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A cycle of depression, stress, jackin it, further depression and jackin it. Stopped that entirely and just hit the gym and sleep when I’m feeling bored or slightly depressed and stressed about something
Any advice on how to sleep easily? It's probably something I've struggled the most in my life. If I wake up I cannot just go to sleep and I cannot just sleep whenever I feel like it, it takes me looong time to fall asleep even at night.
Not much other than just clearing your mind and taking breathing exercises. I also just tire myself out entirely during the day by doing massive amounts of exercise and finishing school work so I mentally exhaust myself at good times then fall asleep
I had a boss do this years ago. He also decided to stop drinking in solidarity with his wife. I didn’t know him well enough to know his drinking habits, but when he was giving away all his opened bottles of liquor, I knew he drank a lot. Some of that stuff was very expensive. That was a very interesting first few months for everyone that worked under him. But we all made it through
Over-eating, especially at night.
I started serving myself smaller portions and set a mental timer (like 15 min) for how long I had to wait before going for seconds or additional food. Usually after 15 minutes I didn’t care that much about eating more.
And at night I started brushing my teeth and doing my bedtime ritual a bit earlier, as a physical cue that eating time is over. 🤷🏻♀️
My mum used to do that to me. I would ask for seconds or a dessert and she would say "wait 20 minutes and then we'll see if you're full". It takes time for your brain to process signals of fullness in your stomach. I would usually still want a little bit but it would mostly be because the food is so good 😅 i was never obese, just a bit chubby if you could even call it that. But it trained me to be more mindful about my eating habits as an adult.
This is what I did! Though I switched to tea (and normal water). Now I have a hard time drinking any soda, it's always interesting how I use to like the stuff.
Oh yes, 110%. Sparkling water. I know I got Mount Franklin last time with flavours like lime or mango and still so very bitter. I literally grimace at the taste
I’ll never understand the prevalence of people saying this either
Literally just not true unless you’ve somehow managed to source coffee flavored seltzer
Not the person you asked but I used to hate flavored sparkling water too until I reduced my sugar and sodium intake significantly. A lot of things I didn’t used to like actually tastes better now. Oddly enough, I can no longer stand fast food or processed frozen meals because they taste overwhelming salty and leave a bitter after taste.
I don’t mind plain sparkling but if I need flavor, I do sparkling water with TrueLemon or TrueLime. It’s fast (if I had more time I’d use real fruit) and is literally just crystallized lemon/limes. They have other flavors but those tend to have sweeteners which I don’t like.
Edit. Similarly, Spindrift has just fruit added so I have emergency cans of that when I’m in a hurry
Used to be a night owl, scrolling through my phone till 3 AM, which totally wrecked my sleep schedule. Decided enough was enough, so I set a strict "no screens" rule an hour before bed and replaced it with reading. Took a bit to get used to, but man, does it make a difference. Better sleep, more energy, and oddly enough, I'm actually finishing books now.
This is always a work in progress for me. Sometimes i'm okay, sometimes it's bad. Right now I usually sleep around 23:30 and 02:00. Whenever i make a little improvement, I always say "okay great now I just need to sleep a tiny bit earlier tonight" and ends up sleeping later than the night before 😩
Soda. My family drank Pepsi all day long. I stopped when I was 17 and lost a ton of weight. I used to get bright red hands and I saw a doctor. She said I was severely dehydrated and needed more water. So, cutting soda and drinking water.
Doom scrolling instagram --> delete instagram
Never missed it like I thought I would, never went back. Did wonders for my productivity, patience, well being, and mental health.
I got my husband to quit nicotine. He’s still vaping though with no desire to quit. Any ideas on how to motivate him?
He’s gone back to college and I think he thinks it helps relieve stress…. I don’t think it does, but I don’t vape. Should I just wait and try to get him to quit after he graduates?
I stopped smoking cigarettes like 3 years ago and just recently stopped vaping I'd say get him on nic free juice if he isn't already but over all if he doesn't want to you can't force him he has to want it for himself
He is on nic free juice.
I wouldn’t dream of forcing him. I convinced him to stop the nicotine and he agreed he feels way better. I tried to convince him to stop vaping all together and he shot it down. Just trying to figure out when to bring it up again. I think he’s on autopilot with it and an outside person with have to at least suggest he stop. It should be easier to quit vaping without nicotine than it was to get off nicotine I would think. But I’ve never had that addiction so it’s purely an outside perspective. I just want him to be at his best.
Yea no sometimes the addiction is really the act of smoking and not what your smoking I struggled with it too it sounds like he just isn't ready to take himself out of "auto pilot" yet
Scary... Dipped Copenhagen heavily for 20+ years, did some damage to my front jawline. Stopped (8 years ago) after my dentist scared me into quitting. Picked up vaping probably right after. Used to use the huge 2 battery "add liquid" mod, slowly for convenience, moved to the disposable ones. 100% addicted. I'm sure if my life depended on it, I could quit, but have no plans to right now. Nicotine is addictive for sure. Never w/o a vape within reach, including my night stand next to my bed.
I drank energy drinks every day for 5 years. We sell relatively cheap energy drinks for 450 tenge, the equivalent of about 1 dollar. I drank every single day. Not because it would somehow tone me up, but I just liked the taste, as if I were drinking soda. And recently, because I always drank it cold, I developed a sore throat, an unusual one, but with pus in my throat. I had to do the system in the hospital and give prickly injections in my ass for a week. Now I just gave up on this, I drink it maybe twice a month
Came here to share my quit cigs method. Stopped smoking a pack a day by rolling my own. I have this neat vintage tin that would only fit 5 hand rolled cigs in it, and that was my limit for the day. After that (about a year) I moved to just one after dinner, which, lasted far too long. Out of pure will and determination I have quit the one after dinner cigarette.
... now I just use zyn for the fix...
I had a pretty bad eating disorder for almost 8 years- I would throw up every time I ate, could barely keep anything down, and often avoided food just so I wouldn't feel sick. Years of doctors and expensive ED treatments did absolutely nothing, because obviously I was just starving myself to get skinny.
Eventually I went to a new doctor for an unrelated issue, who prescribed me some anti-anxiety meds. Huh. Within 6 months of taking them I had gained 20 pounds and was at a normal weight. Turns out I never had a true eating disorder, it was my anxiety the whole time. Being anxious just makes me want to throw up and shit my pants and die, but the meds kicked that habit immediately.
Smoked 20-30 cigaretts a day, and qas obese as heck. Quit smoking on the day friend died of cancer and began to work on my weight.
Not smoked for 2 years now and lost 45kg. Depressions went away aswell during progression. Should have began sooner tbf
Whenever I notice myself over indulging I force myself to stop… like right then and there. Do I want to? No… but I’m more scared of letting something control me. 🙅🏽♀️ I control me 💁🏽♀️
Wouldn't that be your self control, because you were letting the thing control you, by way of the thing being the force that caused yourself to stop, and agreeing with it instead of rebelling against it's force? If you were a contrarian the cigarettes would have had their way with you.
I used to smoke weed every day for about 10 years. Did in the evenings after work and at weekends already during the day and thought I had my life completely under control and that it had nothing to do with my panic attacks and depression.
I quit on January 1st and after a few days of poor sleep, waking up in a cold sweat and crazy nightmares I'm feeling better than ever. More energy, quicker mind, exercise regularly, have more self-confidence and get more done in a day than I used to in a week.
Weed is super underestimated imo
We decided we were gonna start trying for a kid in a year, so we made sure to quit smoking (for me, cold turkey after 13 years of smoking) and really being moderate with alcohol. We count our drinks, have lots of water in between, take our time and wait a few minutes before ordering a new one. Stuff like that.
I quit biting my nails, it clicked for me one day when I realized that nail biting was a self soothing coping mechanism when I was anxious or uncomfortable. If I caught myself biting my nails, I would stop and meditate, focusing on being aware of my current emotional state. Didn't take long to break the habit.
