So, I'm quitting caffeine, I'm. It going cold turkey but it's hard. I'm always tired, I got vertigo and I'm itching for an energy drink. I'm 4 days into quitting it and it's horrid.
But I have only had this habit for a few years, what was the worst thing you ever gave up Dakka?

Caffeine for me too, I've quit this a few times over the years...

I suffer massive headaches with caffeine withdrawal to the extent that I am physically sick. Painkillers have zero effect on these headaches although more caffeine will relieve them pretty quickly.

The headaches were so debilitating that I instead weaned myself off caffeine rather than going cold turkey. Each time it took around 4 months to gradually reduce my caffeine intake to nil.

I should probably think about doing this again. Felt calmer without the caffeine.

It's a really hard thing you are going through, I wish you the best of luck with it.

Living.

But on the caffeine, I've found drinking more water to do wonders for me personally. Maybe it could help, YMMV and all.

The purchase of plastic from this odd company called GW... ever heard of it?

 The Forgemaster wrote:
The purchase of plastic from this odd company called GW... ever heard of it?

I gather my plastic shavings and snort lines of them.

Quitting tabs was quite hard for me. In the end after trying patches and gum and all that jazz, I ended up going to the doctor and getting some pills called Champix that completely blocked my desire to smoke. Awesome things, I stopped cold turkey and have never had an urge or craving since.

Smoking. Still haven't managed it. That's how hard it is.

Smoking. It's just dumb, kids! Don't start. Total waste of money. Literally the worst drug in the world. Some give you energy. Some give you a buzz. Some help you relax. Ciggies? Give you cancer. And an empty wallet.

sucking my paint brushes.




Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Smoking. Still haven't managed it. That's how hard it is.

Smoking. It's just dumb, kids! Don't start. Total waste of money. Literally the worst drug in the world. Some give you energy. Some give you a buzz. Some help you relax. Ciggies? Give you cancer. And an empty wallet.

The cost of smoking was one of the main reasons I never wanted to. Saying that, i've probably spent almost 5K on tattoos, but at least you get to keep those.

My job....really would love to find a job that I would enjoy but I live in a area of the US were good paying jobs are hard to come by. Found out Wednesday they are closing my office and they let go of 136 fellow employees. Surprised us with a meeting all of a sudden on Wednesday morning were some big wigs came from Boston, big wigs even brought armed security. ( crazy world we live in) I was one of the lucky ones who kept their job and now have to work from home (which is a plus since now I don’t have to dress up for work and saving on wear and tear on my truck) but promotion wise is now a dead end job. Really wish that all 400 employees in that office would of walked out that day and let the big wigs do our jobs with help from their armed guards.

Smoking for me too.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Smoking. Still haven't managed it. That's how hard it is.

Smoking. It's just dumb, kids! Don't start. Total waste of money. Literally the worst drug in the world. Some give you energy. Some give you a buzz. Some help you relax. Ciggies? Give you cancer. And an empty wallet.

This. Most drugs give you something. Cig's give you nothing. When you start they make you feel sick, and cough, then they make your clothes smell, your hands yellow, make your skin old, give you cancer, and make you poor. That is it. Why do people start? Because it used to make you look cool and be a social thing, which is stupid. Now they don't even have that.

The image of smoking when I was young:


Image now:

 The Forgemaster wrote:
The purchase of plastic from this odd company called GW... ever heard of it?

Shhhh! It's only an addiction if you admit you have a problem!!!!!

Gonna sound weird here, but matching the purchasing habits of the ex I lived with.
We were together about a decade, and his reaction to depression was to constantly buy, so that there was in influx of mail and new things, games, miniatures constantly. I got drawn in to this as a habit myself. I'd match his pace on purchases, not competitively, but because we both enabled each other.

When I left him, and emptied the house, I realized how much stuff was stored in my house that he had never even used, crates of it. Garbage bags of it. More than a small car could contain.
I realised my life probably had the same amount of compulsive comfort purchases. I banned myself from buying anything I wasn't gonna immediately use, and it's taken 3 or so years, but I broke the habit.

I also unloaded tons of miniatures and games on friends who ran clubs, it was great to see things being repurposed.

Spending is an absolute sod.

And it does form part of my mental health. When I’m feeling down, and the spectre of depression is knocking on the old mental door, spending is one way I can drive it off.

I’m not as bad as I used to be. I’ve nearly cleared all my credit, and this year am committing to a specific spending plan (essentially, No Touch Wages, only spend my lodger’s rent).

Now that actually gives me some decent money, and weekly. But avoiding that payday splurge is taking time to control. I’m getting there, but it’s not been the ‘immediate shut off’ I’d planned for.

Ultimately, the plan here is that within months, I’ll have gone from paying off debt, to being in credit. That way, when The Black Dog comes a-snuffling, I’m spending my Money.

Sugar in general. I love caffeine and won't be giving that up, but I get in through coffee and tea nowadays rather than from soda.
By the time my dad was my age, he already had diabetes and died of his first heart attack at 35. I am 34 now and thankfully do not have diabetes.
My grandfather (his dad) also died of a heart attack, but at 69.
I share their name, being Glenn #III, and I'd like to think "third times the charm".

It's a struggle though, as I have a strong sweet tooth. I eat much less meat then my dad and granddad and far more veggies. It also helps that my wife is a borderline vegan (not really, but it feels like that sometimes) and considers sugar/aspartame to be diabetes/cancer in-carnate.
My biggest hurtle isn't quitting the bad foods/sugar, but exercising. I only really like biking but sometimes the weather just does not permit it. It's been months since I biked

-

 Buttery Commissar wrote:
Gonna sound weird here, but matching the purchasing habits of the ex I lived with.
We were together about a decade, and his reaction to depression was to constantly buy, so that there was in influx of mail and new things, games, miniatures constantly. I got drawn in to this as a habit myself. I'd match his pace on purchases, not competitively, but because we both enabled each other.

When I left him, and emptied the house, I realized how much stuff was stored in my house that he had never even used, crates of it. Garbage bags of it. More than a small car could contain.
I realised my life probably had the same amount of compulsive comfort purchases. I banned myself from buying anything I wasn't gonna immediately use, and it's taken 3 or so years, but I broke the habit.

