What did you give up to become a Ironman ?

20+ pounds of fat.

how long did you give up the booze for , or do you just not drink in training season?

Even though I wasn't asked, I'll chime in regarding the booze.  I, like many others, don't do well the morning after, even after a moderate amount of alcohol the prior evening, so my alcohol consumption decreased significantly during training for my IM.  It hasn't really picked up again after though, maybe I'm just getting old and making new lifestyle choices.

I significantly cut back on the amount of adult hockey I played during the summer and fall.  I used to skate 2-3 times/week with a fairly high level game, mostly guys that played a minimum of college hockey.  The soreness from that was having an impact on my training, and funny enough, the training itself was having an impact on my game (I'm a goalie so it's more noticeable).  As I got within two months of my IM I cut out hockey altogether for fear of a stupid injury ruining the thing I had trained all year for.  Funny thing, as I decreased my participation in adult hockey my alcohol consumption decreased as well...

I'm also a do-it-yourself addict and last summer my project list significantly shrunk.  I just didn't have time for building a deck on the house (next summer), a couple landscaping projects and a handful of stuff inside the house that are on the list.

Sleeping in
My savings account
Going out with friends

Yard work.

I didn't put in a garden last year, no woodworking and haven't flown in two years.

+1

On the flipside, I actually ending up having more fun at social events (especially the night before an off day) because I could basically eat or drink whatever I wanted and not worry about the calories.

1.) Sleeping in

2.) Staying out late

3.) Alcohol (mostly because it sucked having to train so early the next morning)

4.) Video games (although I did reward myself with Madden Football 13 after I finished)

5.) Social events

6.) and about 16lbs...(At 5'8" and 159 lbs I didn't have much to lose.)

lazy weekend days.

Made an effort in both my IMs to plan my social life around training and the training around unmovable social events.  Smartest decision I made during training for my first IM was giving the finger to a sunday morning long run to stay and enjoy myself at a friends wedding (was planning on going back to my room around 10:30 but around that time, my friends family was leaving and she spent the rest of the night hanging out with us (WE don't get to see them very often.)

Some Friends

Relationships

Time that I should have been a little more focused on my job

Fun

I have been thinking about this one for a bit now.  What have I given up vs. what don't I do as much of, and I'm stuck.  

Sure I don't have as much free time, don't get as drunk on Friday nights (I still party lots, but can't recall a single workout I've missed this entire season to all those that say you can't drink and train), don't sleep as late, etc.   But thinking through it, I wake up without an alarm most days and am very excited for my workouts.   Usually besides coming home from work and spending time with my wife, it's the best part of my day.   We go to work together, we still travel and there are very few things I don't do for the sake of "because I have to train". 

I make choices and don't believe that I've given up anything I really want to be doing because I'm training to be an Ironman.  I still eat whatever I want (and much more of it), I still stay up late and I still generally do whatever I want.  

I've agreed with my wife that the day training takes over and I have to give up things that we really want to do for the sake of training, then I'd quit.    Without that balance, I couldn't train ~16 hours per week.  

Wow, that's kinda sad there !!!

x2

I'm glad somebody else posted a response like this. My outlook is, this is a hobby. I'm not a professional and chances are very high I never will be. I enjoy, for the most part, training. I really enjoy racing. I never led a crazy lifestyle. That said I still hangout with my friends, drink beer, and eat what I want. None of these things have gotten in the way of my triathlon hobby. At this point I've only completed a HIM but will be doing my first IM in November. I don't see my free time being affected to much more for my IM that it was with my HIM. Some of these answers are pretty discouraging.

The only thing the IM has affected so far is my wallet.