Eating During the Holidays:

1.)    Overindulgence at holiday parties can be a constant struggle. If you’re in charge of planning the meal, find ways to include lighter substitutes for fattening or unhealthy ingredients. For example, swap plain greek yogurt for sour cream, choose low fat hot chocolate instead of eggnog and have fresh fruit and dark chocolate instead of sugar cookies or other calorie-laden desserts.

2.)    Before attending a holiday party, prepare yourself by eating a light and lean snack before you leave home—this will make you less tempted to overeat.

3.)    Bring a nutritious holiday dish to the holiday gathering! It will provide a light alternative to the usual heavy holiday spread. Try Butternut Squash Pilaf, Avocado-Corn Salsa, Glazed Chocolate-Pumpkin Bundt Cake or Healthy Green Bean Casserole.

4.)    Most Americans gain an average of one pound over the holidays and that weight isn’t usually lost during the rest of the year. Over the years this adds up, so put a stop to it now to start the new year off on a healthier note! Read Dr. Ann’s 10 tips on avoiding holiday weight gain.

Staying Active During the Holidays:

1.)    If you choose to continue running outside, make sure that you follow these tips for winterizing your run.

2.)    If you don’t want to brave the cold weather then try an alternative indoor workout that you’ve never heard of! Step off that treadmill and try something new like Zumba, Rock Climbing, Crossfit, Dance Trance or Aerial Silks.

3.)    Find ways to incorporate activity into your holiday preparations. Visit a Christmas tree farm and use those muscles to haul and load your tree into your car, park far away from the store to squeeze in a few extra steps while you’re shopping for gifts, walk around your neighborhood with a group to sing carols or go ice skating at an outdoor rink for exercise and extra holiday cheer.

4.)    Whatever you do this holiday season, just make sure to keep moving! The health risks of inactivity have been found to be more hazardous than smoking and obesity. Plan family activities and games outside, have a snowball fight or take a walking tour of holiday lights in your neighborhood.

It’s no surprise that many New Year’s resolutions stem from holiday overindulgence, stress and inactivity. Make this year different and choose to #preventCancer4 yourself, your loved ones and your future!

Holiday Health: #PreventCancer4 the Holidays Photo Contest

Show us your best healthy holiday traditions! Enter the Prevent Cancer Foundation #Preventcancer4 the Holidays photo contest. Email pcf@preventcancer.org with your pictures throughout the holiday season. We’ll post all the pictures we receive on Facebook and Pinterest. Our top choices will be highlighted in a blog post on January 8!

Prevent Cancer staff from L to R: Will Mellor, DJ Abernathy, Elliot Turner and Liona Chan

Our booth was brightly decorated in our Prevent Cancer signature green and our volunteers all matched in green tanks and sunglasses. We had a great time meeting so many people while jammin’ out to the many talented DJs and bands playing on the Dance Forest stage.

Many people stopped to participate in the new #PreventCancer4 campaign, a quick and easy way to support cancer prevention and early detection! They each filled out who they are preventing cancer for and posed for a photo. The #PreventCancer4 messages were ones from the heart: some honored moms and grandparents while others were more all encompassing: “everyone” and “the world”. And beyond that, some were a little more “out there”: “cancer sucks” and “hot chicks”. But no matter the answer, it’s pretty clear that everyone is affected by cancer in some way, and there is always someone who you should be preventing cancer for!

We also distributed our Buddy Bracelets promoting colorectal cancer awareness, green Prevent Cancer sunglasses, stickers and other cool swag. We even featured a free sunscreen “bar” where we had sunscreen “shots,” the recommended amount of sunscreen to use to protect your skin from the sun. The sunny morning definitely required it, as many visitors had forgotten theirs!

Several cancer survivors also stopped by and we were truly touched by the many personal stories that we heard throughout the day. It seems that everyone has a personal connection to cancer, and we are extremely thankful to everyone who was kind enough to share their stories with us.

Alabama Shakes performs on the main pavillion stage.

Many thanks to everyone who generously donated to the Prevent Cancer Foundation during Freefest! Every dollar counts and each donated to the Foundation helps fund our lifesaving cancer prevention and early detection research, education, advocacy and community outreach programs.

To those who visited our booth at Freefest, check out your #PreventCancer4 photos on our Facebook page and be sure to tag yourselves! For those who didn’t make it out to the festival, show your support for cancer prevention and make your own #PreventCancer4 photo and post it on our Facebook wall. Don’t be afraid to get creative! See these and other snapshots of Freefest here!