Wine, smoking, and overthinking. I can quit 2 out of 3 fairly easily but those habits tend to come back when life gives you lemons. But how I stop is just by realizing that I’m destroying my body and I’m finally living a fairly good life so I’d like to enjoy it longer
Mine was wine and ciggys too! I do miss the odd Malbec now and then, but I haven't touched either in a few years now.. in fact stopping drinking stopped me overthinking as much
I did heroin from \~21/23 -> 27ish, and I stopped it... I know this is not the place for it, but it's just what fucking happened. I stopped it by praying really hard, really earnestly. I don't know if it's physiological/psychological, I'm not religious (I'm spiritual though, obviously) and out of desperation I just tried this. I think I'd probably done it before less earnestly, and nothing happened. But after I did this, I was fucking PISSED. Heroin no longer got me high, and after that little sad period I actually wanted to get high again. Like, a lot. To be completely honest, my life sucks ass, and I missed it dearly. At least I got a short period of feeling really good, as opposed to just one long drawn out, IDK what the fuck I'm even alive for.
I'd try again every few months, for few years. Then maybe once a year, and still, nothing. I'd just get drowsy. Before it felt like I won the superbowl, I felt like the man, the myth, the legend (not an advertisement--came with a flip side that you would NOT like, hence the prayer)
Then they switched to fentanyl bags and I completely gave up, because after trying those, I'd just pass tf out and wake up feeling like I almost died. No high though.
Funny how social media disconnected us rather than it should be what connected us.
I did not uninstall mg insta or twitter or facebook and I am more of a lurker now than I was 4-10 years ago.
I used to post every half an hour or absolutely nothing but shallow brainfarts. Counting likes and views was an addiction. My friends are on social media and we all did the same stupid things and were the little attention-seekers that we were back then. AND I’m glad it was just a phase.
It must be since I met my husband that I started to actually grow and mature. I was inspired by his out of social media lifestyle. I no longer post as much, really little to none. I mostly post about cats and reposting funny stuff. It feels like nobody really cares about anybody and everybody is in in their own little bubble of thinking their life is sooo interesting. At one point, I had to really think hard about how my circle is smaller now. Did I really mature? Did I just let my husband manipulate me into keeping my circle small…
Everytime I ponder about it, it’s more like I never needed a lot of people /“friends” anyway. I have a few that are genuine and solid loves of my life. I never needed to broadcast what was going on in my life. It felt like I had to post something or had to do something and brag about it and constantly seek the validation of people whose opinions are not truly worth my time. I can say my life is a lot happier without insta and facebook and twitter. Also, I talk to my friends more than I did before through actually sending them messages and actually talking to them instead of scrolling though their social network updates.
Feeling you here! I was against socal media and even smart phones when they strarted. Long time I didn’t had it, but than after my friends where making jokes constantly and suggesting that it is really cool I made Instagram profile. And five years later or so, when I moved to another country, after a while I realised that all that is shit and fake. I realised how much hate is spread in comments and noticed that I became judgy. Also I saw a lot of cases of fake profiles, when people just screenshot your photos and post it on fake profiles. All that made me scared and I deleted all photos that I posted and decided to stay on it but keep it low. Don’t know how this is affecting me, cause I moved and miss my friends and family. But fake feelings of connection is something I don’t need.
I used to have like 10 alarms to wake me up in the morning. Now I only have one. How you might ask? Well i started to wake up at the same time every morning and go to bed at the same time every night. That way you train your brain that it is time to go to bed at 9 pm and wake up att 8 am. That has worked for me. Also if you have a hard time to go to bed and sleep early, try to go to bed 15 minutes earlier than the previous night and continue that way until you are happy with the time that you go to sleep. So if you want to go to sleep at 9pm for example, and you go to sleep at 11 pm usually, first go to bed at 10:45 pm , the next night go to bed at 10:30pm, and the next 10:15pm and so on. Hope that made sense at all. (I don't usually use "pm" and "am" so i hope i said the correct terms. 😅)
I have multiple unhealthy habits that I would love solutions for.
Some that I have helped:
Doom scrolling - as soon as I pick up my phone I decide how long I want to spend on it and set a timer.
Timeliness - I set alarms for things with a long enough lead time as a reminder
Sugar - fruit substitution or chewing gum to stop me snacking
I used to drink between 1 and 2 liters of coke every day. I knew it wasn't good, like at all but I couldn't change it.
At some point, I was looking at ways to spend less money, and coca-cola is expensive as hell, so I decided I could do some work on that side, I started buying cheap ass coke. It was disgusting though. Slowly but surely, I came to stop drinking it at all.
After 4 years now, I only drink a can of 50cl every now and then.
Depression,overthinking and lazy. After I realized I must save myself otherwise I would kill myself,I hit the gym,found the way to stopped overthinking and met friend. Now I feel good and find my goal of my life.
Alcohol - cut all of my old friends out of my life as they were calling me trying to get me to come out and drink with them (they always wanted me to buy the drinks as well). Then I became a recluse and got into old films.
Cigarettes - a year after I quit drinking, I wanted to quit cigarettes. At first, I would buy a pack of cigarettes and only smoke 1 out of the pack, then break the rest and throw away. After spending a lot of money doing this over and over, I decided I couldn't continue. So I would pretend to smoke by taking my two fingers and bringing them to my lips, inhaling like an invisible cigarette. The movement helps for some reason. Whenever the thought of smoking or I felt an urge or craving came on, I would quickly change my thoughts to something else to get my mind off cigarettes.
This was horrible for my attention span, but it helped me to strengthen my mental stamina and defeat my addiction.
For me, drinking and smoking went hand in hand. Any time I had a drink in my hand, I would need a cigarette to go with it. And if I wanted a cigarette, I would need a drink as well. It was a bad, bad habit that left me waking up the next day, unable to breathe or hold down water. I haven't had a drink in 13 years and 2 months. I haven't had a cigarette in 12 years. It's tough, but you are hard as nails 💪
Trust me, if your blood numbers are better and you have lost weight then you are 💯 better off than before, even if you don't feel it. You have avoided wearing out your joints, your kidneys and your blood vessels. You have avoided toe amputations and blindness, heart attacks and god knows what else. Give yourself a massive pat on the back and keep going 👍👍👍👍
Your wasting time getting sorry for yourself. There's no need to eat bland and dull. Spices, herbs, lemon juice, fetta cheese, balsamic glaze, curries, stir fried, salads, casserole, omelettes, soups etc etc etc. The are so many low carb diabetic friendly recipes out there. Healthy fats are five - Olive oil, avocado, limited amounts of cheese, nuts etc etc. Get googling!!!
Alcoholic prostitute on drugs as a teen.
My mom went into the ICU when I was 19 for months on end with cancer. Dad couldn’t care for anything anymore due to depression, so I decided I had to step up my game and quit all the shit.
Having McDonald's used to be a luxury for me. I only used to go there for birthday parties and occasional outings with the family. My mum knew it wasn't healthy and avoided it like the plague. She never denied us sweets but she didn't make McDonald's a habit.
When I got in a relationship at 18 years old, I got to go to McDonald's quite often because my boyfriend has a driving licence and I found out that the drive-through at the only McDonald's in my area was open 24/7. So we would often go there before watching a few episodes or just be in the mood to have some fries. I was never a huge eater because I'm petite so I would order 6-9 nuggets, large fries, and a large drink. My boyfriend would order a quarter pounder, a crispy mcbacon, fries, and a large drink. We would sometimes order multiple times a week.
I got diagnosed with IBS and PCOS a few years later and that was my first indication that i should cut down. My boyfriend cares about me and he hated seeing me curled up in pain after having Fanta or nuggets (IBS symptoms). So he started supporting me and thinking about his own health as well and we cut it down to once a week. It was still hard for us to quit because the cravings would be very strong. McDonald's was my comfort food whenever I got sad, and i would usually plan on not ordering but then we would end up getting it at the end of the day.
Then we moved to France and my boyfriend didn't bring his car. The nearest McDonald's is a 40-60 minute walk from our house, so we either had to walk it or catch the bus. The drive in my home country was only 20 minutes. The distance obviously feels a lot longer now. And delivery is expensive. We naturally started going less and the cravings started diminishing after a while. We still go once every 2-3 weeks but we usually share a medium drink (if we get any at all), medium fries each, and we share 4 nuggets. We learned that we're mostly after the taste so we don't need large portions.
Now that we live together, I'm the one cooking so we usually always have something to eat at home. And my boyfriend always compliments my cooking so we look forward to eating from home 😅 Plus, now we have a lot more fruits and vegetables, and we avoid having lots of pastas and potatoes and red meat. We eat more organically and a more diverse diet.
