About fantasizing during a reboot

In short no.

Unfortunately your brain does not know the difference between porn, and sexual fantasy. Both will essentially release dopamine into the brain. The rule of thumb is; if it arouses you and is not a physical person, you want to stay away.

 

My exact experience also. The streak Im on currently is the first streak without any fantasizing whatsoever. Im having heavy withdrawals because it is actually the first REAL streak without dopamine release in my brain. Essentially, whether it is a picture or a fantasy, the general rule of thumb is to abstain until one is fully rebooted if the picture or fantasy (thought) causes sexual arousal.

 

As others have said; No. Unfortunately right now you need to put as much distance between yourself and those thoughts as possible as they do in-fact reactivate those pathways related to P use.

There's no point in telling yourself to stop thinking about them entirely, or even worrying about that. For instance, don't think about an elephant. Betcha just did. See how that works? The more you think about 'I can't think about this' the more you will. So how do you combat that? You learn to recognize the thoughts, let them pass, and refocus / manually shift gears onto something else. Acknowledge how you're feeling and what potentially led you there, and redirect your energy towards something else, preferably productive. It could be a hobby, like a book or a walk, or push-ups. Anything that requires your attention and allows you to focus on something different, while also not keeping you stuck in that limbo of trying to fight that thought and letting it linger.

These thoughts will intrude whether we like them or not. Best thing to do is to let them pass. Don't give them the attention your brain wants. It'll take some time, but you'll find it easier as time goes on. Eventually it'll just be like an annoying dog barking outside. It's there, but you're not gonna walk out and get bitten by it. Eventually it'll stop barking, and you'll keep doing whatever it is you're doing.