It is week one of the ACPS Finding Fit Spring Health Challenge: In Search of the Healthiest Bunch, where schools and departments go head-to-head in a quest to find the healthiest bunch in ACPS. The challenge is designed to encourage healthy eating, vigorous physical activity and good sleep habits.
Each week throughout May will focus on a different health and wellness-related activity. Week one, which runs May 1 through May 7, will focus on nutrition. This week’s challenge: consume five servings of fruits and vegetables each day.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “eating more fruits and vegetables adds nutrients to diets, reduces the risk for heart disease, stroke, and some cancers, and helps manage body weight when consumed in place of more energy dense foods.” Aim to consume at least five servings of fruits and vegetables daily.
Here is a rough guideline for serving sizes:
- ½ cup of fruit
- 1 medium piece of fruit
- ¼ cup of dried fruit
- ½ cup (4 ounces) of 100% fruit or vegetable juice
- 1 cup of leafy vegetables
- ½ cup of cooked or raw vegetables.
For each day that you meet the challenge, mark that day on the Spring Fitness Challenge Tracking Calendar (PDF). Encourage your colleagues to do the same.
At the end of the month, tally your points across all four weeks and turn in your worksheet to your Wellness Champion. Totals for each school and department will be calculated and winners will be selected based on the highest number of points and the highest percentage of participation at School and Central Office sites.
Building healthy habits is the goal, so anyone who has at least 20 points at the end of the challenge will be eligible to enter a drawing for prizes. Winners will be announced and prizes will be distributed at the ACPS Finding Fit Kickball Game on Thursday, June 8 at 3:30 p.m. Mark your calendar!
Next week’s challenge: Physical Activity. So, dust off your pedometer or charge your Fitbit, grab your sneakers and get ready to head for the trail. Help your school or department become the healthiest bunch in ACPS.
Learn more about ACPS Finding Fit at the ACPS Open Enrollment Information Sessions on Wednesday, May 3.