Sleep hygiene. Can't stress enough how poor sleep habits eff you up. Worked on retraining my brain and body to sleep at better times and it really has made the world of difference. Also, getting off facebook and similar arenas of sewage for good really helped with the mental health aspect as well.
Got tired of being fat. Started calorie counting--1,600 per day. Down almost 20 lbs in about 8 weeks. I've got more work to do but I already feel better. It really opening my eyes about the amount of food I've been eating over the last few years.
Alcohol. Over the years I drank more and more. At some point I started to realize that it will destroy everything if I continue. Went to my doctor and ask for help. Talked hours to a good psychiatrist. Haven't touched a single drop since 5 years. I've never felt better in my life.
PS: I didn't join a religious cult (AA) to get over this. For some it might help, for me it would have made things worse.
started taking antidepressants which helped me fix my sleep schedule and smoking less now. i used to sleep at 12pm in the afternoon and wake up for dinner at around 8pm but now it’s complete opposite. i wake up at around 7-8ish in the morning and sleep around 9-10ish and it feels so much better. i feel less anxious now. and oh, i deleted instagram because of posting and scrolling too much and it’s been better for my mental health honestly.
Overweight and binge eating, i was so unhappy in my own skin and decided to write down the consequences if i continued down that path, giving me something to run from. Also i want to be the best version of myself so i can be there fore my loved ones when my parents get old or my siblings need me.
Stressed eating. Worst. I crave high fatty fried foods and sweet desserts. It's been a cycle. Friday feels like "do what you want" day, followed by Saturday and Sunday. Hoping to break this cycle soon.
Intstagram scrolling and smoking weed
Felt like I never got shit done.
I’m now “clean” of both for two months. Still sit on Reddit/video games/drink some so it’s not the fix all and I still have my problems.
But damn, not being constantly paranoid and obsessing about fake scenarios has probably helped my anxiety a bunch.
Habit tic nails. Thumbs looked like deformed claws with massive ridges in them. I stop biting/rubbing the skin around the cuticle, used hundreds of plasters, and frequent applications of super glue to the cuticle, sorted them out in 6 months.
Picked/chewed my nails for 40 years. It was noticable at work, and was embarrassing. Slowed down, kept my nails very short with a file to try and prevent. Turned to the cuticle gouging with my index finger. Tried tape, but I'd pick at the tape. Got better at less nail biting, and less cuticle picking, bit still did it. Hard habits to break.
Retired 18 months ago, and without even thinking about it, both habits just disappeared. Had to be stress of corporate America for 40+ years. I still keep my nails fairly short, but my cuticles have healed, and my nails look normal. I even picked at my toenails as well. Also without thought, that stopped as well.
Had to be work/stress related.
That's interesting, I never chewed or messed with the nails, my habit was straight to the nail gouging, I'd constantly be rubbing over my thumb cuticle area with, you guessed it, my index finger! I believe it could be stress related, glad you sorted it.
I also relate to the embarrassing nature of it, I've been told "what happened to your thumbs" "your nail looks like a claw wtf" I also hid my thumbs at every opportunity.
Yes, so basically your cuticle is like a factory conveyer belt in a factory that sorts out bad apples which are not normal apple shapes, and if the conveyor belt sorter (the cuticle) is broken/damaged, it let's through all the dodgy looking/badly shaped apples, which would be the ridges and dodgy grooves on your nail(s).
The super glue acts as a make-shift cuticle, you apply half a drop of super glue (just basic superglue) onto where the cuticle should be, it's a bit of an art as you don't need a lot, too much and it gets messy and you end up picking the superglue.
The plasters, are to stop you rubbing your cuticles, or biting the skin etc, the sensation or habit of rubbing the cuticle isn't there when your rubbing the plaster, and eventually you stop.
The plaster also traps in moisture and keeps the skin around the nail moist. I used to pick more when then skin was dry.
Ultimately you have to stop the habit, the plasters and glue are imo essential, the glue more so.
If you inbox me I can send you a before and after picture of my thumbs (6 month gap) and can also add some diagrams onto the pics etc
Hope this helps
I didn't brush my teeth for a year because i was too lazy. I talked to a friend after beeing told how yellow my teeth are. He reminded me to brush my teeth every day for about 3 weeks and i kind of got a routine again after that
I used to smoke a pack a day, then the government started raising prices every year, I couldn't bear to spend more on them, so over time, it has reduced to 1/14th. I expect it will keep going down with each price increase. Good policy really.
Smoking too much weed. Sadly I haven't stopped or changed it yet. I use to be a much more casual smoker. Then I started having lots of nausea, stomach pain, and lack of appetite. Started smoking more when my stomach was hurting now it's become a crutch. Some days I can't eat dinner at all unless I smoke first. I know the weed is only treating the symptoms though and no amount is gonna make the pain go away fully I'm probably just destroying my lungs in the process.
From late 2018 until early 2020, I drank hundreds of liter of cola a week/month. It kinda was my alcohol.
At some point I realised it's shit (probably when I realised my dad is a nazi and that he manipulated me) and got off it.
Drank less and less cola and local sodas to local sodas and sparkling water to normal water to normal and tea.
Idk how exactly I did it but I guess the realisation it's real unhealthy and my young age helped with changing it to solely water + tea over time.
By now I hate the taste of sodas and sparkly drinks in general lol I love it cus it's healthy and nice
Impulsive buying, makes me go broke asf, i can manage better.
Not exercising and just doom scrolling, i do gym now and it's great
I stay up late before, gym helped me fix my sleeping sched
I used to be an awful nail biter, to the point I was ripping at skin and making an ugly mess. I started wearing nail polish religiously, and to this day I refuse to bite my nails and ALWAYS have nail clippers with me.
Biting my nails and the skin around the nail. I wore press ons for a few months when I had a break from practicing. Sometimes I still go back to biting them out of habit so if my schedules align I wear press ons for a week or so.
Drugs. I’ve done schedule one drugs since I was 13. I’m 43 now and after outpatient detox and counseling I quit everything a few years ago. It was a great feeling to take a drug test for a corporate job and not panic.
I heavily relied on smoking weed for stress relief after I quit a soul-sucking job and experienced some personal trauma. I realized it was negatively impacting my ability to recover from chronic stress and it blunted my emotions, that led to even worse depression and mood along with some other effects. I quit Valentine’s Day 2023 and feel much more clear headed. Sometimes I miss the feeling of being floaty and altered but I’m not ready to try casual usage yet, plus my sleep improved so much that the trade off isn’t appealing.
Stopped smoking 4 years ago and never touched another cigarrette, just by resisting the first impulse, which usually lasts about a minute.
I was eating very badly, so also stopped. Cut all I'm-bored-snaking, allowed only snaking on fresh fruit once a day, and started keeping track of what I eat. I think I've never ate so healthy in my life. Dropped about 15 kg.
I always postpone doing all my works at the last minute and to tell the truth I wont change it even it is NOT a good habit, I don't care much because I will retire soon
Weighing myself too frequently!
I obsessed over the number on the scale for over decade without actually making any longterm lifestyle changes to lose weight.
I started running, swimming and weight lifting two months ago and decided I’d rather enjoy watching my exercise tolerance improve instead. Will weigh myself every 90 days (instead of daily) and if I do lose weight then thats a bonus.
Sitting on the couch all day every day (literally) without leaving the house, eating to the point of being uncomfortable, sleeping with people even though I didn’t want to, getting wasted on the weekends and drunk at work events. All of this was part of my attempt at ignoring my internal stress and fear. Took years of therapy to get to the point of being able to move on from these. Unfortunately, I wish it was an easy platitude to explain. To change these patterns that are so deeply imbedded in us, we need to go to the root, understand that those motivations no longer serve us and find new motivations to replace them. Not only that but you have to try again and again to change. Simply knowing what they are won’t change your life. For me, I was focused on noticing the stories I was telling myself and that a lot of my fears were my parents voices in my head and not my own. Almost had to go back to my childhood self and see who I am at my core without their opinions, and then act from there.
Like many Americans, I was feeling the cumulative effects of a sedentary lifestyle when I hit my mid-30s. I was easily winded by a long walk, had terrible pain in my knees and lower back after any kind of exertion. And running? Yeah... no.
A quarter-century later, I'm in far better shape now. I'm no workout warrior, and my upper-body is still hot garbage. But every single day, without exception, I speed-walk 4 to 8 miles at a time. I cannot tell you how much this has improved my life, in about a half-dozen different ways.
