Wii Fit

Mandy asked me about our Wii Fit, so I thought I'd share our experience with it so far.

We've had it about a month or so and we really like it. The "games" are divided up into 4 categories: yoga, strength training, aerobics, and balance games. The yoga and strength training is pretty much self explanatory. I've never done yoga before, but I really enjoy the stretches. And the Wii Fit helps to make sure you do them correctly. (To a certain point, there are ways of "cheating", but that would defeat the purpose.) I hate working out, but the strength training exercises aren't bad. I get more motivated because I'm wanting to get a higher score. And to add minutes to my fit time bank.

The aerobics has a hula hoop, advanced hula hoop, basic step aerobics, advanced step aerobics, a long aerobics that you can actually change the channel and watch tv and just rely on the sound from your Wiimote to let you know when to step, a short run, long run, 2 player run, and rhythm boxing. I love doing the advanced step aerobics. It's pretty fun and takes a little bit of coordination. The rhythm boxing is pretty fun, too. You have to follow your instructor and perform the same moves as he does. And at the end you get about 10 seconds for a free-for-all, which is great for getting out stress!

The balance games are the most "game-like". There's a soccer game where you have to shift your body weight to the left, right, and center to hit the soccer balls with your head. But you also have to dodge cleats and panda heads! There's also a ski slalom, a ski jump, snowboard slalom, a tightrope game, and some others that are pretty fun.

I left out the body test part. At the beginning you can take a body test which measures your bmi and weight. Then you do a couple of balance exercises. Then the Wii takes your real age, bmi, weight, and your results on the balance exercises to determine your "Wii Fit age". This really doesn't mean much to me because from what I've seen, the major factor is your results on the balance games. It is nice being told I have a Wii Fit age of 20, though!

I haven't lost much weight yet; it seems to fluctuate. But I haven't really cut back on my calories and I haven't been very disciplined to consistantly work out everyday. But that's a goal. If you want to know more about the Wii Fit, just google it and I'm sure you can find a better review than this. But my opinion is it's a great way to get active and I'm sure weight loss can be achieved, but you have to do a lot of the "hard" stuff! You're not gonna lose weight by playing balance games for an hour!

By the way, Cayson absolutely LOVES it! Everyday he asks to "pay da wii". Or to "soboard". And most of the time he's content to stand on the floor and copy whatever I'm doing. As long as he has a wiimote in his hands! (We take the batteries out of his...shhh, don't tell!) He even likes to do "goga" (yoga). It's just so cute! He tries his best to do exactly like I'm doing! Even when I put my wiimote down to do strength training or whatever, he has to do the same.

So, if you have about $100 to spare, and can find one, I'd definitely recommend the Wii Fit!