Peaty Celibacy

[Yonebayashian]

Health and functioning libido go hand in hand, but as an unmarried Orthodox Christian I maintain a celibate lifestyle. I want to optimize my health as much as possible without having to suffer intense distraction from sexual urges.

Hypothetically speaking if you were to try and accomplish this, how would you do it? Is celibacy compatible with the high dopamine Ray Peat lifestyle or should I just give up and axe my metabolism with excessive fasting?

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

Health and functioning libido go hand in hand, but as an unmarried Orthodox Christian I maintain a celibate lifestyle. I want to optimize my health as much as possible without having to suffer intense distraction from sexual urges.

Hypothetically speaking if you were to try and accomplish this, how would you do it? Is celibacy compatible with the high dopamine Ray Peat lifestyle or should I just give up and axe my metabolism with excessive fasting?

This a quandary isn’t it. I don’t vote for ruining your metabolism.

 

[catharsis]

Yeah... This is going to be a bit difficult @Yonebayashian...

You will need to maintain hobbies, interests, and learning opportunities around you to both distract you and pivot your energy towards. You will also have to be careful with the people around as some people are very tempting and some encourage you to waste your resources (so to speak). A peaty lifestyle and diet will cause you to be full of life so you will need to push towards learning, building, etc. My 2c is that being in a loving and secure relationship is an emotional marriage...

 

[WombOfFuturity]

I'm not sure "intense distraction" is synonymous with optimal health, but if that remains an issue the biblical answer is to get married.

 

[Yonebayashian]

I'm not sure "intense distraction" is synonymous with optimal health, but if that remains an issue the biblical answer is to get married.

That is true but I probably won't be married for at least another three years. It would also be really good information to know since I know a lot of other young men in the same boat as me.

 

[Phosphor]

It will be most interesting to talk to you in about 50 years and see what you think of your decisions now. Everything depends on what you choose to believe.

 

[Barry]

My advice would be to track your calories on cronometer and maintain a level that is sufficient only. Maximize nutrients (like b vitamins) and stick with the minimum necessary calories. And then stay away from all of the sexualized imagery of our culture.

 

[Old Irenaeus]

I am in a similar boat. I agree with you that getting healthier definitely makes this more challenging. For example, always having erections when sleeping, etc. You might take a look at the writings of Theophanes the Recluse who advises to work at keeping the heart warm with love. Love from above (cf. Colossians 3:1 ff.). If you think of something low and base, re-warm your heart thinking of the titles of Christ or praying with icons etc. When you interact with women, try to look at their face and hands and try to listen well. Don't think, concerning them: attractive/unattractive. Think rather: bathed in the blood of Christ, temple of the Holy Spirit. Be careful with YouTube because they go after you with their algorithms and ads and b.s. Attend lots of funerals, pray for the soul of the deceased, and spend some time in front of the corpse. Either become a monk, get married, or make a decision to stay celibate as a layperson for the rest of your life. Don't dither around about it. Use cronometer so you can see what foods throw you off and make you feel agitated.

Lastly, remember the advice that MLB umpire Bill McGowan gave to Ted Williams when he was struggling to keep his average above .400:

The Philadelphia Bulletin’s Yeutter reported that “Before the two games started he [Ted Williams] was nervous and sat on the bench, biting his fingernails. His mammoth hands trembled. He condemned himself for getting only one hit for four times at bat Saturday. He wondered who was going to pitch for the Athletics. He asked Jimmie Foxx if the late afternoon autumn shadows ever bothered him when he was a kingpin hitting in Shibe Park. He asked if the Athletics had knuckleball pitchers, for knucklers had been his nemesis all year.” Wolff, who had struck out Ted his last time up the day before, was a knuckleballer.

After Saturday’s game, Ted was nervous. That evening, he said he walked the streets of Philadelphia for several hours with Red Sox clubhouse man Johnny Orlando, walking maybe ten miles talking about it. John Holway quotes Williams: “I went to bed early, but I just couldn’t sleep. I tossed and turned and finally went to sleep, still thinking about that .400 average.”

Williams was batting cleanup, and Fowler retired the side in the first, so Ted led off the top of the second. “Bill McGowan was the plate umpire, and I’ll never forget it,” Ted recalled. “Just as I stepped in, he called time and slowly walked around the plate, bent over and began dusting it off. Without looking up, he said, ‘To hit .400 a batter has got to be loose. He has got to be loose.’”

 

[InChristAlone]

Respect to you for choosing to get your life together before marriage, young men marrying the first girl they fall in the love with can be a recipe for disaster if there was any kind of enmeshment with his Mommy (nearly destroyed my marriage) which takes time to grow and self differentiate from the family system so that doesn't effect his future wife.

Fasting was probably a good way to focus on spiritual development instead of procreation. If your will is strong I think you can get by focusing on good metabolism just avoiding things that you know make you really wanting sex. Stay off Instagram and TikTok (my husband and I deleted our social media) and be sure your YouTube algorithm is suggesting wholesome videos. Everytime the temptation arises declare you are a child of God and sin is dead to you.