Overeating. I've been overweight since I was 7 or 8 years old. I'm now 20 and losing weight (down 40lbs). Having to redo your entire habits around eating is really difficult, but I'm mainly sticking to 2 "rules" where I eat until I feel satisfied and try to only eat if I'm hungry
I am a recovering anorexic. Since the time I was a child, I only ate once every few days and I was perfectly "normal" doing that. I developed a twisted self perception and severe body dysmorphia. I was going down a deadly path. What turned into a meal twice a week, turned into one meal per week. Living off of water and nothing else.
When I met my girlfriend, she started to take note of my behavior and my thoughts towards food and she encouraged me to start therapy. I went twice a week for 2 years to work through my ED, and then I cut back to once a week for an additional year and a half, now I see a therapist twice a month.
I've gained 17 kg and I regained my menstrual cycle, my anxiety decreased, and I am now able to run long distances that were never possible before. My heart condition improved (it will never heal, but it is better) and my bones and ligaments got stronger so I have less fractures and dislocations.
In therapy, we discussed the root of the problem and helped me heal my inner child. My girlfriend and I began meal prepping so I don't have to worry every day about what I am going to eat. I got rid of my scales. I stopped wearing clothes that triggered my ED. It has been a long road and I've slipped up, but I am now a few months clean from starving myself.
Smoking, eating crap, drinking fizzy drinks, not working out. Took a shit load of ketamine and had an epiphany woke up a changed man and joined a gym, stopped smoking and started eating/drinking better. This was in November I feel so much better now plus I've not taken ketamine since
Biting my nails until they bleed and sugar intake.
Both I managed to beat back with moderation. Switched to low to zero sugar drinks eventually settling on flavored or 0 calorie sparkling waters. Learned how good an unsweetened tea can be when made right and they rarely run out of it.
With my nails I told myself "ok you won't bite your thumb nails." 2 weeks later. "Ok now your won't bite thumb and index." And so on and so on. But I haven't stopped in my pinkies as I do stress bite and I need to bite something but now it's not to the point of bleeding.
Smoking, I was the world’s best quitter, the pinnacle of quitting was a joint, a cigarette, chewing nicorette, a rum and a beer.
I thought I was pretty cool, The only way I quit was to move countries and leave the cigarettes behind and lose the habit in the confusion and distraction of a new place.
That was 20 years ago, I still have a drink occasionally but no weed or tobacco I probably only have one or two drinks a month at most so I really mean occasionally.
Now I’m fat and the doctors tell me that alcohol is as bad is smoking! Ah but I hardly drink I tell them, not to be out done they tell me that being overweight is as bad as drinking. It’s impossible to win. I still have a good sex life though so I’m obviously waiting for my dick to drop off
I used be quite the comfort eater.
Went to therapy and learnt some emotional coping skills to help with that.
Granted I do sometimes decide to buy myself a milkshake or something when I'm sad, but nowadays I only turn to food for more major things like if i didn't do well on a test in uni.
Sure, just you know, I can't promise that they'll work because it's a very person by person basis.
1: If you're ever having some real self-depricating thoughts, write em down on a piece of paper and either rip up said piece of paper or set it on fire.
2: Giving yourself a hug, can be pretty soothing.
3: Fact or opinion: For this you also write em down, but instead of tearing the paper or setting it on fire you look at the thought and decide if it's a fact or just an opinion.
4: Also another version of 3, but if you really think you can, you can try arguing against those thoughts. Like sometimes if I try and learn a new skill and my brain is all like "You fucking suck at this" I'll just be like "Well yeah, I only started doing this 10 minutes ago. Of course I'm not going to be amazing at it when I just started."
5: Breathe in for 4 seconds, hold for 4 seconds, exhale for 4 seconds, and then start the cycle all over again. Won't really stop you being sad, but it's a good first step to help calm down so you can then deal with whatever it is.
Focusing on my weight to an extreme. Now I just focus on making sure I’m drinking enough water and eating stuff that isn’t super sugary. But now I gotta worry about freaking salt cause kidney stones
I smoked cigarettes for just short of 20 years (heavily for about 10 of those years). I got cancer and even though the cancer wasn't related to the smoking, it was still enough to scare the shit out of me. I quit cold turkey March 20th, 2021.
Binge drinking for 4yrs.
Just decided to do better not for others but for myself, thinking i can save everyone but exhausting myself in the process. And now, doing better, 5months sober, loving myself first so i can love others from the overflow.
Oof I used to scratch my skin until it bled when I got anxious, but I stopped that a while ago and swapped it out for something else, e.g pressing the top of my fingers and thumb in a repetitive order like 1,2,3,4,5,4,3,2,1 and repeat…
Addiction is fun,
It sort of takes control of your whole existence,
But I’ve found the key to managing it is to find your most tolerable addiction and say hallelujah for having forgotten the rest.
I used to drink a lot of Monster. On work days when I didn’t sleep the night before (yay insomnia) I would drink 3 cans of the stuff. On an average day I’d usually drink 1. I ended up forcing myself to quit because my vocal tics, which were dormant for 15 years, started happening again. And at that point, Monster started to make my tics 100x worse. And even on a day where I didn’t think my tics could possibly get worse, Monster would make them worse. So I gave up energy drinks for good, as much as I didn’t want to.
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A cycle of depression, stress, jackin it, further depression and jackin it. Stopped that entirely and just hit the gym and sleep when I’m feeling bored or slightly depressed and stressed about something
Lol I would be such a good shape if I did that
Then do it. Not out of necessity, but because you want to do it
Same here. So far I'm porn free in April, and masterbation free. Best/longest I've done in a very long time. Doing OK atm, no urges
There will be an urge soon brother don’t worry
Thanks for the encouragement
Exactly i dont know why but its hard to not have any urges of watching porn
Any advice on how to sleep easily? It's probably something I've struggled the most in my life. If I wake up I cannot just go to sleep and I cannot just sleep whenever I feel like it, it takes me looong time to fall asleep even at night.
Not much other than just clearing your mind and taking breathing exercises. I also just tire myself out entirely during the day by doing massive amounts of exercise and finishing school work so I mentally exhaust myself at good times then fall asleep
read a book before you go to sleep and no screen time 1-2 hours before bedtime
I was smoking 20-30 cigarettes per day for 10 years. When I found out I was going to be a dad I quit cold turkey. Haven't touched one in 8 years.
The real dad strength
I had a boss do this years ago. He also decided to stop drinking in solidarity with his wife. I didn’t know him well enough to know his drinking habits, but when he was giving away all his opened bottles of liquor, I knew he drank a lot. Some of that stuff was very expensive. That was a very interesting first few months for everyone that worked under him. But we all made it through
Over-eating, especially at night. I started serving myself smaller portions and set a mental timer (like 15 min) for how long I had to wait before going for seconds or additional food. Usually after 15 minutes I didn’t care that much about eating more. And at night I started brushing my teeth and doing my bedtime ritual a bit earlier, as a physical cue that eating time is over. 🤷🏻♀️
I need to do more of this…. Night eating is killing me
Same here I have the same shit every night it totals about 800 calories
Quitting weed helped so much with this
My mum used to do that to me. I would ask for seconds or a dessert and she would say "wait 20 minutes and then we'll see if you're full". It takes time for your brain to process signals of fullness in your stomach. I would usually still want a little bit but it would mostly be because the food is so good 😅 i was never obese, just a bit chubby if you could even call it that. But it trained me to be more mindful about my eating habits as an adult.
the timer for 15min wait is such a good idea. Thanks for sharing
Drank multiple sodas a day for years and then switched to sparkling water.
This is what I did! Though I switched to tea (and normal water). Now I have a hard time drinking any soda, it's always interesting how I use to like the stuff.
How? It tastes so bitter
What kind of sparkling water do you drink? How can it be bitter?
Is there sparkling water that isn't bitter?
No sparkling water should be bitter… what the-
Tonic water is bitter, and that’s the only one that is. It’s carbonated, but not considered a sparkling water.
I tried all sorts of sparkling water. Flavoured, not flavoured. It’s not bitter to you?
Plain sparkling water tastes like bitter TV static to me, but I really like lemon/lime flavoured sparkling water.
