Well, I kind of decided there was no real good reason to come in every day and post the same thing over and over again, So I will limit my posts to every couple of days unless there is a major change in what I am doing with the Fit.
After several days of playing around with everything and getting all of the available activities unlocked I have come to a workout routine that works for me pretty well. My workout goes like this:
Basic Step: 3 minutes
Advanced Step: 5 minutes
Advanced Hula Hoop: 4 minutes
Basic Boxing (x2): 8 minutes
Running (Island Loop): 11-13 minutes
Basic Step: 3 minutes
Advanced Step: 5 minutes
This gives me 40 minutes of Aerobic exercise. Then I finish my workout with some balance games. I like to finish with the Lotus Focus balance game. It hardly seems a workout, but it is a nice way to finish things up, relaxes me and works for a cool down.
I will say that the more I do the fit the easier the activities seem to get as far as exertion. I am still working up a good sweat, but I am not begging for the running to end like I was the first couple of times.
So I have managed to work out every day for 8 days straight. That's more promising than anything else I have tried in the past. So the motivation is working so far. working out on the Wii is still working out, so I wouldn't necessarily call it fun, but it isn't as much of a pain as getting all geared up, going to the gym, fighting for a machine, and then doing monotonous routines for an hour.
Here are the results from yesterday (Day 7) and then today Week 2 day 1.
Week 1, Day 7
BMI: 31.41
Week 1 BMI Change: -0.29
Weight: 237.0
Week 1 Weight Change: -1.5 pounds
Wii Age: 37
Activity Time total for Week 1: 6hours 26 minutes
Week 2, Day 1
BMI: 31.32
Weight: 236.3
Wii Age: 37
Activity Time: 46 minutes
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Week 1, Day 4
Today I was able to get my workout in early. My wife took our son out for awhile so that gave me the time I needed to work out uninterrupted. It appears as though these workouts are going to have to take place after our son goes to bed at night, which is not my favored time of the day to do a work out, but we have to work with what we have available. i will continue to play with doing the workout with him around, but typical of a bright young 21 month old, he wants to be in the middle of whatever daddy is doing, which does not help when you are trying to move around and get exercise in.
Mostly Aerobics today, Yesterday I unlocked Wii Island for the running activity. The running activity has to be my least favorite of the aerobic exercises so far, because it is actually HARD. I'm not a jogger, and certainly not a running in place jogger. This is where the motivation factor comes in. If I was sitting on my couch without the Wii and thought, I really ought to do some exercising. The last thing I would do is jump up and start running in place. And if I DID get up and start running in place, I would stop LONG before the end of the Wii Island course. That made up 13 minutes of my work out today in one activity. I'm going to continue to use it, and just sweat it out. That's what this is all about anyhow right?
Another activity that unlocked today was a Balance Game: Zen Balance. Seems a simple enough concept, sit on the balance board, cross your legs, and hold still. Easy enough right? Wrong. First of all I am a big guy, so trying to get my legs crossed on the balance board is impossible (I gave that up after three tries and crossed my legs in front of the balance board), secondly, once you get into position you can't move... at all. so you are sitting there trying to hold a position, which was easy enough for about a minute. Then my abs started to tense. Really? that is kind of odd, but maybe that is what the activity is SUPPOSED to do. It was a nice cool down from the run, but it was still kinda work.
I'm still digging the motivation factor of the Wii Fit. It has got me up doing stuff. I wake up sore but I still want to get on the board and keep exercising. And today we got some good news in the results! Finally!
Week 1, Day 4 Body Test Results
BMI: 31.50
Weight: 237.7
Wii Age: 40
Activity Time for today: 56 minutes
That is a loss of 0.8 pounds from Day 1, and almost 2.5 pounds from yesterday. Not sure what the difference between yesterday and today was, but we'll see if we can keep this trend going downward now that we're on the right track!
Stay tuned!
