This New Year Renew Your
Commitment to Health!
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Was your 2019 holiday season filled with decadent foods and sweets and less time for your fitness routine? You are not alone! The New Year not only offers a fresh start for improving your lifestyle, it also offers a chance to make a renewed commitment to habits gone astray. This not only allows you to feel good and look good, but it can also help keep the doctor away. Below are some helpful tips to help you stick to your resolution and create lifelong healthy habits:
- Make your goals realistic to achieve. Set your goals based on facts about your own motivation, habits, and lifestyle.
- Take time to build a physical activity routine into your daily life.
- Reduce stress. High levels of stress lead to poor nutrition outcomes. Take time to brainstorm ways you can reduce stress in your life (Hint: Start with Tip #2, more naps, yoga and meditation are a good start).
- Establish mindfulness rituals for each meal throughout the day. Turn off and put away distractions before your meal and pay attention to each bite. It makes the food taste better!
Everyone at FORWARD DuPage hopes this New Year is your best ever! Our website
www.forwarddupage.org
has mountains of helpful resources to help support your new mindset and/or where you can get tools and information to help support you health and fitness goals as you get off to a healthy new you!
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Celebrating Community Impact Spotlight on Change!
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Lily Garden Child Care Center was recently featured in the FORWARD Impact video found
here
. FORWARD celebrates the hard work the center has undertaken, as a model for others, to revise their policies around health and nutrition to help young children build healthy habits for a lifetime.
With assistance from FORWARD DuPage, the staff at Lily Garden embraced creating healthy lifestyle goals. They allocated additional time in the day for children to move and created a beautiful outdoor play space. When the weather doesn’t cooperate, the Center has a wide variety of portable play equipment available for children to use indoors.
Even after FORWARD DuPage finished our recommendations, Lily Garden continues to make positive changes to their nutrition and food service policy. Healthy menus with fresh fruits and vegetables are the norm today at the center. These amazing transformations are what keep DuPage County healthy. For help with healthy lifestyle improvements being offered at early childcare centers, email Barb Taylor at
taylor5008@sbcglobal.net
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Share
YOUR
Accomplishments
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Tell us how you are spreading healthy change
here
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Share information with us about your healthy activity and become eligible for a chance to win a $100 gift card.
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Do you promise to inspire change by spreading healthy habits and sharing information about FORWARD? Small changes make a big difference. Help Spread the Pledge
here
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FORWARD DuPage launched our second webinar entitled
"The Earlier the Better: Simple Tools to Curb Obesity for a Lifetime"
. If you weren’t able to join us, click
here
for the replay. Barb Taylor, FORWARD DuPage's Early Childhood Healthy Lifestyle Expert explains how starting with three simple strategies can impact weight for a lifetime.
Even as an older adult, these tools can help you and your family reach a healthy weight, improve lifestyle choices and impact future health outcomes. Stay tuned for information about our third webinar to be scheduled in February.
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Resources, Resources, Resources!
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January is National Sunday Supper Month. February is Heart Month. March is National Nutrition Month. FORWARD DuPage has great tools, resources and newsletter copy to help you educate your constituents and celebrate each month to the fullest.
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Equity toolkit helps communities take on social determinants of health.
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The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation recently launched the State of Childhood Obesity website. The website features specific recommendations that can serve as a set of policy priorities for federal, state, and local leaders.
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Healthy Lifestyle
Legislative & Advocacy Update
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It’s an election year, so it’s especially important to ensure our elected officials are educated about issues that are important to our families and communities. Join America Walks on Wednesday, March 11 at 2pm on a webinar as they explore ways to engage with candidates and local officials to prioritize walkability initiatives.
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FORWARD DuPage serves as a leadership member of the Illinois Alliance to Prevent Obesity (IAPO). We encourage partners to get involved in helping to advance policies to support healthy lifestyle choices across Illinois.
To learn more about IAPO and their priorities
click
here
.
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Census Day is April 1, 2020, and it is vital that all participate. Census data informs funding decisions, provides a benchmark for all other survey data, and is a constitutional requirement.
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Healthy Lifestyles in the News
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CDC study finds 1 in 5 teens are living with pre-diabetes.
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Study debunks notion that c-section would increase risk of obesity in the child.
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Are sugar substitutes good for kids?
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Brain differences may be tied to obesity.
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Obesity is an epidemic. Why haven't we responded accordingly?
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BlueCross BlueShield
Grant Sponsorship Programs
Applications Acceptance
beginning in mid-January
Organizations working to improve community health and wellness may apply. Click
here
for information.
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Active Transportation Alliance
Winter Bike Rally
Friday, January 24
7:00 to 9:00am
Put on your warmest winter biking gear and come to Daley Plaza. Click
here
for more information and to register.
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GardenWorks
Annual Seed Swap
Saturday, January 18
11:00am
Browse a selection of seeds, and take home a variety to plant this spring. Bring your leftover seed packets or self-saved seeds to share. If you don't have seeds to offer, come anyway! All are welcome to attend. For more information click
here
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Food Growers Network Event 2020
Tuesday, January 28
6:30pm
Inject some Spring optimism into the winter days and take control of the quality of your seedlings by starting them in your own home. Learn the different methods, timing and equipment needed to prepare your own seedlings. Register
here
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Food Readers Book Club
Monday, March 9
6:00pm
Join The GardenWorks Food Readers Book Club's second meeting to discuss We Fed an Island. This is a true story of how a group of chefs fed hundreds of thousands of hungry Americans after Hurricane Maria. Register
here
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Glenbard Parent Series
Navigating Healthy Families
Wednesday, January 29
7:00pm
Author Amy Morin will present 13 Things Mentally Strong Parents Don't Do. Click
here
for more information.
