Healthy Eating Active Living

Your food choices can reduce your risk of illnesses such as heart disease, cancer, obesity, and diabetes, as well as defend against depression.

Additionally, learning the habits of healthy eating can boost your energy, sharpen your memory and stabilize your mood. You can expand your range of healthy food choices and learn how to plan ahead to create and maintain a satisfying, healthy diet. Simple choices will improve nutrition and overall health. Start eating better by:

• Eating plenty of fruit and vegetables (aim for fruit and vegetables at every meal)
• Picking healthy protein sources (lean meat, fish, nuts, legumes, and/or beans)
• Eating 100% whole grains (brown rice, 100% whole-grain breads, quinoa)
• Drinking water instead of sugary drinks (i.e., soda, sports drinks)
• Choosing healthy oils (like olive oil)
• Avoiding junk food

The human body was designed for activity. When people are active every day, they have greater overall energy and find it easier to maintain weight and prevent chronic diseases. There is also an important mental health benefit. Exercise stimulates the growth of new brain cells and helps prevent age-related decline. Staying active helps you concentrate better at work and helps your child focus better at school. 

Make Exercise Easy

Physical activity doesn't have to be a chore; it can be easy and you don't need a gym membership or expensive equipment. Walking is one of the easiest, least expensive ways to improve fitness, but there are plenty of other ways to be active. Here are some ideas:

• Take the stairs instead of the elevator
• Take a walk during your break or lunch
• Have walking meetings
• Park the car farther away from your destination and walk
• Bike your neighborhood, to the store or to the park
• Take a family walk after dinner
• Walk the dog
• Play a sport
• Dance

Outdoor Rx is a collaborative initiative aimed at getting people outside and improving their physical and mental wellbeing. The average American spends more than 10 hours per day interacting with screens, which disrupts outdoor cognitive health. Exposure to nature for 10-15 minutes every day can help reduce stress, promote better sleep, lower blood pressure, improve immune function, and increase happiness. Getting outside doesn't have to be intimidating. It can be as simple as going for a walk with the dog, gardening, or exploring a new trail. So pick an activity and head outside for your daily dose. 

Many United States towns and cities are designed for motor vehicle transportation, which can make walking and biking difficult and even dangerous. A walk audit is a tool to help communities participate in making healthy, safe, and walkable streets by taking a walk together and noting what helps (or does not help) make their streets feel comfortable for walking.

What is a walk audit and why should you do one?

Walk audits are a tool to assess street infrastructure and conditions of a planned route to determine its current walkability, documenting barriers to walking, positive features, safety concerns, wayfinding, and perceptions of the walking environment. Conducting a walk audit can be the start to making positive change in your community, leading to a safer, more accessible, and comfortable walking environment for everyone. Walk audits can be informal and casual events hosted by community members or more formal events with community decision makers, traffic engineers, and public works or parks staff. Whether there is a specific concern, a push to make communities walkable, or to help gather information for grants or public improvement projects, the Weld County Department of Public Health and Environment can help communities hold their own audit and achieve their goals. 

Walk audits can be used to:

• Identify walking barriers and benefits in a community.
• Bring community members together to discuss problems and brainstorm solutions.
• Identify disparities by assessing whether different neighborhoods have walking environments that differ in infrastructure and quality.
• Determine problems that can be easily fixed.
• Identify needed improvements to be included in funding asks, plans, and projects.
  
  

Simple Steps to a Walk Audit

1. Get Ready:
   

   First, identify goals, the route, assessment tools for rating, and plan the details of the walk.

2. Get Set: 
   

   Second, figure out who to invite and what supplies may be needed. 

3. Get Walking:
   

   Third, go on the walk! See the Walk Audit Facilitation Guide for more information on how to host a walk.

4. Get Active:
   Lastly, determine what changes are needed, who to share observations with, how to share the information, and refer back to original goals. 

For full information and guidance on the above steps, see the Facilitation Guide. If you would like one-on-one training to lead a walk audit, need a walk audit facilitator, or prefer a co-lead for your audit, contact Olga G. at gonzalez@weld.gov.