Dear Wii Fit...

Rugosity
Originally uploaded by Evil Erin


Dear Wii Fit,

I would just to take this opportunity to thank you for pointing out that once again, my body does fit in with the so-called standards of beauty. Without you, I would never have realized that my feet are enormous! You see, every time I decide I'd like to do some bike riding on the Wii Fit Plus, you remind me constantly throughout what was supposed to be a relaxing ride that I need to "Keep my feet in the rectangular areas on the balance board." OK, first of all, it's hard to be relaxed when someone is nagging at you every few seconds. If I wanted that, I'd get my three year old to stand beside me and ask me "Why?" every two seconds. Thanks for the stress. The second thing is my feet are in the rectangular areas--you just think they are not because, yes! I have big feet! Thanks so much for pointing it out. You know what? They're wide too, so they probably hang over the sides of the rectangular areas too. (the horrors!!).

So now instead of enjoying a relaxing pedal over sandy beaches and through dark tunnels, I'm now a stressed out, fat-footed woman. Get a clue and make a bigger balance board for those of us who have big feet. Geesh! I'm sure I'm not the only one!

Respectfully,


Stressed out, fat-footed Mom.

My Wii Fit is Evil, I tell you!! Evil!!

funny-pictures-evil-plan-almost-complete
Originally uploaded by zebedee.zebedee

I'm pretty sure my Wii Fit is out to get me. It lulled me into a sense of accomplishment--"you've lost 0.7 kg!" and just as I'm feeling good about that, guess what? I get on that damn board today and the bloomin' thing tells me I've gained 0.7kg. Gained! Then it has the audacity to ask me the reasons for my weight gain. I don't know, you tell me, you evil piece of technology. It's like adding salt to an open wound...not only did you gain weight, now we want you to think about it and tell us why. Hello! It was 0.7 kg, nothing major for weight loss or gain, so why the big question? And why for the love of all that is good when the change happens over 24 hours?

The real kick in the teeth is that I've been making a real effort to eat more healthy, avoiding the snacks and stuff and then whammo! That's OK, I'm pretty sure I'll get on tomorrow and the weight will be something else entirely and my Wii Fit Age will probably double or triple as well, just to mess with my head some more.

On the plus side, I did the Tummy and Leaner Mii workouts tonight. I really felt the Tummy one--hopefully that means I'll be able to see a difference if I keep it up.

My 7-year old is doing much better at some of the Wii stuff than the rest of us. She's got the advanced or expert in the cycling. I'm not sure how she does it, because I've watched her ride and it is painful to watch her almost fall off the bridges and things. She's a crazy driver. I guess I should be glad she hasn't taken to her bike in real life--I'm sure she's going to be a kid who will ride into parked cars (not unlike her father was). She has also found the trick of getting a dog to follow her on the course. While the dog is following, if you near a flag, push A and the dog runs ahead and tags the flag for you. That's probably how she's able to score so well even though she can't steer to save her life.

30 minutes down today, that's 4 days and counting. 3 more days to make the week.....

30 Minutes for 30 Days, Day 8 Wii Fit

technical difficulties
Originally uploaded by jadytron

We are experiencing technical difficulties, please stand by. OK, really, it's my balance board that is having technical difficutlies. I was actually all gung ho to exercise tonight. Did a 10 minute free run and felt pretty good about that. Then I tried to do the hula hooping. The balance board was low on batteries, so I plugged it in, then it couldn't find me even after rebooting several times. So, I've only done 10 minutes today. But even 10 minutes is better than doing no minutes! Hopefully when I try to use it tomorrow it will be fine!

30 Minutes for 30 Days, Day 3

Wii Fit box
Originally uploaded by camy west

You didn't think I'd get this far, did you? Actually, I'm pretty impressed with myself just because it's been so long since I was doing this every day. 3 days in, I'm not feeling any difference yet, except when the Wii board displays my BMI as having increased over the last three days. How is that possible? Ugh! And do they really need to show my Mii as underweight and then take it all the way up to obese? I get it, I'm obese. Just show me the Mii in all its obese glory rather than making her blimp up every session. It's not very conducive to building morale.

I skipped the Rythymic Boxing today and instead did a run. And I didn't just do an easy run--oh no, I did the Island Lap. What was I thinking? I haven't done any running in a long time and I go for the longest distance available to me? At least I worked up a good sweat, but I still think that was crazy.

I'm loving how the Yoga poses are so hard for me to do, but my score comes up as being a Yoga Expert. Ha ha ha ha! I do not think so!

Well, I'm 3 days down 27 to go. Hopefully I can get my time in tomorrow because I have a guest coming from out of province and I haven't seen her for 9 years. We're going to be talking all day and night!

My Depression Rant

Mrs. Edwards & Frl. Kussin [boxing] (LOC)
Originally uploaded by The Library of Congress

I didn't intend for my blog to focus on my depression, but today it is. I'm just frustrated today. Depression is like your shadow, it always is there. It never leaves you alone. And when everything is going along fine that's when depression suddenly sticks its foot out to trip you up. Whamo! It's always sudden too. One minute you could be happy as a lark and the next moment you want to cry for no real reason. I hate that. I wish there was a way to be cured from this stupid condition because I'm so over it.