I also unloaded tons of miniatures and games on friends who ran clubs, it was great to see things being repurposed.

Good lord that strikes a nerve. Sounds like this person had it way worse than I've ever had... but recognise the feeling. I'd get a kick out of buying something and would hit a real low pretty much after I'd opened the package or gotten it home.

I ended up starting a spreadsheet on what non-essentials I bought so I could see how much I was spending... after looking at the cost of what I'd bought every month for a couple of years it really made me feel very different about spending money.

I found the hardest thing to give up was relationships... I'm just lucky I got away "lightly" and never got abused to the extent you hear about in the news (or witness happen to fiends ;-( I'm also lucky I'd taken self defence tips on how to disarm someone with a knife before I needed the know-how ;-)

So, I am straight edge right now, so i quitted a lot of bad habits over the last two years, drinking, smoking and eating meat. And I have to say after i quitted drinking, it wasn't really aall that difficult to stop the other habits. The main problem was, to stop looking for excuses and just quit it. Like, not saying, well, just this week, or just after tonight, I will stop smoking. I am reaaally good at making excuses for myself.
Quitting to drink was really difficult, but mostly annoying because of the social pressure. I am suffering from anxiety and agoraphobie and while it was basically gone after 3-4 beers, the days after a evening of heavy-drinking were really tough for me because my anxiety and depression and bad thoughts really spiked. After yet another of those hang over days full of "maan if i make it out of this whole this time, I stop drinking that bad again", I stopped drinking for 4 weeks and said to myself, thats it. And then i just stopped drinking. The first half year to year was really annoying, because everyone is trying to convince you to start again or you have to explain yourself all the time.
While this still happens from time to time now, my closer friends and acquaintances accepted that im that guy who doesnt drink. So, thats kind of my schtick now and people accept it. I am living in germany and we are people who really like to drink so in the beginning, you realize how frequent everyone is drinking and you stand out of regular people really quick.

I smoked for nearly 10 years and I tried quitting from time to time but I always started again, once I was drunk. After I stopped drinking, I thought, I might aswell stop smoking because it would be easier without drinking and it was. I still crave a cigarette from time to time but without drinking I managed to quit quite easily.
Kinda the same with meat. Without the drunk cravings for a kebap aber partying it was quite easy to stop eating meat.

So basically, after I got over the big milestone of quitting drinking, it became a lot more easy to stop other bad habits. Without drinking I have a stronger will power, more energy, I feel less anxious and depressed and overall better. Still, I'd llike to get drunk from time to time and I like to think, that once I drink one beer, I will immediately start smoking again, but right now I think, if I start drinking now after 2 years, this two years would basically pointless. this is my main motivation right now.

My ex.

I mean, I'm a recovering alcoholic, so uh.... that one is pretty high up there for me

 Reavsie wrote:
Caffeine for me too, I've quit this a few times over the years...

I suffer massive headaches with caffeine withdrawal to the extent that I am physically sick. Painkillers have zero effect on these headaches although more caffeine will relieve them pretty quickly.

The headaches were so debilitating that I instead weaned myself off caffeine rather than going cold turkey. Each time it took around 4 months to gradually reduce my caffeine intake to nil.

I should probably think about doing this again. Felt calmer without the caffeine.

It's a really hard thing you are going through, I wish you the best of luck with it.

This is a good strategy, weening yourself off of it instead of cold turkey.


I am currently on my 3rd energy drink today. I've quit caffeine a few times, but it never last more than a month or two due to my lifestyle (physically disabled wife, multiple pets and children, school and work full time, plus renovating my house). The withdrawal headaches are horrid, but after a week or so they will dissipate. I stopped drinking soda altogether, and quit smoking years ago so its just these things that I have to kick and I should be in decent shape.

I don't drink alcohol and never have (just don't like the taste) but it is funny how consistent the one-two response is when people learn that:
"Wow, really? That's unusual."
"...but you know it's probably a good thing."

Soda a lot (where my caffeine is) but stick to diet and sometimes 'water it down' when club is available. Regular soda is too sweet for me nowadays.

I quit an incredible paying job mid-recession. So that wasn't the easiest decision. I'm still worse off for it, but mentally in better shape.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Smoking. Still haven't managed it. That's how hard it is.

Nah, quitting is pretty easy. It's just that starting again is even easier - you stopped buying the stuff so it's OK if you have a cigar when your mate celebrates his first kid, or whatever. Then you go out and buy a pack again and start up the old chimney.

Well, not had a smoke for a few months again so I guess I'm quit. For the time being at least.

I recently went to a talk about willpower. Aside from the strategies for strengthening or utilising it, there was an interesting point about how it can also be fatigued. There's lots of ways you can use it up, with each little decision chipping away at your ability to be resolute.

Strategies included:

1. Focus on one goal at a time, as success frees up willpower, and change takes willpower.

2. Avoid temptations (duh), but use a small amount to remove those opportunities to fail later when you're all out.

3. Make plans. Again, front-load that willpower into a plan and follow through. The momentum of a plan means you don't have to rely on reserves of willpower in case you run out.

4. Monitor behaviour. It's like having a fuel gauge. You don't want to be at risk on an empty tank.

5. Reward yourself for good behaviour. Obviously not be doing whatever you're avoiding (food for following a diet, a puff for not smoking that day, etc).

6. Get sufficient sleep. Tricky, but sleep deprivation reduces the amount of willpower you can exercise or expend.

7. Cultivate optimism. Willpower goes further and works better if you have confidence in it.

8. Seek support. Having other people to lean on when you're weak or 'out-of-gas' is another way of making sure you don't exhaust your reserves or fail because you're relying on your own limited supply.

In retrospect many of these helped me quit smoking. I started smoking on a regular schedule and keeping a tight reign on how much I could smoke for economic reasons, but I found that doing so meant that I could correlate all the nasty side-effects of smoking with a good puff as well as the nice swimmy feeling, and after a while I couldn't do that. It took several years after to stop enjoying the smell of secondhand smoke though...

Well, this may sound very strange for some in the light of this thread, but hardest thing for me was to quit NOT drinking alcohol.

