If you don't want cancer, you've got to get off the couch. Now, I don't promise you won't get cancer if you change your couch-potato ways -- I got cancer and never was a couch girl myself -- but this one simple step will at least offer you some protection against the disease we all want to keep at bay.

Don't worry, you don't have to work up much of a sweat in your fight against cancer. Simply moving will do the trick. Sure, a hard-core run works but so does a round of golf. Or a walk with your pooch. Or a game of kickball in the back yard with your kids. Any type of physical activity will do -- as long as it's not done while reclining on the couch. Jumping on your couch might work, though.

No one knows for sure why exercise is a cancer butt-kicker. Maybe it's the inflammation and stress-fighting powers physical activity delivers. It doesn't matter why it works, really. It just works. So get walking, dancing, hiking, raking, mowing, and more. Just move.

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We've all seen those lists of top stressors. And it's always struck me that the lists include events that are both happy and horrible. Moving, divorce and marriage are always on them. But putting these in context is important.

Take my friend's recent separation from her spouse. The 10-year relationship was far more stressful than filing the paperwork and finding a new apartment. And speaking of finding a new apartment, moving is always on those top lists. But, let me tell you, I've never seen my friend so happy as when we were moving her new red leather sofa into her bachelorette pad. As for marriage, I'm one of the fortunate ones who can say that promising to be with my husband forever was one of the least stressful things I've ever done. And 10 years later, I feel the same way.

My point is this: there is plenty of joy to be found is these supposedly high-stress events. And from my experience, it can offset most of the negative elements involved in planning a wedding, moving a big piece of furniture or facing life alone. I think this guy's got the right idea. There are fates far worse than moving.

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When you're trying to raise a healthy child, you have to start early. So this Christmas, instead of buying your little one something that keeps them sitting in one spot, why not buy them something interactive that will them moving today and hopefully for life too?

Fitsugar has some great suggestions:

• YogaKids 2: ABC by Gaiam will introduce them to the basics of yoga
• Hullabaloo gets them spinning, dancing, twisting and more.
  
• The Smart Cycle is like an exercise bike but more fun and for kids.
  

The best gift my brother and I got as a kid was a little car that we had to peddle ourselves -- we spent so much time on that, both in the house and outside. What fit gifts are your favourites?

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It's no secret that one of the biggest obstacles for all of us in our quest to be healthy and physically active as adults is the overwhelming and growing number of sedentary career and job options. In the olden days everybody, spare the king maybe, had to work physically for their living in some form or another and as a result it was much easier to be fit naturally as a course of living. Now I'm not suggesting we trade in our computer desks and telephones for the technology and science-impaired lifestyles of ages past (I'll pass on catching Polio, thank you) but we definitely have to do something to get moving. This is ridiculous.

Obesity and lazy sloth-like lifestyles are linked to more than 112,000 deaths each year and also feed into countless chronic and potentially deadly conditions like heart disease and diabetes. Forbes recently compiled a list of the nation's 20 most sedentary cities -- are you in one of them?

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I picked up my Pre-K kid from school today and checked his cubby for take-home items. His little wooden box typically contains artwork, parent notes, and an occasional permission slip. Today, I found a magazine that read, Parents' Game Plan for Good Health. It peaked my interest -- so I flipped through the pages before I even left the school parking lot. What I discovered was pretty good. It went like this:

Get the Family Moving
Walk the dog or toss a football. Just move. And do it together.

Cut Screen Time
Ditch TV and video games, and your kids will spend more calories.

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Spend all day sitting in front of a computer? Although that generally isn't a healthy way to spend hours on end, many of us just can't avoid it. But, surprisingly, there is a small upside: the internet, sitting right in front of you, is a powerful tool for weight loss.

In a study that compared internet-based exercise programs against more traditional printed-on-paper plans the internet programs finished right up there in terms of effectiveness and motivational power. Both groups kept activity logs and filled out regular questionnaires to keep them on track, which I think may have been the biggest help, but it is nice to know that online programs can be successful. For many people the internet is just so much more convenient these days than anything else.

So, depending on your situation, you might want to try squeezing in just a little websurfing as long as you're going to be stuck in front of that computer anyway. It might do your body good!

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