Mostly Aerobics today, Yesterday I unlocked Wii Island for the running activity. The running activity has to be my least favorite of the aerobic exercises so far, because it is actually HARD. I'm not a jogger, and certainly not a running in place jogger. This is where the motivation factor comes in. If I was sitting on my couch without the Wii and thought, I really ought to do some exercising. The last thing I would do is jump up and start running in place. And if I DID get up and start running in place, I would stop LONG before the end of the Wii Island course. That made up 13 minutes of my work out today in one activity. I'm going to continue to use it, and just sweat it out. That's what this is all about anyhow right?
Another activity that unlocked today was a Balance Game: Zen Balance. Seems a simple enough concept, sit on the balance board, cross your legs, and hold still. Easy enough right? Wrong. First of all I am a big guy, so trying to get my legs crossed on the balance board is impossible (I gave that up after three tries and crossed my legs in front of the balance board), secondly, once you get into position you can't move... at all. so you are sitting there trying to hold a position, which was easy enough for about a minute. Then my abs started to tense. Really? that is kind of odd, but maybe that is what the activity is SUPPOSED to do. It was a nice cool down from the run, but it was still kinda work.
I'm still digging the motivation factor of the Wii Fit. It has got me up doing stuff. I wake up sore but I still want to get on the board and keep exercising. And today we got some good news in the results! Finally!
Week 1, Day 4 Body Test Results
BMI: 31.50
Weight: 237.7
Wii Age: 40
Activity Time for today: 56 minutes
That is a loss of 0.8 pounds from Day 1, and almost 2.5 pounds from yesterday. Not sure what the difference between yesterday and today was, but we'll see if we can keep this trend going downward now that we're on the right track!
Stay tuned!
Week 1 Day 3
So yesterday's workout was a little... off.
My child fell asleep and he usually takes about an hour and a half to two hours of nap time. I figured this was a perfect opportunity to get out the Fit and get my workout done without him distracting me. Well that worked for about 10 minutes. Two activities in to my workout I hear a grumbling and the baby is staring at me. Two minutes later he was trying to play on the balance board. That doesn't help.
So thanks to the time bank I can tell you I managed to get 14 minutes in before the little man interrupted my workout and then after the wife got home I did another 46 minutes to take me to an hour for the day. Although I would say that my "workout" was last night when I did 46 minutes, since the goal is to get your heart rate up and keep it up, not do an activity here and there throughout the day.
So on to the results. 3rd Body Test. 2nd day in a row the results showed an INCREASE in weight and BMI. Ungh, this is not going the way I thought it would. I am sore and FEEL like I have worked out, but the scale says I'm not getting any benefits. Now to be fair, I did have Pizza on Thursday... only two slices, but, it's not considered health food is it. But the premise was I was not going to change my diet, so there you go.
We continue to unlock more activities, but I continue to utilize only the Aerobics and Balance games, trying to maximize time in the "fat burn zone". It would be nice if the Wii would estimate how many calories you burn with each activity. It would be nice just to have a ballpark figure.
So here are the results from my body test before working out on day 3.
BMI: 31.82
Weight: 240.1
Wii Fit Age: 41
Activity Time for Today: 60 minutes
I have been doing the Body test before and after each workout. It should be noted that every time the weight and BMI after a workout is about a pound lower than the before, I am only recording the before here.
I am also going to try to make the Body Test something I do at a specific time each day for more consistent results. I realize that I will not be able to work out each day, but if I start each morning with the body test, much like many people start their day by stepping on the scale, at least that portion of this exercise will be consistent.
Stay Tuned!
My child fell asleep and he usually takes about an hour and a half to two hours of nap time. I figured this was a perfect opportunity to get out the Fit and get my workout done without him distracting me. Well that worked for about 10 minutes. Two activities in to my workout I hear a grumbling and the baby is staring at me. Two minutes later he was trying to play on the balance board. That doesn't help.