I was a truly dedicated (one might even say fanatical) abstinent up until my 10000 days. This dedication started when I was a teenager, but grew increasingly socially impairing over the years, closed so many, many doors before me and made me a very toxic (and extremely picky) partner to be with, because I could not stand (as in truly and deeply suffering from it) even the slightest intoxication of my significant other or to consider "normally drinking" person as a possible romantic match.

This story comes with a truly ironic twist of fate, because my first relationship after this decision ended due to my girlfriend alcoholism and quitting on her was second hardest quit on my list. So beware what you wish for

Happily this is definitely in the past for me - I'm back to not drinking at all now, but a brief period of "normal drinking habits" allowed me to sort my relationships with drinking people enough to not miss out on my one-in-a-million wife.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Spending is an absolute sod.

And it does form part of my mental health. When I’m feeling down, and the spectre of depression is knocking on the old mental door, spending is one way I can drive it off.

Yep. My thing is clothes. A new outfit will make me happy! I think, as I pick out stuff. Then I get it, wear it a couple of times, and it's over.

 NinthMusketeer wrote:
I don't drink alcohol and never have (just don't like the taste) but it is funny how consistent the one-two response is when people learn that:
"Wow, really? That's unusual."
"...but you know it's probably a good thing."

Soda a lot (where my caffeine is) but stick to diet and sometimes 'water it down' when club is available. Regular soda is too sweet for me nowadays.

I feel the same. I have an occasionally frozen Margarita, but usually months between each occasion and only on dates with my wife.
What I like about it is that my tolerance is really low, so I feel like I "get my money's worth" out of a single drink
Cannot stand the taste of beer and most wines and I have tried dozens upon dozens of different kinds. All have about the same amount of "floor cleaner" taste for me.

But soda. I do love soda. After years I am finally to a place where I can go a day or 2 without a soda and the days I do have a soda, it's only 1 or 2 and always diet/zero sugar.

-

Doughnuts.. with jam... Just cant do it...

I've quit smoking, I've quit drinking, I've quit drugs.

But doughnuts? ohhh no, that sweet sweet sugar and taste has its claws deep in the farther Reaches of my soul it seems.
Also Kebabs... But that's a story for another day.

Reading political news.

Don't laugh, I'm not kidding.

 Ouze wrote:
Reading political news.

Don't laugh, I'm not kidding.

Nothing to laugh at, it took me nearly a year to break the same habit.

I've quit both energy drinks (caffeine) and tobacco for months at a time. Staying permanently off of them is difficult though. Quitting is really just changing habits. After a couple of weeks it is relatively easy for me until I hit intense external stressors.

nou wrote:

 Ouze wrote:
Reading political news.

Don't laugh, I'm not kidding.

Nothing to laugh at, it took me nearly a year to break the same habit.

Not to go into politics but I imagine that particular habit is a lot more difficult to break these days. Like watching a horrible injury happen in slow motion

dms wrote:

 Buttery Commissar wrote:
Gonna sound weird here, but matching the purchasing habits of the ex I lived with.
We were together about a decade, and his reaction to depression was to constantly buy, so that there was in influx of mail and new things, games, miniatures constantly. I got drawn in to this as a habit myself. I'd match his pace on purchases, not competitively, but because we both enabled each other.

Good lord that strikes a nerve. Sounds like this person had it way worse than I've ever had... but recognise the feeling. I'd get a kick out of buying something and would hit a real low pretty much after I'd opened the package or gotten it home.

I ended up starting a spreadsheet on what non-essentials I bought so I could see how much I was spending... after looking at the cost of what I'd bought every month for a couple of years it really made me feel very different about spending money.

I figured it was something understandable for folk here. My apologies if it was uncomfortable. I really didn't mean for it to be.

My "wake up call" (for the habit, not the ex ) was attending a wargaming show, and one of the traders I knew quite well, was dealing from crates on the floor... Boxes upon boxes of completely unused RPG books, miniatures, board games... You guessed it, some poor guy's lifetime collection that his widow had asked the trader to help sell as she had no idea what to do with it.
What killed me wasn't that she had no concept of what the things were (the trader was getting a fair price for her) but that they were to an item, utterly untouched. Unread books, unopened miniatures. Plans never realised.
My ex was a couple decades older than me, and I looked at the boxes, looked at him, watched him buy things from them, and noped out on the entire concept.

Last year I helped a FLGS do a house clearance from a guy in the miniatures industry who had sadly passed in his sixties, and that was another reminder to paint your damn figures.

I had to quit an idea about myself. That I could do everything. At work, at home, at play, I could do it all. I could take on that project. I could help that guy move after work. I could do (extended) family dinner by myself. I don't need help. I can do everything.

I would have anxiety attacks about saying "I can't do it". Because I could. I could do everything. I am ok, I can do it.

And while it probably sounds self-indulgent of me to say, I now say I can do anything, but I can't do everything. So cliché. Even though I still want to do everything. It is very hard to maintain perspective and prioritize and accept my limitations.

Euyuck! I am anxious just typing that out. It is hard to quit my sense of being unstoppable. I don't like it. But I need to, so I have. Mostly. Sometimes.


I'd say smoking, but I quit that all the time.

Opiates.

I'm not joking. And no, I didn't get into them recreationally. Had a bad accident and was in excruciating pain for months during surgeries. Coming out of that, I was an addict to narcotic painkillers.

Then the coming clean part is what sucks. I was mean. I was emotional. I was always hurting but it wasn't hurting. I was sick, I had no appetite, I lost weight, my hair fell out in clumps, I didn't sleep. Couldn't remember anything.

It just took time.

Chemical addiction is awful, I tumbled with Coke and Alcohol.

Unfortunately I know/Knew so many young people that just faded away and didn't make it into full fledged human beings. Its very sad, but you sometimes cant help someone if they are not willing to help themselves..

I think pharmaceutical opiates are the absolute tip of the big pharma evil Demon incarnarte giant phallus. Wish the world wasn't so corrupt and rotten at the top. Some sort of divine retribution of fire and brimstone is needed to combat that cesspool...

Overcoming mental patterns is one thing. But mental patterns with a chemical addiction... no thank you sir.

