Zac Brown Reveals He Quit Drinking ‘Cold Turkey’ And Has Never Felt Better

Zac Brown, the 46-year-old frontman of Zac Brown Band is opening up about the made major lifestyle changes he’s made in recent years, including quitting alcohol entirely. Once surrounded by beers on the road, Brown has officially traded cases of beer for healthy snacks in an effort to be more disciplined than ever before to meet his goals.

He’s shed over 65 pounds so far and credits much of his transformation to cutting out alcohol, sugar, seed oils, and processed foods.

“I had a great drinking career, and I’m retired from it now,” Brown said in his interview with GQ.

The elimination of alcohol in his regular routine was almost immediate. Brown admits that after growing up and working in an environment where drinking was a part of everything from parties, meetings, dinner, and performing in bars for a decade, he decided enough was enough.

“I went cold turkey,” he shared.

Finding The Strength To Change His Lifestyle

The decision to stop wasn’t about him hitting rock bottom, it was about choosing a life that made him feel better and happier when he woke up every day.

“Nobody could have told me that I needed to stop drinking before I knew that it was time to do it. But there were times when I had hangovers and I’d look at myself in the mirror and go, ‘One day, I’m not going to do this anymore.’ You kind of feel like [alcohol] is this feel-good friend that’s always around, that’s whatever, but nobody’s life gets better because they quit drinking. And I can testify to that a hundred percent.”

The shift didn’t happen overnight, and Zac Brown admits the road hasn’t been perfect. But he’s come to learn that those cheat moments don’t compare to the positive results he sees when he sticks to the plan.

“I have nights that I’m like, I’ll just go eat a snack late-night, if I feel like it’s been a stressful week. But when I do the things I need to do, I never feel better,” he shared.

Once he committed, Brown says his cravings for the bad stuff started to fade after about a month and suddenly the results started to pour in.

“Seeing the results that come from it, and my psychology around it, it made it easy to sacrifice what I wanted in order to get where I want,” Brown added. “I was at a point in my life where I was ready to engineer my choices around my end result. Nothing tastes better than feeling really good, being able to do things, and having a clear mindset.”

Coming Up With A Plan

To help him achieve his goals, the country singer hired a incredible trainer named Luke Richardson, who served as an NFL strength and conditioning coach. He claims that Luke’s approach has been much more maintainable than programs he’s tried in the past.

“His approach is a lot more taking care of your soft tissue, using foam rollers, using vibrating balls, using a TRX band, a lot of isometrics, a lot of laying on the floor and kind of rolling around. It’s not that it’s fun, but you definitely notice a range of motion thing,” he revealed.

On top of the exercises, Brown follows a “pretty simple” diet plan. It consists of three meals a day, four hours a part, and fasting for 14 hours after his last meal.

“As far as what you’re eating: it’s a lot of paleo, vegetables, good, clean proteins, whole foods, things that aren’t just processed in a bag or in a box. I’m gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-free, alcohol-free,” Brown explained.

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Zac Brown Gives His Best Advice

Now living a cleaner, more intentional life, the Grammy winner emphasizes the importance of thinking about long-term goals instead of chasing instant gratification. This is a message that he’s also passing down to his kids who have started to pick up their own healthy habits. He told the outlet that he’s currently weighing in at a little under 200lbs and has no intention of slowing down anytime soon.

“If you believe that there’s growth and that there’s love around you and that everything is a positive force pushing you, that becomes your reality too,” he stated. “I really try to keep my mindfulness intact. I have a lot more to give to my family, to my craft, to my band, my crew, all of it.”

Zac Brown has embarked on this journey just a few months before him and his bandmates are set to take the stage in Las Vegas for their very own residency at the Sphere.

The six-show run is set to kick off on December 5, the same day the band’s new album Love & Fear is scheduled to arrive. Their shows will continue on December 6, 12, 13, January 9 and 10.