Dead of Summer’s Fit for Summer Wii Fit Workout: Week 1
June 26th, 2008 by Brian
OF MOUTHFULLS AND MUNCHIES
Last Friday I had the good fortune of lucking into a copy of Wii Fit. As an experiment, I’ve chosen to use ONLY video games as my method of weight management for the next month. I’m not a big guy by any stretch, but I’ve certainly got some pudge and pounds I could stand to shed. I’m not changing my eating habits too dreadfully, but I am consciously avoiding things I know are really bad for me. Gigantic slices of chocolate mousse cake, for instance. I miss those. I’d meant to do an intro to this segment last week, but laziness is a quality I have in spades.
I’ve had the game, and it’s certainly still a game, for a week now and here are my results for the first week:
START
BMI - 25.06
WEIGHT - 179.0
WEEK 1
BMI - 24.66
WEIGHT - 176.1
There are some things to note. Wii Fit uses a basic BMI, not an advanced body fat calculation. As such, if you are tall or muscular, you have a great chance the game will say you’re overweight. I’m neither of those, so my starting BMI of 25.06 was legitimately a hair into the overweight category for a male of my age and height. I’d also jumped into the game on Friday evening, likely throwing off the accuracy of my weight. Not weighing yourself at the same time everyday will deliver inaccurate, fluctuating numbers. This is especially true if you’ve been eating throughout the day.
The first three days with Wii Fit I weighed myself in the evening. This was bad, as it skewed my numbers and shook my resolve a bit. On Saturday I’d managed to have the lack of forethought to hop on the balance board after eating a half a pizza. It reflected a 1.8 pound GAIN from the day before! Once Monday hit I’d promised to weigh in right after taking the pug for a walk, after bathroom stuff, and before I’d eaten. Monday’s stats (BMI-24.91/Weight-177.9) were more likely my ACTUAL stats. I’ve still lost about 2 pounds since Monday. Not terribly bad, but we’ll see if this trend continues, especially if I insist on enjoying hefty portions of chips an salsa at 10:30pm.
Within this first week I’ve made observations about Wii Fit. For starters, it’s easy to cheat. A lot of the exercises require you to balance so that a dot stays within a circle, or a blue bar. Because you can’t unlock more reps until you’ve scored enough points (this is still very much a game) you find yourself inadvertently breaking proper form just to “do good.” There’s nobody there to make sure you’re doing the exercises properly, so it’s still likely you could be doing more harm than good in the long run. Fortunately, my wife’s a Pilates instructor, so if I wanted to I could have her watch to make sure my form is good.
It’s also important to realize that you will not see drastic results with Wii Fit. You will need to supplement what is really just an excellent accountability tool with actual exercise. For me, I burn about 300-350 calories on DDR (keeping it game related) before stepping on the balance board. Depending on my results in the next week, I may add more to this.
I’ll keep updating every week with results, and if anyone has any questions about Wii Fit just leave some comments and I’ll hit you up with answers. If you also have Wii Fit, I’d be very interested to hear your progress and opinions on the game.
June 26th, 2008 at 4:02 pm
The Wii Fit is a blast. I’ve been using it as a motivational tool to help keep me on track with my diet/exercise program. Initially I just thought of it as a good way to get active on rainy days, as I’ve completely sworn off gyms and have thrown myself into biking and hiking instead, but it’s a valuable tracking tool and fun besides. The only thing that I find myself wishing for is background music in the weight training portions, but that’s easy enough to correct with my i-pod. As for the ease of cheating, I agree. I’ve kept myself from the temptation so far, but that may change.
June 26th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
So, would you recommend buying a Wii Fit? I need to get a lot more exercise, and that seems like it’d be a fun/easier way to do so. I’ve thought about starting to play Wii Sports a lot more, too. Kind of do what you’re doing…use video games for exercise. I don’t necessarily need to lose weight or anything, but i do need to do some sort of physical activity, as I am way too sedentary. And if I bought the Wii Fit, I probably wouldn’t be the only family member to use it, either. I’m just cautious because of the price…I’m cheap.
June 26th, 2008 at 4:25 pm
*sigh* I need to find one of these things. FAREWELL LOVEABLE STOMACH PAUNCH!
June 26th, 2008 at 7:41 pm
Blondie: Yeah, it gets silent during a lot of the exercises. I also hate it when the in-game instructor says, “Count with me,” and doesn’t count at all. Not that I count along anyway, because that would be weird.
Elliot: I’d recommend buying Wii Fit if you’re committed to a workout or weight loss routine that includes things outside of Wii Fit. It’s indeed motivating, and holds you accountable every single time you step on that board to do the Body Test (weigh in essentially.) But it isn’t for someone who intends to use the game by itself to see results. I think you’d be very disappointed.
That said, I think if you stick with it that it’s a great doorway into more traditional forms of excercise. It’s definitely fun, but I think it’s primarily a great addition to a broader exercise program. If you have more people in your household that will also be using it, set up a contest to spur each other on and keep each other motivated. You certainly FEEL like it’s exercise, but I’d peg it as more of a utility than a workout. Within the next couple of weeks I’ll be in a better place to say whether or not it’s doing a good job, but I’ve definitely lost a couple of pounds so far.
Marty: My phalanges will be crossed for you. All of them. You’ll need it.