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lea14 , 07 Apr 2011

Does anyone want to join me in my 2 week challenge - NO PICKING

I pick and squeeze pimples on my face ALL the time and i have had the problem for years. A lot of people try the 30 day challenge for no picking but i think that this goal is too big and that i will just set myself up for failure. So instead, i am going to try 2 weeks of NO PICKING at all. I will post a comment every day saying how i went. IF YOU WANT TO JOIN ME PLEASE DO and post how you went every day as well :) if by the end of the 2 weeks i was successful, ill try for another 2 weeks - making a whole month.
42 Answers
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lea14
April 07, 2011
also, if anyone knows some strategies to avoid picking (e.g. covering mirror etc) please feel free to share :)
lxk
April 07, 2011
DAY 3!!! I actually just started a "No Picking for 1 week" Challenge on Tuesday. So far I am on Day 3 of no picking... and man it's been tough. I would try the 2 week challenge but I'd rather get through week 1 then commit to the 2nd week so I don't feel like a complete failure if I cave. Some tips for toilet pickers! The time I do it the most is on the toilet on my legs, then it will progress to arms. A couple of things that I have found helpful the past couple of days is to either hold my hands together when I'm on the thrown, clip my nails instead of picking, or even just use the potty in the dark. So far it's worked. You can track my progress at www.csperfection.wordpress.org I'll be checking back here daily to see how everyone else is doing. Good Luck everyone! We can do this!
lea14
April 09, 2011
before you go to the bathroom you should say to yourself "ok i am about to go to the bathroom and i am going to be as quick at possible!!" be like.. i have to be out in 20 seconds!!! unless u are doing a number 2 thats different hehe.
thepurplemohawk
April 09, 2011
ugh i have to star over. i feel like a failure. ah ok. today is technically my day one now. i have to make it two weeks i have to
lea14
April 07, 2011
also, if anyone knows some strategies to avoid picking (e.g. covering mirror etc) please feel free to share :)
lisa2324
April 07, 2011
I would love to join your challenge! I'm coming up on a week free of picking and hope to continue in a positive direction. I'll keep you posted! Good luck to everyone :)
htmk
April 07, 2011
I'm on day 11 of my 30 day challenge so good luck to you all, I know you can do it! Here are some tips that have worked well for me: Don't just cover up your mirror with blank paper, sit down and make a list of all the positive things that will come of you not picking and all the negative things that happen because you pick and then put that on your mirror so you have to look at that and read it to remind yourself why you want to stop every time you start to go to the mirror. I also took some pictures after particularly bad picking sessions and put those on my mirror to remind myself that no matter how good the picking feels at that moment it's not worth the long term consequences. My other tip is to take a picture of yourself at the end of everyday, you may not notice how much better your skin is doing until you compare how you started off, this also keeps you a little more accountable to yourself because if you cheat you there will be evidence of it. For me being able to go back and look at my pictures makes me feel proud of myself and reminds me of my accomplishments. Lastly I think doing it with someone else or at least posting on here is a great idea, i've got a thread going myself for keeping track of how I do each day and just have something that keeps me accountable to other people and not just myself has been what has really made the difference for me this time around
lea14
April 07, 2011
i actually read your forum thats why i decided to do my own challenge!!!!! hope it is going well!! i always pick at my skin terribly when i am on family holidays too :( i went to italy for a month with my family and ruined the trip for myself because i picked at my skin almost every day and by the end i was a wreck!
htmk
April 08, 2011
Its good to know that my challenge has inspired others to try and stop too, the hardest part is the first few days when you've got more on your skin to pick at but for me once I got past day 5 most of my large nasty acne was gone and it made it so much easier to sticking to it when you can see all the positive results so keep with it, no matter how hard it may seem or how badly you want to pick it is 100% worth it to not do it. The biggest thing I've gained besides confidence is freedom, I don't have to worry about how i look or skip out on social engagements because my face is covered in blemishes from picking, so stick with it I know you guys can do it!
lea14
April 07, 2011
Thanks guys!!!!!! i will start DAY 1 tomorrow!! hopefully i wont pick tonight because i know i wont be able to for two weeks... definitely covering the mirror tonight!!!!!
antelopes
April 07, 2011
hey, i'm in. i'm just coming out of a horrible horrible picking session. i've stayed indoors for three says straight, totally bailing on everything I was supposed to do, and commitments I had made. this has got to stop. it makes me so sad to miss out on the spring weather, too, after such a long winter. I've been dealing with my picking problem officially for almost a year (but been picking for almost 10). it's been a long road..but i'm still on track to getting better. today is day one (again). I've made it outside and ran a few errands (like going to grocery store because i was low on food!) i've actually physically taken down all mirrors in my apartment, although i still have access to one that's not up during the day, to put on a bit of powder (although it does little to cover the scabs). I've found the best things to stop my seriously powerful thought reel for picking is deep breaths (like putting your head between your legs deep breaths), wearing glovers when reading, watching TV, and talking a walk around the block at the time when you feel yourself gravitating towards the mirror. for me, specific times of day, like before dinner, and before bed are particularly bad. also, stretching!!! get your endorphins elsewhere, do some jumping jacks, touch you toes, do some sun salutes, whatever.picking is addictive because for most of us, it's an endorphin and adrenaline rush (for me, i definitely feel the rush of a a picking 'mission' and have told myself i'm only 'cleaning out' my face). my brain gets a real 'hit' when I pick, which is part of the destructive 'trance' most of us experience. anyway, i'm really trying to train myself to be strong and get my kicks somewhere else! :) Here's to two weeks! I know my skin will heal if i let it. i already feel like just getting out of the house has helping my scabs heal. stress is a powerful thing, and it stops your body/brain from working properly.
lea14
April 08, 2011
Well good timing lets start today! except I am not sure what time zone you are in :| The reason I started this was because I had a REALLY bad picking session too.. for about 2 hours.. i was literally up til about 3am picking at my skin after coming home from seeing my boyfriend. And I know exactly how you feel about bailing on all commitments and not doing anything you had planned to do. I think that when i am stressed, anxious, or even excited about something i am more likely to pick at my skin. And then I can never understand why I made my skin so bad, when it was fine a few hours ago! I definitely need to find a habit to replace picking. I am just about to go and get my nails done and get them gel covered which will hopefully make it physically harder to pick! Anyway my Day 1 is not over yet it is only 3pm but lets do this!!!!
thepurplemohawk
April 08, 2011
i would love to join this challenge. i really need to do this and two weeks seems like a perfect length of time for a challenge because it's not overwhelmingly long and not too short. i'm going to try and think of some type of small "reward" to give myself if i complete this, for a little extra motivation, i dont know if it will help, if anyone else has tried the "reward" thing i'd love to hear if it worked for you. i just found this site and am blown away, i didnt know this was something anyone else suffered from. i wish no one else did but i'm relieved that i'm not alone because it really does feel lonely dealing with this and not knowing anybody else who does. i just have gotten so bad with my picking. hours upon hours in the bathroom and my face looks like i ate asphalt on my bike or got into a fight with a pack of cats. my self-esteem is shot. i go weeks at a time where i will not allow myself to even step outside, all for those few moments of "comfort" or satisfaction or control i get that aren't even real anyways. i still don't understand this problem and am so frustrated by it but i hope i find the support i need on here to get through this and i hope i can give support as well. gosh two weeks from now it would really just be nice to leave my house, maybe that will be my reward. anyways great idea. thanks alot. good luck to everybody, i know we can all do it!
lea14
April 08, 2011
I think to go for a whole month straight out is just setting yourself up for failure! its way too long! sometimes its hard to even go for a day or two let alone a whole month! so yeah I think 2 weeks is perfect :) I have thought of using 'rewards' as motivation but to be honest I can never think of anything and if I do I will probably just reward myself all of the time anyway. I think it is probably easier to punish yourself if you pick but obviously this could be bad... I might start wearing an elastic band and flicking it on my wrist every time I pick but previously i tried this and it didnt really work, but i probably just didnt stick with it for long enough. We have to be realistic and know that it is going to take a REALLY REALLY long time to break this habit since we have been suffering from it for YEARS. so we better start trying now! harder than ever!
lea14
April 08, 2011
DAY ONE - i didnt pick at all!! YAY!! but i was busy and around people all day until right now when i am about to go to bed... but still an achievement!!
Snowboardgirl85
April 09, 2011
I'm in! I just joined this site. I didn't know how common of a problem this was. I'm definately not at the worst I have ever been, but I am at the point where I'm completely fed up and want to stop completely. I say this every year before summer, but this year hopefully I can do it.
lea14
April 09, 2011
i only joined the site a few days ago too. i am so fed up aswell. DAY 2 i only squeezed one pimple.. is this a failure?? i dont know i am going to say it is a success because i was not infront of the mirror for hours - just one pimple.
Snowboardgirl85
April 10, 2011
Yeah I would say thats a success! It's hard to stop ith just one. I don't really pick my face anymore. I used to alot when I had really bad acne, but I don't anymore. I pick my legs mostly and it's mostly just when I'm in the shower. I managed not to do it today so this is day 1. Also for acne I highly recomend "acne free terminator severe". It's only 5$ and I had pretty bad acne and its been pretty much gone for months since I started using it, so that really helped with my face picking. Only use it at night tho and during the day I use cortizone 10 plus, cuz cortizone helps acne and because the terminator stuff is drying and the cortizone is moisterizing. I don't recomend the whole acne free severe kit tho! It's to strong. I tryed it and it pretty much burned my face.
40daysfromnow
April 10, 2011
I'm in. Not a bit of pressure until April 23rd.... and hopefully longer. If I can do 2 weeks, I can do 2 months. Maybe..?

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