keep trying shelly! If you could only switch over to all diet drinks... you'd be surprised at what you could lose over a long period of time! I know it's hard, it took my hubby several tries but he doesn't drink anything but diet drinks now!! If he can do it, I'm pretty sure anyone could, lol. It'll just taking some getting used to, that's all. Try different kinds until you find one that you like. I've been drinking diet drinks since I was about 12 years old and let me tell ya ... they've come a LONG way in taste! Try drinking some crystal light as well, be on the lookout for the ones that say 0 calories, 0 carbs, 0 sugars though. Some of them have calories. Also, wal-mart sells an "off" brand of splenda, it's called Altern I think... try making some green tea sweetened w/ that. Try the Lipton brands of green tea, they have some flavored ones that are really good!! Watch your coffee creamer as well.. mine has 1 carb per tsp. Sounds like you've got a plan for Thanksgiving. I too will be making some healthier side dishes so I'm not too worried about Thanksgiving. Christmas will be my downfall since we usually do finger foods and they usually consist of sausage balls, roll-up sandwiches, chips and dips, biscuits, lots and lots of chocolate candies, pb candies, fudge, cookies, doughnuts, etc... UGH, I dread it already!! Keep pushing yourself girl, even those "little" changes will eventually help you in the long run!