Peace of Mind Organizing

Still loving the Wii Fit

28 May 2009

Back in April, I bought a Wii Fit. I was instantly enamored of it, which allows me to work out and have fun, without leaving my house. I worried a little that the infatuation would wear off and the thing would start gathering dust.

I’m here to tell you that almost two months later, that hasn’t happened. I’m still in love. Unless I’m out of town, I work out six days a week. I take Thursdays off, because that’s my knitting-group night and there’s alcohol served at my knitting group. Alcohol and Wii Fit don’t mix, I’ve discovered. (A girl’s got to have priorities.)

I try to work out for at least 30 minutes, doing a mixture of yoga, strength, aerobic, and balance exercises. Some days I don’t have that much time. Some days I’ll go as long as an hour. But the important thing is that I’m doing it consistently. Little and often, that’s my mantra.

In the spirit of my post on why I love my iPod Touch, here are seven reasons I adore my Wii Fit.

• It’s fun. I’m no athlete. Simulating keeping a Hula Hoop® spinning by rotating my hips (in the absence of an actual hoop) is my kind of aerobics. And it does get my heart pumping.

• I’m in the driver’s seat. There are dozens of different exercises in the Wii Fit and I get to choose each day which ones I want to do. Yesterday I was nursing a cold, so I didn’t include aerobics in the mix. Some days I’m all about the yoga. It’s up to me.

• I’m not embarrassed. Unless my husband happens to walk in the room and laugh at me, I don’t have to worry about looking silly. To be honest, I’ve felt very self-conscious in the few yoga classes I’ve taken, because I’m not exactly a flexible person. With the Wii Fit, I do my best and the balance board/console combo provides feedback. I don’t worry that anyone’s looking at me.

• I don’t have to leave the house. That’s huge for me. Things need to be easy in order for me to do them. All I have to do to prepare to work out with the Wii Fit is put on my yoga pants and yoga socks. Takes a minute. Then I turn it on and I’m working out.

• It keeps score. With Wii Fit, I get instant feedback on how well I’m completing the exercises and I get to compare it with past performance. If I do poorly, it usually spurs me on to try again. I’m only competing with myself, but I feel so good when I get a high (or highish) score.

• It stamps my calendar. Each day when I complete the exercises of the Body Test, I get to stamp my calendar. It gives me the same satisfaction and motivation I get with Don’t Break the Chain.

• It comes with dessert. For me, the balance exercises, which I always save for last, are so much fun they’re like play, not work. And I get to count them toward my half hour. You should see me slaloming down the ski slopes and whooping it up when I get a high score. (I’m glad you can’t actually see that.)

If you’ve been feeling like you should work out, but can’t work up the energy to sign up for a gym, or shudder at the idea of wearing work-out clothes in public, maybe Wii Fit would work for you. It’s reasonably priced — about $250 for the console and an additional $89 for the Wii Fit program and balance board — and, if you use it, is well worth the investment. Or at least it has been for me.

Tagged with: exercise

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