One Month Challenge: No Nail Biting, Week 2

July 9, 2011 5:00 pm     Posted in Headliners, Reality  Charlotte- University of Birmingham g+ page


By Charlotte

[Everyone's got a vice, a bad habit, something they know they need to change. Unfortunately, everyone also has a million excuses why they just can't do it. Not anymore. Every month we will be following a different CollegeCandy writer as she takes on a personal challenge. Last month Michelle gave up stress eating. This month, Charlotte's going to try to stop biting her nails. Can she do it!? Could you?]

First of all, thank you so much to all of you who left me wonderful supportive comments after my post last week. I’m so glad I’m not the only one still biting my nails aged 21!!

I’m not going to say I haven’t bitten my nails all week. Because that would first of all be impossible for me, and that would also be a lie. There has been some nibbling. Some chewing. But I have been making a conscious effort to not bite my nails as much as I normally would. There is a little bit of white to be seen on my nails. Only a little, but more than my usual white-free stubs. I have found, and some of the comments confirmed this, that clear nail polish is definitely the way to go. Even when I wore a lovely peach colour on my nails on Monday, I was biting that off by Tuesday and in turn, chewing on my nails too. Clear nail varnish allows me to be more aware of how far I’ve come. Seeing that smidgen of white really helps motivate me.

Clear nail varnish also works for me because I work in a supermarket on the deli department and am therefore not allowed coloured nail polish. But clear allows my nails to look pretty and shiny which makes me want to bite them much less.

The bad-tasting stuff is also working much more than usual. I’ve been using it since I was about 12, but this time I switched to another brand and my god, is it awful!! It’s just not worth it to have my fingers in my mouth with that nasty stuff on them!!

I’ve really appreciated all your comments and have been chewing gum and drinking lots of water to keep my mouth busy. I am also intrigued by the idea of Tabasco sauce, but I hope I don’t have to resort to that!!

This has been a really busy week, too, which I think has helped. I’m on an internship at the moment so I barely have a moment to think straight, but I’m off all next week so I hope I don’t go back to boredom-biting!! I’ll let you know how it goes!!

Here’s to another week of biting less and focusing more!!

Check out the other One  Month Challenges we’ve taken on. And if you’ve got a challenge you want to tackle (and be held accountable for), email us and we could feature you next month. Come on – it’s good for you!

5 Comments on "One Month Challenge: No Nail Biting, Week 2"

  1. Lana says:
    Tue, 12th Jul 20111:06 pm 

    Here is a really helpful tool that you might find useful during your challenge!
    http://www.fitango.com/actionplans/five-weeks-to-…

  2. Missa says:
    Tue, 12th Jul 20118:54 pm 

    One thing that is helping me – I got a UV gel manicure. It makes your nails too hard to bite, and every time I am tempted and stick my nails in my mouth, my nails are too smooth and too thick with the gel that it doesn't feel right and out they go!! It's expensive, but so far it's been the only thing that has worked for me – not even the nasty tasting stuff would deter me!!

  3. CMF says:
    Wed, 13th Jul 201112:32 pm 

    Sally Hansen makes a clear polish that helps your nails grow faster. I used it when I started making a real effort to stop biting my nails and it helps. When you can see progress a little faster than usual, it makes the urge to bite easier to ignore. For me, anyway. Also, lots of Twizzlers.

  4. JDet says:
    Thu, 14th Jul 201112:24 pm 

    I completely understand what you're going through! I bit my nails from the time I could even remember having nails, until VERY recently, and I am 25. Things that helped me overcome it: addressing any anxiety triggers, staying busy, changing my thinking patterns about biting my nails. I had to start focusing on the germs and grossness of it, which really helped curbed my natural reaction to put my fingers in my mouth.

    I also started using the nail growth and cuticle oil set by Sally Hansen. I hate to plug a product, but it's working amazing! It makes my nails look so healthy and beautiful that I DON'T WANT to bite them! I'm proud of them now! It feels amazing to not have to hide my hands anymore or catch someone noticing my half bitten scraggles and chewed cuticles.

    It took a long time and many attempts to get to this point, and I won't say I don't still bite a little, but it's that slow process that you have to hold onto. Don't give up! Even if you just bite one nail occasionally, just take your time and leave the others alone!

    Good luck and from one nail biter to another, stay strong!

  5. Fayyaz says:
    Wed, 2nd Jan 20135:33 am 

    I too, am a nail bitier. Im 19 and have been biitng them since I was 2. So you can image how bad they look and they are embarassing at times. As of right now I’m trying to stop again but the last time I let them grow out and actaully got past the tips of my fingers I first bought some fake nails from wal mart (I know its sounds tacky, but I cut them down to a normal length and painted them and no one knew the difference) and once my nails got long enough, I painted them, for some reason having them painted made me not want to bite them again. I need to try this method out again and this time have more will power. I started biitng them again again when school started getting tough and stressful.Hope I help!References : nail biter of almost 18 years

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