Wii Fit

[NotABuckOFive 0]

Okay, I have had my Wii Fit since the day it came out and I absolutely love it! I have strep throat right now but I still want to play!

I'm not competitive by nature but when my husband and son beat my top scores, I play until I beat theirs! It is totally nuts!!! I'm struggling with the strength training but I know it will get better. Surprisingly, I even enjoy running! I only do the short distances but at least I'm moving!

The two things that just crack me up... when I step on the board it says, "Oh!" where as when my husband steps on it, it says, "Great!" The only reason it doesn't bother me is because it says, "Oh!" when my son steps on it and his weight & BMI are normal. The second thing, my Fit Age ranges from 39 to 59. I'll be 40 at the end of August! My goal is to get my Fit Age to 29!

Wish me luck!

[HeatherA 1]

I've had my Wii Fit since the day it came out. I have waited for it for months and months as it's a belated Christmas gift. Luckily I saved about $15 on it at Best Buy with coupons and such.

I LOVE IT! My entire family have set up profiles and we are all competing against each other and the competition has added an entirely new element to our workouts. Even my couch potato daughter has gotten up and moving. She's on it as I type. :-)

My favorite exercises right now are the ski jump... I do this 5-10 times to get between 10-20 squats in during a session, I also like the punching bag game... doing this for 8-16 minutes can really get me sweating and my heart pumping, jogging also keeps my heart rate up... you don't have to keep your remote in your pocket, you can hold it in your hand if no pockets are available. Throw in some yoga and I'm wiped by the time my 45 minutes are up.

It's funny how all of us excel at different things. My daughter rocks the soccer ball challenge, I have all ten spots on the ski jump and my son has taken over as king of the table tilt game.

My goal is to get 4 stars on all of the games... I figure by then Wii Fit 2 will be released :-)

[pmloveland 0]

UUUGGGHHH....I am at a loss for what to do!!!

I was banded 3/06, lost 90 lbs of which 80 was lost the first year, I am at a standstill and need to lose about 50 more.

I am thinking of the wiifit and am glad to see all the positive responses. I just cant make myself go to the gym. I pay a membership fee every month and it pisses me off each time i see the bill on the credit card. And yet I still dont go.

[debruny 0]

My son picked one up for my sister, and she got one, so we have an extra if anyone needs one. Contact me for details. drunyan@ameritech.net

btw..I have one and I LOVE it!!!!

[j.s. 0]

So what do you all think of the yoga stuff? some of that is pretty stinking hard - I apparently can balance as long as both of my feet are on the ground, the minute you ask me to pick up one, my balance is out the window! But I keep on givin it the old college try! My husband laughs at me. Honestly tho, I have gained some improvement in some of the ones that I have been doing for a while now. Sooner or later I think I will be able to stand on one foot without falling over!

[debruny 0]

I don't like the yoga stuff as much as I do the balance games. I like the hula hoop and the stepping a lot too. I think it was well worth the money, it's fun and effective. My hubby missed a day, and it chided him, and I laughed like crazy. everyone should get one, they're great.

made me laugh..where else would you spend the money to have this cutesy little thing tell you not only are you fat but you're unbalanced too! the mii getting round had me howling with laughter.

[dodgergrl 0]

I was Banded 5-20 and my doctor said just walking (for exercise) for the first two weeks. I got the wii fit on Tuesday and have been looking at it like crazy cause I want to play sooo bad. Do the people that have it think it will be okay to do or should I just suck it up wait the last four days?

[debruny 0]

There are some games that are very low key, and the yoga deep breathing wouldn't hurt anyone. I sure wouldn't try the hula hoop, or the ski jumping.

you'll love it when you can finally do all the things, it's really fun, and four days isn't too terribly long to be able to do all of them (or most).

[trystelle 3]

The screen will show you BMI and then if you want it to show your weight there is a button to click on the bottom of your screen. I suck at the balance games and repeatedly score unbalanced. I am working on it though.

[cowgrrl 0]

DH & I split the cost on a WiiFit (I recommend WiiAlerts.com to help you get one). Even the kids love it. I have found that DD & I have very good balance, which I think comes from the fact that we both dance (ballet for her/bellydance for me).

One thing I wish it could do was let you set up a circuit that would go back to back. So, for example, you could do this:

-yoga breathing

-turbo twists

-step exercise

-lunges

-hula hoop

-warrior pose

-yoga breathing

back to back without having to go back to the menu & select each different exercise/movement.

In general I think it will be a good part of my exercise routine. I hope it doesn't yell at me too much when I do a day or two of 'Shimmy' or something else.

