60kg weight loss after quitting alcohol: how a beer lover’s liver disease saw him give up his ‘6 to 8 pints a day’ habit and get in the best shape of his life

Ross Bendix drank beer daily and weighed 127kg (280lbs) before having a seizure, being diagnosed with liver disease and spending over a month in hospital

‘What have I inflicted on my family?’ he thought – so he quit alcohol, changed his diet and started walking regularly, now averaging 12km to 15km (8 to 9 miles) a day

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(Left) Ross Bendix at a pub in Wan Chai, Hong Kong, in 2020, and (right) hiking in Lantau in January 2023 after giving up alcohol and losing 60kg. Photo: Ross Bendix

Published: 7:45am, 18 Mar 2023Updated: 7:53am, 18 Mar 2023

Ross Bendix had a rough start to 2022. On New Year’s Day, he suffered a seizure and collapsed in his living room while watching television. He arrived by ambulance at Hong Kong’s Ruttonjee Hospital where he spent five days in the intensive care unit – and 42 more days in hospital on a drip.

He was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver.

At the time, Bendix was overweight, weighing 127 kilograms (280 pounds). He was put on antibiotics for blood poisoning, strong sedative medication to avoid repeat seizures, and diuretics to flush excess fluids from his body.

He was also diagnosed with ascites, a life-threatening condition in which fluid collects in the abdomen – affecting the lungs, kidneys and other organs, causing stomach pain, swelling and nausea.

Ross Bendix at a gym in Causeway Bay in 2023. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

He had two surgeries, to drain 8 litres of fluid from his abdomen – and to repair his tongue, which he had bitten through during the seizure.

By the end of 2022, Bendix, now 49, had reclaimed his health and turned his life around. He lost 60kg during the year, weighing 67kg by December 2022, leaving him in the best shape of his life.