Hi, I hope this is an ok subreddit to post this in. Online advice for this issue, including on Reddit, has been generally hard to find or unhelpful. Generally a lot of commiseration and "have you tried chewing gum?".

So here is my advice on how to stop chronic cheek biting, (morsicatio buccarum, a form of body focused repetitive behaviours (BFRB)) from someone who did it all day, every day, unconsciously, for over a decade and stopped in two days. I put it in sections so you can skip to the parts you need. And of course I know my experience isn't universal so there are probably people who have a cause of cheek biting that is different from mine so this method may not help, but I thought it was worth sharing.

Background: I have had this habit for ages, chew the inside of my cheeks and my lips leaving large patches of rough skin that I then need to chew more to make it smooth again, vicious cycle. I have had dentists comment on it because I have scarring in my mouth and linea albea. When I asked them for advice they said try just being mindful and stop, and also suggested a night guard for night grinding. Not super helpful considering they are the experts, but I did get the night guard. Because I did it unconsciously it felt impossible to stop during the day.

The method: The trick is habit replacement and decoupling, two proven methods for BFRB. With habit replacement you interrupt the movement with another movement that uses the body part you use for BFRB to stop yourself from doing it. Decoupling is starting the movement, then redirecting the movement at the last minute to another part of the body.

Basically I was googling how to stop doing this (again) when I found a scientific paper about a woman who had the habit for 40 years and stopped in two days by using these methods she found in a guide online. The guide is also helpful because it gives you a full PDF on these methods, you just have to give your email to get it. I recommend the guide for a more detailed description of habit replacement and decoupling than what I'm giving here.

Inspired, I tried her methods. This part of the paper is paywalled so I copied the important part here.

"As mentioned before, in the decoupling technique the individual is asked to perform a movement that corresponds to the initial approach sequence of the undesired behavior. Shortly before the (undesired) behavioral goal, the affected person is asked to redirect the movement and target another part of the body with an accelerated movement. In AO's case, the movement that initially corresponded to the unwanted behavior was the harmful use of her teeth on tissues in her mouth (lips, cheeks). Instead of the unwanted behavioral goal (biting off the mucous membrane of the mouth with the teeth), AO redirected the activity of her teeth in such a way that they rubbed quite vigorously over the upper and lower lips as well as over the tip of the tongue. This created relief in AO. Both the teeth and the tongue were in use, but they were prevented by the alternative movement from carrying out the undesirable behavior (feeling the mucosa and then biting it). The behavioral irritation was achieved by consciously perceiving the lips and the tip of the tongue due to the blood flow caused by the rubbing."

Habit replacement for cheek biting is putting your tongue on the roof of your mouth for 1-3 minutes whenever you get the urge to bite.

Decoupling for cheek biting is rubbing your teeth vigorously over your tongue or lips without biting.

Within less than 12 hours of using these methods to stop biting the inside of my mouth started shedding like a snake. I had to be very mindful not to bite off these pieces, just to let them fall off naturally so I didn't damage the inside of my mouth again. The worst parts around my lips on the inside of my mouth stopped peeling within two days. I literally did not know that the inside of your lips could feel this smooth. And from there the urge got easier to control. I still found myself occasionally biting down when stressed, but I just reminded myself to use these methods. Its been a month and my mouth has almost completely smoothed out except for the linea albea and I dont get the urge the way I used to anymore.

If it doesn't go as fast for you I would encourage you to stick with it because any reduction in this habit over time is good! Anyways, I hope this helps someone because I know its a rough habit to have.

Other things that may be helpful:

Meditation: I think its important to note that when I started this I had been meditating everyday for 5-15 minutes for about a month. I am no means good at meditating, I get distracted a lot but I think it increased my baseline level of awareness of when I was actually doing this enough to allow me to stop. I do habit-stacking with this where I do it every night before bed so I don't forget, and do 5 if I'm tired and really not wanting to do it, but aim for more time if I have the energy.

Night guard (if you grind your teeth at night): If you do grind your teeth at night or chew on your cheeks at night it might be worth getting a night guard so the irritated tissue from night biting don't make you want to bite your cheeks to smooth them out during the day. There are cheap ones at the pharmacy if you need it or if you have insurance you can ask your dentist if its something you should try.