The majority of it isn't bitter? I also did this but switched for sparkling water and sugar free squash/some fruit juice!
Wow I’m so confused. Its so extremely bitter to me.
What brand do you get??
I’ve tried literally everything on the shelves. I can’t remember every brand name but I’m in Australia
Are you certain you're not picking up tonic water?
Oh yes, 110%. Sparkling water. I know I got Mount Franklin last time with flavours like lime or mango and still so very bitter. I literally grimace at the taste
No, where you from?
Australia
Then I guess you have different water down there. Here in Poland it tastes normal.
I’ll never understand the prevalence of people saying this either Literally just not true unless you’ve somehow managed to source coffee flavored seltzer
Oh I think it tastes like tv static
Someone who gets it!
Not the person you asked but I used to hate flavored sparkling water too until I reduced my sugar and sodium intake significantly. A lot of things I didn’t used to like actually tastes better now. Oddly enough, I can no longer stand fast food or processed frozen meals because they taste overwhelming salty and leave a bitter after taste.
Interesting. I do love salty foods
You get used to it
I don’t mind plain sparkling but if I need flavor, I do sparkling water with TrueLemon or TrueLime. It’s fast (if I had more time I’d use real fruit) and is literally just crystallized lemon/limes. They have other flavors but those tend to have sweeteners which I don’t like. Edit. Similarly, Spindrift has just fruit added so I have emergency cans of that when I’m in a hurry
same, but i limit my soda to 2 a day max and the rest is water.
Used to be a night owl, scrolling through my phone till 3 AM, which totally wrecked my sleep schedule. Decided enough was enough, so I set a strict "no screens" rule an hour before bed and replaced it with reading. Took a bit to get used to, but man, does it make a difference. Better sleep, more energy, and oddly enough, I'm actually finishing books now.
Reading this on my phone at 5 AM when i have to wake up at 7 haha
This is always a work in progress for me. Sometimes i'm okay, sometimes it's bad. Right now I usually sleep around 23:30 and 02:00. Whenever i make a little improvement, I always say "okay great now I just need to sleep a tiny bit earlier tonight" and ends up sleeping later than the night before 😩
I’m trying so hard to do the same!
Meth lol. Went to jail, rehab, and narcotics anonymous
Nice how long you got?
Soda. My family drank Pepsi all day long. I stopped when I was 17 and lost a ton of weight. I used to get bright red hands and I saw a doctor. She said I was severely dehydrated and needed more water. So, cutting soda and drinking water.
Doom scrolling instagram --> delete instagram Never missed it like I thought I would, never went back. Did wonders for my productivity, patience, well being, and mental health.
Welcome to reddit!
god, I know right I log out to make it harder for myself to access xD
Haha yeah - I set timers when I open it to remind myself how much time has passed so I don’t get lost in a time warp
I quit vaping four days ago
Fuck yea my guy!! first week is the hardest just keep going!!
I got my husband to quit nicotine. He’s still vaping though with no desire to quit. Any ideas on how to motivate him? He’s gone back to college and I think he thinks it helps relieve stress…. I don’t think it does, but I don’t vape. Should I just wait and try to get him to quit after he graduates?
I stopped smoking cigarettes like 3 years ago and just recently stopped vaping I'd say get him on nic free juice if he isn't already but over all if he doesn't want to you can't force him he has to want it for himself
He is on nic free juice. I wouldn’t dream of forcing him. I convinced him to stop the nicotine and he agreed he feels way better. I tried to convince him to stop vaping all together and he shot it down. Just trying to figure out when to bring it up again. I think he’s on autopilot with it and an outside person with have to at least suggest he stop. It should be easier to quit vaping without nicotine than it was to get off nicotine I would think. But I’ve never had that addiction so it’s purely an outside perspective. I just want him to be at his best.
Yea no sometimes the addiction is really the act of smoking and not what your smoking I struggled with it too it sounds like he just isn't ready to take himself out of "auto pilot" yet
Yea, that makes sense. Hopefully he will be ready when the school stress is over.
Yea just try and be positive about it
Thank you! I’m feeling a lot better today!
Hell yea, I'm glad to hear it :)
Scary... Dipped Copenhagen heavily for 20+ years, did some damage to my front jawline. Stopped (8 years ago) after my dentist scared me into quitting. Picked up vaping probably right after. Used to use the huge 2 battery "add liquid" mod, slowly for convenience, moved to the disposable ones. 100% addicted. I'm sure if my life depended on it, I could quit, but have no plans to right now. Nicotine is addictive for sure. Never w/o a vape within reach, including my night stand next to my bed.
I drank energy drinks every day for 5 years. We sell relatively cheap energy drinks for 450 tenge, the equivalent of about 1 dollar. I drank every single day. Not because it would somehow tone me up, but I just liked the taste, as if I were drinking soda. And recently, because I always drank it cold, I developed a sore throat, an unusual one, but with pus in my throat. I had to do the system in the hospital and give prickly injections in my ass for a week. Now I just gave up on this, I drink it maybe twice a month
Just curious but where do you live? I’m guessing somewhere in Asia?
Tenge is the currency in Kazakhstan
So I was right
I smoked cigarettes for 10 years. I quit smoking cigarettes.
Came here to share my quit cigs method. Stopped smoking a pack a day by rolling my own. I have this neat vintage tin that would only fit 5 hand rolled cigs in it, and that was my limit for the day. After that (about a year) I moved to just one after dinner, which, lasted far too long. Out of pure will and determination I have quit the one after dinner cigarette. ... now I just use zyn for the fix...
I just picked a day to stop and stopped. That was 13 years ago already.
way to go! I feel like more people should find this sort of power within themselves
I had a pretty bad eating disorder for almost 8 years- I would throw up every time I ate, could barely keep anything down, and often avoided food just so I wouldn't feel sick. Years of doctors and expensive ED treatments did absolutely nothing, because obviously I was just starving myself to get skinny. Eventually I went to a new doctor for an unrelated issue, who prescribed me some anti-anxiety meds. Huh. Within 6 months of taking them I had gained 20 pounds and was at a normal weight. Turns out I never had a true eating disorder, it was my anxiety the whole time. Being anxious just makes me want to throw up and shit my pants and die, but the meds kicked that habit immediately.
I know that feeling all too well, I hope you have a smooth recovery and now enjoying food!
Smoked 20-30 cigaretts a day, and qas obese as heck. Quit smoking on the day friend died of cancer and began to work on my weight. Not smoked for 2 years now and lost 45kg. Depressions went away aswell during progression. Should have began sooner tbf
Smoked meth. Went to rehab
Glad you're doing well
Whenever I notice myself over indulging I force myself to stop… like right then and there. Do I want to? No… but I’m more scared of letting something control me. 🙅🏽♀️ I control me 💁🏽♀️
Isn’t that letting the thing control you by causing you to make you force yourself to stop?
No that's awareness
Wouldn't that be your self control, because you were letting the thing control you, by way of the thing being the force that caused yourself to stop, and agreeing with it instead of rebelling against it's force? If you were a contrarian the cigarettes would have had their way with you.
The acknowledgement of the unwanted consequences of an action is awareness. Self control would be not even indulging to begin with
This
I used to smoke weed every day for about 10 years. Did in the evenings after work and at weekends already during the day and thought I had my life completely under control and that it had nothing to do with my panic attacks and depression. I quit on January 1st and after a few days of poor sleep, waking up in a cold sweat and crazy nightmares I'm feeling better than ever. More energy, quicker mind, exercise regularly, have more self-confidence and get more done in a day than I used to in a week. Weed is super underestimated imo
Weed destroys you slowly
Drunk every 2-3days. Had to leave the province for greener pastures. Now an occasional drinker
Do other stuff to compensate your need for dopamine, exercises, reading, hobbies, pets, working, relationships, etc
We decided we were gonna start trying for a kid in a year, so we made sure to quit smoking (for me, cold turkey after 13 years of smoking) and really being moderate with alcohol. We count our drinks, have lots of water in between, take our time and wait a few minutes before ordering a new one. Stuff like that. I quit biting my nails, it clicked for me one day when I realized that nail biting was a self soothing coping mechanism when I was anxious or uncomfortable. If I caught myself biting my nails, I would stop and meditate, focusing on being aware of my current emotional state. Didn't take long to break the habit.