[georgia girl 35]

Okay...I want one! I have a membership to the gym but I don't go near as much as I should. It's way across town and with gas being so high, I find myself not wanting to make the trip. It looks soooo fun! I mentioned getting one to DH today and he said he would look into it!

I would probably still go the gym a couple of times a week and do the Wii Fit at night when I'm bored (since I'm such a night owl). I think I would like the sports games too. DH and I are pretty competetive with each other so I think it would be fun to kick his butt!

[Marie485 0]

I have the WII fit and love it, I don't have to go to the gym and can do it right in my home. I am about to go do my normal hour routine. I am enjoying it and so our my daughters.

[Emilysgigi 3]

Luckily I had preordered my Wii Fit and got it the day it came out. I just started using it lastnight though b/c of only being able to do walking postop. I LOVE IT!!! My DH and DD also enjoyed it. I went through all of the exercises lastnight except for the abd exercises. So much fun and doesn't seem like exercising really.

[georgia girl 35]

Does anyone use the Wii Fit and have a bodybugg? About how many calories do you burn in 30 minutes? Just curious...

[Vex 0]

HOW TO GET A WII FIT:

Step 1: Find a store (like Target) that is advertising the Wii Fit in their Sunday circular. They will keep a few on hand to put on the store shelves Sunday morning so the ad isn't misleading.

Step 2: Get out of bed early on Sunday morning and be there when the store opens, make straight for the electronics department, and grab one off the shelf (or ask for help if they are locked up).

That's how I got mine two days ago! I LOVE the freakin' thing, seriously. I have jumped out of bed the past two mornings to use it. Monday I logged 33 Wii Fit minutes (took about an hour) and this morning I logged 60 Wii Fit minutes (took about 90 real-time minutes).

I think where the game really shines is in the yoga category. The very first pose you are taught is deep breathing, and the game even uses an expanding and contracting circle to help you breathe in time with the virtual trainer. The poses are organized in increasing difficulty and the game is designed to encourage you to maintain perfect balance, which, if you are doing the pose correctly, your body will be inclined to do naturally. I have tried yoga before and found it intimidating but the way the Wii Fit breaks it up into small bites makes it really accessible and fun. And, astonishly, I’m actually pretty good at (the easy poses so far) it right out of the gate!

The strength training is actually pretty hard and I think I’ve only done three of those so far. They are all exercises done with the resistence of your own body, such as leg extensions and push-ups. They are well-chosen, from what I can tell, to target different parts of your body, and as you get better at them (for example, I’ve done the leg extensions twice with high scores), the game “rewards” you with a higher number of reps next time you do it.

The aerobics starts off with three options: hula-hooping, running in place, and step aerobics. All of these are a blast. I was surprised that the hula-hooping was actually a good workout, and my sides are sore from hooping last night! The run takes you around the virtual Wii island and probably most shocking of all, I didn’t find it boring, although I completely expected to. I run regularly and loathe the treadmill. I’d rather pound the pavement outside in mid-teens winter weather than be sentenced to a treadmilll with even the most enticing entertainments. But somehow the Wii running is fun, I guess because you virtually pass alot of people and scenery. (It also made me look forward to Zelda-style games where your ass has to run around instead of sit on the couch!) Last but definitely not least, the step aerobics are really fun. I am entirely without rhythm so its challenging, too.

This morning I unlocked a boxing exercise in the aerobics category that is So. Much. Fun!

The balance games I didn’t even try until this morning, and I only tried the first two, one in which you try to “head” soccer balls as they are kicked at you from different angles, and another where you ski downhill, trying to get through gates in the snow that require you to ski back and forth by leaning on the balance board. These (first two, at least) aren’t very challenging in any kind of way that makes me feel like I’m “getting a good workout” but I can see the appeal just as a game. My husband, natch, loved these. They are his favorites.

The appeal of the game is, I’ll admit, partially due to its newness. But, I’ve tried several workout videos and they have always been extremely boring to me. The interactivity, and instant feedback, and the ability to compete against yourself and other family members is a definite motivator. You literally get to stamp a calendar for every day you workout. You get to see your progress on the exercises as you get better at them. You get to “bank” minutes for the exercises you complete (my goal is 30 Wii Fit minutes a day, right now) which earn you new “unlocked” exercises.

There are other games coming out that will utilize the balance board, which will hopefully be fun and encourage fitness in a similar way. I have critiques about the game (using BMI is lame, forcing a weight loss goal instead of a fitness goal is lame, you can’t design routines, the game tells you to warm up but doesn’t offer any warm-up exercises, you can’t buy two boards and workout with a partner simultaneously, I can see the game getting boring once you’ve maxed out on the unlocked exercises), but I can see lots of room for Nintendo to improve with Wii Fit 2 or downloadables or something in the near future. In any case, I think its well worth the time and money for me!