Sandy Bromley, the Aquatics and Fitness Coordinator for New Ulm Park and Recreation, said it’s important to remain active during the holiday season so those unwanted pounds don’t add up.

“The college of sports and medicine association recommends that you get 30 minutes of exercise daily, at least five days a week at minimum,” Bromley said. “That’s for normal healthy eating, so you’ll want to think about taking it up a notch especially when you consider the amount of unhealthy things you’ll be doing during the holidays. That means working more on the vigorous end than the moderate end when you’re exercising or adding more time when you’re exercising.”

While it’s difficult to avoid eating unhealthy, she said that there are many ways to prevent temptations. Eating a balanced breakfast, lunch and dinner is a big key and having snacks throughout the day to avoid overeating later in the day is one way. Another tip is to drink about 64 ounces or more of water per day because your body often confuses hunger and thirst.

Also, bringing a healthy dish to a party and making healthy ingredient swaps for your favorite recipes is also recommended (example, brown rice pasta for regular rice). Most important, know that you are human and you will sometimes over-indulge. Accept it and move on and focus on time with friends and family.

Submitted photo Marie Kuehn is participating in a kettlebell class, which is held at 6:45 p.m. on Monday nights.

Bromley said that eating fruits and vegetables is a key and don’t be afraid to say no to snacks, no matter how tempting they may be.

Bromley also said that the stress of the holiday season also contributes to weight gain.

Introducing a new

program

To help counter the unhealthy eating that tends to happen at this time of year, the New Ulm Park and Recreation department is starting a weight loss challenge that starts in January and lasts the first two months of the year.

Submitted photo Hatha Yoga class is offered at 4 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday.

“Ideally, it’s a weight loss program that is 60 days that is going to target the main areas of weight loss, especially after the holidays and to New Year’s resolutions,” Bromley said. “We’re having someone from the New Ulm Medical Center come in and doing presentations on ‘you are what you eat’ and ‘Couch to 5K’ and we’ll be setting up nutrition tours at Hy-Vee with the Hy-Vee dietician.”

Bromley said that as part of the program, people can go through the tour and understand more about reading food labels and incorporating vegetables into their diet. It will also help with making smarter choices between two options of a snack food.

She also said that some of the Park and Rec staff will be doing presentations on mental health and motivation such as working through goals and barriers. In addition, anyone who is a part of the program on the fitness side gets full access to the New Ulm Park and Rec fitness center for the full 60 days. This includes access to the walking track, the open gym, the group exercise classes and the pool.

Participation points and prizes will also be awarded as you reach certain goals and attend certain classes. As an individual, prizes will be awarded for highest percent weight loss, highest percent inches loss and highest percent body fat lost. The prizes will be announced at a later date and they may include items such as Hy-Vee gift cards.

Bromley said that proper exercise is always to key to good health.

Submitted photo Cardio kickboxing participants in action at the New Ulm Park and Recreation center.

“The guidelines are moderate to vigorous exercise, so anything that gets your heart rate up,,” she said. “I recommend the use of heart rate monitoring or knowing how to check your heart rate while you’re exercising to make sure that your heart rate is functioning at a level that allows your body to gain from the exercises that you’re doing.”

Most important, when trying to lose weight, Bromley also said that portion control is a big factor and weight loss goals should be realistic.

“If you want to lose 20 pounds, you have to look realistically and say a healthy person should lose about a pound a week,” Bromley said. “Unless they have a substantial amount of weight to lose. If you take baby steps versus a big goal, you set up a timeline and make sure that the goals you did set are realistic and that you have the time to meet them.”

For additional information, go to the New Ulm Park and Rec department’s website or go to: http://new-ulm.maxgalaxy.net/BrowseActivities.aspx?GUID=fc252879-83b7-45f7-9bc9-a33331cf8034

Submitted photo The New Ulm Park and Rec department offers a Spin and Core class at 5:30 p.m. on Monday.