So thanks to the time bank I can tell you I managed to get 14 minutes in before the little man interrupted my workout and then after the wife got home I did another 46 minutes to take me to an hour for the day. Although I would say that my "workout" was last night when I did 46 minutes, since the goal is to get your heart rate up and keep it up, not do an activity here and there throughout the day.
So on to the results. 3rd Body Test. 2nd day in a row the results showed an INCREASE in weight and BMI. Ungh, this is not going the way I thought it would. I am sore and FEEL like I have worked out, but the scale says I'm not getting any benefits. Now to be fair, I did have Pizza on Thursday... only two slices, but, it's not considered health food is it. But the premise was I was not going to change my diet, so there you go.
We continue to unlock more activities, but I continue to utilize only the Aerobics and Balance games, trying to maximize time in the "fat burn zone". It would be nice if the Wii would estimate how many calories you burn with each activity. It would be nice just to have a ballpark figure.
So here are the results from my body test before working out on day 3.
BMI: 31.82
Weight: 240.1
Wii Fit Age: 41
Activity Time for Today: 60 minutes
I have been doing the Body test before and after each workout. It should be noted that every time the weight and BMI after a workout is about a pound lower than the before, I am only recording the before here.
I am also going to try to make the Body Test something I do at a specific time each day for more consistent results. I realize that I will not be able to work out each day, but if I start each morning with the body test, much like many people start their day by stepping on the scale, at least that portion of this exercise will be consistent.
Stay Tuned!
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Week 1, Day 2
So here we are, 24 hours after the initial start up of our Wii Fit Challenge. What are the initial reactions?
Surprisingly, to me at least, I woke up sore this morning. The activities in the Wii are all light impact, but they do involve using your muscles and moving around, so I guess I was doing things I am not used to and my body responded. It was a "good workout sore" as a friend of mine calls it. The obvious place for soreness was my legs, since most of the activities I was doing are aerobic involving jogging in place, stepping, etc. I was a bit surprised to find my arms sore as well. Some of the activities do involve the use of your arms, and I have included playing the Sports disk a bit as well which is almost all arms. Also a surprise was a bit of soreness around my midsection... probably from all the gyrating for the hula hoop activity.
So maybe this REALLY Does count as a workout.
Day 2 begins with a new Body Test (you'll do this once a day every time you get on the Wii Fit). So what are the results after 1 day?
2nd Day pre-workout Body Test
BMI: 31.73
Weight 239.4
Wii Age: 41
Everything went Up?? That doesn't make a lot of sense. I am wearing essentially the same clothing as yesterday, so that is not a factor. So what's going on here... well nothing for it but to get busy exercising.
Sticking mostly to the Aerobics and Balance games again today. I'm just not ready for strength training and Yoga... well I'm a guy, so I MIGHT try Yoga sometime, but not too soon. I've been using the Step class as my primary aerobic activity right now, it is easy and builds a sweat and has pretty decent time frames. I also did the run twice for about 7 minutes. Some new activities unlocked for me today, so I gave them a try as well. In the Balance Games we added penguin slide, and in Aerobics rhythmic Boxing. Now that is the activity that sounds like it is up my alley for sure. Boxing unlocked right about when I hit my 45 minutes, so I went a little long today, doing 61 minutes with the added boxing time.
Just for the sake of argument I had the system do a post workout body test today, and came up with some different results than my before test. The after test had me down 1.1 pounds, rather than up. I may have to keep track of how I stand on the board and see if that makes a difference in the weight. We'll see.
So after day 2 we're still chugging along. I am looking forward to some activities that are a little longer than the 1-5 minutes that the current set provide. If I can do 15 minutes each of three activities without consistently hitting "retry" that might make my workout flow a little more smoothly, and help me keep my heart rate up instead of constantly flipping around looking for activities.
So far so good though! Stay tuned for more!!
