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Gina Kirschenheiter Opens Up About Being “California Sober”
The Real Housewives of Orange County cast member shared new details about her decision to give up alcohol.
After Gina Kirschenheiter revealed in April that she had decided to stop drinking alcohol more than a year and a half ago, The Real Housewives of Orange County cast member shared new details on her sobriety journey during Season 17 Episode 2.
Gina Kirschenheiter opens up about being “California sober”
In the episode, which aired on June 14, Gina, Emily Simpson, and RHOC newcomer Jennifer Pedranti met for lunch, and Gina ordered a mocktail version of a “skinny, spicy margarita.”
“I stopped drinking, which helped me, like, lose a lot of weight and look great, but also, like, mentally, I think it’s really much better for me,” Gina explained in an interview. “So I am California sober. We don’t drink, but we still dabble in the marijuana.”
Gina shared, “I don’t want to feel like crap all the time. It’s not good for me.”
Why Gina Kirschenheiter Decided to Stop Drinking Alcohol
In an April interview with People, Gina explained why she made the decision to stop drinking alcohol. “Drinking was a big part of my life and to eliminate it was a huge shift for me personally,” she said. “But it’s had this trickle-down, ripple effect where I’ve just seen so many things shift for the better. And I couldn’t be happier.”
“I was drinking way too much,” she added. “What used to be a drink when I was out at night with friends became, especially during COVID, me pouring a drink every night without even thinking about it… And I don’t identify as an alcoholic, I don’t believe I have that disease. But I felt the scales starting to tip, and I didn’t like that feeling. I was numbing myself with it. I was self-medicating, and I couldn’t stop. It was more in control of me than I was of it.”
Although Gina admitted, “It’s really hard to look at yourself like that, to examine your behavior to see what isn’t working,” she continued. “But I knew, after I did, that I had a problem. I was using alcohol as a crutch to not deal with my problems. I could see that it wasn’t the healthiest thing for me. I didn’t like the way I felt after a night of drinking. I didn’t like the way I looked. I wasn’t living my best life. And it was getting in my way; it was preventing me from being the best parent I could be, the best partner — all of that. I needed to change.”
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