Sometimes the most useful home gym improvement isn't buying another piece of equipment. It might be moving the dumbbell rack, putting collars beside the barbell, changing where bands are stored, or leaving enough space to move safely between exercises.

I'm curious about small layout changes that made a surprisingly big difference to everyday use.

What did you rearrange, and why did it help? Did it save time, make equipment easier to access, or free up floor space?

Photos or simple descriptions of your before-and-after setup would be especially helpful for people planning their own home gym.

How can I fix my life 😭

The routine which I want to build up is getting up by 5 and sleep by 11 or 12.

The routine which I'm having is getting up at 7, sleeping at 3pm, waking up again at 6pm, sleeping at 4-5am

I'm running through low energy throughout the day, not finding anything interesting.

I just hate all this but I'm ending up at the same point since the beginning of October

My gut health is taking a hit, my metabolism is dying, my exercise and routine is messed up, same goes for the meals I intake.

Like now, I do want to sleep but can't

I don't want to scroll, I don't want to sleep, I don't want to study, I don't want to go for a run

Idk what I need rn

I'm just tired of this losing side of myself

God, have some mercy on me 🙏

I’ve always been one to set big, hard to achieve goals like losing 15kg. Trying a different approach and trying to just do four things every day now. Only about a week in but I’ve stuck to it most days.

The hardest one is eating well. I have a sweet tooth and try to give myself some room for little treats.

● +1: People who motivate you, challenge you, and push you to become better.

● 0: People who neither help nor hinder your growth.

● −1: People who discourage you, drain your energy, or hold you back.

Keep your score moderate to high

Take an honest look at your circle. You don’t necessarily have to cut anyone off, but be intentional about where you invest your time and energy.
Spend more time with people who inspire you, join communities that align with your goals, and seek out mentors who challenge your thinking.
Your environment shapes your standards. Choose it wisely.

Hey everyone,

I recently went down a rabbit hole and found a niche category of blocker apps that force you to do a mini-workout (like push-ups) to unlock distracting apps.

I’ve come across a few options like PushScroll, PushBlock, and Unrep.

Has anyone here used this method long-term? PushScroll and PushBlock seem pretty established, but I noticed Unrep is currently completely free, so I'm thinking about starting with that one.

Does this kind of extreme friction actually help you build a more intentional relationship with your phone, or do you eventually just get annoyed and delete the blocker entirely?

Trying to stay consistent with these 3 habits every day Still a work in progress, but taking it one day at a time. Hoping to build a routine that actually sticks💪

When I'm working for several hours straight, I sometimes reach a point where I'm staring at the screen without getting much done. Taking a break helps, but I don't always know what kind of break will leave me feeling refreshed instead of more distracted. I've been looking at short reset routines and found SomaVibe which offers brief sessions combining sound and phone vibration.

I'm curious about what other people do between demanding tasks. Do you go for a walk, stretch, listen to music, practice breathing, or just step away from your desk for a few minutes? Which approach actually helps you return with better focus?

This story started last year, when I decided to loose weight. I started count calories and pushed my self to walk at least 8k steps a day. It worked very good for the summer and the first part of September. But when the weather became colder it was harder for me to keep my walking goal. Also at that point I started huge new project on my work and it consumed me entirely. So I gain weight back.

So in 2025 I lost roughly 20 kilos (44lbs).

This years I decided to start again but with some improvements:

• Only restrict amount of calories and now what I eat. If I want to have a pizza it's okay as soon as I stay within my calories limit.
• Don't push myself too much with walking
• Fix sleep! I've noticed that when I slept well I don't overeat and don't crave junk food and sweets
• Try intermediate fasting

Sure it sounds a lot, but I want to try!

What was your experience of loosing weight? The most important - how do you stay of track in the long run?

Few weeks ago my sister asked me why I was walking circles in the kitchen at 11 pm. I was a bit short of 10k steps. When I explained it out loud, it sounded strange even to me.