Surprisingly, to me at least, I woke up sore this morning. The activities in the Wii are all light impact, but they do involve using your muscles and moving around, so I guess I was doing things I am not used to and my body responded. It was a "good workout sore" as a friend of mine calls it. The obvious place for soreness was my legs, since most of the activities I was doing are aerobic involving jogging in place, stepping, etc. I was a bit surprised to find my arms sore as well. Some of the activities do involve the use of your arms, and I have included playing the Sports disk a bit as well which is almost all arms. Also a surprise was a bit of soreness around my midsection... probably from all the gyrating for the hula hoop activity.
So maybe this REALLY Does count as a workout.
Day 2 begins with a new Body Test (you'll do this once a day every time you get on the Wii Fit). So what are the results after 1 day?
2nd Day pre-workout Body Test
BMI: 31.73
Weight 239.4
Wii Age: 41
Everything went Up?? That doesn't make a lot of sense. I am wearing essentially the same clothing as yesterday, so that is not a factor. So what's going on here... well nothing for it but to get busy exercising.
Sticking mostly to the Aerobics and Balance games again today. I'm just not ready for strength training and Yoga... well I'm a guy, so I MIGHT try Yoga sometime, but not too soon. I've been using the Step class as my primary aerobic activity right now, it is easy and builds a sweat and has pretty decent time frames. I also did the run twice for about 7 minutes. Some new activities unlocked for me today, so I gave them a try as well. In the Balance Games we added penguin slide, and in Aerobics rhythmic Boxing. Now that is the activity that sounds like it is up my alley for sure. Boxing unlocked right about when I hit my 45 minutes, so I went a little long today, doing 61 minutes with the added boxing time.
Just for the sake of argument I had the system do a post workout body test today, and came up with some different results than my before test. The after test had me down 1.1 pounds, rather than up. I may have to keep track of how I stand on the board and see if that makes a difference in the weight. We'll see.
So after day 2 we're still chugging along. I am looking forward to some activities that are a little longer than the 1-5 minutes that the current set provide. If I can do 15 minutes each of three activities without consistently hitting "retry" that might make my workout flow a little more smoothly, and help me keep my heart rate up instead of constantly flipping around looking for activities.
So far so good though! Stay tuned for more!!
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Day One - Initial tests & first Workout
So here we are at Day One. The Wii Fit arrived at my door at approximately 1pm this afternoon. Set up took just a couple of minutes, get it out of the box, put the feet on the board for the carpeted floor, add the batteries and get it synced with the Wii and we're ready to go.
Upon first booting, the Wii tells you a little bit about how balance and posture can contribute to weight problems. This is where the Wii comes in, by getting you to correct your center of balance and posture through activities it helps burn calories, by created a new sense of your center of balance it helps eliminate what it calls "pockets of fat" that our bad posture allows to accumulate. Doesn't make a lot of sense to me, but hey, I'm not a scientist or physician so sure.
The system then asks you to input your height and age. Then you step on the balance board and it runs a test calculating your weight, balance, and BMI (Body Mass Index).
I had to run the test twice, as the phone rang right in the middle of it and it kept testing me even though i was off the board. Try not to step off during the initial tests, to run it again you will have to reset software and start back at the beginning. Monotonously letting it go through the balance spiel again.
My records for Day 1:
Height: 6'1"
Age: 34
Weight: 238.5
BMI: 31.61
Wii Age: 49
Okay. So here's the part where it tells me that I am obese. Wonderful. "Good Health" is a BMI of around 22. At 31.6 I have a ways to go. So lets set a target. It lets you determine how much weight you would like to lose and over what period of time. Healthy weight loss is considered 2 pounds per week, so I set a target of 16 pounds over 2 months, so that is our goal for this blog. In 8 weeks time my goal is to be down to 222 pounds. My overall goal is around 200 pounds, so we'll be here for awhile even if I hit that 16 pounds in 8 weeks. But it's a start. The Wii says it will let you adjust the goals every two weeks based on how you are doing.
So let's get exercising!
