Having a good kind of fit
At various points in my life, I have decided to become more fit. Sometimes, I'm even somewhat successful at it. I do push ups and crunches. I even liberated a pair of dumbells my sister left to gather dust in her closet, and did arm lifts and curls with them. While I exercise, if I remain dedicated to it, I actually see decent results. I feel better and more confident.
The problem is always remaining focused. It's easy to skip a day - I'm tired, or I'm sick, or I'm busy, or whatever. Once you skip one, you might skip the next as well, and so on. Soon, you've forgotten all about it, as though it never happened.
I would never pay for a gym membership; I'd be too self-conscious working out around strangers, and it would be a complete waste of my money. Besides, I don't want to be a bodybuilder - I just want to feel fit.
Last week, I went out and bought Wii Fit. For those of you unfamiliar with it, it's a Nintendo game for the Wii. Basically, you buy a big scale, which acts as the controller. It weighs you, and detects your center of balance. This means your whole body becomes a joystick, and leaning in any direction provokes a reaction. The game itself teaches you how to do yoga and strength exercises, while monitoring your balance and telling you how to correct your posture. Essentially, you buy a patient personal trainer to stay in your living room for whenever you want them.
Before I bought it, I found the 4 Color (his spelling, not mine) Rebellion test of the game through Penny Arcade. I found the journal he kept fascinating and kind of exciting. It's long, in case you're planning to read it all the way through, but it's an inspirational read.
I'm a big proponent of video games, so I think the idea that games can give you exercise and promote healthy living is fantastic! Let's see Jack Thompson try to take this one on (if he doesn't get disbared first).
The initial part might be kind of discouraging. It takes your weight and gives you your BMI, which is a scary thing to see flashed on a screen, especially if other people are in the room. After that, though, it's plenty of fun. I'm trying yoga for the first time in my life, and very much enjoying the stretches (although my posture sucks). I'm finding myself already drifting away from the balance games, which are interesting, but not really the point anymore, in favour of the yoga, strength exercises, and aerobics. Rhythmic boxing is fun, and the jogs are kind of nice.
Even my parents are trying it out and playing along. They're talking about getting their own Wii and board when we move out next month.
There are a few things I'm not as happy about. I wish it didn't have to keep score on everything. It would be nice to see my own improvements, and not have to worry about who's the best. I don't want to compete for 'fittest'. Also the Wii Age calculations are utterly pointless, and jump around every day. I just stop paying attention to them.
Finally, an odd happening. On Saturday I booted up the game and selected a yoga stretch to warm up. Normally I have the male instructor walk me through the exercises, but for this first one the female instructor appeared. Her dialogue read "I'll be filling in for your normal instructor for this exercise. I hope you don't mind." I just stared and asked the TV screen, "What? Is he sick? Sleeping in?" Somehow, my virtual instructor decided to be away for the first one. When he showed up for the next one, however, he had shorter hair. I swear I'm not making this up.