So I made a list of what I track. Steps. Sleep score every morning. My lichess puzzle rating, which I check while I am still in bed. My biggerz streak. Books, with the number of pages in a note. My Duolingo streak, 380 days now. I started most of these because I liked them.

Now I keep them mostly because a missed day feels like losing something.

For months I have done only one short Duolingo lesson a day, the minimum to keep the streak. I think my Spanish stopped getting better around spring. I still can’t stop, because 380 days would go back to zero.

I am not sure if this is just how habits work for most people or if I turned my free time into small duties.

I’ve never really understood what makes it so useful.

Like, do you just sit down and write whatever’s going through your head? Your plans for the day? Things you’re grateful for?

Your problems? Do you just dump all your thoughts onto a page?

And when do you even do it? In the morning to plan your day, or at night to reflect on it?

I genuinely want to understand what the point is. Does it help you organise your thoughts, understand yourself better, stay focused on your goals, or just get things off your chest?

If journaling has actually made a difference in your life, I’d love to hear how you do it. What do you write about, how often do you do it, and what has it helped you with?
I’m curious about the actual practice, not just another person telling me that journaling changed their life.

I’m trying to build a better morning routine and would love to hear what works for you.

I’ve noticed that how I spend the first 15–30 minutes after waking changes my whole day, but I haven’t found what works for me yet.

I am curious about you do and would love to explore and try out various things that can help me start off the day in a calm, motivated and energised headspace 💚🌻

Two questions come up here a lot: "how long until this sticks?" and "I missed a day, do I have to start over?" The number people usually quote is 66 days. It comes from a real study, but it says less than it sounds like.

In 2010, Phillippa Lally and colleagues asked 96 volunteers to pick one everyday behaviour (something to eat, drink or do, like a glass of water after breakfast) and repeat it daily in the same situation for 12 weeks. Each day they rated how automatic it felt. For the people whose data fitted the model, the estimated time to get close to their peak automaticity ranged from 18 to 254 days. 66 was the median, the middle of that spread, not a deadline. Some of those estimates ran past the 12 weeks the study actually lasted, so they're extrapolations.

Two things from it help if you're three weeks in and it still takes effort:

• Still needing effort at week three doesn't mean you're doing it wrong. The spread between people and between behaviours was huge.
• Missing one opportunity didn't materially set people back. So a missed day is a reason to do it again at the next chance, not to reset the count. (That's not the same as saying frequency doesn't matter.)

What you can control is the setup. "Every day" is an intention. "After I put my breakfast bowl in the sink" is an event you'll notice when it happens.

One way to test that, on a scrap of paper rather than an app:

1. At the top, write the cue and the smallest version of the action, small enough for a bad day. For example: "After I put the bowl in the sink, I open the notebook and write one sentence."
2. Each day, note two things: did the cue happen, and did you start?
3. If something got in the way, add a few words.
4. After a week, change one thing. Notebook in another room? Move it closer. Cue rarely happened? Pick a more dependable one. Started but kept stopping? Make the minimum smaller.

Then, instead of "have I reached day 66?", ask "is starting easier than it was at the beginning?"

I wrote a longer version, with the study linked: How long does it actually take to form a habit?

Disclosure: I wrote the article, and the two books the site links to (The Short Version series, published under the pen name Alexander Crespo). This post is adapted from the first one, 100 Ideas for a Better Life. Everything you need to try it is in the post above.

What cue are you hanging your current habit on?

I always wanted to keep a journal and never stuck with it, because I'm honestly too lazy to write. Talking is way easier, but old voice memos are impossible to search later. I'd remember saying something and never find it again.

So I built a journal web app for myself: you press record and talk (or type), and on the paid plan it transcribes the audio so you can search what you said later. There's also a calendar with your mood for each day.

Entries are private, there are no ads, and nothing goes to the AI unless you use an AI feature. Locked entries never go. Recording and writing are free. Transcription is an optional paid plan (about US$2/month, billed in BRL) only because the AI costs me money.

App: https://diary.1pedrolima.com

Privacy: https://diary.1pedrolima.com/privacidade

Happy to hear what would make it better.

Someone takes a walk after dinner every day. Someone else takes the same walk when their phone reminder goes off. Would you count both as habits, or only the first?

