Gotta Beat Marie and Wii Fit
Aug. 12th, 2008 07:25 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hkellickFirstly,
Marie (Salome190) and are challenging each other. The first one of us to lose 10% of our body weight (I have to lose 27 lbs. She needs to lose less.) wins.
Marie and I had a competition of sorts a couple years back where I tried to catch up to her weight (and did), but she did a better job than me of getting back on the wagon before me, but we were both floundering, so hopefully this works to inspire the both of us to work hard to lose the weight.
And, well, if we trash talk each other along the way, it's just in fun.
Speaking of..
Hey Salome, I lost 1.4 lbs. since yesterday (water, I'm sure)
I'm 5.16% there. You should be afeared!
And I went to the gym yesterday and walked half an hour and ate well, despite the dinner of chocolate fondue (which..was OK, but we used a microwave fondue system. If I do this again, I want to try the actual fondue pot next time. The chocolate might stay melted longer.)
Dinner yesterday was a study in portion control :D
*slides leftover chocolate fondue over to Marie*
Now... as for Wii Fit. Well, first of all, let me point out that it's a bloody pain in the touchas to find. We ended up finding a copy at Toys R Us, but... good luck finding one!
So... I got it, unwrapped it, made it work.. and first thing it does is tell me to pick a Wii (I already had one, no prob) and do a Body Test. It measures me, asking how heavy my clothes are (choices are light, 2 lbs. and heavy 4 lbs.) and then proceeds to do two balance/posture tests. It's clear that the game is very hung up on the idea of posture as an indicator of overall health. I can see it some, but it seems like it's just one indicator of many.
Anyways, so I take my test and.. my poor Wii blows up like a balloon, showing I'm obese. Well, THAT'S inspirational :p
Anyways, so I've taken my body test and it tells me that my balance is weak (i knew that) and then to training.
You can train in one of four ways.. Strength Training (Lunges, Pushups, all perfectly legitimate exercises you can do with just your body), Cardio (the unlocked exercises include a hula hoop thing, step aerobics and running in place), Yoga and Balance exercises. Most of the 40-some training games are locked, but you unlock them by spending time training in Wii Fit.
So, I started playing around with each. I decided to start with the balance first and, for me, many of these games are hard, but I DON'T have good balance. One of the games is to move your weight to the left or right to hit soccer balls and that game is TOUGH, at least for me. Another game is a slalom where again you move your weight to the left or right to curve your skier to the left or right to get in between the flags. That one was easier and I enjoyed better. Also, the ski jump which just requires for you to lean your weight forward and straight.
The Yoga I'm excited about because Yoga, to me, equals a good stretch and some flexibility training which I lack, but what bothers me is that many of the moves are in no particular order. I can do the Sun Salutation, but the one before it, the Tree Form.. my balance sucks, so no, I can't balance on one leg. I tried, believe me.
One of the things I DO like, though, is that there's a score, of sorts, on the Yoga. Based on what, you ask? Based on keeping your balance. Basically if your center of balance stays within the preset range, you get points. It gives you something to aim for and probably helps you figure out how to do the move right.
The Strength Training I haven't done much with, mostly because I DO have a gym membership. But like the Yoga, there's a handful of exercises you can do with just your body to build up your muscles.
The Aerobic stuff is pretty amusing. I especially like the running in place. For a short three minute run, you appear to be running around a small island filled with amusing things to see. Dogs playing, people in the park. It was kinda amusing. I SUCKED at the hula hoop stuff, so that frustrated me, but I imagine that's as much form as anything else. The Step Aerobics were kinda amusing, though.
Final Thoughts.
Look, Wii Fit is only a game. I don't think there's anything that can REALLY replace a good workout in a gym, or a Yoga Class or whatever. And everything is in small 1-3 minute bites, which probably isn't ideal for cardio workouts. However, if you're looking to just get active again, or have something to do on your days off from the gym, this can't hurt much. It's amusing, it gives you an aim, and points and it's actually fun. So for that, I'd recommend it. :)
Marie (Salome190) and are challenging each other. The first one of us to lose 10% of our body weight (I have to lose 27 lbs. She needs to lose less.) wins.
