He may have a barbeque stain on his white T-shirt, but there isn’t a bottle of beer in Tim McGraw’s hand. This cowboy gave up drinking five years ago, and he’s still happy with the choice he made.

“I drank a lot from my point of view and I needed to stop,” revealed McGraw, 45, to People magazine. “I felt quitting was something I needed to do.”

McGraw exchanged the bottle for weight training and workout regimens.

“Working out is a great way to go out on stage,” added McGraw. “When I hit the stage, my adrenaline is going and I’m ready.”

We’re ready too. His new album Two Lanes of Freedom is set to release next week on February 5.

And while he is one tough and buff-lookin’ cookie, he didn’t give up alcohol just for muscles and his music. He gave it up for his daughters, Gracie Katherine, 15, Maggie Elizabeth, 14, and Audrey Caroline, 11.

“I didn’t feel I had any moral high ground with my kids in the long run.”

But all of that has changed for the country superstar.

“I’m in a good place right now,” said McGraw. “I really feel like this new album is not a culmination of the things I’ve done, it’s a new beginning of the things I am going to do. I want to enjoy my career and having my family. I have a busy life, but it is a fulfilling life.”

-Ashley Quadros, CBS Local/Sacramento