Ann Kopecky

The “freshman 15,” the hibernation of winter and the upcoming holidays may cause some SDSU students, faculty and staff to worry about packing on the pounds.

But they don’t have to worry about their weight much longer.

Fight the Fat- Lose a Ton, a program to promote weight loss through healthy behavior, is a community-wide collaboration of the Wellness Center to get participants to lose a ton, or 2,000 pounds.

The weight-loss program will begin on Nov. 24 and will last 10 weeks, ending on Feb. 2.

The program costs $5 for students, faculty, staff and Wellness Center members and $20 for non-members.

Participants can work as individuals or as teams. In teams, weight loss will be calculated in percentages to see who lost the most weight.

Every two weeks, participants will have the chance to weigh-in at the group meeting.

Participants have the option to work on their own weight loss program or with the help of the Wellness Center. Senior health promotion students will be available to set up group or individual-based programs for dietary and fitness.

The program includes coupons, motivational e-mails, healthy recipes, emotional support and information on nutrition and exercise.

At the end of the program, prizes will be awarded to recognize those individuals that lost the most weight.

This is the first year for the Fight the Fat- Lose a Ton program. The Wellness Center got the idea for the program after a spinning instructor found a Web site on a town that had collectively lost a ton.

The Wellness Center decided to implement the program in November to help people face weight gain issues through the holidays.

“We just thought maybe this would help folks through this time,” Connie Englund, Wellness Center secretary said.

Englund said the program is for anyone who wants to lose weight, whether that is 50 pounds or just five.

“It’s a group effort. People like to work toward this kind of thing,” Englund said. “If we can get a lot of people involved, that will make it more fun.”

For more information, contact the Wellness Center at 688-5521.