Wii Fit

This is not Mii.
After the Wii Fit weighed me under 330 a couple weeks ago, I didn't play because we were on our way somewhere. I can't believe it's been two weeks! Gamer fail. Girlfriend fail too. Brent bought this for me several weeks ago! He understood why I didn't touch it when I was too heavy for it, but now that I'm under the weight limit, I've been feeling bad that I haven't played.

Anyway, Brent went to Chicago for a concert last night, so I had the house to myself for the first time in forever. As soon as I got home from work, I loaded up the Wii Fit. It weighed me 3.75 pounds under the last time. /flex

The first game I played was the basic step aerobics. It was really, really simple. I did it a few times to try and beat my high score.

Then I moved onto the basic Hula Hoop game. That was kind of fun, but I felt really stupid doing the movement. It was a decent workout for my butt and thighs, though.

The next game I played was the basic running game, shown above. Holy cow! I tried to stay on pace as best as I could, and I kept watching the little slider move closer and closer to the end.

This is where game psychology works.

I was tired and didn't want to keep going, but I could see my little Mii moving closer and closer to the finish. I didn't want to "lose" the game or score super low, so I kept running and running and even increased my pace a few times to try to stay even with the pacer. I probably looked like a moron, flailing my arms up and down and running around the living room, but it was a great aerobic workout!

Once I finished that, I moved onto the more advanced aerobic step. That was a lot more fun. It was a little more challenging than the basic step but wasn't hard. It just had a few additional movements, and they speeded up near the end. I did that a few times too. I kind of wished the step was a little higher so I'd get a better workout. Apparently, I'm not alone. Today, I found some listings for a modification you can buy to raise the balance board and get a better workout. I haven't looked at safety ratings or weight limits yet, so I'm not sure if it's feasible.

Every time I finished a workout, it would show how much time I'd spent on it and my calories burned. The Wii uses a formula to calculate the calories, and I doubt they're accurate, so I'm going to wear my HRM next time. It assigns a certain number to each workout, depending on its intensity. This allows you to choose a workout based on how "difficult" it is. Then, it uses that number, your weight, the workout time, and (I think) something else to calculate the calories. Again, I'm not entirely sure it's anywhere near accurate, but the game does state that via a little blurb during the tutorial.

Not my data
The Wii provides you with a graph and summary of your weight change, BMI change, "actual age" change (it determines this using several balance tests along with your weight), time spent working out, and calories burned. I really like this. I'm already tracking my weight and such on MFP, but it's nice to see it on the Wii too. I'll take as many pats on the back as possible. ;)

I was pleased to see my "actual age" has already changed from 46 to 44. Here's hoping I can get it to my real age (35) or lower within the next few weeks.

I'm going to move the Wii into my bedroom tonight. I feel really self-conscious working out in front of Brent, even though I know he loves me and doesn't care about how silly I look. I always get self-conscious when someone is watching me do anything, though, whether it's working out or something more simple, like playing a video game.

I miss some of my old exercise DVDs, but I'll probably stick with the Wii Fit for now since it's low-impact and a LOT of fun. I need to incorporate some actual strength training in there again, though. I can tell I'm getting "flabby" where the inches are coming off. I'll probably do the Wii Fit every day and then do The Firm's "Upper Body" workout every other day since the Wii works my lower body. Building muscle will not only help with shaping those areas, it will also give me more core strength and keep me healthy.

Bottom line: I definitely recommend the Wii Fit (get the Plus for more games) for anyone just starting out, especially if you're over 300 pounds. It's easy on the joints, easy to follow, very encouraging, and it puts a lot of fun into exercising since you're "just playing a game". If you're a gamer, it definitely plays on the psychology of beating your high score and doing things perfectly (it displays a "Perfect!" when you do a move exactly on-time and on-form). If someone else in your house plays, you can try to beat each other's high scores. I have a feeling Brent is going to start working out with me. He cannot stand to have a lower score than someone. ;)