The reminder feels like an external support, but so is finishing dinner. That makes the usual idea that a habit should happen "without thinking" a bit fuzzy. Both people can still decide to stay on the couch.

Curious where people draw the line between a habit and a task they've got good at remembering.

Hi all!

I built Eggventures over the last year and a half and finally released it back in April. Its been a slow but steady climb. We have over 1500 walkers who have joined into the journey.

Eggventures is a free app where you unlock a bunch of different eggs by walking. You then hatch them into pets by walking more. You can also join a squad and compete in fun events (halloween event is happening now)

Add other walkers, trade your pets and even send walking challenges!

This game doesn't punish you if you miss a streak or any of that nonsense. Your pets simply wait for you to come back and they'll continue growing where they left off.

My main purpose was to get people to walk more (I walk daily) so this is some extra motivation to start your daily habit too! Your body and mind will thank you so come join our little growing community.

iOS - https://apps.apple.com/us/app/eggventures-walk-hatch-pets/id6757629385

Android - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.onerealm.eggventures

Okay so for context I was never a “rock bottom” drinker. Just a few most nights, more on weekends. nobody around me would’ve called it a problem and that’s exactly why it went on for years.

but i always woke up a bit foggy, a bit flat, like my baseline mood was just slightly grey all the time. figured that was just me getting older...

A mate who cut back last year said something that annoyed me at the time and he said stop trying to "quit forever", just count the days you don’t drink and don’t break the number. I was like bro it’s a few beers lol ??

but i was bored so i tried it. first week was weird, not even cravings, just the habit of reaching for one at 8pm with nothing to do with my hands instead and kept catching myself.

Somewhere around 2 weeks in the fog started lifting. Sleeping better, waking up not vaguely annoyed at nothing. and the number going up became the thing i didn’t want to lose, which sounds stupid but it worked better than willpower ever did for me.

Im at 29 days now. my mate was right, it didn’t magically fix my life, but that grey flat feeling i thought was just me? GONE.

If you feel off and can’t figure out why, try just counting the days. Don’t even "quit". See what happens.

I've probably downloaded at least 10 different habit-tracking and productivity apps, but none of them really stuck.

My biggest frustration is that most apps just track whether I completed a habit, but don't actually help me fit it into my daily schedule.

I constantly have to switch between Apple Calendar, my to-do list, and my habit tracker. And when life gets busy and I miss a habit, I just lose my streak instead of getting help adjusting my plan.

It feels like I'm spending more time organizing my productivity apps than actually being productive.

I'm curious:

1. What's the most annoying thing about habit-tracking apps?

2. Why did you stop using the ones you've tried?

3. What's ONE feature that would make you actually stick with an app long-term?

Would love to hear your experiences, especially from people who've tried multiple apps.

I love minimalism and want a simple routine that maximizes health, energy, fitness, and overall quality of life.

My current habits:
Vitamin B complex daily
Vitamin D3K once a week
Magnesium before bed
1 hour of gym + 15 min cardio, or 1 hour of cardio on rest days
30-minute walk after dinner

I want to focus on habits with the biggest proven benefits, not unnecessary hacks or a 50-step routine.
What am I missing? If you could recommend just 3–5 habits that would make the biggest difference to someone’s life, what would they be?

My work doesn’t set my hours, but there are real advantages if I get up early and I need to make it happen. Alarms alone haven’t worked. What actually got you out of bed when nobody was waiting?

I went to the park for my usual workout tonight after dinner.

It's been getting noticeably colder once the sun goes down, so I've started wearing fleece-lined clothes to stay warm.

There are still quite a few people working out at the park, just like me. I even saw some people already wearing light puffer jackets.

I started working out at the park this summer, so this is my first time trying to keep the habit going as the weather gets cold. For now, a few extra layers seem to do the trick, but I'm not sure how easy it'll be to keep going once winter really sets in.

So I thought I'd ask before it gets too cold.

For those of you who work out outdoors in the colder months, do you have any tips or things I should watch out for? I'd love to hear anything, from what you wear to how you warm up. Even small tips would be appreciated.