Ready to get serious about losing weight, but confused about where to start?

The West Virginia University Student Recreation Center is offering a way for members to get in shape with the second annual Body for Break&Beyond.

The programwhich includes a fitness contest, wellness talks, exercise tips and morebegins with registration from 4-7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 16, at the center on the Evansdale Campus. The first 200 people to sign up will receive free water bottles.

The program is free to all WVU students and other rec center members. Participants must complete a personal fitness assessment by making an appointment Jan. 17-24. Personal training sessions begin the week of Jan. 28, and the contest ends April 6.

The goal of the contest is to educate students about exercise and nutrition to help them develop healthier lifestyles,said Colleen Harshbarger, manager of fitness, wellness and informal recreation at the rec center.

Many of our students come to campus with limited knowledge about healthy eating and how to exercise,she noted.With West Virginia ranked as a leader in lifestyle-related diseases like obesity and diabetes, we feel compelled to help students reconsider their habits and their destinies.”

Rec staff will offer free personal training during the contest. Students wanting help with developing a healthy eating plan will be paired with a dietitian or one of three graduate students for one-on-one nutritional counseling. Participants will also receive weekly e-handouts with information on exercise and nutrition-related topics.

There will be prizes for the top three males and females at the end of the 10-week competition. Winners must be WVU students enrolled in at least six credit hours. Grand prizes include the iPod touch (one for each first-place winner), rafting trips from River Riders and Rivermen, season passes at Snowshoe Mountain and packages from Spa Roma and Nico Spalon.

Factors that will be taken into consideration when choosing winners include most body fat lost, inches lost, heart rate, blood pressure and flexibility. (Faculty and staff can participate in the contest, but are not eligible to win prizes.)

In addition, weekly raffles will be drawn for participants who exercise three or more times a week. Weekly prizes include gift cards from Dicks Sporting Goods, Sams Club and Steve&Barrys; aMind Over MatterReiki session; an autographed Mountaineer football; a Nico Spalon spa treatment; somatic wellness massage therapy; a hair salon cut from Attitudes; mini golf at Laurel Caverns; and Dicks Sporting Goods coupons for sporting goods, athletic footwear and apparel.

Women ages 18 to 24 with a 30 percent body fat or higher will have additional options within the program, Harshbarger said. Surveys have shown this population is underrepresented at the rec center.

We are here to serve all WVU students, not just those who are already in shape,Harshbarger said.

In addition to Body for Break&Beyond, group fitness classes and personal training are always offered free to rec center members.

Free personal training is a great tool to help students not only improve their fitness levels, but also make significant lifestyle changes,Harshbarger said.

Of the two dozen personal training participants (students and employees) who responded to a recent survey, 72 percent said that working with a trainer and improving physical fitness motivated them to be healthier in other areas of their lives. Drinking less alcohol and eating healthier foods were cited in the survey as the most common changes that accompanied exercising more.

Free personal training at the rec center is made possible thanks to students majoring in exercise physiology and related fields who serve as trainers.

Its about students helping students,Harshbarger said.Exercise physiology students get practical work experience, and students get free personal training. We provide all of our student workers and interns with training on exercise prescription, assessment and programming and provide them with the opportunity to put what theyve learned to work in helping others.

WVU offers many programs for students, faculty and staff as part of its wellness initiative (http://www.wvu.edu/wellness). The initiative was established to get the WVU community more physically active and aware of campus wellness options.

For more information about Body for Break&Beyond and other rec center programs, visithttp://www.studentreccenter.wvu.eduor call Harshbarger at 304-293-5054.