Quitting drinking literally changed my life

I used alcohol as a cure for anxiety, but I only made things worse.

Quitting drinking

A year ago, Cheyne Kobzoff's life was crap. Despite a wife who loved him, two children and a great job as a chef, Cheyne spent every morning in miserable conditions, committed to driving down hatred for himself, his head always on the verge of breaking apart. But apart from the emotional malaise, a life of alcohol consumption had also made his belly rise in a panettone to Santa Claus (even the beard didn't help).

On March 23, 2016, the 33-year-old decided to stop all of a sudden. Shortly after he also started running, and he realized that he could help with the anxiety he felt. In a short time he ran for distances that he had always considered impossible, and he lost several sizes. Since then he has also lost 25 pounds. 

Kobzoff, who lives in California, recently posted the photo above on Reddit, stating that a year without alcohol made him "a thousand times happier." The post has become viral . We asked him how he decided to quit — and if his friends hate him or love him more, now that he makes a healthy life.

VICE: Congratulations on losing your stomach, but why beard too? Cheyne Kobzoff:  It was nice to take it off. I had grown it for a year and a half, but treating it every day had become a little too much. And I wanted to see what my face looked like after losing all that weight.

I guess it was a nice shock for your wife. My wife liked it, she almost frightened me when she saw me without it. And so my children. My three-year-old daughter went crazy. But anyway, I don't think he will remember me with a beard in the future.

Or you with your stomach. When did you decide to stop drinking? Was there a moment when you thought you had hit bottom? Not really, it's an idea that has developed over time. There is a history of alcohol problems in my family, and I started drinking at 15. It was normal to go drinking every weekend, but then it became everyday. 

Did you consider yourself an alcoholic? 
Well, I was, but I didn't want to admit it. Now I admit it, but it's strange to say it. The only thing I know is that I don't want to drink. If I did, I would be afraid to find myself in that vicious circle.

I didn't like the person I had become. I didn't like what I did to my body. Two years ago I had already tried to quit — the day after a wedding where I had drunk everything I saw and vomited for the next 24 hours. But I only stopped for a month. I set myself the goal for 30 days, and then I started drinking even more. I drank 12 beers a night, then one or two glasses of wine with my wife when she returned. I felt like shit every morning when I went to work. 

My wife gave me a date: March 23rd. Three days after my son's birthday, which was a big party. And so it was. I simply stopped drinking. 

On Reddit you wrote that you initially made up for drinking by eating all the food you found. 
I didn't care for sweets. My body lacked all those sugars. I ate whole packs of candy. Gummy candies, sparkling, whatever. And also fizzy drinks, instead of beer. That phase lasted about a month. 

And then you started running, right? Well, I drank to "cure" my anxiety. But the anxiety did not disappear when I stopped drinking. One day I was cutting the hedge and I felt completely at the mercy of anxiety, and I felt the need to  run . I didn't do it right away, but the next day I felt that impulse again, and I did it. I put on my shoes, I ran out of the house, I did maybe two kilometers and I came back. I didn't know what I was doing ... but it made me feel good. And then I came home completely breathless.

Did your wife think I was dying? Actually he laughed, because the problem was that I had no idea how to catch my breath after a race. I had never played sports all my life. He told me to walk for 15 minutes, and that helped. Even though I still thought I was going to vomit.

Some call the first weeks or first months sober " pink cloud ", a period in which you have sudden bursts of euphoria. Was it also so for you? 
Absolutely yes. Maybe I was at the supermarket at the checkout line, and suddenly I felt so happy that I didn't care. I felt  physically  happy to the point that I felt like crying. I had never experienced anything like it.

Did you start singing in front of the cashier? 
[ Laughs ] Not that I remember, but I definitely threw some shrieks of joy while I was driving.

Then you started running seriously, and then also lifting weights. What are you most proud of from this point of view? 
I've never been able to do sit ups. Then I started with the deadlift, the squats, the bench presses. After a while I put on a nice abdominal muscle, and I said to myself, "Let's try these sit ups." All of a sudden I could make 60 in a row.

How did your friends take this healthy turnaround? 
I'm very happy, but I'm also sure that 90 percent of the people I talk to are irritating. In the beginning in particular I was very excited about all the things I was learning by living a healthy life. All I did was talk about physical activity and the fact that I had stopped drinking.

Do you ever get to preach to those who drink? 
No, I don't care what others are doing. My wife drinks wine, and I would never, ever say that she can't drink because I quit. It would be like assholes.

Now that you don't drink anymore, do people still have fun going out with you? 
I hope so [ laughs ].

Perhaps I should ask this question to your friends. 
Look, just last week I took a trip with my friends. We went to Lake Tahoe, and I was a little worried because they all drink. I talked a lot about the year I had just passed, and it went well. It's better this way, now I don't get to that point where I'm completely unmade. In any case, I didn't have to be particularly funny in those situations.

Do you remember a particularly low moment of that period? 
The night before my wedding I devastated, and in the morning I woke up next to a bowl of blood. Apparently I had tried to overturn a cement container, and grabbing hold of it, I had slipped and slammed my head on the ground. Even today it is embarrassing to look at the wedding photos and find my red and swollen face with a lot of probable brain concussion.

Do you miss alcohol? 
I miss savoring a good beer. There are lots of excellent breweries here in the area. And then the wine, a glass of red with a good steak. The thought alone kills me.

But it's a small price to pay for not waking up badly on Sunday mornings, right? 
Ah, yes, definitely. I can stay up late, wake up early and hear nothing. My children get up at 6 and a half in the morning, and I can get up with them without first having to kick down the hangover.

You also wrote that one of the things you lost after you stopped drinking was the bar counter carpet stink. What do you know now? 
Sober person? [ Laughs ] Let's say that after stopping drinking I started to recognize people who had just made themselves a beer on the fly, from the smell. And I said to myself, "Oh God, did I smell like this?" Now I think I know about detergent, I would say.

This article is taken from Tonic .