My day was a little rough, but I was doing OK until I came home from work. That's when I just started to feel like I couldn't handle things any more. Now I'm sitting here procrastinating doing my Wii Fit workout because I feel so lousy. Yes, I know working out would probably make me feel better, but right now the amount of energy required to get up and do it feels overwhelming.

OK, I did it. I surprised myself and even when it seemed like I couldn't get my balance board charged, I didn't give up (the thought did cross my mind though!). I did the short body test and then went right to my rhythmic boxing. I got my highest score ever tonight :) Boxing is a great stress relief. Not only am I moving, I'm also getting out my agressions without actually hitting anything or anyone. I really got my heart pumping while boxing tonight. I won't say I feel fantastic, but I feel better than I did before. It was only 13 minutes of exercise, but it made a difference.

So here's something for me to ponder: If a little bit of exercise made a difference, what would a lot of exercise do? Could it improve my depression a lot? I've been fairly consistent with the exercise for 20 days now. It will be interesting to see if my depression improves over time as I exercise more consistently.

Update Day 15 with my Wii Fit

I logged my 15th day on my Wii Fit today and I was really surprised that I've kept it up and still find it fun. I missed one day because when I got home I felt lousy, so I went to bed instead of exercising. Other than that, I've logged at least the body test and 15 minutes of exercise a day.

Has it made a difference? Well, not in my weight which seems to fluctuate up and down by a pound or two every log in (it would help if I did the body test at the same time each day). However, I feel stronger and I feel my core (abdominal) area tightening up a bit. My husband told me that I looked firmer too, so I guess it's making a difference there. I'm also sleeping a bit better lately too. Time will tell if this will have a long lasting effect on me or not.

I have been focused on doing the aerobic exercises and a few of the balance games each time I use the Fit. I like to do Rythym Boxing first in the Expert mode because that gets me thirteen minutes of time right away. It's not as easy as it looks, especially for someone unco-ordinated like me. I am fine with the steps to the front of the balance board, but the backward steps get me confused and I tend to mess those up. I was really proud of myself on the two occasions where the trainer told me "Nice Job!". Much better to hear than "You didn't even break a sweat, did you?" or "Let's train again this week."

I also love the Advanced Step routine. It's fun and fairly easy (except for when my feet get tangled up). I don't even moan any more when they speed it up part way through the workout! Yay me!

If I've got a lot of energy or time, I'll do the expert level of Super Hula Hoop. Ten minutes of Hula Hooping, 5 mintues to the right and 5 minutes to the left. By the end, I'm pretty sure my hips are going to just fall to the floor! I can really feel it work my thighs and hips, so hopefully its doing me some good.

After that, I'll do the Ball Drop and Bubble game and maybe a couple of others before I quit. I'm still trying to conquer the Bubble game. I get right to the fork in the river and I pop the bubble every time. I'm stubborn enough to want to keep trying until I get it.

I've done the yoga sporadically. I'm starting to get the hang of it and can really feel my muscles working on holding the poses. Once I get through all the poses more consistently, I'm planning on adding in the Strength Training exercises as well. I should probably switch back and forth between strength and yoga for optimum results. I should probably look into that and figure out which way it is best to do them.

So, I'm still having fun on my Wii Fit. Hopefully I'll be noticing some weight loss over the next few weeks. I'm really ready to lose this weight.

Ten Things I Like About My Wii Fit

Just for fun, I thought I'd make a list of ten things I like about my Wii Fit. Feel free to add to it, I don't mind.

1. Everyone in the family can use it (OK, with the exception of my 2 year old, but she still likes to watch us use it). My 6 year old loves the hula hooping and ski jumping, even if she can't get it quite right. Hubs can use it to do strength training and I use it right now mostly for aerobic activity. We took it to my parents' house this weekend because they were interested in it and my mom absolutely loved it!

2. It's fun. It doesn't feel like exercise.

3. It's my "me time" where I get to focus on me for a few minutes everyday.

4. There's always something new. Even though I've unlocked most of the activities and exercises, there are always different levels within the exercises, so I can keep interested.

5. It costs way less than a gym membership and I'm more likely to use it every day.

6. I feel motivated to do activities--whether to beat my score, complete an activity or just have fun.

7. I can montior my weight/BMI easily over time and it keeps me focussed on reaching my goals.

8. The Wii Fit has a sense of humour. No really, it does! On April Fool's Day, the balance board was wearing a hat and threw confetti and stuff and promised it wouldn't try to fool me. Guess what? It posted my Wii Fit Age and then dropped a higher number on it. Got me all excited for nothing.

9. I found out that I actually kind of like yoga after all. I'm not very good at it yet, but it's not as boring or hard as I had previously thought it to be.

10. Did I mention it's fun??

Why do you love your Wii Fit??