Newswise — NEW YORK -- Researchers from Cornell University found that the average American will eat about 6,000 calories (about triple the daily recommended intake) on Super Bowl Sunday. Although party goers may wake up the following day feeling like they’ve lost track of any well-intentioned New Year’s resolutions to get healthy, the fact that Super Bowl Sunday is followed by a Monday morning is fortuitous. Research shows that Monday is the day we are most interested in our health and likely to adopt new health-promoting habits, so over-indulgers can use the day after the Super Bowl to get back on track.

Diana Rice, a registered dietitian on staff with The Monday Campaigns (the nonprofit organization behind Meatless Monday), offers these tips to get your health back on track after an indulgent weekend:

Start fresh: On Monday morning, give yourself a clean slate rather than wallow in guilt over your indulgences on Super Bowl Sunday. A marathon gym session won’t undo the damage – you would literally have to run a marathon or more to burn 6,000 calories – so cut your losses and instead dedicate your energy to planning how you’ll stay on track from now on.

Take it one week at a time: The Super Bowl champions earned the Lombardi Trophy one weekly victory at a time – think about revamping your health the same way. This Monday, pick one area to focus your efforts on for the week. Once you’ve mastered it, use another Monday to move on to the next area of your health that needs attention.

Make a plan: Think of your plan as your practice schedule. You’ve got to show up and work hard every day to see results! Whether you’re scheduling your healthy meals or mapping out when you’ll go to the gym, put each event in writing on Monday so you’ll stick to your commitments throughout the week.

Try a Meatless Monday: Even football stars have gone meatless on Monday nights! Starting the week off with a day filled with vegetarian dishes is a simple, healthy change that will help you feel great about your week. Gear up for the day with a fiber-packed Banana Date Smoothie and try Black Bean Balls and Zucchini Noodles for a healthy spin on lunch or dinner.

Keep it up: Odds are, you’re going to have good weeks and bad weeks. Even Super Bowl champions rarely have a perfect season. When you have a good week – great! – celebrate that victory and let it fuel your commitment to staying on track next week, but don’t let a loss derail your efforts. Dust off your uniform and recommit to your goals the next time Monday comes around.

About The Monday Campaigns:

The Monday Campaigns is a nonprofit organization in association with Johns Hopkins, Columbia and Syracuse universities. They dedicate the first day of every week to health to create a movement of individuals and organizations that join together every Monday to commit to healthy behaviors that can help end preventable chronic diseases.

Sid Lerner, the organization’s chairman, founded the Meatless Monday movement, the organization’s first initiative movement in 2003, with Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The campaign seeks to reduce the risk of chronic diseases by encouraging the public to cut back on meat consumption one day a week. Since its launch 12 years ago, Meatless Monday has become an international movement with support from schools, celebrities, restaurants, and organizations around the world.