Dry January, for people who probably won't be completely dry
Most attempts include a few drinks somewhere in the month: a birthday, a Friday, a bad week. That does not wipe the month. This page is about measuring the January you actually have, not the one the campaign poster describes.
A month with three drinking days is still a month that changed. The health effect follows the total amount of alcohol, not whether the run was unbroken. Treating one evening as a failure is the most reliable way to abandon the remaining three weeks.
What Dry January is, and who runs it
Dry January is a month without alcohol, starting on 1 January. As a public campaign it is run in the UK by the charity Alcohol Change UK; in France the Défi De Janvier does the same job. Modraly is not affiliated with either, is not part of either campaign, and gets nothing from mentioning them. If you want the pledges and the community, go to them directly.
The idea underneath is older than the campaigns and belongs to no one: stop for a month, and find out what you were getting from it. That question is worth asking whether or not you sign up to anything.
The days you drink anyway
The problem is usually the accounting, not the drink. Around day 10 something unavoidable happens, you have two glasses of wine, and the month is now "ruined", so the remaining twenty days quietly revert to normal. The month ends up looking like every other month, on the strength of one evening.
Three things make that less likely:
- Decide in advance what the month is for. "Not a single drink" and "considerably less than usual" are different goals, and only one of them survives a wedding.
- Log the evening you drank, in full. Recording three glasses as three glasses takes ten seconds and removes the incentive to stop looking. Under-recording is how a month stops being measurable.
- Compare the month to a normal one, not to zero. Four drinks in January against your usual twenty-five is the result. Zero was never the only outcome worth having.
How to measure it so the number means something
A month is only comparable if December was counted the same way. If you are starting on 1 January with no baseline, count in units or standard drinks rather than in "drinks", and keep the same definition all month. A large glass of wine is 3.3 UK units and a single spirit is 1; calling both "a drink" makes the total meaningless. The unit calculator converts anything you drink, and the guidelines page has the weekly reference figure for your country.
Two numbers are worth having at the end of the month: the total, and the number of alcohol-free days. The second one is the one most people are surprised by, in both directions.
What happens on 1 February
The month is the easy part. On 1 February the campaign ends and nothing is being measured any more. That is when most of the benefit is either kept or lost. Alcohol Change UK publishes participant outcomes for Dry January. Follow-up research on campaign participants (summarised by Alcohol Change UK, including academic work such as de Visser and colleagues on Dry January cohorts) has found reduced drinking months later, including among people who had no intention of changing anything permanently.
Whatever you use to count in January, the useful version is the one you are still using in March, when there is no campaign and no one is watching. That usually means something with no daily obligation attached.
Why a tracker rather than a coach
Coaching apps work by adding accountability: check-ins, streaks, encouragement, a programme. If you want that, they are the right tool and Modraly is not. Accountability cuts both ways. A streak counter turns one drink into a reset to zero, which is the framing that ends the month early.
Modraly has no streak, no badge, no daily check-in and no opinion. It logs a drink in two taps from the Home Screen widget, keeps everything on your iPhone with no account and no server, and shows the month next to the official weekly guideline for your country. In February it behaves the same way.
Modraly is not a medical device and does not provide medical advice. If stopping for a month feels physically difficult, or you have been drinking heavily every day, stopping abruptly can be dangerous. Talk to a doctor first. The NHS and Alcool Info Service are the right places for that, and we have no stake in whether you go.
Free to download. Logging is unlimited, always.
Common questions
What is Dry January?
Dry January is a month without alcohol, starting on 1 January. In the UK the charity Alcohol Change UK runs a public campaign; in France the Défi De Janvier does the same job. The idea is older than either campaign and belongs to nobody: a month off, to see what changes.
Does Dry January still count if I drink once or twice?
Nobody is checking, and the health effects do not vanish because of one evening. A month with two drinking days is a different month from your usual one. The measurable difference is in the total, not in whether the run was unbroken. Treating one slip as a failed month is what makes people give up on day 12.
What are the benefits of Dry January?
Alcohol Change UK reports that participants commonly notice better sleep, more energy and money saved. Follow-up research on Dry January participants (summarised by Alcohol Change UK, including work such as de Visser et al.) has also found reduced drinking months later, including among people who had not planned a lasting change. Many people credit seeing their own numbers.
How do I track Dry January?
Log the days you drink, not the days you do not. A tracker that wants a daily check-in on an alcohol-free day is asking for effort when there is nothing to record. Modraly logs a drink in two taps and leaves the empty days empty, so the month shows itself.
Is Modraly a Dry January app?
Not really. Modraly has no streak counter, no badges and no coach. It will not reward a perfect month or scold an imperfect one. It counts, and it shows the month next to your country's weekly guideline. If you want encouragement and community, a campaign app or a sobriety app fits better.