Outside of offering exercise machines and classes to help students keep fit through the holidays, the Oakland University Recreational Center is hosting an incentive program to keep students mindful of their weight and they can even win a prize.

“Maintain, Don’t Gain” runs through both the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.

Since the initial year for the program was successful, with nearly 170 students who registered to participate, the program was chosen for this holiday season too.

Participants will weigh in at the Rec Center with a fitness attendant during open hours on Nov. 22-24. The weight will be recorded and kept confidential.

After the holidays, participants will weigh in once again on Jan. 3-5. A prize will be awarded to those who remain within one pound of their original weight or for those that have lost weight.

Becky Lewis, the assistant program director at the Rec Center, said weekly e-mails will be sent to those who register with the program to update participants with tips for maintaining the goal.

Tips include how to make healthy selection at buffets and parties and how to limit intake. The e-mails will also address time management to get workouts in busy schedules while trying to entertain, Christmas shop and attend parties through the holidays.

“The e-mails will focus on the topics of nutrition, exercise, stress management and getting enough sleep,” Lewis said. “(These are) the six primary things that get people down over the holidays and make it difficult and make us want to eat more.”

Prior registration for this event is not required. Lewis said participants will check in at the Rec Center and step on the scale to join the “Maintain, Don’t Gain” campaign.

The program is free for all students, faculty and staff. Paid membership to the Rec Center is not required for participation.

“Just show up and the staff will be ready to weigh you in and put down the information,” Lewis said. “When students come back to weigh in the second time, we will be able to give out prizes accordingly.”

Lewis said after the holidays, the Rec Center will be launching the “Shape Up OU” program to keep the community in shape.

Those without a membership to the Rec Center can take advantage of the facilities on Winter Preview Day, scheduled for Jan. 13.  Students and the community can use the Rec Center, free of charge and take classes such as yoga and cycling training, to get a taste of the added benefit of having a membership with the Rec Center.

For more information on “Maintain, Don’t Gain” or upcoming Rec Center events, contact Becky Lewis at [email protected]

The Rec Center will be open on Nov. 24 from 5:30 a.m.- 8 p.m. and will be closed on Thanksgiving. The Center will reopen from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. on Nov. 26-28.

For Christmas break, the Center will close at 8 p.m. on Dec. 23 and remain closed on Dec 24-25. It will be open from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. on Dec 26-30, closed on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1, and open on Jan. 2 from 10 a.m.-6 p.m.

Regular hours resume Jan. 3.