Writing two books, completing a marathon, finishing a marketing diploma and taking up sea swimming.
Those are just some of the things author and digital marketer Kate Gunn achieved after giving up alcohol.
Kate has written a book called 'The Accidental Soberista' which details the unexpected bliss of an alcohol-free life.
Speaking to Alive and Kicking Clare McKenna, she explained that she was a social drinker who, while not having a problem, found alcohol ingrained in her life.
"I was a social drinker, a normal drinker in Irish society, I suppose, I would have had the normal teenage years, drank quite a lot through my 20s, never to a worrying degree, it was always acceptable," she said.
"Then in my 30s when I had kids it was more wine at home in the evening and then in my 40s I was drinking at the weekends and once during the week, so pretty regular levels I guess."
Kate's partner decided to give up alcohol for a month in 2016 so she decided to join him for 30 days.
She said it wasn't too difficult to abstain and the process was different to dry January which involved the "deprivation of alcohol", rather than a mindset of "what can we gain" from the month.
"Having said that, the first couple of weekends were difficult and it was boring because you're so used to going out and using alcohol as your reward," she explained.
"So to take that away, it took a while to get used to."
At the end of the month, Kate and her partner released they had enjoyed the benefits of not drinking and decided to do another 30 days to see if they could get to the 90-day mark.
"We really went into it month by month and at the end of the 90 days, that's when we said OK, let's try and do a year," she added.
During the first six weeks of the process, Kate said she had huge amounts of energy and was running, hiking and being more productive.
"The benefits were extreme and that's what kept us going with it," she said.
Other people didn't have a huge issue with the lack of drinking, but she said she did feel like she was "shaking up the status quo" by choosing to abstain.
"When you're drinking, it's hard to be around a non-drinker at first because you feel judged by them I suppose," Kate said.
"I think there was a little bit of that and my partner and I felt like people weren't inviting you out because they felt like you didn't want to go to the pub because you're not drinking, when in fact you go to the pub to see your friends.
"So it took a little while to get used to I think."
Since beginning her journey of sobriety, Kate has written two books, completed a marathon, finished a marketing diploma and taken up sea swimming.
She doesn't believe all this would have been possible if she was still drinking.
"I just became so much more productive in the mornings and planning became possible," Kate added.
"With the marathon, I was doing a very long run every weekend and running four or five times during the week, and those weekends would have been a write-off for me.
"There's no way I would have committed to running every weekend for six months if I was drinking.
"It's the same things with the books, I was getting up at 6.30am to write for an hour before doing the school run and going to work, and I don't think I would have been able to do all that if I was still drinking."
Kate said moderation "is the holy grail" with alcohol, but believes it is very difficult to achieve.
"For me, it was easier to keep my principles 100% of the time rather than 98% of the time," she stated.
"You waste a lot of mental energy and headspace going about what the rules are going to be in your head."
This could be, 'I'm not going to drink Monday to Thursday or, 'I'm not going to drink at home', or 'I'm only going to drink on special occasions'.
"You run through this again and again in your head and it takes up a lot of mental energy," she added.
"For me, it was easier to say I'm not going to drink and that's it.
Kate's advice to people considering giving up drinking is to give it 30 or 60 days initially to see whether it has a positive impact.
"Just give it a shot and see what happens, that's my advice," she said.