The Wii Fit software arranges activities into 4 categories, Yoga, Strength Training, Aerobics, and Balance Games. Each has a sub-category of activities for you to try. Since cardio is a good way to kick the body into fat burning mode I started with Aerobics. The first activity I tried was the Hula Hoop, which has you gyrating on the board to keep hula hoops circling around. Then it was on to basic step. Step has you stepping on and off the board like a crazy person in a classic gym step class routine. It was fun and certainly got my heart rate up. Then it is on to the run, rather than run on the balance board it has you jog in place with the remote in hand so it takes it's feedback off of your arm motions. This was a 5 minute run and I did feel like I had worked out. I tried a couple of the strength training activities, but my son was trying to participate and those didn't go so well, strength training will have to wait until times I work out when he is in bed. The Balance activities are basically fun little games, and I hesitate to call them part of my workout, but since the Wii says that balance is a big part of fitness and these activities are working fitness, we're just doing what it told me to do.
Through all of the activities you have what the system calls your "time bank" which keeps track of how much time you have spent working out for the day. For instance, Step is a 3 minute credit, running 5, and each of the balance activities are in one minute increments. So it is pretty easy to set your goal time and know exactly where you are in relation to that. My time bank for today stands at 47 minutes.
Overall impressions are good so far. I do feel like I worked out. I broke a sweat and could tell my heart rate was up. I may have to get a watch with a heart rate monitor to keep track of how much the Wii is actually getting my heart rate up, but that will be for a later time. Even the Wii Sports activities felt like a bit of a workout. Now those you CAN play sitting on the couch and just flicking your wrist, but if you stand up and do full tennis swings, full golf swings, etc not only is it good exercise, but it makes the games a lot more fun.
Could I do all of the activities I did today in the comfort of my home without a Wii? Yes I could. Would I? Not a chance. So early returns would have to say that the Wii shows promise as a motivator to work out. Let's see what the next 8 weeks bring to see if I stick with it or not....
Stay Tuned!
Upon first booting, the Wii tells you a little bit about how balance and posture can contribute to weight problems. This is where the Wii comes in, by getting you to correct your center of balance and posture through activities it helps burn calories, by created a new sense of your center of balance it helps eliminate what it calls "pockets of fat" that our bad posture allows to accumulate. Doesn't make a lot of sense to me, but hey, I'm not a scientist or physician so sure.
The system then asks you to input your height and age. Then you step on the balance board and it runs a test calculating your weight, balance, and BMI (Body Mass Index).
I had to run the test twice, as the phone rang right in the middle of it and it kept testing me even though i was off the board. Try not to step off during the initial tests, to run it again you will have to reset software and start back at the beginning. Monotonously letting it go through the balance spiel again.
My records for Day 1:
Height: 6'1"
Age: 34
Weight: 238.5
BMI: 31.61
Wii Age: 49
Okay. So here's the part where it tells me that I am obese. Wonderful. "Good Health" is a BMI of around 22. At 31.6 I have a ways to go. So lets set a target. It lets you determine how much weight you would like to lose and over what period of time. Healthy weight loss is considered 2 pounds per week, so I set a target of 16 pounds over 2 months, so that is our goal for this blog. In 8 weeks time my goal is to be down to 222 pounds. My overall goal is around 200 pounds, so we'll be here for awhile even if I hit that 16 pounds in 8 weeks. But it's a start. The Wii says it will let you adjust the goals every two weeks based on how you are doing.
So let's get exercising!
The Wii Fit software arranges activities into 4 categories, Yoga, Strength Training, Aerobics, and Balance Games. Each has a sub-category of activities for you to try. Since cardio is a good way to kick the body into fat burning mode I started with Aerobics. The first activity I tried was the Hula Hoop, which has you gyrating on the board to keep hula hoops circling around. Then it was on to basic step. Step has you stepping on and off the board like a crazy person in a classic gym step class routine. It was fun and certainly got my heart rate up. Then it is on to the run, rather than run on the balance board it has you jog in place with the remote in hand so it takes it's feedback off of your arm motions. This was a 5 minute run and I did feel like I had worked out. I tried a couple of the strength training activities, but my son was trying to participate and those didn't go so well, strength training will have to wait until times I work out when he is in bed. The Balance activities are basically fun little games, and I hesitate to call them part of my workout, but since the Wii says that balance is a big part of fitness and these activities are working fitness, we're just doing what it told me to do.
