Over these past four months, our goal together was to help educate ourselves and the community on healthy habits that can be applied to the entire community. We have learned a lot, and knowledge is power.
Healthy Lee’s national best practice campaign to reduce obesity and improve health is:
Eat at least, 5 fruits and vegetables a day to build health and brain power.
• Focus on fruits: Eat a variety of fruits—whether fresh, frozen, canned or dried—rather than fruit juice for most of your fruit choices. For a 2,000-calorie diet, you will need 2 cups of fruit each day (for example, 1 small banana, 1 large orange, and 1/4 cup of dried apricots or peaches).
• Vary your veggies: Eat more dark green veggies, such as broccoli, kale, and other dark leafy greens (even parsley is a power veggie); orange veggies, such as carrots, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, and winter squash; and beans and peas, such as pinto beans, kidney beans, black beans, garbanzo beans, split peas, and lentils
Healthy Living Tips:
• Keep cut up fruits and vegetables handy to use as a snack
• Allow kids to help with the selection of fruits and vegetables
• Try picking a new fruit or vegetable to try each week
• Reduce screen time to 2 hours or less.
• Substitute a physical activity for one hour of TV (go for walks, ride a bike, play ball)
• Do not watch TV while having dinner
• Institute a no-phone rule during family dinner time – use this time to talk about your child’s day
• Make bedrooms “screen-free” zones – remove TVs from bedrooms and avoid phone usage before bed to reduce eye strain and improve sleep quality
Get 1 hour or more of physical activity – make it fun and keep it going.
• Swim safely
• Walk the dog as a family activity
• Join a sport
• Walk to school
• Bike to school
No sweetened drinks…that means a big 0.
• Drink at least 8 glasses of water daily or more if doing activities
• Add fruit or vegetable slice to water to add flavor
• Cut fruit juice with water to cut sugar calories in half
Homemade Sugar-Free Kool-Aid
Ingredients:
- 4 tea bags Herbal Flavored Decaffeinated Tea
- 4 cups boiling water
- 4 cups cold water
- 4 full droppers liquid flavored stevia or natural honey
To Prepare:
- Place tea bags in a large mason jar.
- Pour boiling water into a mason jar and allow tea to steep for 15 minutes.
- Remove tea bags and add cold water and stevia.
- Stir to combine and refrigerate.
Cranberry Lime Spritzer
Ingredients:
- 2 cups natural cranberry juice no sugar added
- 2 cups lime seltzer water
- 2 limes
- garnish: fresh cranberries lime wedges
To Prepare:
- In a large pitcher pour the cranberry juice and seltzer water.
- Squeeze the juice of two limes into the pitcher.
- Add ice cubes, fresh cranberries and sliced lime to garnish to each glass.
For more information, visit http://www.sugarfreemom.com.
These past months we have learned to be creative and focus on our health in new and creative ways. The journey to health continues each day and Healthy Lee is here to support you along the way.
Now what?!
How can you continue the journey to wellness? How do you stay connected and encourage health in our community?
1) Continue incorporating 5210 principles in your daily routines and encourage others to do the same!
2) 5210 pledge registrants will be notified when it is time to start the next Million Mile Movement. Then sign up yourself for MMM.
3) Over the next few months talk it up. Identify other places to engage. Put signs up (we will provide, check back on the website for MMM) at your clubhouse, church, and in community organizations.
We know with your involvement we will reach our million miles this year!
