LOL....I did over 22 weeks of no booze for ME (IP)...and NOW doing another 9 months for my baby girl (only 3 more months to go!!!!)....

I can't lie - every Saturday I ask the wine tasting vendor at Central Market if I can smell the bottle. But it was (and is still) worth it! Former lush signing off....

LOL!!! I have a good friend who LOVED her wine. When she found out she was pregnant she did the right thing - she vowed to not let wine pass her lips while she was carrying her child. But she did have a few corks from her favorite vintages tucked into a ziplock bag, and every now and then she would open it up and take a deep sniff !!!!! Healthy baby boy!!! :dizzy:

If there were truly a "one size fits all" plan that worked for EVERY body, there'd be no need for so many different approaches to weight loss, is all I meant. Not every plan works for every person.

This totally cracks me up!! I do the same thing- LOVE those Central market wine tastings/"sniffings"! =)

I started IP the first day of Lent, which is when I usually give up alcohol anyway. Not a drop for 2 months. Then when I hit my goal weight, I had a glass of red wine, reset my goal weight to 5-6 lbs lower and kept following phase 1 with a glass or two on weekend being the ONLY exception ( though I don't have restricteds or the more fattening meats on those days..) Have kept losing, although much slower, and am about to start Phase 3... like everyone has said, you have to do what will work for you. And I totally agree that you need to be 100% committed in the beginning, just to get your mind set on NEW habits!! Definitely worth giving up for a season.

Other tips I have done/heard: pouring out the beer and filling it with water just to pretend ( of course won't work at fancy craft beer parties, but still), and my favorite: having a salt-rimmed margarita glass filled with club soda or Pure Ice drink. Very festive!

Just drink the stuff!

I felt terrible the first week on IP. I was an almost daily wine drinker before IP. We love wine, visiting wineries, tasting, etc.. We had "champagne Sunday's" at least twice a month. I thought I could never give that up. It was hard for a while - the first week in particular. I've been on plan since Jan. 15 and it's really not even something I think about any more! Just stick with it, make a decision to stay 100% on plan. If I can do it, anyone can! I have found a new obsession - tea. I've found some awesome flavors from Tea Forte - I think I have about 20 different lose leaf teas at this point. Good luck to you :)

I think you hit on a key factor to success. There's no doubt we will have these voids. I have found it's important to find a healthy alternative to fill these voids. Yes, a change in mindset is important and it takes a bit of muscle to get through the initial discomfort, but experimenting and replacing/filling the void helps in the long run.

Shopping.New wardrobe.
 

As for replacing an "obsession" ... once you lose enough to need some new clothes...this day to day struggle all comes into perspective.

What is save on wine/beer/chocolate...
you will be spending ... on new clothes. :dancer:

Thanks Christine! Tea is a great suggestion. And, I still feel awful today (although better than yesterday). I did a little looking and found people on ketogenic diets (which IP is) describing "keto flu," a kind of general crappiness you feel while your body is making the switch from burning carbs to burning fat. Good thing it's Sunday, I'd be pretty useless at work today.

Exactly, something to fill the void and redirect the attention is what's needed.

Now this is a grand idea! Let's see...

1 12-pack a week of good beer = $17
Drinks out in a week, maybe $20 (sometimeS nothing, sometimes a lot more)

I hope to reach my goal in 5 months, so if I drop $37 in a jar every week that's almost $800 shopping money. Woo hoo!

You're going to need every penny of that money for new clothes:)

I've had to replace my bras, underwear, pj's & even my shoe size has gone down so I had to replace all my sandals and dress shoes. The only thing I didn't have to replace were my socks. LOL

I used to really enjoy wine. I have been finished phase 1 for quite a long time but can count on the fingers of one hand how many glasses of wine I've had since then. I found that after not having it so long even one glass really hits me hard, my body is not used to it anymore and I really don't miss it.

YEP!!! Don't loose sight of this...I'll need my third set of clothes by fall!! And this morning my DH took my picture to send to our daughters..I was in the yard and had on some new denim Gloria Vanderbilt jean capris and a tee shirt...but they haven't seen me in anything remotely resembling jeans in years!! He commented to me..."you will need to redo spring and summer clothes again next year... :)

Some of us have talked about some meet ups at a regional outlet shopping spot!!! Now that could be a hoot!

Me too...!! Underwear...nightgowns...shoes!!