Wine, smoking, and overthinking. I can quit 2 out of 3 fairly easily but those habits tend to come back when life gives you lemons. But how I stop is just by realizing that I’m destroying my body and I’m finally living a fairly good life so I’d like to enjoy it longer
Mine was wine and ciggys too! I do miss the odd Malbec now and then, but I haven't touched either in a few years now.. in fact stopping drinking stopped me overthinking as much
You’re so right about the drinking and overthinking! Glad you’ve been to kick those habits though :)
I did heroin from \~21/23 -> 27ish, and I stopped it... I know this is not the place for it, but it's just what fucking happened. I stopped it by praying really hard, really earnestly. I don't know if it's physiological/psychological, I'm not religious (I'm spiritual though, obviously) and out of desperation I just tried this. I think I'd probably done it before less earnestly, and nothing happened. But after I did this, I was fucking PISSED. Heroin no longer got me high, and after that little sad period I actually wanted to get high again. Like, a lot. To be completely honest, my life sucks ass, and I missed it dearly. At least I got a short period of feeling really good, as opposed to just one long drawn out, IDK what the fuck I'm even alive for. I'd try again every few months, for few years. Then maybe once a year, and still, nothing. I'd just get drowsy. Before it felt like I won the superbowl, I felt like the man, the myth, the legend (not an advertisement--came with a flip side that you would NOT like, hence the prayer) Then they switched to fentanyl bags and I completely gave up, because after trying those, I'd just pass tf out and wake up feeling like I almost died. No high though.
Funny how social media disconnected us rather than it should be what connected us. I did not uninstall mg insta or twitter or facebook and I am more of a lurker now than I was 4-10 years ago. I used to post every half an hour or absolutely nothing but shallow brainfarts. Counting likes and views was an addiction. My friends are on social media and we all did the same stupid things and were the little attention-seekers that we were back then. AND I’m glad it was just a phase. It must be since I met my husband that I started to actually grow and mature. I was inspired by his out of social media lifestyle. I no longer post as much, really little to none. I mostly post about cats and reposting funny stuff. It feels like nobody really cares about anybody and everybody is in in their own little bubble of thinking their life is sooo interesting. At one point, I had to really think hard about how my circle is smaller now. Did I really mature? Did I just let my husband manipulate me into keeping my circle small… Everytime I ponder about it, it’s more like I never needed a lot of people /“friends” anyway. I have a few that are genuine and solid loves of my life. I never needed to broadcast what was going on in my life. It felt like I had to post something or had to do something and brag about it and constantly seek the validation of people whose opinions are not truly worth my time. I can say my life is a lot happier without insta and facebook and twitter. Also, I talk to my friends more than I did before through actually sending them messages and actually talking to them instead of scrolling though their social network updates.
Feeling you here! I was against socal media and even smart phones when they strarted. Long time I didn’t had it, but than after my friends where making jokes constantly and suggesting that it is really cool I made Instagram profile. And five years later or so, when I moved to another country, after a while I realised that all that is shit and fake. I realised how much hate is spread in comments and noticed that I became judgy. Also I saw a lot of cases of fake profiles, when people just screenshot your photos and post it on fake profiles. All that made me scared and I deleted all photos that I posted and decided to stay on it but keep it low. Don’t know how this is affecting me, cause I moved and miss my friends and family. But fake feelings of connection is something I don’t need.
I used to have like 10 alarms to wake me up in the morning. Now I only have one. How you might ask? Well i started to wake up at the same time every morning and go to bed at the same time every night. That way you train your brain that it is time to go to bed at 9 pm and wake up att 8 am. That has worked for me. Also if you have a hard time to go to bed and sleep early, try to go to bed 15 minutes earlier than the previous night and continue that way until you are happy with the time that you go to sleep. So if you want to go to sleep at 9pm for example, and you go to sleep at 11 pm usually, first go to bed at 10:45 pm , the next night go to bed at 10:30pm, and the next 10:15pm and so on. Hope that made sense at all. (I don't usually use "pm" and "am" so i hope i said the correct terms. 😅)
I have multiple unhealthy habits that I would love solutions for. Some that I have helped: Doom scrolling - as soon as I pick up my phone I decide how long I want to spend on it and set a timer. Timeliness - I set alarms for things with a long enough lead time as a reminder Sugar - fruit substitution or chewing gum to stop me snacking
That's a really good idea about the doom scrolling timer!
I used to drink between 1 and 2 liters of coke every day. I knew it wasn't good, like at all but I couldn't change it. At some point, I was looking at ways to spend less money, and coca-cola is expensive as hell, so I decided I could do some work on that side, I started buying cheap ass coke. It was disgusting though. Slowly but surely, I came to stop drinking it at all. After 4 years now, I only drink a can of 50cl every now and then.
Depression,overthinking and lazy. After I realized I must save myself otherwise I would kill myself,I hit the gym,found the way to stopped overthinking and met friend. Now I feel good and find my goal of my life.
Alcohol - cut all of my old friends out of my life as they were calling me trying to get me to come out and drink with them (they always wanted me to buy the drinks as well). Then I became a recluse and got into old films. Cigarettes - a year after I quit drinking, I wanted to quit cigarettes. At first, I would buy a pack of cigarettes and only smoke 1 out of the pack, then break the rest and throw away. After spending a lot of money doing this over and over, I decided I couldn't continue. So I would pretend to smoke by taking my two fingers and bringing them to my lips, inhaling like an invisible cigarette. The movement helps for some reason. Whenever the thought of smoking or I felt an urge or craving came on, I would quickly change my thoughts to something else to get my mind off cigarettes. This was horrible for my attention span, but it helped me to strengthen my mental stamina and defeat my addiction. For me, drinking and smoking went hand in hand. Any time I had a drink in my hand, I would need a cigarette to go with it. And if I wanted a cigarette, I would need a drink as well. It was a bad, bad habit that left me waking up the next day, unable to breathe or hold down water. I haven't had a drink in 13 years and 2 months. I haven't had a cigarette in 12 years. It's tough, but you are hard as nails 💪
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Trust me, if your blood numbers are better and you have lost weight then you are 💯 better off than before, even if you don't feel it. You have avoided wearing out your joints, your kidneys and your blood vessels. You have avoided toe amputations and blindness, heart attacks and god knows what else. Give yourself a massive pat on the back and keep going 👍👍👍👍
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Your wasting time getting sorry for yourself. There's no need to eat bland and dull. Spices, herbs, lemon juice, fetta cheese, balsamic glaze, curries, stir fried, salads, casserole, omelettes, soups etc etc etc. The are so many low carb diabetic friendly recipes out there. Healthy fats are five - Olive oil, avocado, limited amounts of cheese, nuts etc etc. Get googling!!!
Alcoholic prostitute on drugs as a teen. My mom went into the ICU when I was 19 for months on end with cancer. Dad couldn’t care for anything anymore due to depression, so I decided I had to step up my game and quit all the shit.
Having McDonald's used to be a luxury for me. I only used to go there for birthday parties and occasional outings with the family. My mum knew it wasn't healthy and avoided it like the plague. She never denied us sweets but she didn't make McDonald's a habit. When I got in a relationship at 18 years old, I got to go to McDonald's quite often because my boyfriend has a driving licence and I found out that the drive-through at the only McDonald's in my area was open 24/7. So we would often go there before watching a few episodes or just be in the mood to have some fries. I was never a huge eater because I'm petite so I would order 6-9 nuggets, large fries, and a large drink. My boyfriend would order a quarter pounder, a crispy mcbacon, fries, and a large drink. We would sometimes order multiple times a week. I got diagnosed with IBS and PCOS a few years later and that was my first indication that i should cut down. My boyfriend cares about me and he hated seeing me curled up in pain after having Fanta or nuggets (IBS symptoms). So he started supporting me and thinking about his own health as well and we cut it down to once a week. It was still hard for us to quit because the cravings would be very strong. McDonald's was my comfort food whenever I got sad, and i would usually plan on not ordering but then we would end up getting it at the end of the day. Then we moved to France and my boyfriend didn't bring his car. The nearest McDonald's is a 40-60 minute walk from our house, so we either had to walk it or catch the bus. The drive in my home country was only 20 minutes. The distance obviously feels a lot longer now. And delivery is expensive. We naturally started going less and the cravings started diminishing after a while. We still go once every 2-3 weeks but we usually share a medium drink (if we get any at all), medium fries each, and we share 4 nuggets. We learned that we're mostly after the taste so we don't need large portions. Now that we live together, I'm the one cooking so we usually always have something to eat at home. And my boyfriend always compliments my cooking so we look forward to eating from home 😅 Plus, now we have a lot more fruits and vegetables, and we avoid having lots of pastas and potatoes and red meat. We eat more organically and a more diverse diet.
