Getting Fit: Back to Exercise with my Wii Fit Day 2

Got back on the Wii Fit tonight. It wasn't easy because I was really tired, but I did it. Somehow, my weight came down .4 kg since yesterday--a little fishy, yes? And my Wii Fit age dropped to 32! Considering yesterday I was 11 years older than my age, it's a 17 year difference. Very strange.

Oh well. I got in 15 minutes of aerobic and training activities today. Started with the snowball fight just because it's fun, then the Rhythm Walking, Juggling, Advanced Step and Kung Fu. I'm trying to start slowly and build momentum. I don't want to burn out fast. It feels good to be moving again. Eventually, I'll work my way back up to using the Jillian Michael's game. For now, I'm aiming for 15 minutes a day and a couple times of doing the 30 minute bike ride a week. This weight wasn't gained overnight, so it's going to take some time to lose it and tone up. I'm determined to get there though!

Looking Good, Feeling Better!

Sock Monkey Glamor Shots
Originally uploaded by Orin Zebest

Well, I did it! I went clothes shopping with my mom tonight and I actually bought some new clothes. Tried on some that I didn't buy, but found a pair of Capri's, and three shirts. Tomorrow, I'll hopefully find some cute low heels to go with the outfit and I'm all set for the shower.

We went to Addition-Elle, and I find it a fun place to shop because everything is over-sized. That means I can fit into a 16 top no problem. Pants are still an 18 ish, depending on the cut. It's still the same as any other store in that you could try on 6 pairs of the same size pants and not one of them will fit the same. One will be too big, one too loose, one too long...you get the picture. I get so tired of this crap!

And hello! Why don't they make clothes for those of us who are heavy and short? I was going to try some Capri's, but realized that they were so long on me they would look like flood pants. Is it too much to ask that the clothes for those of us who are not twigs be stylish and fit?

Ranting aside, I'm really glad to have found another pair of pants. I am getting tired of wearing the same pair almost every day. And the shirts are cute but casual, so I can dress them up a bit or wear them for work.

I used the Wii Fit Plus tonight for a change. The kids were playing earlier and the disk was in the machine. Much more fun than being yelled at. I may have to alternate between the two programs. I gained weight since the last time I used it 58 days ago, but I wasn't completely caught by surprise...still, I had hoped it would be lower. Oh well.

Celebrate Good Times, 2 Weeks of 30 Minutes a Day on Wii Fit

How else would I celebrate good times but with a song? Kool & the Gang, gotta love them! So now that we've had a song, let's get to the celebration.....After completing workouts on the Wii Fit for at least 30 minutes a day for 14 days, I'm noticing a difference in my physique. I mentioned my pants were getting looser--this is especially true of my workout pants which are falling off my hips! The other thing is that I'm losing some of the extra "flab" if you will off my hips. I'm not concentrating on the weight as much because it seems to fluctuate so much on this balance board. For me the real difference is shaving the weight off my body. I carry most of my weight around my hips and stomach, so I guess that's why I'm noticing it the most. Right now it seems as if my weight is shifting around a bit, but hopefully it will keep getting tighter and work it off slowly. I want to reduce my risk for diabetes and heart disease, so it looks like it has been a step in the right direction. This feels do-able, and that makes me much more likely to stick with it.

Just finished day 15 of exercising, and I'm feeling pretty good about it.

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.

Eleven Days, New Record! Wii Fit Plus

11
Originally uploaded by the bbp

I can hardly believe that I have actually completed 11 days of Wii Fit for 30 minutes each day. I like looking on my calendar with all the stamps on it. It gives me a real sense of accomplishment. Today I actually completed 34 minutes of workout because I did two of the routines under form, one for hips and one for figure, 15 minutes there and then 19 minutes on the Island View of cycling. Of course, if I had been able to find that last flag, I wouldn't have gone over time on my workout. Oh well, extra workout time is never a bad thing.

I've been looking around to see if there is any way to get rid of the instructions on exercises I already know how to complete. If you have any suggestions on how to skip over them, please let me know! I'm just glad that my trainer guy isn't as annoying in the Plus version as he was in the regular one, but he still talks way too much!

Wii Fit Day 9 30 Minutes, All I Want to Do is Ride My Bicycle!

Aren't you lucky? A musical post today. I tend to get songs in my head throughout the day and this song is stuck there now. Mostly because I've been doing the harder levels of the cycling on the Wii Fit Plus. Yesterday I got really frustrated trying to find all the blooming flags because I lost all sense of bearings on the Island. I was doing the advanced level with 22 flags then. Tonight I did the Island View Level and had 27 flags, but I found them all fairly easily (perhaps because no one was here telling me which way to go as there was last night). I racked up 18 minutes bike riding tonight. Wowsers!

