A teetotaller has said when she gave up drinking “everything was just really good” and has encouraged people to try Dry January. 

Seven years ago, Kate Gunn tried “sober October” and what was originally meant to last a month turned into a lifelong habit. 

“It then went on for another 30 days and another and here I am seven years later,” she told The Pat Kenny Show. 

“So, I speak from experience.” 

Beforehand, she considered herself a “social drinker”. No one would ever have described her as a problem drinker and usually she only had a few pints. 

“I drank when I went out to the pub, I drank at home on a Friday and Saturday night,” she said. 

“Nothing to worrying levels but I did get really bad hangovers that got worse as I got older. 

“I was a bit bored of it but almost unable to break that habit, I suppose.” 

Young man drinking whisky in his home.

She did Dry January in 2014 and freely admits she “absolutely hated it”, so she was surprised how much she enjoyed Sober October a few years later. 

“I was really bored,” she said. 

“I thought, ‘I’m never doing this again’ and went into the Sober October with a different mindset… That really was the game changer.” 

One key difference was she saw the difference in her ex-husband after he gave up drinking for 90 days and she thought to herself “there might be something in this”. 

Exercise

The second difference was that she signed up to a fitness challenge at the same time. 

“That was a huge gift because it gives you a goal,” she said. 

“I signed up for a 10k run.” 

The challenge meant she was able to focus on her exercise, rather than socialising the night before. 

“Having that additional energy just made a huge difference,” she said. 

“It was like you were on a virtuous cycle then, you were going for runs, you were going for hikes, you were playing with the kids, you were just doing a whole lot more. 

“I was more productive, had more time, had less anxiety, my sleep was better, I had no hangover. 

“So, everything was just really good. We had a really good month and that’s why we went into the next month.” 

An estimated one in two Irish people will take part in Dry January.

Main image: Men drinking beer while sitting at a bar. Picture by: Dan Grytsku / Alamy Stock Photo