A family kayaking together
What is my goal? Get Up, Get Out!
How do I get there? “Treat yourself to your favorite activity. You deserve it!”
What do I do?

Bowling, Swimming in a pool, Club dancing, Miniature golf, Baseball game, Window shopping, Arcade Video dancing (DDR®), Camping, Driving range, Lake swimming, Beach, Mountains, Fishing, Games
How do I make it work? Be creative, Involve family, or Invite friends
How often? Make the time!
How hard? Make it fun!
How long? Until the fun stops!

Healthy food choices, lower body fat and a healthy state of mind are important to our health and quality of life. Maintaining an active lifestyle, however, is a key ingredient and takes time to achieve.
Starting easy and making it stick will provide greater success than overachieving and quickly giving up. As you progress towards the goal of achieving a lifetime commitment to physical activity, you should start slow and build on your successes step by step.
Get Up! (Get Out!) is not about exercise or hard workouts at the gym. This is a step of leisure and fun that will help lay the foundation for becoming more active.

Did you know that leisure time (non¬working hours) in America was constant until 1996 and has steadily declined ever since? Ironically, physical activity in Americans has also decreased. As a result, our health is declining and our weight is
rising. It is time to Get Up! and Get Out! Invest in some fun! Being active should not have to feel like another chore. It should be a nice break from the mundane strains of life. You work hard all week at your job, doing housework, running errands and caring for your family and friends. You have earned the right to go out and do something fun and enjoyable. Go ahead! Give yourself permission because you deserve it!
Here are a few suggestions: Go shopping at the mall, outdoor flea market or street fair. Go out dancing at a club, or stay home and put on your favorite music. Hit some balls at a driving range. Enjoy the open air at a nearby lake, mountain or beach. Visit a national or state park and camp out.

Take the kids to a neighborhood park or pool, baseball game, or video arcade. Play indoor or outdoor family games. Go bowling, ice skating or to the local zoo!
There are so many things out there to do. Whatever you choose, make sure it is fun, and take along some company, such as a good friend or family member. When you are tired from all the fun, relax and refresh! But be sure to schedule recreation and relaxation into your calendar. Work and other commitments are already there. Why not schedule
the fun? It is just as important and you deserve it!

References

  1. Thompson, Gordon, and Pescatello, (Eds.). (2009). ACSM's Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription, 8th ed.
  2.   U.S. DHHS. (2008). 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. http://www.health.gov/paguidelines/
Lindsay, A. 2009, Get Up, Get Out!, Extension | University of Nevada, Reno, FS-10-80
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Learn more about the author(s)

Anne R. Lindsay
Anne R. Lindsay
 

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Eat Smart Be Active - Let's Keep Moving: Unstructured Play
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Eat Smart Be Active - Let's Move Together: Structured Play
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Strengths, Challenges, and Opportunities for Physical Activity Promotion in the Century-old National Cooperative Extension System
In 2014, federal policy brought PA promotion into the mission of Extension. Although this policy marks the beginning of concerted efforts for PA promotion, several states have had strong success in this area. Borrowing from these efforts, this paper reports strengths, challenges,...
 Samantha M. Harden, Laura Balis, Thomas Strayer III, Nikki Prosch, Breanne Carlson, Anne Lindsay, Paul Estabrooks, David Dzewaltowski, Katherine Gunter 2020, Journal of Human Sciences and Extension
 

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