Through all of the activities you have what the system calls your "time bank" which keeps track of how much time you have spent working out for the day. For instance, Step is a 3 minute credit, running 5, and each of the balance activities are in one minute increments. So it is pretty easy to set your goal time and know exactly where you are in relation to that. My time bank for today stands at 47 minutes.
Overall impressions are good so far. I do feel like I worked out. I broke a sweat and could tell my heart rate was up. I may have to get a watch with a heart rate monitor to keep track of how much the Wii is actually getting my heart rate up, but that will be for a later time. Even the Wii Sports activities felt like a bit of a workout. Now those you CAN play sitting on the couch and just flicking your wrist, but if you stand up and do full tennis swings, full golf swings, etc not only is it good exercise, but it makes the games a lot more fun.
Could I do all of the activities I did today in the comfort of my home without a Wii? Yes I could. Would I? Not a chance. So early returns would have to say that the Wii shows promise as a motivator to work out. Let's see what the next 8 weeks bring to see if I stick with it or not....
Stay Tuned!
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
The Purchasing Process
Before we get to the actual challenge, let's talk about buying the Wii.
If you are like me any gaming console is a major expense, and you want to make sure you get the best deal possible. Doing due diligence is important to make sure you are buying the right product at the right price.
I did a lot of reading and exploring on what to pay for a Wii and Wii Fit. Most people will tell you to go to ebay. Right now, that might not be the best idea for you. It sure wasn't for me.
People have been paying "Whatever it takes" to get a Wii for quite awhile now. Stock has not kept up with demand for this product, so it has been tough for anyone to find one. This has inflated the value of the Wii on ebay, and seems to have created a frenzy that has people paying more than retail.
As of the end of March 2009 stock has caught up with demand for the Wii according to Cnet reporters, and you can indeed find the Wii in stock in many stores. It seems that is going to take awhile to trickle down to the ebay consumers.
I spent a week bidding on Wii and Wii Fit bundles on ebay and never even came close to winning one. Here are the parameters I set:
The Wii with Sports bundle retails for $249.99, the Fit for $89.99 giving you a retail price of $339.98. If you go to your local Walmart taxes apply etc. Going to Amazon you get the $339.98 with no taxes and Free Super Saver Shipping.
So my baseline was $340. I decided from that that I did not want to pay more than $320 with shipping included for it to be a "deal" on ebay. Over the course of my week "playing" on ebay I saw ONE Wii and Wii Fit bundle go for less than $325. Most of them were bid up to $350-380 or more by the time the bidding was over.
With that in mind, I decided to stop playing the odds and go with the sure thing. I ordered from Amazon. Now there are some places other than Amazon that will run a good deal from time to time. I love Newegg, and they have some good deals for the Wii, but I live in one of the States they have a warehouse in, which means I get to add tax to my order. So Amazon it was. This site has a Amazon affiliate link, so if you have not ordered your Wii and decide that Amazon is the best deal for you as well, please consider connecting to Amazon through our Link to make your purchase. It won't cost you any more, but we get a small cut for referring you to them.
Now will Ebay eventually catch up to the fact that Wii are now broadly available, probably, and likely somewhat by the time you read this post it will have already come down some, so my advice is do your research, set the price you are willing to spend and stick with it. The Wii is a good product, but you don't need to spend more than retail for it. Consider your timetable as well before you delve into ebay. Unless you have incredibly good luck, you probably won't win the first Wii you bid on, or the third, so you should decide how long you are willing to play ebay before you buy retail.
