Healthy Balance Toolkit for Individuals

Well done! You’ve taken an important first step on the pathway to better health. The information below will help you set your course, track your progress, and stay focused and motivated along your journey. Use the materials below to get started today.

Six healthy challenges

Which challenge will you work on next? Pick one to get started.

1. Colorful Plates
   Mom was right. Eating fruits and vegetables is good for us—helping us achieve and maintain a healthy weight and lowering our risk for disease. Yet fewer than 2 in 10 adults consume at least 2 servings of fruit and 3 servings of vegetables a day. Take steps to increase your daily fruit and vegetable intake by adding more colors to your plate everyday.
2. Minutes in Motion
   Regular physical activity improves both physical and mental health and reduces risk for bone injury and diseases like stroke, hypertension, diabetes and even some cancers. Experts recommend 30 minutes of physical activity—like brisk walking—each day. Help reach this goal by incorporating more “minutes in motion” into your day.
3. Power Breakfast
   Tempted to skip breakfast to save on calories? Think again. Research shows that people who regularly skip breakfast had 4.5 times the obesity risk as those who eat breakfast. And among people who had lost significant weight and kept it off, eating breakfast every day was a key behavior linked to their success. Power your way to better health with breakfast every day.
4. Snack Attack
   America is a nation of nibblers, with close to half of us snacking three or more times a day. While snacking can be healthy, too many of us are choosing high-fat, high-sugar options. An extra 100 calories in unneeded fat and sugar daily can add up to more than a 10 lb. gain in a year. Learn how to choose healthier options the next time a snack attack hits.
5. Smart Servings
   Over the years, we’ve become a “super-size” culture, with meal and snack sizes becoming increasingly larger. These larger portions—along with distractions during mealtimes—have created “portion distortion,” with many of us eating more than our bodies need. Learn tips to help you choose smart servings.
6. Drink Think
   If you’re like most Americans, you’re getting over 25% of your daily calories from liquid! Since the 1960s, the average person’s calorie intake from beverages has nearly doubled—due in part to the explosion of new drink choices and sizes. More choices means you need to make multiple “drink think” decisions every day.