Tzen1

Hang in there dad your doing great! My oldest is three now and I have a second one who is 4 months old. I know the routine may feel monotonous but the time flys by. The hobbies will come back, communicating with the wife will improve, and some private time will make it's way back to you. The first year is hard and stressful but I learned not to wish the time away. Hold on to the small one as long as you can. Some motivation as well for the weight loss that has helped me was thinking of my first born when he was a baby. I want to be able to get on a play ground and be able to keep up with him and go down slides and swing with him. Now that he is older I can do those things and it makes me happy to see that smile on his face. It makes it 100% worth it. I'm proud of you none of this is an easy journey. You got this dad! Take it easy and one day at a time, Tzen P. S. One thing that also helps make sure you take a bunch of pictures and videos. Since my first was born I have never taken so many pictures in my life and I'm glad I did. I can look back and have those memories when I need them on stressful days. Your baby's smile can change a whole day even if it's on your phone.

Long time no see, It's been quite a bit of time and I'm glad to see so many people working on themselves. It's now a few years out from my 90 day challenge and I had a thought pop my head in and come back to the place that helped me the most. My journey led me to a full time teaching career in my city and now I have 2 beautiful boys to take care of. Gaming for me has taken a big back seat and is almost/ practically gone. I do play some small mobile games in moderation, honestly to just make sure I'm awake while rocking my tiny one to sleep. I have had a couple of troubles after the end of my challenge during the first year or two but I was able to work through them and learned what mattered most during those times. Life has been going good and I wouldn't trade a moment of it for anything. I also just went through some of the old guards I used to follow and it's good that so many people are continuing on this lifestyle. It's not easy. I know eventually my sons will want to play games when they get older as well. So I will take what I have learned from here and hopefully give them a good path to follow. To all the people who are continuing or coming here for the first time. I believe in you and you got this. Don't be too hard on yourself and go one day at a time. I also re-bookmarked the website so I can come back and give myself a reminder for my why. Take care everyone, Tzen

Hey it's good to see you persevering through the tough times. I am still catching up again on journals I had to disappear to prepare my classrooms for school. Teaching is rough this year. I apologise for not knowing what test your about to take but it sounds like you have a bout of testing anxiety. I have it and I see it a lot in my students as well at the high school level. Just prepare as good as you can and find practice test as well if they are available. They really help in the long run even if it's the same test you can always draw back and connect one question to another. If you need any other testing techniques or ideas let me know I can try to drum some up for you! Stay strong man! You got this!

Man that's awesome! Keep it up you got this! Also quoted the DAMN because that is a lot of steps in one day

Welcome to the forums @OptimisticMalcontent! This quote is one thing I wish I did when I first started. It was one of the most benefiting things I did for myself. So many stories I have missed out on and finishing a big book feels great.

@RB1 hey it's great to see your not giving up on the fight! I hope your doing well and your staying safe during this crazy time. I looking forward to reading your future logs!

Welcome @Toro! Stopping games is a huge step and your brain will thank you for it. Most people like to quit cold turkey (I did) but you have to go at your own pace. If you feel like weening down is the best course then do that, the end goal is what's important.

I had a small revelation about this. But to me I feel like with games I never really escaped the stress but instead playing video games helped keep the lid on a full bottle that was about to explode. It sounds and looks like a luxury life but in the end it's all a lie we tell ourselves. Now without video games I feel like once I deal with my stress the bottle empties only to be slowly filled up again. You got this, stay strong and relax when you can. One step at a time.

As a dessert guy I'm just gonna leave this link here as another one of my motivations for cast iron. We have made this twice and dear lord it's the best. I'm a crunchy person so my wife eats the gooey center and I love the cooked sides. https://www.justataste.com/ultimate-skillet-chocolate-chip-cookie-recipe also if you like watching YouTube Cowboy Kent Rollins is probably my favorite because growing up in the south (Texas) I relate to a lot of his food. But if your interested in cast iron he goes step by step on how to take care of and manage a cast iron pan. Once you get one going and take care of it they last forever and become more non stick along the way. I need to up my breakfast game I like doing egg on toast, homemade hash browns and some sausages. I want to learn how to make boudin kolaches they are so good. Man after playing one or two rounds of shogi I had to watch some videos over the game. I have chess down in my head but you have to take such a non traditional way of thinking when it comes to the game.

What do you like to cook? I always like learning what other people like to make. One of my projects that kept me busy that I realized I didn't out in my journal was I worked on my cast iron pan a lot. Stripped it's original seasoning and started from scratch. Now it's non stick and I can cook eggs while they slide around. It was a good feeling to see. Are you learning shogi at all? I tried it out and man it's a lot longer of a game than normal chess but the concept it's really interesting.

Hey man my thoughts go out to you and I hope you get to feeling better. Just stay frosty about gaming in the computer again I loved how you put it in your earlier post. You can do this no matter what comes your way!

I second @BooksandTrees your doing awesome and you'll only feel better the more your write on here. Keep it up you got this!

Welcome to the team! This place is awesome and has great support. What your feeling is completely normal when quitting gaming. I had a lot of the same stuff when I did my 90 days the anxiety panic attacks all of it. It's also DEFINITELY ok to be afraid. This is a change in your life but your taking the first step being here. You got this and welcome to the forums again.

