With the holiday season approaching, officials at West Virginia University’s Student Recreation Center are promoting a program to help students maintain their weight in the midst of Thanksgiving dinner and Christmas parties.
Light-N-Up, the Rec’s newest holiday weight maintenance program, aims to give participants incentive to make healthy choices during the holidays, when most individuals find it hard to maintain their fitness routine.
"The average person will gain between 1-to-5 pounds over the holidays," said Nancy Oliverio, manager for fitness and wellness at the Rec. "There’s so much food around and so much temptation to eat foods that aren’t healthy for you and to slack on your exercise."
The program’s participants are weighed at the start of the eight-week program, Nov. 9 through Nov. 15. They will be weighed again at the end of the program between Dec. 28 and Jan. 11. Participants are also encouraged to weigh themselves at home weekly.
"We normally don’t do programs that encourage you to weigh yourself because weight is just a number," Oliverio said. "But with this type of program, it’s just kind of to keep it in the back of their mind."
It also adds an incentive to maintain your weight: a chance at a cash prize.
Participants each contribute $1 to a raffle to join the program.
At the end of the program, all participants who maintained or lost weight are entered into the raffle, and the winner is awarded the sum.
Because the program is new, Oliverio said less than 10 students have registered. But noted the Rec will help compensate the winner if a satisfactory prize is not in the raffle.
The Rec will supply participates with weekly inspirational sheets to aid their efforts.
Officials looked at the obstacles individuals would most likely face and designed the sheets to be helpful during that time period. The information includes, for example, tips on how to make healthy foods from leftovers after Thanksgiving dinner.
"They’re really just good tips on how to avoid unnecessary calories," Oliverio said.
Though the program does not encourage a specific exercise routine, officials will push exercising throughout the season.
All students and Rec members are eligible for the program. Those interested can register on Nov. 15 at:
www.studentreccenter.wvu.edu/fitness/holiday_maintenance_programuntil
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