TBF while the top end may represent he worse side of us all it is still representative of us. Power may corrupt but not so much as it brings out what was already there. Someone willing to do a little harm to society for a little gain is willing to do a lot of harm for a lot of gain. A lot of people 'become' rotten when they have power... because a lot of people are rotten.

To be fair, many pharmaceuticals are there to make people better, not worse. People can die from shock and trauma without *heavy* painkillers. Yes, they are addictive but in some cases that means a person must overcome addiction rather than being dead.

We’re all addicted to the food that keeps us alive. Nobody points out that farmers aren’t trying to “cure” hunger rather than making it a daily treatment regimen.

Some people require medication to stay alive. Both my Great-Grandmother and Grandmother wouldn’t have made it past 50 without daily medication. “Big Pharma” made it possible for me to know them both.

Vaccines are possible thanks to “Big Pharma”. Please don’t confuse negative side effects and corporate greed with denying the value of pharmaceuticals.

 Elbows wrote:
I quit an incredible paying job mid-recession. So that wasn't the easiest decision. I'm still worse off for it, but mentally in better shape.

That's a really hard thing to do honestly, and I've been there myself. A couple years ago I had a pretty good paying job but the stress was just wrecking me mentally/emotionally. It got to the point the hat it was straining my marriage with my wife. I finally had enough and said good bye. Took about 3ish years to get back on track financially and this year is looking like the one for us to get back on top again. I'm in a job now that I'd SO much better for me in that regard and I'd say by next year's pay raise should be even to the job I left some years ago. Far less toxic and stressful, management is a great bunch of dudes, fellow employes are mostly awesome arena I even won a trip to Maui for being in the top 5% of the company back in January, and that would never happen at the old job.


Sometimes you just need to get out and think about your overall health and well being rather thank that paycheck

 Buttery Commissar wrote:
Gonna sound weird here, but matching the purchasing habits of the ex I lived with.
We were together about a decade, and his reaction to depression was to constantly buy, so that there was in influx of mail and new things, games, miniatures constantly. I got drawn in to this as a habit myself. I'd match his pace on purchases, not competitively, but because we both enabled each other.

When I left him, and emptied the house, I realized how much stuff was stored in my house that he had never even used, crates of it. Garbage bags of it. More than a small car could contain.
I realised my life probably had the same amount of compulsive comfort purchases. I banned myself from buying anything I wasn't gonna immediately use, and it's taken 3 or so years, but I broke the habit.

I also unloaded tons of miniatures and games on friends who ran clubs, it was great to see things being repurposed.

That...sounds a lot like me actually.

 greatbigtree wrote:
To be fair, many pharmaceuticals are there to make people better, not worse. People can die from shock and trauma without *heavy* painkillers. Yes, they are addictive but in some cases that means a person must overcome addiction rather than being dead.

We’re all addicted to the food that keeps us alive. Nobody points out that farmers aren’t trying to “cure” hunger rather than making it a daily treatment regimen.

Some people require medication to stay alive. Both my Great-Grandmother and Grandmother wouldn’t have made it past 50 without daily medication. “Big Pharma” made it possible for me to know them both.

Vaccines are possible thanks to “Big Pharma”. Please don’t confuse negative side effects and corporate greed with denying the value of pharmaceuticals.

Everybody needs to eat. Every day.
Not everybody needs medicines. Only people who are not well and are vulnerable need medicines.

Ohh absolutely no denying, modern medicine is healing witchcraft spells in a pill when its done right. A lot of people wouldn't be here if it wasn't for modern medicine. But how many people in the world cant afford it because of a 2000% mark up?
Suppose it becomes a big moral question of our time; should medicine/healthcare be a business and should we be profiting from those unlucky ones to be affected by diseases. And you mileage may vary on that.

I stand by my opinion that producing medication with horrendous addictive side effects and using political shady deals, abusing the system and make it the go to drug where there are other cleaner alternatives is the stuff of Nurgle.
Oxycontin... I'll say no more.

I quit caffeine a couple of years ago, but it only lasted a couple of months before I started drinking Mountain Dew and stuff again. The headaches were horrible during that first week and I was grumpy and aggressive, but I felt better after that. I still couldn't stay away from the stuff due to needing the extra energy sometimes, and at this point I have no plans to try quitting again.

A harder lifestyle change for me recently is taking better care of my teeth. Having a bunch of dental expenses changes your perspective on that stuff real quick. I've pretty much quit eating sticky candy (I still eat chocolate though!), and I now brush my teeth twice a day instead of just once, in addition to starting flossing and using mouthwash, and I'm going to be getting regular dental cleanings from now on. Some of that seems basic to most people, but I was just brushing in the evenings right before bed before, and only a relatively quick pass over my teeth at that. The dentist put me on the right track after I broke a tooth because of a cavity and needed an expensive crown on it. I also needed a deep cleaning to get the tartar that was below my gumline out of there (which was causing me to have mild periodontitis), and I still need to get my wisdom teeth out and four small fillings done. Before the tooth broke, the last time I'd seen a dentist was probably 16 years ago.

And as for the people who said they started buying things because of depression, I definitely feel you there. I had a bit of that a few years ago, and to be honest I still struggle with that some. Nowadays I have a little more spending money than I did then, but I really should be saving more (hard to do when I'm paying for the aforementioned dental work though).

For me it is various ways of using the internet to procrastinate on stuff I actually need or want to get done. I have a pretty avoidant personality, and I often use reading about politics or watching some crappy youtube media criticism video as a way to zone out from dealing with stuff.
I am an introvert and a teacher, and so my job takes it out of me pretty badly, and I find it easy to distract myself on the internet rather than doing anything proper. My wife is kinda the same way, and we have been in a bit of a negative loop with the internet since 2016. Both of us are trying to break it, but it is really hard for me.
It pisses me off because it makes me miserable and leads to decreased focus, physical activity and all of that. Gotta deal with it. Weirdly apart from fora, I don't use social media, it is all politics news and crap youtube "content" with me.

That...also sounds like me.

 Ouze wrote:
Reading political news.

Don't laugh, I'm not kidding.

Now that you mention it...... #metoo!

For me, food.

Not as in like, starving myself, but managing food.

It's so easy to end up eating 3-5k calories a day or more, without really thinking about it. Especially if you're not making great money and/or have limited time.