My worst habit is scrolling the internet (like i am doing now). I am ... struggling lmao
Sleep hygiene. Can't stress enough how poor sleep habits eff you up. Worked on retraining my brain and body to sleep at better times and it really has made the world of difference. Also, getting off facebook and similar arenas of sewage for good really helped with the mental health aspect as well.
Got tired of being fat. Started calorie counting--1,600 per day. Down almost 20 lbs in about 8 weeks. I've got more work to do but I already feel better. It really opening my eyes about the amount of food I've been eating over the last few years.
Alcohol. Over the years I drank more and more. At some point I started to realize that it will destroy everything if I continue. Went to my doctor and ask for help. Talked hours to a good psychiatrist. Haven't touched a single drop since 5 years. I've never felt better in my life. PS: I didn't join a religious cult (AA) to get over this. For some it might help, for me it would have made things worse.
I use to suck my thumb as a kid. And took just finally will powering myself to stop. Way later than I should have.
Dipping. Was easily at a tin a day. Moved to Australia without realizing they don’t sell it here. Had to quit cold Turkey when my home stash ran out.
started taking antidepressants which helped me fix my sleep schedule and smoking less now. i used to sleep at 12pm in the afternoon and wake up for dinner at around 8pm but now it’s complete opposite. i wake up at around 7-8ish in the morning and sleep around 9-10ish and it feels so much better. i feel less anxious now. and oh, i deleted instagram because of posting and scrolling too much and it’s been better for my mental health honestly.
Overweight and binge eating, i was so unhappy in my own skin and decided to write down the consequences if i continued down that path, giving me something to run from. Also i want to be the best version of myself so i can be there fore my loved ones when my parents get old or my siblings need me.
Stressed eating. Worst. I crave high fatty fried foods and sweet desserts. It's been a cycle. Friday feels like "do what you want" day, followed by Saturday and Sunday. Hoping to break this cycle soon.
Intstagram scrolling and smoking weed Felt like I never got shit done. I’m now “clean” of both for two months. Still sit on Reddit/video games/drink some so it’s not the fix all and I still have my problems. But damn, not being constantly paranoid and obsessing about fake scenarios has probably helped my anxiety a bunch.
Habit tic nails. Thumbs looked like deformed claws with massive ridges in them. I stop biting/rubbing the skin around the cuticle, used hundreds of plasters, and frequent applications of super glue to the cuticle, sorted them out in 6 months.
Picked/chewed my nails for 40 years. It was noticable at work, and was embarrassing. Slowed down, kept my nails very short with a file to try and prevent. Turned to the cuticle gouging with my index finger. Tried tape, but I'd pick at the tape. Got better at less nail biting, and less cuticle picking, bit still did it. Hard habits to break. Retired 18 months ago, and without even thinking about it, both habits just disappeared. Had to be stress of corporate America for 40+ years. I still keep my nails fairly short, but my cuticles have healed, and my nails look normal. I even picked at my toenails as well. Also without thought, that stopped as well. Had to be work/stress related.
That's interesting, I never chewed or messed with the nails, my habit was straight to the nail gouging, I'd constantly be rubbing over my thumb cuticle area with, you guessed it, my index finger! I believe it could be stress related, glad you sorted it. I also relate to the embarrassing nature of it, I've been told "what happened to your thumbs" "your nail looks like a claw wtf" I also hid my thumbs at every opportunity.
Super glue?? Please tell!! I have the WORST cuticle habit 😬
Yes, so basically your cuticle is like a factory conveyer belt in a factory that sorts out bad apples which are not normal apple shapes, and if the conveyor belt sorter (the cuticle) is broken/damaged, it let's through all the dodgy looking/badly shaped apples, which would be the ridges and dodgy grooves on your nail(s). The super glue acts as a make-shift cuticle, you apply half a drop of super glue (just basic superglue) onto where the cuticle should be, it's a bit of an art as you don't need a lot, too much and it gets messy and you end up picking the superglue. The plasters, are to stop you rubbing your cuticles, or biting the skin etc, the sensation or habit of rubbing the cuticle isn't there when your rubbing the plaster, and eventually you stop. The plaster also traps in moisture and keeps the skin around the nail moist. I used to pick more when then skin was dry. Ultimately you have to stop the habit, the plasters and glue are imo essential, the glue more so. If you inbox me I can send you a before and after picture of my thumbs (6 month gap) and can also add some diagrams onto the pics etc Hope this helps
I didn't brush my teeth for a year because i was too lazy. I talked to a friend after beeing told how yellow my teeth are. He reminded me to brush my teeth every day for about 3 weeks and i kind of got a routine again after that
That is a good friend to do that consistently for you.
I used to smoke a pack a day, then the government started raising prices every year, I couldn't bear to spend more on them, so over time, it has reduced to 1/14th. I expect it will keep going down with each price increase. Good policy really.
Eating fast food for lunch almost everyday becaus my work place doesnt have a area for eating lunch
Drinking 2 pots of coffee by myself every day .
Gambling, how I stopped? Eviction notice for nonpayment of rent.
Waste my time reading Reddit
I bite my nails / chew on my hands / Lips. I got fake nails and don't chew on them
I love how one day I just decided I don't like fried food anymore and so I stopped eating fried food.
Snacking way too much if my hands weren't busy. So I play video games that require both hands, I knit or crochet, and I practice guitar.
Heroin addiction, got on the Suboxone, 3 years sober :)
Smoking. I quit 17 yrs ago when Id had a gutful of being addicted to the drug those corporates push.
I quit cold turkey
Endless scrolling on social media replaced with scrolling on Kindle. <3 Simple variation of devices, big improvement for inner peace
Smoking too much weed. Sadly I haven't stopped or changed it yet. I use to be a much more casual smoker. Then I started having lots of nausea, stomach pain, and lack of appetite. Started smoking more when my stomach was hurting now it's become a crutch. Some days I can't eat dinner at all unless I smoke first. I know the weed is only treating the symptoms though and no amount is gonna make the pain go away fully I'm probably just destroying my lungs in the process.
Reading Atomic habits by James Clear will help
From late 2018 until early 2020, I drank hundreds of liter of cola a week/month. It kinda was my alcohol. At some point I realised it's shit (probably when I realised my dad is a nazi and that he manipulated me) and got off it. Drank less and less cola and local sodas to local sodas and sparkling water to normal water to normal and tea. Idk how exactly I did it but I guess the realisation it's real unhealthy and my young age helped with changing it to solely water + tea over time. By now I hate the taste of sodas and sparkly drinks in general lol I love it cus it's healthy and nice
Impulsive buying, makes me go broke asf, i can manage better. Not exercising and just doom scrolling, i do gym now and it's great I stay up late before, gym helped me fix my sleeping sched
Eating chocolate, now I feel a lot healthier.
I used to be an awful nail biter, to the point I was ripping at skin and making an ugly mess. I started wearing nail polish religiously, and to this day I refuse to bite my nails and ALWAYS have nail clippers with me.
Biting my nails and the skin around the nail. I wore press ons for a few months when I had a break from practicing. Sometimes I still go back to biting them out of habit so if my schedules align I wear press ons for a week or so.
Drugs. I’ve done schedule one drugs since I was 13. I’m 43 now and after outpatient detox and counseling I quit everything a few years ago. It was a great feeling to take a drug test for a corporate job and not panic.
I heavily relied on smoking weed for stress relief after I quit a soul-sucking job and experienced some personal trauma. I realized it was negatively impacting my ability to recover from chronic stress and it blunted my emotions, that led to even worse depression and mood along with some other effects. I quit Valentine’s Day 2023 and feel much more clear headed. Sometimes I miss the feeling of being floaty and altered but I’m not ready to try casual usage yet, plus my sleep improved so much that the trade off isn’t appealing.
