Super Bowl can be slightly healthy

When most people think Super Bowl, they think party and snacks. Well, several health professionals at the Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center geared up for the big game by losing weight.

They said you can do it too. The hospital hosted what it called a wellness challenge, with 18 teams participating. Nurse manager and team captain, Sherry Arnold said a little weight loss teamwork is a good way to prepare for game day.

“Anybody can do it, anybody,” she said. “It’s important to surround yourself with people that will support you and will give you that accountability. They will give you those tips so that you can work together and feed off each other to help each other out.”

Arnold said it’s always good to have a secret weapon. For example, exercise physiologist Tom Stickley. He got the teams into shape through Thanksgiving and Christmas, when temptations were high, just in time for the Super Bowl.

“It’s hard to be good on the holidays and the Super Bowl; you can call it a holiday for some people, it’s hard to be good if you will,” he said.

Stickley said being good means cutting down on game-time overeating.

“Rather than maybe keeping the bag of chips with you on the couch, ration out a bowl or something and tell yourself ‘When that’s done, I’m done,'” he said.

There were 88 people who participated at the hospital, losing a collective 819 pounds so far.