Be leery of ebay packages that include the moon. The Wii, Wii Fit, Mario Kart, extra games, chargers, controllers. Do the math before you hit that Buy it Now button. Sometimes you are getting a little savings off retail, but a lot of times it will cost you less to go to Walmart or Amazon.
In the end, no matter how you get your Wii, once you have it and unpack it you are on your way! Set up took me about 10 minutes, I got connected to the Wi-Fi, did a firmware update, and am on my way!
If you are like me any gaming console is a major expense, and you want to make sure you get the best deal possible. Doing due diligence is important to make sure you are buying the right product at the right price.
I did a lot of reading and exploring on what to pay for a Wii and Wii Fit. Most people will tell you to go to ebay. Right now, that might not be the best idea for you. It sure wasn't for me.
People have been paying "Whatever it takes" to get a Wii for quite awhile now. Stock has not kept up with demand for this product, so it has been tough for anyone to find one. This has inflated the value of the Wii on ebay, and seems to have created a frenzy that has people paying more than retail.
As of the end of March 2009 stock has caught up with demand for the Wii according to Cnet reporters, and you can indeed find the Wii in stock in many stores. It seems that is going to take awhile to trickle down to the ebay consumers.
I spent a week bidding on Wii and Wii Fit bundles on ebay and never even came close to winning one. Here are the parameters I set:
The Wii with Sports bundle retails for $249.99, the Fit for $89.99 giving you a retail price of $339.98. If you go to your local Walmart taxes apply etc. Going to Amazon you get the $339.98 with no taxes and Free Super Saver Shipping.
So my baseline was $340. I decided from that that I did not want to pay more than $320 with shipping included for it to be a "deal" on ebay. Over the course of my week "playing" on ebay I saw ONE Wii and Wii Fit bundle go for less than $325. Most of them were bid up to $350-380 or more by the time the bidding was over.
With that in mind, I decided to stop playing the odds and go with the sure thing. I ordered from Amazon. Now there are some places other than Amazon that will run a good deal from time to time. I love Newegg, and they have some good deals for the Wii, but I live in one of the States they have a warehouse in, which means I get to add tax to my order. So Amazon it was. This site has a Amazon affiliate link, so if you have not ordered your Wii and decide that Amazon is the best deal for you as well, please consider connecting to Amazon through our Link to make your purchase. It won't cost you any more, but we get a small cut for referring you to them.
Now will Ebay eventually catch up to the fact that Wii are now broadly available, probably, and likely somewhat by the time you read this post it will have already come down some, so my advice is do your research, set the price you are willing to spend and stick with it. The Wii is a good product, but you don't need to spend more than retail for it. Consider your timetable as well before you delve into ebay. Unless you have incredibly good luck, you probably won't win the first Wii you bid on, or the third, so you should decide how long you are willing to play ebay before you buy retail.
Be leery of ebay packages that include the moon. The Wii, Wii Fit, Mario Kart, extra games, chargers, controllers. Do the math before you hit that Buy it Now button. Sometimes you are getting a little savings off retail, but a lot of times it will cost you less to go to Walmart or Amazon.
In the end, no matter how you get your Wii, once you have it and unpack it you are on your way! Set up took me about 10 minutes, I got connected to the Wi-Fi, did a firmware update, and am on my way!
Welcome to the Wii Fit Challenge!
Greetings. My name is Mike and I would like to welcome you to my Wii Fit Challenge/Assessment page!
I am guessing that you found this page because you, as I was before you, are exploring how effective the Wii Fit is as an exercise regimen. My goal is to help you make that determination. A few quick facts for those of you who find this site right off the bat.
Today is April 28th, 2009. I will be beginning my own personal Wii Fit Challenge tomorrow, April 29th. If you find this site right away and are looking for quick answers, I have none yet. Stick around and hopefully we'll shed some light on things for you.
The Premise:
I ordered the Wii Fit in hopes that the exercises provided would help me shed some unwanted pounds. My problem is and always has been motivation. Will the Wii fit Actually motivate me to exercise more. And if I use the Wii fit, will it actually get me into a fat burning mode and help me shed pounds?
