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First Lady Michelle Obama: Hi, Erin.
Coming from Chicago, which is a very cold climate,
I certainly understand the challenge.
But you know, it's a very good question,
because I think that we have to get creative in our lives,
because it's not just the cold weather that keeps us inside,
but not everybody can afford a gym membership,
not everybody lives in a community that's safe enough to
jog around the block, not all families have access to boys and
girls clubs or to wonderful resources in their community.
So it's important for us to get creative right in our own homes,
in our own living rooms, and you can do that.
Because if you can stand up and move your arms,
you can do jumping jacks; if you have a space on the floor to sit
down, you can do sit-ups; if you have stairs in your home,
running up and down the stairs several times; I mean,
you're really thinking about doing anything,
anything that just gets your heart rate up.
And one of the things I always say, when it doubt,
turn on the music and dance until you sweat.
Because I know the kids in my household can dance
until they sweat.
If you turn on the right song, you can't get them to sit down.
So getting creative and knowing that you don't need resources
and lots of fancy equipment and trainers to sweat or to move
enough to get yourself breathing hard.
And if it's just lifting up your legs or moving your arms,
you can use books as weights, you can use pots and pans,
you can use anything that -- you can lift up a chair; but again,
going to LetsMove.gov where we offer some suggestions,
and I would encourage other parents who have great ideas for
how to do this to go on to our website and share some ideas.
I know there are people out there who figured this out,
and we need to share our ideas with each other.
And by sharing, we learn, we grow,
so share your stories of how you're figuring out how to get
in shape with no resources and no outside,
because it can be done.
Thanks for the question.