Wiiiiii!
As I posted yesterday, we’re getting rid of our treadmill. One of the reasons for this is that my father got us an early Christmas gift – a Wii Fit! The funniest comment I’ve heard so far was from someone on Ravelry – they said they weren’t getting one because it was too hard to turn into a clothes rack. Heh.
Right away, the wii fit and I got off on the wrong foot. See, the platform is also a scale, so it measures you when you start it up. You give it your height, it takes your weight, and gives you your BMI. Not so bad, except that based on this information, it also creates your mii, the little avatar that represents you. At left: my short, fat little mii. Sigh. Well, I guess it will be a motivator.
Other than that, though, this thing’s been great! Mr. Tvini and I crank it up after Em goes to bed and take turns on the platform. So far we’ve discovered that I am very good at the yoga and balance exercises. This is unsurprising – even though I have a short fat mii, I come from a family of archers, sharpshooters, and gymnasts. At right: a woman doing yoga. Obviously, this is not me.
When Mr. Tvini takes the platform, on the other hand, anything that requires standing on one leg for a long time puts the surrounding furniture in mortal peril. Mr. Tvini favors the strength exercises, such as lunges, plank pushups and this ab jackknife torture exercise. I couldn’t do plank pushups if my life hung in the balance, so I figure we’re even.
When you begin, there are only a limited number of exercises available. You have to use the wii fit for a certain amount of time, stored in your “time bank” in order to unlock features like challenges, greater repetitions, or more difficult exercises. I suppose this is Nintendo’s way of being sure they don’t get sued when someone gets too ambitious out of the box and keels over. It’s probably a good idea.
The thing that made Mr. Tvini suggest we get rid of our treadmill was that the wii fit also offers running. In fact, it lets two people run together. You don’t use the platform; instead you hold the controller in your hand and run in place. It does a pretty good job of tracking your motion and matching your (short fat) mii’s speed to your actual “speed.” So last night we ran together in our den for the short distance, which is about four minutes, and unlocked the longer distance. This seems useful for times when I can’t leave the house, and for the summertime, when it’s a billion degrees outside and I’m not going out without protective heat shielding.
There is a down side to the platform also being a scale. Mr. Tvini stepped off it last night before it was completely done weighing him, and it thinks he lost about 150 pounds overnight. His mii got very thin very fast. It took us a lot of messing around to erase that result. The other half of this is that our bathroom scale says I haven’t lost any weight at all since beginning to use this – but it does say that I’ve lost a point of body fat. The wii fit platform won’t know this, I’ll just think I’m as big as lardass as I was when I started. As long as I feel good, I won’t get hung up on numbers, but others might. I also wish the exercises were a bit more vigorous, but perhaps as I unlock longer durations and new moves, they will be.
We’re really enjoying our early Christmas gift. Thanks so much, Dad, you’re the best!
Gotta love the Wii Fit! 😀 We got ours a few weeks ago, and man! Wait until you unlock Advanced Step- not only does it go faster, but it expects you to clap and step on sideways as well! At least you usually get 4 or 5 point/minute thingies for doing that one.
It tracks up to 100ths of a pound, which is kinda weird, when you see it going up and down all over the place, and then you realize you haven’t even lost or gained a full pound. And yeah, my Mii got all roly poly as well. Ah well.
I can’t get the soccer header game, though. Something in me just will not allow me to place my face in the way of an oncoming soccer ball… Maybe it’s because I got hit in the face with a volleyball in gym class a couple of times in school and broke my glasses…
Gotta love the Wii Fit! 😀 We got ours a few weeks ago, and man! Wait until you unlock Advanced Step- not only does it go faster, but it expects you to clap and step on sideways as well! At least you usually get 4 or 5 point/minute thingies for doing that one.
It tracks up to 100ths of a pound, which is kinda weird, when you see it going up and down all over the place, and then you realize you haven’t even lost or gained a full pound. And yeah, my Mii got all roly poly as well. Ah well.
I can’t get the soccer header game, though. Something in me just will not allow me to place my face in the way of an oncoming soccer ball… Maybe it’s because I got hit in the face with a volleyball in gym class a couple of times in school and broke my glasses…
I’m terrible with downhill skiing and with soccer. In soccer, I keep getting pegged in the face with cleats. Also, last time I did it, it chose the image of my husband’s mii to be the ref, so I kept glaring at him for about an hour afterward.
I’m terrible with downhill skiing and with soccer. In soccer, I keep getting pegged in the face with cleats. Also, last time I did it, it chose the image of my husband’s mii to be the ref, so I kept glaring at him for about an hour afterward.
I think it does that automatically. Every time I’ve done soccer, my husband’s Mii has been my ref, and anytime I’ve seen him play it, my Mii has been his ref. 😛 Downhill skiing is just awful! how are you supposed to go fast and turn *and* get through all of those flags all at the same time? There’s just no way!
I think it does that automatically. Every time I’ve done soccer, my husband’s Mii has been my ref, and anytime I’ve seen him play it, my Mii has been his ref. 😛 Downhill skiing is just awful! how are you supposed to go fast and turn *and* get through all of those flags all at the same time? There’s just no way!
Ugh. The BMI. A mathematical formula devised to track population growth in 19th century Austria is back to torture and belittle the 21st century.
I wonder when phrenology will be making a comeback? Or the signs that tell me that the Irish need not apply?
Ugh. The BMI. A mathematical formula devised to track population growth in 19th century Austria is back to torture and belittle the 21st century.
I wonder when phrenology will be making a comeback? Or the signs that tell me that the Irish need not apply?
Wait, they’re letting the Irish mix with polite society now? Shocking!
Wait, they’re letting the Irish mix with polite society now? Shocking!
Oh wait! Phrenology is feeling and interpreting the size of the bumps on Walt’s ass!
Oh wait! Phrenology is feeling and interpreting the size of the bumps on Walt’s ass!
http://www.shortpacked.com/d/20080526.html 😉
http://www.shortpacked.com/d/20080526.html 😉
HA!
My husband and I were saying tonight that we’re not sure what we’ll do once Fall TV starts back up. Better health… 30 Rock… Better health… 30 Rock… Hmmm…
HA!
My husband and I were saying tonight that we’re not sure what we’ll do once Fall TV starts back up. Better health… 30 Rock… Better health… 30 Rock… Hmmm…
No longer are we stuck in the back rooms and dive bars. We choose to stay there now.
No longer are we stuck in the back rooms and dive bars. We choose to stay there now.
well dang…now i’m gonna want one. hmmm…wii…new car…wii…new car.
well dang…now i’m gonna want one. hmmm…wii…new car…wii…new car.