That 2 for $5 Carls Jr. Western Bacon meal sure is a lot of tasty food for a paltry amount of cash when you're zipping through your lunch break, but that and a soda and fries after an early morning energy drink and costco muffin, and you're already closing in on 3k calories by noon. After some office munchies and dinner, you've taken in 4500 calories, possibly on as little as $10-15 that day, and all you've done is sit around an office or cubicle farm. It's not at all hard to see how people end up losing total control of their weight and fitness, especially when that food ticks all the right psychological and taste boxes to make you not care.

The process of recognizing that, adjusting eating habits and your own sense of "full", avoiding certain things or looking at parts of menus you never looked at before, trying different things to sate different urges (e.g. a 200cal slurpee instead of a 1000 cal milkshake), and generally just managing intake, has been a years long process for me.

 Vaktathi wrote:
For me, food.

Not as in like, starving myself, but managing food.

It's so easy to end up eating 3-5k calories a day or more, without really thinking about it. Especially if you're not making great money and/or have limited time.

That 2 for $5 Carls Jr. Western Bacon meal sure is a lot of tasty food for a paltry amount of cash when you're zipping through your lunch break, but that and a soda and fries after an early morning energy drink and costco muffin, and you're already closing in on 3k calories by noon. After some office munchies and dinner, you've taken in 4500 calories, possibly on as little as $10-15 that day, and all you've done is sit around an office or cubicle farm. It's not at all hard to see how people end up losing total control of their weight and fitness, especially when that food ticks all the right psychological and taste boxes to make you not care.

The process of recognizing that, adjusting eating habits and your own sense of "full", avoiding certain things or looking at parts of menus you never looked at before, trying different things to sate different urges (e.g. a 200cal slurpee instead of a 1000 cal milkshake), and generally just managing intake, has been a years long process for me.

I struggle with this exact thing. My biggest food weakness is pizza. It's my favorite food and probably the most unhealthy thing a person could possibly eat (like, seriously, so much carbs and fat and stuff). I also tend to eat way too many processed foods instead of taking the time to make a nice healthy meal. I'm too lazy to cook, especially since I live by myself.

I've tried to limit myself, but I always end up going back to my old ways. I've tried exercising more, but I always end up slacking off. I'll figure something out eventually, but I hope I'm not dead before then...

Oh God, where to start? I have severe depression and anxiety that has led to me trying to numb the pain through food, buying (40k models, novels, comics mostly), drinking (for a short period of my life, I've never really been an alcoholic and my liver issues led to me to quitting entirely), weed (this one was difficult to stop), pills, as well as a very persistent addiction that I still have not quit yet. I wouldn't be surprised if I was somewhat bi-polar as there have been times when I've felt extreme happiness for no reason, only for it to come crashing down sometimes only a few minutes or even seconds later. I procrastinate horribly and spend too much time looking at dumb crap online, though I am starting to eat a little healthier and am developing more of a social life. My sleep schedule can often be erratic, and it has been very difficult for me to fix this issue. Politics is horrible for me and my state of mind, but I'm somewhat addicted to following it, and I have a bad tendency of looking up stuff from points of view that make me feel mad and sad in order to get some kind of righteousness rush. I work to treat people well generally face to face, but in my head, I love mocking people and feeling superior to make myself feel better, and that's been very difficult for me to quit. Through all of this, I want to break down and cry sometimes to release the emotions but I've numbed myself in a number of ways and have trained myself not to cry for fear of looking like some kind of wimp, and I'm afraid that if I start crying, I'll never stop. I try to put on a no-nonsense, voice-of-reason, semi-tough guy facade, but that's just it, a facade to hide all of my insecurities. My doctor says that I should severely decrease my sodium levels and what happens? I load up on salty food that causes my feet and legs to swell up, causing pain to my toes. To some extent, I'm addicted to suicidal thoughts, as many times I've thought "Hey, if things get too tough for me, I can just end it and be done with it" or "You know what, I think I'll go commit suicide so I don't have to deal with the thoughts swimming through my brain." I haven't made any plans or really tried to attempt it, but it's always in the background, like the worst best friend ever that I just can't quit.

Sorry for long rant, but I just had to get it off my chest.

Porn. Since I discovered free internet pornography ~15 years ago the longest I've gone without watching it is about 6 days.

Cheese, marmite, chocolate, scones, ice cream, basically anything high in phosphates. All at the same time. When I was 8 or something like that up until I was 14, almost 15.

Chronic kidney failure is a dick.

Excluding my depression (which took me years to get out of and honestly kinda never has gone away entirely), the hardest thing I ever have quit probably is the temptation to check WhatsApp every 5 minutes. It was a damn though habit to shake, but I feel a lot less stressed now that I check WhatsApp only about 2-3 times a day. The constant social contact and fear of missing out was a big source of stress.
Downside of course is that I now do indeed miss out on a lot of things. Stress does kinda still pop up whenever I check WhatsApp after a while and see that I have over 99 unread messages :0

Sugar!
Been trying since januar, i still cannot go more then 3-4 days without candy.
It is said the addiction to sugar is stronger then moust drugs, i belive that to be 100% correct.

 FrozenDwarf wrote:
Sugar!
Been trying since januar, i still cannot go more then 3-4 days without candy.
It is said the addiction to sugar is stronger then moust drugs, i belive that to be 100% correct.

I tried cutting down sugar in my tea and failed miserably...

Sugar, been a years long struggle and clicking on " 'X'th Appeal to overturn political discussion ban" threads. Though the latter fixed itself apparently.

People.

I still struggle with scars from early life around feeling unlikeable and unlovable, so when someone shows me anything more than basic Human compassion and friendship, I want to hold on to them forever.

Sugar is BS imo. That stuff is crammed everywhere, and there's no easy way to get away from it. I make bags of nuts and fruit everyday for lunch at work, to keep the energy up. And finding dried fruit that isn't covered in sugar can be a task. It blows me away that people/companies need sugar on fruit! IT'S FRUIT FFS!!!!

 The Forgemaster wrote:
The purchase of plastic from this odd company called GW... ever heard of it?

Hehe, well done

Everquest.

Kept at it way beyond the time it was fun as it had become a routine for me, to help me wind down every night after work.

