Healthy Mondays can Help Kick Start Your Health

Healthy Monday program incorporates a wide range of healthy lifestyle habits to encourage residents to use each Monday to get on a healthier track.

The City of Clifton is using the power of Monday to make its residents healthier, one day at a time. As part of its Community Health Improvement Plan, the City of Clifton will kick off a Healthy Monday program, encouraging residents to use each Monday to get on a healthier track.

‘Want to live a happy and healthy life? Healthy Monday can help you stay healthy, fit, and positive. Healthy Monday program could encourage residents to use each Monday to get on a healthier track.’

Why Monday? Research shows that people are more open to trying healthy behaviors at the start of the week. Monday offers an opportunity to "reset" and get back on track and studies show people that get back on track at the beginning of the week are better able to maintain progress over time.

Healthy Monday is a program from The Monday Campaigns, a nonprofit public health initiative that dedicates the first day each week to health.

"We're excited that the City of Clifton is committing to the health of their community by implementing a Healthy Monday program. Clifton is a leader in New Jersey, and can serve as a model to communities throughout the country to improve the health of their residents," said Meghan Crowley, Senior Program Associate at The Monday Campaigns.

The campaign will kick off with "Meatless Monday," a simple concept with major benefits that encourages individuals to cut out meat, one day a week. This health promotion campaign launched in 2003 encourages people to eat less saturated fat and reduce their risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes. Research shows that consuming less red and processed meat and more plant-based foods such as vegetables, beans, soy, and nuts can offer many potential health benefits.

The City will encourage its community partners, restaurants, and other organizations to promote healthy eating by encouraging their clients, patrons and customers to go Meatless Monday each week. Messages and tips for integrating this exciting and healthy initiative will be also circulated through the social media platforms and other communication channels of the various organizations in the City.

Clifton will also promote "Move it Monday," a campaign encouraging people of all fitness levels to kick off the week with exercise. In addition to offering exercise tips, many organizations will be participating in the Monday Mile, a weekly group walk for 20 minutes or less that helps everyone start the week off by moving together, helping to meet the CDC recommendation of a minimum of 2.5 hours of exercise per week.

Additionally, the City will implement "DeStress Monday," which addresses the issue of persistent stress, which has been shown to have negative effects on many aspects of personal health. The campaign offers a Monday refresh practice that incorporates evidence-based stress reduction techniques of deep breathing, mindfulness and positive affirmation. The campaign includes mid-week mini-resets for fun creative ways to renew our energy to stay positive and calm the whole week.

The Healthy Monday program in Clifton will continue throughout the duration of the Community Health Improvement Plan.

The Monday Campaigns, a public health initiative associated with Johns Hopkins, Columbia and Syracuse universities, provides resources to help individuals and organizations leverage the Monday "fresh start" mindset and weekly cue to sustain healthy behaviors, including staying active, managing stress, quitting smoking and reducing meat consumption.

The campaign offers individuals, businesses, universities, hospitals, and municipalities creative materials, case studies, ready-to-scale programs and weekly messaging that ranges from infographics to recipes to tips and hacks.

Source: Newswise