The Ground Rules:
The "term" of the challenge is 8 weeks. I hope to continue to lose weight with the Wii Fit and maintain this site beyond that time. But for the sake of this "Test" it has to have an end date to have verified results. The end date of the Challenge will be Wednesday June 24th, 2009. At this time we will calculate the results as to how my fitness level has changed and make a determination: Did the Wii Fit Actually help me lose weight.
In order to keep the results as "untainted" as possible, adding the Wii Fit to my normal routine will be the only change to my day. I will not make any conscious changes to my diet or add additional exercise outside of what I already do.
I will be evaluating the Wii Fit on two categories: Does it increase my motivation to work out by "making working out fun" and do I actually lose weight. After all, if it motivates me to do the activities but I do not lose weight then it is just a game, right?
In the beginning my intention is to only utilize the activities which come bundled with the Wii Fit balance board. Once I have tried and evaluated those exercises, I may purchase and utilize additional software, this will be duly noted in my workout log if and when new pieces of software are used.
My intention is to utilize the Wii no less than 45 minutes per day, 5 days a week. My PERSONAL goal is to be so motivated to use this product that I work out 7 days a week, but that may not be practical, so my commitment is to a minimum of 5 days a week.
So Who am I? What makes me a good candidate to judge the Wii? Well read tomorrow's entry where I will introduce myself and put in the Wii's first assessment of me and my fitness needs.
As an aside, coincidentally to the beginning of this challenge I have a physical scheduled for Monday May 5th, so it will be interesting to see how the Wii's assessment compares to that of my physician.
Stick around, the Challenge starts Now!
I am guessing that you found this page because you, as I was before you, are exploring how effective the Wii Fit is as an exercise regimen. My goal is to help you make that determination. A few quick facts for those of you who find this site right off the bat.
Today is April 28th, 2009. I will be beginning my own personal Wii Fit Challenge tomorrow, April 29th. If you find this site right away and are looking for quick answers, I have none yet. Stick around and hopefully we'll shed some light on things for you.
The Premise:
I ordered the Wii Fit in hopes that the exercises provided would help me shed some unwanted pounds. My problem is and always has been motivation. Will the Wii fit Actually motivate me to exercise more. And if I use the Wii fit, will it actually get me into a fat burning mode and help me shed pounds?
The Ground Rules:
The "term" of the challenge is 8 weeks. I hope to continue to lose weight with the Wii Fit and maintain this site beyond that time. But for the sake of this "Test" it has to have an end date to have verified results. The end date of the Challenge will be Wednesday June 24th, 2009. At this time we will calculate the results as to how my fitness level has changed and make a determination: Did the Wii Fit Actually help me lose weight.
In order to keep the results as "untainted" as possible, adding the Wii Fit to my normal routine will be the only change to my day. I will not make any conscious changes to my diet or add additional exercise outside of what I already do.
I will be evaluating the Wii Fit on two categories: Does it increase my motivation to work out by "making working out fun" and do I actually lose weight. After all, if it motivates me to do the activities but I do not lose weight then it is just a game, right?
In the beginning my intention is to only utilize the activities which come bundled with the Wii Fit balance board. Once I have tried and evaluated those exercises, I may purchase and utilize additional software, this will be duly noted in my workout log if and when new pieces of software are used.
My intention is to utilize the Wii no less than 45 minutes per day, 5 days a week. My PERSONAL goal is to be so motivated to use this product that I work out 7 days a week, but that may not be practical, so my commitment is to a minimum of 5 days a week.
So Who am I? What makes me a good candidate to judge the Wii? Well read tomorrow's entry where I will introduce myself and put in the Wii's first assessment of me and my fitness needs.
As an aside, coincidentally to the beginning of this challenge I have a physical scheduled for Monday May 5th, so it will be interesting to see how the Wii's assessment compares to that of my physician.
Stick around, the Challenge starts Now!
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