It was the use of the /played command (which showed me how many hours of my life I'd spent in Norrath) that gave me the push to log out for the last time.

Fizzy drinks. I've found myself falling back into the energy drink every morning thing, which I want to get out of. I've capped myself to 1 energy drink and 1 full-fat soda a day, with less restriction on diet ones (honestly switching to diet has dropped my about 2" from my waist in a few months through doing nothing else).

Debt is the big one. I earn well but a lot of it goes back out on debt. There's always something needing money spent (like a new household fixtures). The plan is to use my bonus money to pay down the debt and only buying stuff that's necessary. It's not going too well so far, but I'm still on top of it (just).

Herzlos wrote:
Fizzy drinks. I've found myself falling back into the energy drink every morning thing, which I want to get out of. I've capped myself to 1 energy drink and 1 full-fat soda a day, with less restriction on diet ones (honestly switching to diet has dropped my about 2" from my waist in a few months through doing nothing else).

Debt is the big one. I earn well but a lot of it goes back out on debt. There's always something needing money spent (like a new household fixtures). The plan is to use my bonus money to pay down the debt and only buying stuff that's necessary. It's not going too well so far, but I'm still on top of it (just).

Energy drinks are the devil. so much sugar in those, not to mention the vast amounts of chemicals. theyre not good for you at all. there are guys at my work who have 2 a day. it cant be good for them. I went through a phase of drinking cans of Monster but stopped when I realised just how bad for you they are. Nowadays I occasionally have a lucozade as a treat, or if i'm driving on a sunny day to keep that sleepiness at bay.



I'm a sucker for coke though, especially with rum. I tend to avoid drinking fizzy drinks in the week, in order to allow myself the odd rum and coke a couple of evenings per week when I paint.

Moderation is key. I dont think theres anything wrong with consuming sugary foods as long as its not all day every day. Trying to cut them out completely actually makes you more likely to fail, than if you moderate your intake to every now and then.

I like the weekend plan, and keeping it as a treat.

I'm making an effort to not touch the energy drinks (diet or otherwise). I'm not sure I actually notice the difference, but since I have 2 young ASN kids I find I need something to help me wake up in the morning. I'm going to try sticking to tea/hot chocolate and keeping more hydrated to see if it makes a difference.

I've never fallen into the habit of having coffee (helps that I dont like it) in the morning, so I'm usually good once I've had breakfast.

I'm not familiar with ASN? dont want to guess and cause offence.

 queen_annes_revenge wrote:

I'm not familiar with ASN? dont want to guess and cause offence.

Additional Support Needs, I think the current buzzword is. Both my kids are autistic, which means (amongst other things) that they don't necessarily settle down well to sleep.

An easy answer, because quitting was so hard:

Aiming for a normal life with steady job that would allow me to have a family.



Too many failures, too many common areas of work I'm not cut out for, too many occassions where I've been taken on as a promising and very hard-working employee, only to prove I did more harm than good by an endless cycle of of repeated mistakes. Too many mindboggling mistakes, connected to an absent-minded (surface level) but very thorough mind. Too many disappointed people who once saw great promise in having me as a coworker. None more disappointed than myself. A soulcrushing series of disappointments, a rat's race to oblivion I will no longer participate in.

So now it's creative endeavours all the way, baby!

Creative projects are what I excel at. All that dream of steady employment so I can support a family is quitted. Maybe I can eventually soar (highly unlikely as it is) by force of constant work and creative projects winning renown and studio employment, but it's not something that's expected, even if it would be welcome.

I quit trying, and ever failing, at getting a job. Instead I fill my time with way more hard work and longer working hours at my own creative projects, than most people do in their paid professions. Weekends? Doesn't figure, almost every day is working day. Last year saw many intense periods of 10-14 hours a day, 7 days a week work. I've toned down the intensity of it, but its' stil long days and lots of work. And I'm enjoying it. It's stimulating.

Soon I'll have to live off other people's tax money. I was always thrifty and saved money for the future. No more, there will likely be no future for me that is economically buoyant, at least not for a long while yet. My life's savings and earnings are at long last burning low. Me, soon to be broke, who always saved more of my money than anyone in my school class, and hardly ever spent cash in the first place. Me, ever known as studious and a hard worker and skilled in many areas, deft in thought and deft in hands. Me, not fit for ordinary forms of work, soon to be broke.

In other words, it's an artist's life for me. A hard-working life, without monetary profits to speak of. This is a calling, and I'll get my creative works out one way or another, all honest as ever; legal middleman and Kickstarters, seem the logical first step.

I'm just glad I quit trying before I could amass any student loans. I'm free of those at least.

Be well!

Herzlos wrote:

 queen_annes_revenge wrote:

I'm not familiar with ASN? dont want to guess and cause offence.

Additional Support Needs, I think the current buzzword is. Both my kids are autistic, which means (amongst other things) that they don't necessarily settle down well to sleep.

Ah. I initially thought autistic spectrum but couldn't figure out the N. I feel for you. I can't even imagine that

Ach it's just a different kind of hard work to having neurotypical kids. They are great boys but relentless, it's just that if one of them is up during the night it takes a lot longer to get them back to bed so there's the occasional night with 3-4 hours sleep where energy drinks are so tempting.

Herzlos wrote:

Debt is the big one. I earn well but a lot of it goes back out on debt. There's always something needing money spent (like a new household fixtures). The plan is to use my bonus money to pay down the debt and only buying stuff that's necessary. It's not going too well so far, but I'm still on top of it (just).

I highly recommend Dave Ramsey's Baby Steps if you have debt and/or would like to be able to retire with dignity. It made all the difference for us financially. For everything else there is Jocko.

Reading this thread has honestly been cathartic and reaffirming. I am honestly humbled by everything everyone has shared so far and the humanity on display. Congrats to those who have been successful in achieving positive change. To those still working on it or still in search of help, a solution, courage, or whatever you think is keeping you from your goal I would just like to say I am rooting for you.

Again, much respect to everyone and thank you!

 Reavsie wrote:

Herzlos wrote:

Debt is the big one. I earn well but a lot of it goes back out on debt. There's always something needing money spent (like a new household fixtures). The plan is to use my bonus money to pay down the debt and only buying stuff that's necessary. It's not going too well so far, but I'm still on top of it (just).

