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Comment by HankStallone | Hacker News Reader

Jan 1, 2024, I made a resolution to change my diet (basically small, very simple meals with one cheat meal a week). I'd probably made a dozen such resolutions before without much success, but for some reason this one stuck right away. I never even had trouble sticking with it, and lost a pound a week over the next 10 months. Then I met my girlfriend and we went out to eat a lot, and that broke the habit. It seems like big life changes can reset habits.

I wish I knew how I did it, because I've been unable to regain that same "this is just what I do now and it's fine" level of acceptance that seemed to be the key.

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> I wish I knew how I did it, because I've been unable to regain that same "this is just what I do now and it's fine" level of acceptance that seemed to be the key.

Sometimes it’s as simple as “doesn’t hurt enough yet”

My grandpa was a liter of wine per day (or more) kinda guy. Then he hit his 70’s and it didn’t feel good anymore. So he stopped and hasn’t had a glass of alcohol since. Just doesn’t feel like it. Even when others drink around him.

Actually making decisions is pretty great. I quit a really heavy nicotine addiction by simply deciding I wasn't going to use nicotine anymore.

There are different kinds of dependencies; the human brain needs nicotine to function properly, more than you get from modern food. Not recommending tobacco, nor big pharma crap, there are supplements.

Yeah, it's weird. I'm actually a much nicer person on nicotine than I ever was before I got addicted. It makes it really hard to quit, because even after a few weeks, while I don't feel miserable anymore, I do miss the person I was on nicotine.

Quitting gets better. After months or years you’ll reach a point where your usual method of ingestion becomes repulsive instead of tempting.

Not comparable depending on how you deliver it, but this is how I head a couple alcoholists describe it when they stop drinking. They miss the feeling and constantly feel that their new self is not worth as much (because of X).

Yeah, you can supplement GABA and get most of the same feeling. Alcohol does some nice things for the brain.

There's always vaping! Nicotine goodness without the combustion byproducts.

In a very simplistic way:

- Smoking brings cancer and damages lungs.

- Vaping damages lungs (more research needed on other possible conditions).

- Nicotine pouches damage teeth.

I suppose the healthiest way of ingesting nicotine would be nicotine pills, which exist to help people quit smoking (and which is why they are very expensive).

People that I have seen substitute with vaping seem to get more addicted to that.

Interesting! Do you have some studies or references at hand for this?

Never heard of "human brain needs nicotine" before...

Maybe what he’s referring to is the effects nicotine has on people with ADHD and ASD. It’s sort of a self-medication.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8741955/

There’s more you can find, too. Really interesting stuff. Unfortunate that nicotine is both incredibly harmful and incredibly addictive.

Nicotine itself isn't really harmful, though.

It is, unfortunately. Over time it leads to cardiovascular damage.

> I wish I knew how I did it, because I've been unable to regain that same "this is just what I do now and it's fine" level of acceptance that seemed to be the key.

Sometimes it helps to frame as gaining something more valuable in return for giving up something less something up. For instance, if you have preplanned meals of known calorie content, and only those foods in the house, you don't have to expend energy and time thinking about what you feel like eating today, the decisions are already made. Time is considerably more precious than most trivial, daily meal decisions.

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