should exercise regularly whether you do nofap or not. But when you do nofap, it becomes a lot more crucial. When you don’t indulge in PMO(Porn, masturbation, orgasm), you’re preserving your sexual energy. Urges are nothing but built-up sexual energy. You must transmute that sexual energy, otherwise, it’ll become too much to handle, and exercising is the best way to transmute that sexual energy.
When you exercise daily, you’ll realize that you’re getting a lot fewer urges and you’re able to control your urges better. In my 4 years of following the nofap lifestyle, I’ve realized that you can’t make nofap your lifestyle without including exercise in your daily routine.
Hit the gym for the next 7 days and your chances of relapsing will reduce by a significant percentage.
3. Meditate Daily For The Next Week
This is the third thing you should do if you can’t get past a week on nofap. Meditate daily for the next 7 days, and you’ll realize that you’re getting a lot fewer urges. Exercising and meditation help a lot in controlling urges.
Make a habit of meditating daily, even if it’s for 5 minutes. When you meditate daily, you’ll realize that you’re able to control your thoughts better and you’ll also be calmer and more relaxed than before.
Meditating may seem like a difficult task if you’ve never meditated before, but stick with it, it’ll get easier with time.
I asked people whether exercising and mediation helps in their nofap journey or not on my NoFap Instagram page(@the_fapstronaut). Let’s look at what they say.
92% of people said that exercising and meditation helps in their nofap journey, while 8% said they didn’t.
4. Keep Yourself Busy All the time
This is the fourth thing you need to do if you can’t get past a week on nofap. By now, you must’ve noticed that urges hit you when you’re free and have nothing to do.
If you spend a lot of time being free and sitting idle in your home, you’ll most likely relapse. Always keep yourself busy, especially during the initial days of your nofap streak.
When you’re busy doing something, you’re less likely to get urges, and even if you get urges, you’re less likely to relapse.
Don’t just fight the urges with willpower. Your willpower is finite and will run out and you’ll eventually relapse. Have a proper strategy to fight the urges. Being busy is an excellent way to divert your mind from the thoughts of porn and masturbation.
Practice your hobbies, build a new hobby, learn a new skill, read books, study, whatever you do, you have to keep yourself busy for most of the day.
5. Socialize More
This is the fifth thing you need to do if you can’t get past a week on nofap. Sometimes, we use porn and masturbation to fill the void of loneliness, but porn and masturbation can never fill that void. You need to fill that void by interacting with other people and building a social circle.
In this day and age, we’re getting disconnected from other people and are getting lonelier. Loneliness has been on the rise among people and it is definitely one of the reasons behind the increased demand for pornography.
Sometimes, we watch porn not because we’re horny but because we lack an intimate relationship with someone and we think that porn can cover up for that lack of intimate relationship, but it never can.
If you’ve close friends, make a habit of spending more time with them and going out with them more often. If you don’t have close friends, get interested in other people’s lives and make friends.
Make a habit of going out with your friends at least once a week. Most porn and masturbation addicts don’t have any close friends. If you wish to quit porn and masturbation for good, you must build a social circle.
For the next 7 days, stay in touch with your friends and talk to them daily and even meet them daily, if possible. When you socialize more, you’ll realize that you’re not thinking about porn and masturbation. The opposite of addiction is connection.
6. Go For a Vacation
This is a hack that you can try if you can’t get past a week on nofap. Changing your environment is a great way to break the cycle of relapsing again and again.
Sometimes you get stuck in a rut doing the same thing every day and the best way to break that rut is to change your environment. Go for a vacation or go to a relative’s house and stay there for a few days.
When you go for a vacation, you’ll be busy most of the time. You’ll spend most of your days outside and you’ll be tired in the night to even think about indulging in PMO. A change in environment is a great way to get out of the rut.
Conclusion
Do these 6 things if you can’t get past a week on nofap:-
- Do Dopamine detox for a week
- Exercise every single day for the next week
- Meditate every single day for the next week
- Keep yourself busy all the time
- Socialize often, meet with your friends every day for the next 7 days
- Go for a vacation or go to a relative’s house
Do the above-mentioned things and you’re guaranteed to get past a week on nofap. But don’t stop doing these things when you get past a week. Include the above-mentioned 6 things in your daily routine if you wish to make nofap your lifestyle.
Don’t see nofap as one thing, see it as a part of your lifestyle. You can’t make nofap your lifestyle without including other good habits in your life.