Good luck on your exams! Also your new format looks great and organized!

If it helps I listen to a sleep mediation at night that usually calms my mind down and helps me sleep better. His name is Jason Stephenson and he has lots of great meditation listening videos for sleeping. This is the one I use it's fantastic in my opinion. Also for house hunting motivation we spent a WHOLE YEAR looking at houses. It sucked being patient and staying in our apartment but it was worth the wait to find something in our price range. Stick with it the house or apartment your looking for will be found.

I have been thinking about doing an update post in a week or two. As a teacher we are nearing the end of the school year and everything is just crazy with remote learning, getting grades finalized, and prepping for graduations if we even do them.

To build upon what @Alexanderle said it's also great that you have found a groove to your day. You have something you do at different points of the day from working on hockey, to your animations, or just relaxing to Hunter x Hunter. Also as for family I understand and I sometimes think family and complicated go hand in hand with each other.

Ikar its really crazy to see how far your journey has taken you. I am still catching up on your days since December but man you have had a long journey and when you get rich and become a amazing trader off Forex remember us. I have always thought people who can understand and play the trading game will always have something to fall back on and make side cash when they want. I am proud to see how far you have come and I can't wait to catch up to your current point. Stay well man. -Tzen

Daaaaaaaang man that looks great!!

I'm doing good! As a teacher my job my job took a dramatic shift and been extremely busy getting all my material online and making sure students can access it. You know daydreaming is a two way street for me. It can be a pitfall because I lose focus of what I'm doing but then I feel like I'm at my highest peak of creativity. Your mind just becomes free to think of what you can do or add to your project without a sense of worry. It's enough for me to stop sometimes and write down what floats in my head. As for the house we have one big project we are thinking about hiring out, insulation. It's pretty bad also might be some droppings from rodents or bugs so they would have to vacuum as well. My biggest goal,though, is I want to get my house wired up and have a Ethernet port in every room. I just know that if we decide to sell it one day or keep it even it will be useful in the long run.

Not gonna lie drinking wasn't as bad as sodas. I wasn't a heavy drinker at all maybe a beer with friends but not really at home, but sodas, dear god sodas. Since quitting coffee all my caffeine came from sodas. The caffeine withdrawals went on for what felt like a week and a half. The headaches were the worst part I felt like I needed Excedrin just to get past them. Did it suck yeah but it was worth it. Just quitting sodas by themselves I lost weight my energy is now no longer tied to caffeine and I feel like I have a better night sleep and wake up more refreshed. So to answer your questions haha, Really I did the same thing with that like I did with video games. Clean house all alcohol, sodas, coffee. I have two techniques 1. was my motivation not to go through caffeine withdrawals again going through it once was plenty enough for me to stay away. 2. I bought a tumbler, I'll attach a screenshot, and instead of filling it with coffee I filled it with water and kept it with me everywhere I went. Also the green on it was a plus because it's my favorite color. It was hard but the results outweigh it so much. I don't really miss alcohol and I'll explain why in a second but I do miss a good Fresca or Dr. Pepper. I haven't broken yet, though for coffee, people bash on Decafe but really with all the creamer and what not people add in you wouldn't taste the difference. As for alcohol I am just not a fan of drinking something that I would lose my clear mind or going out having someone to depend on to get home. I guess I just don't want to burden people. I also hate the feeling the alcohol brings on even getting buzzed I didn't care for it. But yeah since quitting I have no cravings other than a Decafe coffee here or there and I feel so great more energy, better night sleep, and I just feel healthier. Sorry for the long post as well.

It's crazy to see your journey come so far! Looks like your doing well with a belly full of steak! And honestly in this quarantine tasty is in short supply. The only thing to be careful is the day drinking mixed with working out. Drinking causes the body to dehydrate even more so than working out and then working out without some water isn't to good. I know this is easier said then done coming from a person who doesn't drink and gave up sodas but just be careful 🙂 stay safe and keep going one day at a time -Tzen

Long time no see I hope your doing well and staying safe. It's been awhile and I'm trying to catch back up on posts. Your 3d animations look fantastic! I'm glad you finally started to do them. I got further into learning how to fix up my house as my hobby learning tools, electrical, and what not. This quote though stuck out to me because I relate some days but there is one nice thing I learned about hobbies and managing them. They are always there for you the next day. It gives you something to look forward to as well. For me when I can't get in a working mood I put my history degree to work and just research. Research everything and learn. So that way when I get back to it I can try out a new tip or truck I learned into action. It kind of creates a snowball effect for me to stay excited. Anyway I hope your doing well man and keep it up your doing awesome! -Tzen

Hey Deku, I'm sorry about what happened that blows big time. We are all thinking about you and sending good vibes. I know you can bounce back from this! But take some time to rest, relax, and energize for your next goal! We believe in you!

I don't know if you live in a big area but one date idea that is fun is something I call adventure dates. Next time your in a city if you see a store or anything that you or your girlfriend are interested in just go inside. Even if you don't buy anything it's cool to see what shops have to offer! Also same thing for food makes you try new things. It can lead to some fun days!