Wednesday, June 25, 2008

WFMW - Wii Fit

My sweet husband got me a Wii for my birthday back in March and we LOVE it! Our little boy is only 21 months, so he's not old enough to play yet, but DH & I enjoy playing together tremendously and can't wait for the day when W is old enough to play with us! When using Wii Fit, we've learned that we need to put a lap board down on the ground to try and distract W from the Wii board, which he loves and always wants to sit or stand on...not very conducive to exercising!


We have found that we watch less TV and are more active at night now, as most Wii games really encourage movement & activity. When I saw that Wii Fit was coming out, I was immediately intrigued.


When you first get started with Wii Fit, you have to do a body assessment. You stand on the balance board and it captures your weight and also calculates your BMI. Wii Fit bases everything on your BMI - in fact, you never have to see your weight if you don't want to. It then puts up a BMI scale and tells you where you fall and then encourages you to set a goal to reduce your BMI. The amazing thing about the Wii balance board is that because it knows your weight, it can "sense" how you're standing on the board, where you're placing pressure, when you step on and off, etc. When you do either the strength or Yoga exercises, it will place a small circle on the screen, and then place a red dot in the middle of it. If you stay balanced and under control, the red dot stays in the circle...if you lurch all over the place, the red dot goes with you. This nifty little part of the program allows you to know when you're doing the exercises correctly and helps you improve your form. It truly keeps Wii Fit from just being gimmicky!


Now on to the various activities - there are 4 different activity groups - Yoga, Strength Training, Aerobics & Balance. This is one thing that I especially love - there's something for everyone. Our family has a YMCA membership, but let's face it...some days neither of us make it. My husband's schedule is crazy and unpredictable, and their childcare hours are limited, and some days I just don't "feel" like it - but with Wii Fit, I can exercise whenever I want, when it's convenient for me. I can do 15 mins in the morning before my little guy gets up and then another 15 minutes when he's down for an afternoon nap or try to exercise with him standing next to me. There's a little piggy bank that tracks your fitness minutes each day and you unlock additional activities with the amount of time you spend. And as you spend more time, you unlock additional time or repetition options...for example, the super hula hoop starts out at 3 minutes, but as you become proficient at that time level, it unlocks a longer time setting. Pretty nifty!



And one of the best parts? My husband loves it too. Confession - I've been lazy as of late, and he's probably used it more than I have! He loves the strength training exercises and the boxing too. Last night we did the advanced step aerobics activity together (albeit me without the Wii board) and we both really enjoyed it. Okay - these are pics of me boxing...please don't laugh too hard! LOL



So if you already have a Wii - go for it! And if you don't - consider saving your $$ to get one. I know it's not cheap, but the family entertainment (and exercise) value is priceless in our book!


For other great WFMW ideas, head on over to Rocks in My Dryer!

14 comments:

Sarah Mae said...

I keep hearing all about this fabulous thing called Wii, which I still really have no idea anything about! Now this, Wii fit! It sounds great, but tell me, is it FUN? I know I will not do it if it is not fun...I NEED fun (do you think I've said "fun" enough?)

By the way, nice to "meet" you! :)

Marlo said...

Ok...you're really convincing! We've had wii for a while, but I get bored with the games after a little bit. But I've thought about this, just wasn't sure if I'd use it enough to make it worth the expense. But I really like that it's so compact- your pictures were helpful.

Amanda said...

I Luuuuurve the Wii Fit! We just got our Wii last weekend and are totally enjoying it. I have been slacking in finding ways to workout while the kids are home for the summer and this totally works. Anyone who is debating on getting it? GET IT!

Unknown said...

Hmmm...we were already considering getting one this summer and I was wondering about the Wii Fit. Sounds like a good thing to try!

Mimi said...

Me too me too!! Maybe I'll spend my bd money on the Wii....wonder if we can talk Jimbo out of some tv time in the evenings to actually get to use it :)

Anne Marie@Married to the Empire said...

Thanks for the review! I've been eyeing the Wii Fit and wondering if it's worth it. Sounds like it is!

Another fun way to exercise with the Wii is by playing Dance, Dance Revolution. It has a workout mode option that lets you set up your workout by time or calories burned. It's pretty fun, but I'm still not great at the eye-foot-hand coordination thing.

Joni said...

I beat Darrell at boxing (KO'd) twice at Christmastime when his cousins got a Wii. It was SO fun and I was really sore the next day!!!! I've never heard of the Wii Fit but it sounds fun!

Anonymous said...

I have heard so many great things about this! Maybe Ill just need to buy one! They seem like a blast to have!

Anonymous said...

We have a wii fit also and love it. My husband looked at the cost of weights and the cost of the wii fit and we got the wii fit. Way better deal!

I'm sure I look the exact same way when I am doing the boxing.

Now you have inspired me to go downstairs and wii fit!

Audra Krell said...

This is a great post. I have been looking for the WII fit, they are hard to get! I appreciate your detailed descriptions, I am going to redouble my efforts to find one.Thanks! Love the pics too, they made the post really fun.

Extraordinary Ordinary Life said...

Wow, I didn't realize it had all of those options! I may have to ask for one for my birthday. Thanks for stopping by my blog!

Autumn said...

I should definitely not be reading this post! :)

Unknown said...

Thanks for the review. I've been wondering if Wii Fit was gimicky or not. I love the boxing and tennis on the sports game. I'm obsessed with becoming a pro!

Melanie said...

This is so cool! It's been a little harder the 3rd time around trying to loose my baby weight. I might have to give it a try.

Hmm...my birthday is next month! :)