If the snug-fitting pants and dessert hangovers aren’t enough to charge head-first into a New Year’s resolution, the Get Fit Be Fit Mower County Healthy Living Challenge may be the incentive to start one. Registration began Tuesday and runs through Dec. 11 for the three United Way of Mower County challenges: Get Fit, Be Fit and the Family competition.

“There’s a lot of new things this year,” explained Mandi Lighthizer-Schmidt, executive director of the United Way.

The program’s third year features a new competition: the Be Fit Challenge.

“It’s an individual competition — people don’t form a team,” Lighthizer-Schmidt said. “We’re kind of promoting it as, ‘Are you the most fit in Mower County?’”

Participants accumulate exercise and nutrition points, rather than weigh in and aim to lose pounds. The goal is to include more people who are already active, whether they want to lose weight or not.

Lighthizer-Schmidt said this year, they are encouraging teams and individuals to create action plans using dietitians and fitness instructors. Other new additions include a YMCA mini-competition for any challenge participants, and a bingo game in which competitors must fill in their “bingo card” with activities — 20 sit-ups at home, park your car far away — to be entered into a prize drawing. “Prizes are really, really good,” Lighthizer-Schmidt said. The individual winner of the Get Fit Challenge will get a bike from Rydjor Bike Shop, valued at approximately $400. Other awards include and iPod and exercise equipment.

The event calendar for the Healthy Living Challenge has also been beefed up this year thanks to a co-sponsorship with the YMCA: cooking, nutrition, yoga, marathon and triathlon classes; body fat testing; walks at Mill Pond; a weekly radio show on KAUS; and more.

Participation the past two years has been between 825 and 925 people, a participation Lighthizer-Schmidt believes is successful.

“Of 13,000 or 14,000 households (in Mower County, almost 1,000 is pretty good,” she said.

The registration fee is $10 for the Get Fit and Be Fit challenges, and $20 for the Family Challenge (up to four people and $5 for each additional member). Participants are allowed to enter more than one challenge, but must register for each one.

The official kick-off is Jan. 6 with the weigh-in at the YMCA. Members or employers at Curves, Austin Medical Center, Hormel Corporate South, Hormel Corporate North and the Hormel Plant may weigh in at those facilities.

Registration forms are available on the United Way Web site, http://www.uwmower.org; at the United Way office, 301 North Main St.; Austin Public Library; and YMCA.

For more information, including an event calendar, recipes, activity log and more, visit http://www.uwmower.org/pages/fit.asp.

Get Fit Challenge

Teams of four to eight people compete for team percentage of weight loss, exercise and good nutrition points. Members must weigh in and weigh out. Prizes will be awarded to one individual and one team with the largest percentage of weight loss and points combined.

Be Fit Challenge

This contest is for individuals who do not necessarily wish to lose weight but are already active. There will be one overall individual winner for the person who accumulates the most exercise and good nutrition points combined during the nine-week competition.

Family Challenge

The family contest is based on exercise and nutrition points, not weight lost. One prize will be awarded to the family with the largest number of exercise and nutrition points.