Do you know America’s #1 anti-activity? It is sitting disease. It’s the top reason more and more of us are overweight. Our increasingly housebound, car-bound, office-bound, computer-bound lifestyle claims at least 22 hours out of most adults’ days in the United States.
Here is some math from Reader’s Digest: Add 1 hour for meals, 1 hour commuting, 8 hours on the job (or working in the home), 3 hours for TV, 1 hour for evening computer and phone time, 1 hour for waking-up and going-to-bed routines, and 7 hours for snoozing. That’s 22 hours in which you have minimal physical activity going on!
Here are some tips on how to get off the couch and get outside to improve our health.
Click HERE for the full article from Reader’s Digest.
1. Put on outdoor clothes the moment you come home from work. For most of us, work clothes are indoor clothes — you wouldn’t want to garden or play in a tie or skirt or dress shoes. Make it a ritual: arrive home, immediately switch into a T-shirt and shorts, and start the second part of your day afresh.
2. Keep essential gear by the door. Outdoor shoes, sunglasses, a brimmed hat, sunscreen, and bug repellent all are essential summertime outdoor gear. Have them all ready in the same place by your back door.
3. Match eating time with outdoor time. Lunch took 20 minutes? Then walk for 20 minutes outdoors immediately after eating. Dinner took 30 minutes? Balance it with 30 minutes outside. Make every meal a two-part affair: eating time and then outdoor time.
4. Garden in small batches. Most of us save up gardening chores for the weekend. The result: several hours of hard work, the last few not very fun. Instead, garden in 30-minute spurts all week long. This will get you outdoors more frequently, and you’ll never get bored or tired because of the brevity of the task. Best of all, come Saturday, your yard and garden will need only a little work, leaving you more time for fun!
5. Use weekday evenings more effectively. In the same vein, why shop, clean, and cook so much on the weekends? Do your essential weekly errands from 8 to 9 p.m. weekdays, and clear the way for weekend fun. You’ll find that stores are much emptier weekday evenings, making shopping that much less stressful.
6. Take more nature walks. If you’ve embraced walking as part of your weight-loss regimen, terrific! Now take it up a notch — put on trail-walking shoes, go to a regional park (the more rugged the better) with a friend or loved one, and take a wilderness hike. Bring water and a granola bar, and wander for a few hours of natural, soul-lifting exercise.
7. Assemble a toy box. What do you love doing outdoors? Whether it’s hitting wiffle golf balls, practicing your fishing fly casting, doing watercolor paintings, shooting basketballs, playing badminton, tossing tennis balls or a Frisbee with your dog, weeding the flower beds or exercising with a hula hoop, have your gear in a waterproof bin near your backdoor, ready for instant usage.
8. Schedule like crazy. Life’s dirty little secret: The most common Saturday conversation in America goes like this:
‘Whadayouwannado today?’
‘I don’t know — whada YOUwannado?’
Well, throw out that script. Picnics, hikes, bike rides, arboretum visits don’t just happen spontaneously; you need to plan them. During the week, be as specific in your planning as possible for your upcoming weekend. Don’t just suggest a nature walk for Sunday afternoon. Pick a time and place, and make a firm plan.
Today on The Morning Thing we talked about The National Day of Prayer, happening tonight on the Public Square in Downtown Mount Vernon. The event starts at 7pm, and The Knox Network of Christian Ministries has some special things planned.