I highly recommend Dave Ramsey's Baby Steps if you have debt and/or would like to be able to retire with dignity. It made all the difference for us financially. For everything else there is Jocko.

I've been doing similar, though using the avalanche method unless the particular debt is relatively small. Got a small amount of money going into a stock fund, some into a cash saving account, maxed out my pension contributions, and putting any spare money onto the credit card with the highest debt. Most of the debt is fairly low interest so I'm seeing a fairly big drop off in balance every month which is good.
I've even got a spreadsheet of balances with a graph so I can watch the lines gradually work down. I just need to be harsher with the 'little spends' that all add up.

I reckon within 4 years (the remaining period on 2 loans - for an extension and a car), I'll be in pretty good shape and will have learned my lesson! My wife will be back to work by then too, so we should be able to start throwing a lot more money into investing in the future (since we'll likely want to buy a small apartment nearby for both kids).

This is rather odd but computer adventure/RPG games.
They are HUGE time sinks and are not a very good means to relax and you can't really multitask.

I am trying to reduce the pile of plastic crack and get it all built and painted... these games are really a problem in completing that goal.

I increasingly get all the adult things I need to do to be a functional member of society and my family, so sleep takes a bit of hit when you have that one more dungeon crawl to do.

Geekiest thing I can do is spend time playing a game, reading books inside that game.

I hardly drink, don't smoke and have tried the quitting caffeine, did it for a few months but wow, yes, those headaches were something else.
Hard for me to go off of coffee due to my above addiction and being short on sleep.

 Talizvar wrote:
This is rather odd but computer adventure/RPG games.
They are HUGE time sinks and are not a very good means to relax and you can't really multitask.

I am trying to reduce the pile of plastic crack and get it all built and painted... these games are really a problem in completing that goal.

I increasingly get all the adult things I need to do to be a functional member of society and my family, so sleep takes a bit of hit when you have that one more dungeon crawl to do.

Geekiest thing I can do is spend time playing a game, reading books inside that game.

I hardly drink, don't smoke and have tried the quitting caffeine, did it for a few months but wow, yes, those headaches were something else.
Hard for me to go off of coffee due to my above addiction and being short on sleep.

That's why I've never gotten around to finishing Andromeda or AC: Odyssey. It's a lot easier to log some hours on Overwatch than grinding through an RPG. I kind of want to replay DA: I, but I know it'll take 8-10 hours just to pick up my advanced class and it's pretty not much worth the time investment.

I can't see myself getting into an RPG until Cyberpunk 2077 comes out. Work and exercise are tremendously more important and like you said, sleep is crucial.

Since having my daughter I don't play any computer games at all. I'm seriously considering selling my Ps4 and games. I just don't have time. The time I do have when she's asleep I'd rather spend on the hobby and hanging out with my partner.

I used to play video games for hours and hours on end. Right around the time I hit 30 ish my want for video games has steadily gone down. I mostly only play nintendo games now and they are either quick pick up and put down types or I'm SUPER picky with what I'm playing. The time sink just seems like a waste to me anymore. It wasn't anything I had to try and quit though, just happened

Salt.

Blood pressure says it's a no-no, and my wife would kind of like to keep me around, for some reason.

And salt is in everything in America. In far too copious amounts.

It was easier dropping sugar.

The Auld Grump

 KingCracker wrote:
I used to play video games for hours and hours on end. Right around the time I hit 30 ish my want for video games has steadily gone down. I mostly only play nintendo games now and they are either quick pick up and put down types or I'm SUPER picky with what I'm playing. The time sink just seems like a waste to me anymore. It wasn't anything I had to try and quit though, just happened

I have experienced this somewhat. It's not that I so much find them a waste, but that I just don't have the appetite for long gaming sessions anymore.

When I was 16, I could play videogames basically all day straight without taking a break. Give me a game with 100 hous of content and that takes hours to learn and 24 year old me would have been thriled. I spent untold hours raiding and playing MMO's. Now? Even when I have time, I find myself increasingly playing games that can be enjoyed in short amounts of time with low learning curves. Stuff like nintendo party games I would have found droll and quaint 10 years ago are now my jam. If I see a loading screen, my patience is tested mightily. I want something I can play in 15-45 mins at a time, with a minimal learning curve (or be something I already know). If I tried to play something like WoW again I'd be bored to death.

Doom was the last game I really binged hard on, and that fits right in with what im looking for these days.

 TheAuldGrump wrote:
Salt.

Blood pressure says it's a no-no, and my wife would kind of like to keep me around, for some reason.

And salt is in everything in America. In far too copious amounts.

It was easier dropping sugar.

The Auld Grump

I've had several friends and family members have to go on low sodium diets. That was definitely more difficult to accommodate than most other restricted diets I've seen.

Meanwhile, my sense of smell is almost nonexistent and it effects my sense of taste, so I oversalt the bejeesus out of everything I eat just to taste anything. If I had to go low sodium...id probably starve.

Biting my nails.

I have tried, but it's a habit I have had since childhood. Any ideas?

 CuddlySquig wrote:
Biting my nails.

I have tried, but it's a habit I have had since childhood. Any ideas?

Put something unpleasant on your nails...

 queen_annes_revenge wrote:

 CuddlySquig wrote:
Biting my nails.

I have tried, but it's a habit I have had since childhood. Any ideas?

Put something unpleasant on your nails...

I believe anti-biting polishes exist, which I've seen people recommend.
Never tried them myself, because I just... stopped one day, completely out of the blue. Almost annoying, as I'd have liked to know why, but I'll take it.

I was thinking dog mess, but that seems like a much better solution.

I was pondering even posting in here, after reading about the enormous feats of you guys quitting some nasty stuff, I felt that my habit felt rather... underwhelming. But, I think it still qualifies.

Instead of compulsory military service I decided to do alternative service at the red cross. My oldest brother is a doctor and used towork voluntarily as a paramedic, which was one of the biggest reasons for me to work there. And I had a blast, it was a great time that flew by and near it's end, I decided to continue to work as a volunteer.

