North Olympic Land Trust Executive Director Tom Sanford is among the community leaders challenging themselves to be healthier throughout the month of July.
Initiated by the Olympic Peninsula Healthy Community Coalition, the 5210 Challenge pushes all participants to integrate the following four healthy habits into their daily lives:
- 5 servings of fruits and vegetables.
- Reduce recreational screen time to 2 hours or less.
- Engage in 1 hour of physical activity.
- Drink zero sugar-sweetened beverages.
These four lifestyle behaviors have been found by researchers to be the most powerful steps anyone can take to prevent chronic diseases, such as cancer, heart disease, arthritis and diabetes.
“I think the biggest challenge will be recreational screen time,” said Sanford. “I enjoy relaxing in the evenings with a few shows and smartphone scrolling. It will be good for me to limit my screen time, and July is the perfect time to spend that time outside instead.”
In support of the Challenge, the whole Land Trust staff plan to do a variety of things, from walking meetings to highlighting the best places to grab local produce.
Stay tuned because throughout July, 5210 Challenge participants will be sharing their stories in hopes of inspiring anyone to join them in living a healthier lifestyle.
Find 5210 tips, challenge updates and printable tracking sheets on Olympic Peninsula Healthy Community Coalition’s Facebook page.