Marie and I had a competition of sorts a couple years back where I tried to catch up to her weight (and did), but she did a better job than me of getting back on the wagon before me, but we were both floundering, so hopefully this works to inspire the both of us to work hard to lose the weight.
And, well, if we trash talk each other along the way, it's just in fun.
Speaking of..
Hey Salome, I lost 1.4 lbs. since yesterday (water, I'm sure)
I'm 5.16% there. You should be afeared!
And I went to the gym yesterday and walked half an hour and ate well, despite the dinner of chocolate fondue (which..was OK, but we used a microwave fondue system. If I do this again, I want to try the actual fondue pot next time. The chocolate might stay melted longer.)
Dinner yesterday was a study in portion control :D
*slides leftover chocolate fondue over to Marie*
Now... as for Wii Fit. Well, first of all, let me point out that it's a bloody pain in the touchas to find. We ended up finding a copy at Toys R Us, but... good luck finding one!
So... I got it, unwrapped it, made it work.. and first thing it does is tell me to pick a Wii (I already had one, no prob) and do a Body Test. It measures me, asking how heavy my clothes are (choices are light, 2 lbs. and heavy 4 lbs.) and then proceeds to do two balance/posture tests. It's clear that the game is very hung up on the idea of posture as an indicator of overall health. I can see it some, but it seems like it's just one indicator of many.
Anyways, so I take my test and.. my poor Wii blows up like a balloon, showing I'm obese. Well, THAT'S inspirational :p
Anyways, so I've taken my body test and it tells me that my balance is weak (i knew that) and then to training.
You can train in one of four ways.. Strength Training (Lunges, Pushups, all perfectly legitimate exercises you can do with just your body), Cardio (the unlocked exercises include a hula hoop thing, step aerobics and running in place), Yoga and Balance exercises. Most of the 40-some training games are locked, but you unlock them by spending time training in Wii Fit.
So, I started playing around with each. I decided to start with the balance first and, for me, many of these games are hard, but I DON'T have good balance. One of the games is to move your weight to the left or right to hit soccer balls and that game is TOUGH, at least for me. Another game is a slalom where again you move your weight to the left or right to curve your skier to the left or right to get in between the flags. That one was easier and I enjoyed better. Also, the ski jump which just requires for you to lean your weight forward and straight.
The Yoga I'm excited about because Yoga, to me, equals a good stretch and some flexibility training which I lack, but what bothers me is that many of the moves are in no particular order. I can do the Sun Salutation, but the one before it, the Tree Form.. my balance sucks, so no, I can't balance on one leg. I tried, believe me.
One of the things I DO like, though, is that there's a score, of sorts, on the Yoga. Based on what, you ask? Based on keeping your balance. Basically if your center of balance stays within the preset range, you get points. It gives you something to aim for and probably helps you figure out how to do the move right.
The Strength Training I haven't done much with, mostly because I DO have a gym membership. But like the Yoga, there's a handful of exercises you can do with just your body to build up your muscles.
The Aerobic stuff is pretty amusing. I especially like the running in place. For a short three minute run, you appear to be running around a small island filled with amusing things to see. Dogs playing, people in the park. It was kinda amusing. I SUCKED at the hula hoop stuff, so that frustrated me, but I imagine that's as much form as anything else. The Step Aerobics were kinda amusing, though.
Final Thoughts.
Look, Wii Fit is only a game. I don't think there's anything that can REALLY replace a good workout in a gym, or a Yoga Class or whatever. And everything is in small 1-3 minute bites, which probably isn't ideal for cardio workouts. However, if you're looking to just get active again, or have something to do on your days off from the gym, this can't hurt much. It's amusing, it gives you an aim, and points and it's actually fun. So for that, I'd recommend it. :)