And I did. For over 6 years, I finished mutiple additional trainings including the ambulance driving course and a emergency medical course.
The problem was, I kind of gut sucked in and neglected a lot of other things. Mainly university, though one could argue that the direction I was puruing was not the best idea. Well, I had quite a fallout with my parents a few years back and decided to get back on track with my education. I applied for a university of applied sciences whose system was much more alike to that of a school instead of a university. And I realised that full-time uni takes time. A LOT. But I continued to work as a volunteer.

But last year (well, autumn 17 more likely) I just... lost interest. I was kind of burned out, the shifts were a drag and I noticed that the conintuous night shifts took its toll. So I had a talk with my superior and decided to quite.

It was kind of... strange. For over 6 years, I spent most tuesday nights in an ambulance. If took a whole months until I stopped automatically preparing for my shift in the late afternoon and I still haven't kicked all of the habits I picked up.
But, in the end, it was a good, if not one of the better decisions I made. As much as I loved it, it took so much time. But still, I might start once again in the future.

TheAuldGrump wrote:Salt.

Blood pressure says it's a no-no, and my wife would kind of like to keep me around, for some reason.

And salt is in everything in America. In far too copious amounts.

It was easier dropping sugar.

The Auld Grump

I'm with you there. Salt is still and probably always will be hard for me. But it doesn't help that like you said salt is in everything and faaaaaar to high amount. I make soup at home for work now, I used to buy it canned until I discovered even low sodium has like 500mg in a single serving.

CuddlySquig wrote:Biting my nails.

I have tried, but it's a habit I have had since childhood. Any ideas?

I'm 35, and I still can't stop. Not even anti bite stuff stops me, I just make a gross face and chew on. I work with fertilizers for a living, so my hands are always covered in chemical pooh, still chomping away lol. It's a terrible habit

 KingCracker wrote:

CuddlySquig wrote:Biting my nails.

I have tried, but it's a habit I have had since childhood. Any ideas?

I'm 35, and I still can't stop. Not even anti bite stuff stops me, I just make a gross face and chew on. I work with fertilizers for a living, so my hands are always covered in chemical pooh, still chomping away lol. It's a terrible habit

I replaced it with cracking my knuckles

One of the key things in breaking a habit is replacing it with something else (which is preferably less problematic). So I click my fingers. A lot. And sometimes my knees, ankles and toes

Smoking. It's basically burning money and I got to the point where I barely noticed (never mind enjoyed) doing it 9 out of 10 times. As a positive it showed me enough about addiction to stop me getting even near other drugs.

My brother and I like to joke that I went COLD turkey; I went to do fieldwork in Antarctica and (purposefully) didn't take enough cigarettes with me. It's a lot easier if it simply isn't an option for two months.

It's practically impossible unless you really want to though. I reached a point where I had to deliberately decide that I am simply not a smoker, still get a craving from time to time.

Spending on social eating and drinking was difficult to cut out. Now I have a few occasional beers a month and try to keep my "ordering out" budget the same as my food store bill

ubereats lunch at work/gopuff/weekend bars/friday nights became more than my entire mortgage/car/phone/bills upkeep at one point. Also dipped into smoking cigars and a taste for nice scotch when painting.

 greatbigtree wrote:
To be fair, many pharmaceuticals are there to make people better, not worse. People can die from shock and trauma without *heavy* painkillers. Yes, they are addictive but in some cases that means a person must overcome addiction rather than being dead..

Fact. When I was on the slab, I was screaming in pain. Going into shock.

There was a fine line- pump me full of absurd levels of feel-good juice and risk an overdose, or watch me go into shock and die. That middle ground was the trickiest part, and I had one of the top surgical teams in the country slicing on me... and the surgery was extremely risky, could have made me a paraplegic had it gone slightly wrong... and the doctor, a trauma surgeon that has put Marines together when they were in literal pieces- he told me that trying to balance out the painkillers vs. going into shock was the part of the whole ordeal that made him nervous. They sedated the hell out of me for most of it. I slept for about a week.

Coming down I had to wean myself. Call me a scumbag, but I bought some drugs illegally and made a 'taper off' plan myself, and it took a month... but then I got clean.

And then I got addicted to being a jerk on the internet. I'm not quitting.

Mobile gaming. The sorts that require you to constantly clock in to get more energy as it required so much time to keep up higher on the upper tiers.

 The Forgemaster wrote:
The purchase of plastic from this odd company called GW... ever heard of it?

Did that 10+ years ago. Was VERY easy.

quitting carbs....It is rough but there is no better way to lose weight quickly.

Sugar. Freaking sugar

and lost like 40+ lbs in three months

One of the hardest things I’ve ever had to quit, if you can believe this, was my job as a bin man. Why? Because it paid very good wages (20% above minimum wage, with acquired holiday pay too) and the hours where fantastic. Ok, 7:30 start Monday to Friday, but you’d go in, do your round, finish sometime between 11 and 1 (most of the time)...and then bugger off home whilst still being paid until 3:30! Full time wages for a part time job, outdoor work (great during summer) and three quarters of the time, barely any ‘work’ at all.

Unfortunately, three things did it in for me...a petty, vindictive manager who seemed to relish bullying agency staff like me...’politics’ (both office and real)...and the fact that I started getting stigmatised by both my coworkers and family. The ‘Russel group university graduate’ pulling bins and handling rubbish. My family would badger me over not ‘realising my potential’, whilst my coworkers just took a dislike to me on account of the degree. Seriously, I made any suggestion whatsoever, or even just stand there, they’d bite my head off, call me a know it all etc. Eurgh.

I miss it, I really do. It was great enough as an agency worker with zero security. If I worked there under a contract, I’d be doing even less work and have a pension and union membership to boot.

1, Hope.

2. Believing in the american dream.

 Techpriestsupport wrote:
1, Hope.

2. Believing in the american dream.

Did you just read about Vietnam?

 BlaxicanX wrote:
Porn. Since I discovered free internet pornography ~15 years ago the longest I've gone without watching it is about 6 days.

Yeah can't quit porn or masturbating.
Sugar, easy
Smoking, easy

 trexmeyer wrote:

 Techpriestsupport wrote:
1, Hope.

2. Believing in the american dream.

Did you just read about Vietnam?

What abvout it?