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Can we get our bodies Wii Fit or is it just another gaming peripheral fad?

Ok. First off, let me be honest. I’ve gotten a bit chunky. Goodness knows I have an hourglass figure from the full frontal view. Unfortunately I also have an hourglass figure from the side in some less than favorable places. Were it not for my plenteous paunchitude I’d be downright gorgeous. No lie.

Thankfully, Nintendo thought about lazy gamer bums like myself and developed Wii Fit. This rather novel foray into the fitness realm follows on the heels of such games as Yourself! Fitness and Dance Dance Revolution. Let’s just call it an example of the gaming industry’s attempt to free itself from the social stigma of being a haven for couch potatoes and bored teenagers that seem to be allergic to sunlight.

Day 1: I get up at frickin’ 7am to try to beat the mad crowds out in the streets clamoring for Wii Fit. Mind you I was thwarted by midnight crowds at Walmart and every retailer that stopped accepting pre-orders due to high demand. Luckily for me, a new Target opened up nearby and it’s still not that well known. All I have to do is wait behind a couple of “mature”, gray-haired Wii owners and a younger guy who had enough cash flow to get the game and Wii Ski, too. I pay for my purchase and head home.

The weight of the Wii Balance Board is enough to give you a workout on its own. Tons of sophisticated circuitry is supposed to be in this thing and it really does its job as both a BMI calculator and a scale. I found this out when I turned it on for the first time and was promptly told I was obese and that my BMI was somewhere around 35.56 after doing the body test. Yikes.

Ok well that’s what this thing is supposed to fix so I don’t let it get to me. That’s when the “Balance Board” avatar kindly gives a drum roll to announce my Wii Fit Age of…ta-da-da-da…42. I’m 33 in real life so…yeah. Nice goin’, Nintendo. Way to motivate a person. No really it is, because it made me want to strive for something a lot closer to my real age. So I jump headlong into the bevy of exercise choices.

Wii Fit has yoga, strength training, aerobics, balance games and a choice of your favorites (games you play the most). I managed to easily rack up over 30 minutes of workout time just trying out some of the exercises and games and really wanted to keep going. I didn’t push it, what with it being my first day so I gave it a rest and looked forward to Day 2.

Day 2: Wow. I actually decided to power this thing up for a second time. It must really be fun because I have exercise videos that seemed great yet are sitting on my shelf untouched. Carmen Electra’s Aerobic Striptease didn’t see all that much action after a couple of tries, so we’re off to a good start. One of the motivating factors behind Wii Fit were discovered yesterday when I found out I could unlock new balance games, yoga poses and strength exercises. Notice how balance games came first on the list because these are especially fun. I particularly like the Slalom skiing game and the tightrope game so far.

The first time I did the tightrope I jumped to avoid the chomping metal jaws that come toward you halfway across and promptly fell to what I feel must have been an untimely demise. Fortunately you can always retry so…yay! I’ve noticed and the Balance Board avatar tells you, that your weight can fluctuate as much as 2 lbs. per day. I took my Body Test at a couple of different times and it really makes a difference. From the morning to the evening there was a 1.5 lbs. change. It made me feel less discouraged to know that tidbit of information. I managed to do over 45 minutes of workout time. Awesomeness.