I've been keeping up my 30 minute workouts every day for 9 days. I think that might be some kind of record for me. My weight has been all over the place according to the balance board, but I have a success story anyway. I put on a pair of pants I wasn't able to wear comfortably a few weeks ago, and they fit! Woohoo! So no matter what the weight is showing, I have lost some of my bulge which makes me happy.

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.....

Wii Fit Kung Fu Fighting!

Kung Fu Panda (功夫熊貓) - PO 寶
Originally uploaded by kudumomo

Well, I did it again! Two nights in a row doing 30 minutes on the Wii Fit. I'm having fun with the Kung Fu. I found out that if you actually get the hit right in one spot, you shake the walls and the swords that are hanging. Pretty cool! I even opened up the advanced level on Kung Fu. I was OK at the beginner level--one step at a time, nothing too complicated. On the advanced level, they do three or four moves and the first pair of miis aren't finished before the second one starts. I am not co-ordinated at all, so it was pretty funny. Good thing everyone else is in bed.

I also opened up expert level on snow ball fighting, but apparently when they throw snow balls the size of snowmen's heads, I don't do very well. In expert, it's one hit and you are out. I got in 8 hits as my highest score there.

And another new favourite is the marching. Again, beginner is easy, Advanced is crazy!

I felt yesterday's workout in my arms a bit today, so that made me feel like I'd accomplished something. And--big news....I dropped 0.6 kg since yesterday. I have to go in and figure out how to change the weight to pounds. I can think distance in metric, but weight is one of those things I have to do Imperially. Anyway, that's today in a nutshell.

And just because the song is stuck in my head, enjoy the video below...

Wii Be Gettin' Fitter! Day 1

P5240324
Originally uploaded by Tscherno

See, everyone loves the Wii Fit. OK, well, that's not my cat (I don't actually have one, but that's OK), but I thought it was a cute picture anyway.

So, earlier I said I was going to get serious about losing weight. I tried to eat better today, had a salad and everything. Then we went to my parents for dinner and ordered in pizza and there was mint chocolate chip ice cream and cookies for dessert. In my defense, chocolate is my weakness, I had no choice! Ywah, I know, I did have a choice. Oh well. Hopefully tomorrow I make some better decisions.

On the plus side, Hubs and I both did time on the Wii Fit tonight. I let him set a smaller goal of 15 minutes, because he hasn't been doing this much and I want him to start getting in shape for his health. He needs to be exercising. His cardiologist has never in his professional career seen someone whose good cholesterol was so low (and that's not a good thing).

Anyway, I decided tonight to get serious, so I tried some of the Wii Fit Plus Routines. I thought they were going to be boring workouts like doing the strength training exercises that I loathe. But guess what? They were fun! The Leaner Mii workout under the Health menu was great! I did Hula Hoop, Island Cycling and Skateboard Arena. All three are things I would normally do, but now they are linked up as a routine. I also tried the Warm-Up and Relax routines under the lifestyle menu. Warm-up was OK, but Relax wasn't that relaxing. When I was done, I was pretty pumped up.

After the three routines, I did some other games just to make my time up to 30 minutes. And success!

I forgot to mention the best part--after 7 days off, I didn't lose any weight, but I didn't gain any weight either. That in itself feels like a major win. Now to just start getting healthier by dropping the weight.

Catching up

Three girls making a "sandman" at the beach
Originally uploaded by State Library and Archives of Florida

With the cold weather here, I went searching for a picture that showed somewhere warm so I could pretend that I was there too. I liked this one since it shows a "sandman" instead of a snowman. I wish it was warm enough to make a snowman, but the snow we have right now is not the right kind for making snowmen. Oh well.

I'm still working on decluttering the house. It's taking longer than I would have liked, but as Flylady says, it didn't get this way in one day. My biggest trick is keeping a box to put the little one's outgrown clothes in as soon as they come out of the wash. I've also got one in the little one's closet for the clothes that are too small for the big one but too big for the little one. When the box with the little one's old clothes gets full, it gets donated.

I'm also trying to keep our recycling clutter under control, so I got some clear recycling bags to put it in. It keeps it from spreading across the house until pick up day.

The kids are starting to help out more around the house. They are both now responsible for putting their laundry away in their drawers and they collect up their dirty laundry as well. They like to help with filling and emptying the dishwasher too. I'm trying to get them into the habit of putting things away when they are finished with them, but that is an ongoing struggle.

And last but not least, I'm trying to use my Wii Fit more often. I'm enjoying the Wii Fit Plus games. I haven't tried any of the other things on it--the games are just too much fun! And if a workout isn't fun, I won't do it because then it feels like punishment instead.

Now that I think about it, that's probably how the kids feel about cleaning up too. I'll have to make sure to keep cleaning up fun for them.

Wii Fit Plus Segway--Fun!

