When I quit drinking alcohol, I had recently cut out Diet Cokes about a month or so previous. I had drunk 6-8 Diet Cokes daily for years. I was barking with pride about how I was no longer drinking "poison". I was no longer putting nasty aspartame into my body. I guess I thought wine was good for antioxidants?!? I, too, have always made a point of saving calories on my drinks: black coffee or tea, Diet/zero calorie drinks only, water, etc., but I never made myself count the 1000s of empty calories the bottles of wine I drank a week were putting into my body and then wondering why I couldn't lose weight?!? So amazing, the power of alcoholic denial . . . .