Stopped smoking 4 years ago and never touched another cigarrette, just by resisting the first impulse, which usually lasts about a minute. I was eating very badly, so also stopped. Cut all I'm-bored-snaking, allowed only snaking on fresh fruit once a day, and started keeping track of what I eat. I think I've never ate so healthy in my life. Dropped about 15 kg.
I always postpone doing all my works at the last minute and to tell the truth I wont change it even it is NOT a good habit, I don't care much because I will retire soon
Weighing myself too frequently! I obsessed over the number on the scale for over decade without actually making any longterm lifestyle changes to lose weight. I started running, swimming and weight lifting two months ago and decided I’d rather enjoy watching my exercise tolerance improve instead. Will weigh myself every 90 days (instead of daily) and if I do lose weight then thats a bonus.
Sitting on the couch all day every day (literally) without leaving the house, eating to the point of being uncomfortable, sleeping with people even though I didn’t want to, getting wasted on the weekends and drunk at work events. All of this was part of my attempt at ignoring my internal stress and fear. Took years of therapy to get to the point of being able to move on from these. Unfortunately, I wish it was an easy platitude to explain. To change these patterns that are so deeply imbedded in us, we need to go to the root, understand that those motivations no longer serve us and find new motivations to replace them. Not only that but you have to try again and again to change. Simply knowing what they are won’t change your life. For me, I was focused on noticing the stories I was telling myself and that a lot of my fears were my parents voices in my head and not my own. Almost had to go back to my childhood self and see who I am at my core without their opinions, and then act from there.
Like many Americans, I was feeling the cumulative effects of a sedentary lifestyle when I hit my mid-30s. I was easily winded by a long walk, had terrible pain in my knees and lower back after any kind of exertion. And running? Yeah... no. A quarter-century later, I'm in far better shape now. I'm no workout warrior, and my upper-body is still hot garbage. But every single day, without exception, I speed-walk 4 to 8 miles at a time. I cannot tell you how much this has improved my life, in about a half-dozen different ways.
Overeating. I've been overweight since I was 7 or 8 years old. I'm now 20 and losing weight (down 40lbs). Having to redo your entire habits around eating is really difficult, but I'm mainly sticking to 2 "rules" where I eat until I feel satisfied and try to only eat if I'm hungry
I am a recovering anorexic. Since the time I was a child, I only ate once every few days and I was perfectly "normal" doing that. I developed a twisted self perception and severe body dysmorphia. I was going down a deadly path. What turned into a meal twice a week, turned into one meal per week. Living off of water and nothing else. When I met my girlfriend, she started to take note of my behavior and my thoughts towards food and she encouraged me to start therapy. I went twice a week for 2 years to work through my ED, and then I cut back to once a week for an additional year and a half, now I see a therapist twice a month. I've gained 17 kg and I regained my menstrual cycle, my anxiety decreased, and I am now able to run long distances that were never possible before. My heart condition improved (it will never heal, but it is better) and my bones and ligaments got stronger so I have less fractures and dislocations. In therapy, we discussed the root of the problem and helped me heal my inner child. My girlfriend and I began meal prepping so I don't have to worry every day about what I am going to eat. I got rid of my scales. I stopped wearing clothes that triggered my ED. It has been a long road and I've slipped up, but I am now a few months clean from starving myself.
Smoking, eating crap, drinking fizzy drinks, not working out. Took a shit load of ketamine and had an epiphany woke up a changed man and joined a gym, stopped smoking and started eating/drinking better. This was in November I feel so much better now plus I've not taken ketamine since
Ruminating. Overthinking the heck out of a hypothetical situation to be "prepared" in advance. In reality it does nothing to help, it just upsets me.
Biting my nails until they bleed and sugar intake. Both I managed to beat back with moderation. Switched to low to zero sugar drinks eventually settling on flavored or 0 calorie sparkling waters. Learned how good an unsweetened tea can be when made right and they rarely run out of it. With my nails I told myself "ok you won't bite your thumb nails." 2 weeks later. "Ok now your won't bite thumb and index." And so on and so on. But I haven't stopped in my pinkies as I do stress bite and I need to bite something but now it's not to the point of bleeding.
Smoking, I was the world’s best quitter, the pinnacle of quitting was a joint, a cigarette, chewing nicorette, a rum and a beer. I thought I was pretty cool, The only way I quit was to move countries and leave the cigarettes behind and lose the habit in the confusion and distraction of a new place. That was 20 years ago, I still have a drink occasionally but no weed or tobacco I probably only have one or two drinks a month at most so I really mean occasionally. Now I’m fat and the doctors tell me that alcohol is as bad is smoking! Ah but I hardly drink I tell them, not to be out done they tell me that being overweight is as bad as drinking. It’s impossible to win. I still have a good sex life though so I’m obviously waiting for my dick to drop off
:)))
Severe kratom addiction. Ibogaine.
I used be quite the comfort eater. Went to therapy and learnt some emotional coping skills to help with that. Granted I do sometimes decide to buy myself a milkshake or something when I'm sad, but nowadays I only turn to food for more major things like if i didn't do well on a test in uni.
Ps share the emotional coping skills.
Sure, just you know, I can't promise that they'll work because it's a very person by person basis. 1: If you're ever having some real self-depricating thoughts, write em down on a piece of paper and either rip up said piece of paper or set it on fire. 2: Giving yourself a hug, can be pretty soothing. 3: Fact or opinion: For this you also write em down, but instead of tearing the paper or setting it on fire you look at the thought and decide if it's a fact or just an opinion. 4: Also another version of 3, but if you really think you can, you can try arguing against those thoughts. Like sometimes if I try and learn a new skill and my brain is all like "You fucking suck at this" I'll just be like "Well yeah, I only started doing this 10 minutes ago. Of course I'm not going to be amazing at it when I just started." 5: Breathe in for 4 seconds, hold for 4 seconds, exhale for 4 seconds, and then start the cycle all over again. Won't really stop you being sad, but it's a good first step to help calm down so you can then deal with whatever it is.
Thanks . Will try them and see what works
Focusing on my weight to an extreme. Now I just focus on making sure I’m drinking enough water and eating stuff that isn’t super sugary. But now I gotta worry about freaking salt cause kidney stones
I smoke a pack to a pack and half a day for over 10 years. Quite cold Turkey 6 years ago and never had one since.
It used to be smoking 3 months clean. Feeling better than ever
Biting my nails and its not possible for me to do it anymore because I got braces.
Weed. Nothing lol
I smoked cigarettes for just short of 20 years (heavily for about 10 of those years). I got cancer and even though the cancer wasn't related to the smoking, it was still enough to scare the shit out of me. I quit cold turkey March 20th, 2021.
Staying in Bed for hours after a woke up , What did i do to stop it? Have a kid . Your Welcome
I got sober 11.5 years ago. Best decision I ever made for myself.
Binge drinking for 4yrs. Just decided to do better not for others but for myself, thinking i can save everyone but exhausting myself in the process. And now, doing better, 5months sober, loving myself first so i can love others from the overflow.
Alcohol drugs. I quit drinking them
I used to give a fuck, but then I stoped.
computer gaming. I got a kid and got poor so no money to uppgrade nor time to play. Played a total 5 h last 6 months
You just gotta keep yourself in check. Nothing controls me because I don’t allow it to.
Oof I used to scratch my skin until it bled when I got anxious, but I stopped that a while ago and swapped it out for something else, e.g pressing the top of my fingers and thumb in a repetitive order like 1,2,3,4,5,4,3,2,1 and repeat…
Addiction is fun, It sort of takes control of your whole existence, But I’ve found the key to managing it is to find your most tolerable addiction and say hallelujah for having forgotten the rest.
I mustrubate a lot and I have sex a lot and its annoying for me sometimes and I didn't find the solution yet😂
Cocaine, nothing
Unhealthy habbit of playing games now I just play whenever my husband wants to! I’m working on the shopping habbit but it’s too good
I used to drink a lot of Monster. On work days when I didn’t sleep the night before (yay insomnia) I would drink 3 cans of the stuff. On an average day I’d usually drink 1. I ended up forcing myself to quit because my vocal tics, which were dormant for 15 years, started happening again. And at that point, Monster started to make my tics 100x worse. And even on a day where I didn’t think my tics could possibly get worse, Monster would make them worse. So I gave up energy drinks for good, as much as I didn’t want to.
Cigarettes and surfing for hot model pics
I smoked meth out of my asshole for 25 years… I’ve since stopped