Why you're addicted to masturbation and food

[Butters]

I made an interesting discovery today. All my life I've been addicted to 2 things; masturbation and food. I always thought it was because I've been doing this since my teenage years to cope with stress. That's partially true, but not really helpful.

Leo has an interesting video about addiction where he says something like "all addiction is the same and is a denial of the present moment". Also interesting, and a little helpful.

But what if my 2 addictions are actually related? When I withhold from PMO (porn, masturbation, orgasm) for a while, I don't feel like overeating at all. I feel confident, healthy, strong and I enjoy healthy eating and sports. When I give in to the PMO cycle, I feel lazy, lethargic and the urge to dabble in other addictions.

My best theory is that PMO depletes dopamine. Lower dopamine makes me seek external stimulus from food and Netflix, while higher dopamine makes me content just the way it is. Not much need for external stimulus. I draw power from within.

They're related! I never thought of it this way.

Dave Asprey released an interesting podcast episode about orgasms. His guest John Gray says that women who masturbate a few hours a day are much more likely to be overweight. I have no idea if this is true or not but it just made sense to me today. I also once heard that the frequency at which you need to release depends on age. In your teens, you can release daily, in your twenties a few times a week, in your thirties once a week only and in your sixties once a moth or something. I'm in my thirties so releasing more than once a week is not optimal for my energy levels.

After 6, 7 days of no orgasm, a man's testosterone doubles and I do notice this very clearly. Still have to deal with slip-ups, but meditation and being present helps.

Anyway thought I'd share this, maybe it's helpful to someone else.

TLDR: Orgasms deplete dopamine. On lower dopamine I seek external stimulus like food. On higher dopamine, I'm usually more content with the way things are without needing much external stimulus.

[meow_meow]

It's not that simple.

It's hard for most men (and women) to abstain from sex and if no sex is available - masturbation, due to the fact that it gives you pleasure - both psychological and physical.

Pleasure = dopamine.
Same applies for food, there are 3 major ingredients in food that trigger higher levels of dopamine :

1. Sugar
2. Salt
3. Fat
Basically the whole junk food industry runs on these 3 tastes.

Yes, you are absolutely right that these actions target dopamine, and target them hard as fuck.
And as we already know, dopamine can be addictive.

My suggestion to you would be to abstain from any pornography and shitty food for 30 days. If you can't or have heavy urges - bad news, you might have an addiction.

If you have an addiction, just abstaining from shitty food and porn won't help you. You have to go deeper and look within what is causing this behaviour. (self-hate, boredom, stress etc) But how to deal with addictions is a whole different story.

Good luck.

[The0Self]

Just giving up addictions doesn’t seem to work. You have to use a healthy addiction as a wedge. Meditation worked for me. Perhaps try dropping all meditative techniques and literally just sit down and try to relax and enjoy the present moment for a full 60min. Be very skillful and discover and develop the subtle art of maximizing enjoyment. Enjoyment of whatever is presenting itself, no matter how modest. Also, you could take on the identity of being a collector of good habits.

(To whom it may concern)

Edited July 24, 2020 by The0Self