Segways
Originally uploaded by wfyurasko

Well, it took a couple tries, but I got the hang of the Segway. The first time through, I missed the instructions about trying to pop the beach balls, so I rode around in circles trying to take the ramps. The second time, I actually saw the instructions and I destroyed 9 out of 10 of them. The tenth one was being pulled around by one of the gophers and I missed it, but I almost got it! I felt the burn in my calves though. Ouch! It was fun, but hard.

Got my 15 minutes in today. I'm up to Enhanced on the number bumping thing. I've got to add up to 20 now. Almost got it the first time through, missed the last one, oh well. There's always tomorrow!

Getting a Little Fitter and a Little More Organized at the Same Time!

The Coles sisters on a bicycle trip from Montreal to Ottawa, QC-ON, 1916 1916, 20th century
Originally uploaded by Musée McCord Museum

I am nothing if not a multitasker. I'm proud to say that I did some exercise on the Wii Fit tonight. I wasn't going to, but I had to put a load of laundry on so I'd have clean pants for work tomorrow. And since I'm working during the day tomorrow, I wanted to stay up long enough to put them in the dryer. As luck would have it, there was not a load waiting to go in the dryer, and I knew it would only take about 15 minutes to wash the clothes, so I figured I'd spend that time on the Fit. Good choice, huh? Trust me, I had some reading I'd rather have been doing, but I did it.

I had a great time doing the cycling today. I always used to love riding my bike in the country "up north" when I was a kid. There was such freedom in getting to the top of a hill, pedalling like mad and coasting to the bottom. I felt unstoppable! Now on the Wii Fit Plus, I'm not unstoppable. In fact, I discovered that you can, in fact, ride your bike right off the side of the cliff--now that is called research, people! (OK, so it's really called oversteering, but I won't tell if you don't!).

I'm thinking it would be a good idea to set aside some money and get a bike for myself this summer. If I get a trailer, the little one can ride with me and the big kid can ride her own bike (although we're still working on getting her to do that without training wheels).

So, there you go, Flylady is right. You can do just about anything for 15 minutes.

Loving My Wii Fit (Again)

Wii Fits got me at 31. (Down from 41 a few weeks ago). Whew.
Originally uploaded by dpstyles™

Two days in a row! Who'd believe it? And I got 30 minutes in today! My Wii Fit age really was 31 today, but that isn't my picture. My arms were a little sore today-not sure if it was from the kung fu or the wing flapping! My 7 year old was trying all the new games today, so she had me try skateboarding, and it turns out I'm pretty good--on the Wii anyway. I wouldn't dare try it in real life any more, at least not without a lot of bubble wrap and duct tape! Don't laugh, but I used to be a skateboarder, back in the days when they were "uncool", I had one and I was the first kid on the street with one. I was pretty good too-no fancy tricks, mind you, but I didn't fall on my ass either.

The game with the math bumping was pretty funny. Numbers are not my strong suit, so I'm trying to bump the right numbers and not bump the wrong ones, and I get a good chuckle out of it. And I practised my golf today too. I was wondering if I kept practicing here, if I went to the range, would what I learn here translate? See, I've got a picture in my mind of me golfing with Justin Timberlake and Chris Kirkpatrick--actually, forget Justin. I want to golf with Chris. He'd probably be a heck of a lot more laid back than JT and we could probably laugh at how badly I golf. So there's a training goal--I need to golf well enough to be able to golf with Chris. Ha ha. I didn't say it was a good goal, or even an attainable one, but it will serve to make me laugh while I try to hit a non-existent white ball with a non-existent club towards a non-existent green. I actually scored in the professional range today, which surprised the heck out of me. Perhaps I am a better golfer than I had been led to believe?

(Am I the only person who can bring celebrities into a discussion about the Wii Fit?)

And wow! is the cycling ever a good workout! I felt it when I was done! I'm sure my legs are going to be sore tomorrow. But it was fun and I'll give it another go tomorrow. Who needs to do all these fancy routines when you can just do the fun stuff and feel a difference?

Wii Fit + = Fun!

Snowball Fight!!
Originally uploaded by thelastminute

I actually got what I asked for this Christmas! My Wii Fit Plus. So far, I'm loving it--especially since it showed that I have lost weight in the last two weeks--and yes, that includes over Christmas! Woohoo! Not sure how I did that, but I'll take it.

Hubs and I had some fun tonight playing the multiplayer games. It was disappointing though to find out that the time I played on the multiplayer did not add into my total time for the day. Rats. Snowball fight was a lot of fun (hence today's picture). He beat me in that and the bird flapping game--seriously, I've never seen two grown adults flapping their "wings" before--too funny!--and he also beat me at the obstacle course, and he got one more spin than I did in hula hoops. Grr.

My favourite solo exercise so far was the kung fu. Turns out I'm not half bad at it. And even though I hate golf in real life, I gave it a shot (pun intended) and wow, can I ever feel my obliques. Hopefully that doesn't hurt in the morning. So I racked up 20 minutes plus the time I spent playing against hubby. Tomorrow, I'm taking him down!