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Is there a term or phrase for not doing something for a certain amount of time?

ex: I won't drink for a month or I'll go on a diet until I lose 10 ibs or I'll never smoke again etc

EDIT: I'm realizing I should've phrased my question better. I'm looking for a term or phrase that reflects giving something up for the reward of something like losing 10 ibs rather than just a term that means temporarily not doing something.

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  • For alcohol, you can go on the wagon - that would usually be understood as a "temporary" state, because if you and/or your audience knew you were never going to drink again you'd be a teetotaller.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Oct 15, 2017 at 16:57
  • How would you use the term in a sentence?
    – Lawrence
    Commented Oct 16, 2017 at 1:54
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    I think the phrase-requests tag is more suitable for this question than terminology, unless you're asking about a specific branch of psychology or medicine etc. The tag has a tag info page with guidelines on the information to supply that would help the community better address your question. (You can get to tag info pages by hovering the cursor over the tag and clicking on the 'info' link.)
    – Lawrence
    Commented Oct 16, 2017 at 2:06

2 Answers 2

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Based on your context, you can use the word (verb) Abstain.

I will abstain from drinking for a month Or I will abstain from high calorie diet till I lose 10 lbs...

OED definition: Abstain Restrain oneself from doing or enjoying something.

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You could also go on a hiatus:

a break or interruption in the continuity of a work, series, action, etc.

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    I think this is the best so far. None of the other answers to date attempts to address the temporary nature of the abstention.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Oct 15, 2017 at 20:41
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    and if the 'hiatus' is brief, it is a 'respite' (both words are nouns, not verbs)
    – AmI
    Commented Oct 15, 2017 at 21:18

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