Gaining weight during the holidays is a nightmare most people can't escape.
Yet 20 Ball State students and faculty members gave it a shot by completing the BSU Holiday Weight Loss Challenge.
The program lasted 10 weeks and included six sessions with speakers discussing weight loss and nutrition and working out twice a week with a personal trainer.
Freshman Rodney Blount said though it was hard to stay dedicated to the program during the holidays, he managed to exercise.
"It's like a little start-up kit to get you to do it yourself," Blount said. He said the program helped in making a believer out of oneself.
Blount said that his personal goal was not to lose weight but to gain muscle, so while he did not lose weight, he did learn valuable information about living a healthier lifestyle.
Health educator and program coordinator Lisa Thomason said that that program was successful, especially considering this is the first time any weight loss program had been tried at BSU.
Because of the program's success, the Health Center is starting a Spring Weight Loss Challenge program from Feb. 1 to April 12.
Students can sign up by filling out an application in the Health Education office (HC 201) from 8 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. on Jan. 20, and the selected applicants will be notified during the week of Jan. 24.
"We've changed the sign up a little bit," Thomason said. "We're taking applications all day tomorrow [today] and we'll pick the ones we think will most benefit from the program."
Blount agreed that this new sign-up was a good idea.
"People like myself, we don't necessarily need to be there compared to somebody who has a weight problem and was number 21 on the list," Blount said.
When the program began, the average weight of a participant was 194 pounds, and by the last meeting, the average weight was 184 pounds, meaning that the average weight lost was about 10 pounds, Thomason said.
She said that 70 percent of the participants either maintained or lost weight.
"One aspect that you might overlook but that was very valuable was the age range," Thomason said.
The age ranged from the youngest at 18 years old to the oldest at 63 years old.
"At first I was shocked," Blount said when he recalled first seeing so many older people in the program, "but then I realized they worked just as hard as we did."
Blount said especially for the people not accustomed to working out in the gym fairly often, the personal trainers and group workouts were helpful.
"This was a nice experience to have a support system for working out," Blount said.
Blount said besides getting into the habit of going to the gym more often, his favorite part of the program was earning back the $20 each participant had to pay in the beginning but had a chance to get back by reaching their goal.
"Don't be intimidated about losing weight because then you probably won't lose it," Blount said, "Don't fear it. It's a great program and you have nothing to lose but your weight."
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