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The Conservation Foundation
DuPage Environmental Summit 2020
Thursday, January 30
7:30am to 12:00pm
Come and learn if climate change is impacting DuPage County. Click
here
for more information and to register.
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The Resiliency Institute
Sunday Yoga on the Farm
Sunday, January 30
9:00 to 10:00am
Located on The Conservation Foundation’s historic McDonald Farm in Naperville, When the weather allows, you will experience yoga outside, surrounded by gardens and nature. The cost is $15 per person. Register
here
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Permaculture Forest Gardener Certificate Course 2020
Beginning Saturday, February 8
9:00am to 12:00pm
This highly interactive Permaculture Forest Gardener course will introduce you to permaculture and teach you the basics of forest garden design through in-class lecture and hands-on projects. For information on cost or to register click
here
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Edible Wild Plants Certificate
Course 2020
Beginning Saturday, February 22
9:30am to 3:30pm
Learn over 200 edible wild plants that grow in our bioregion through classroom, field and home study, but most importantly by eating or preparing recipes with them every class!
For information on cost or to register click
here
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Bioregional Herbalism Certificate Course 2020
Beginning Saturday, March 15
9:00am to 4:00pm
Bioregional Herbalism is a pathway to natural wellness. Learn the basics of body systems, herbal terminology, and common herbal preparations.
For information on cost or to register click
here
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Meet Up at Downer's Grove
Health Optimization if a Toxic World
Tuesday, February 11 & March 10
6:45pm
Help uncover research to use natural means to maintain and restore our health.
Click to
here
to
attend
.
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America Walks
Webinar: Walkability for All
Wednesday, February 12
1:00pm
Explore ways folks are taking action to create walkable and movable communities for all.
Click
here
to
register
.
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Forest Preserve
Volunteer Restoration Workday
Saturday, February 1
9:00am to 12:00pm
Help improve a prairie or woodland by collecting seeds or removing nonnative plants. Ages 8 and up; under 18 with an adult.
Register
here
and note additional workdays scheduled.
To register by phone, call 630.206.9630 at least five days in advance.
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Yoga in the Mansion
Each Wednesday, February 5 - March 25
7:30 to 8:30am
Start your day in beautiful historic Mayslake Hall library. Classes are for all levels and led by a certified yoga practitioner. Ages 18 and up. $40 per person in advance per four-part session; $14 per class for drop-ins. Register
here
or call 630.206.9566.
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Romantic Night Hike
Friday, February 7
7:00 to 9:00pm
Take a self-guided, lantern-lit 1- to 3-mile leisurely or moderate walk through the woods with your sweetheart. Then, warm up with hot cocoa around a cozy fire. Ages 18 and up. Register
here
or call 630.850.8110.
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A Breath of Fresh Air: Spring Meditation
Saturday, March 28
9:30 to 11:00am
Learn about the science behind meditation as a physical, mental and emotionally beneficial exercise, and then put that science into practice during a leisurely guided walk. Ages 18 and up. Register
here
or call 630.206.9566.
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Active Transportation Alliance
2020 Awards Reception
Thursday, March 5
5:30 to 8:30pm
Come celebrate the great work being done to advance sustainable transportation in Chicagoland!
Register
here
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B.R. Ryall YMCA
Basketball Spring Break Camp
March 30 through April 3
9:00am to 2:00pm
The camp was founded to honor Billy O’Donnell for coaching youth basketball at the Y. Click
here
for more information.
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The challenges facing children and families to support healthy lifestyles will take the combined passions, expertise and influence of many. If you're reading this message, you are one of those influencers. Join us in our mission:
- Donate - Too many families don't have access to the services and resources they need to stay healthy. In honor of our 10th anniversary, we've set our sights on raising $200,000 for change. Every dollar will support FORWARD DuPage's work to build capacity in communities where the need is great and the resources are too few.
- Sign-Up - Join our coalition of thousands of partners so we can drive change for children and families and improve healthy lifestyle outcomes together.
- Share Our Message - Spread the word about our 10th Anniversary and the impact we have had on our website or on the social media links at the bottom of the page.
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Do you subscribe to the IMPACT DuPage Newsletter?
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Impact DuPage is a county-wide initiative of partner organizations working to influence change in the areas of affordable housing, access to health treatment, behavioral health treatment, substance abuse and healthy lifestyles. FORWARD is Impact DuPage’s vehicle to help influence residents and partners to make positive choices regarding nutrition, physical activity, and the built environment
to improve health status improvement.
For more details and to stay up to date on local progress, click
here
and subscribe to their twice a month newsletter.
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Help Us Get the Word Out!
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Do you know of an upcoming event or health fair in DuPage County?
5-4-3-2-1 Go!
®
is a public education message with recommendations for children and families to promote a healthy lifestyle.
- 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day
- 4 servings of water a day
- 3 servings of low-fat dairy a day
- 2 or less hours of screen time a day
- 1 or more hours of physical activity a day
For helpful resources and ideas on how to incorporate this message in your DuPage County organization click
here
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We would like to thank our funders!
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