In a few days I'll hit the 6 month mark of nofap - the momentum this has generated makes it a lot easier to continue forward, and for the most part I think I am in the free and clear with very little risk of falling back my old ways at this point. I want to share my thoughts about this streak and how I managed to achieve it, after constantly trying and failing to break free over a period of 9 years. Whether this applies to you or anyone else, I truly could not say. It's fairly obvious to most, except for a few dim souls here and there, that while nofapping, you're not supposed to look at porn, but it goes beyond that. You truly need to avoid anything that could trigger an urgewave in you. The problem with urgewaves is that they reconfigure one's basic values in the moment by invoking apathy in the face of a greater desire, and it's entirely outside of one's control. Sometimes these moments can be pushed through with sheer willpower, but willpower is finite. The key, I have found, is to avoid the urgewaves altogether, as much as possible, by avoiding anything and everything that could trigger them. This means:
1. Do not look at porn (obviously).
2. Do not look at ANY media containing suggestive content like "softcore" stuff, suggestive-but-SFW type images, etc.
3. Do not look at ANY image that even invokes a slight tingle in your mind - even if there is nothing particularly sexual in nature about the image, it could be a fully clothed woman in a non-suggestive pose. If it invokes even so much as the slightest hint of desire, leave.
4. If you are on a website, or watching TV, or playing a game, where there is anything being posted or displayed that could trigger an urgewave, even if it's a SFW site or piece of media - turn it off, close the tab, go do something else.
5. If you see a pretty girl in real life - avert thine eyes. Do not check her out. Do not feed the beast.
6. In the end, the final boss - your brain - will do whatever it takes to go back, and will invent its own fantasies and mental pornography. I made the mistake of allowing myself to indulge in these mental fantasies in the past by rationalizing to myself that it was alright because it wasn't "real porn". This resulted in the destruction of some very promising streaks. Watching porn in your mind's eye is maybe not quite as risky as watching internet porn, but porn is porn. Stop thinking about it.
Naturally, I am not suggesting that you should never be able to indulge in the sight of a sexy woman ever again. For my own part, I have found that over time I've built up something of a resistance, which allows me to lower my guard. It's not a problem for me to see a suggestive image now - but if I indulge too much, I will increase the risk of experiencing urgewaves that could undermine my effort. In the beginning however, you need to be strict with yourself, you need to be hardcore. Your sexual desire is out of whack and a strong medicine is needed in order to put it back to a more natural state. You should definitely never look at porn or think pornographic thoughts ever again, but as time goes on you don't have to be as strict as I've outlined in my 6 points. Just be careful not to awaken the fap demon - it never truly goes away, but it can be put to rest.
As far as sex goes, I have not had sex at all in this time. However, I would only *prescribe* no-sex for the initial 3-month "reset" period. After that, have sex if you want. If you want to continue without it, continue with no-sex. But no matter what you do, never go back to masturbation and porn.
