And Now the Exercise!

It's an unfortunate fact that the best way to lose weight is to decrease caloric intake and increase exercise. I'm working on the reduction of caloric intake, and doing okay so far, but now I've got to gird myself up for working out more often. It's always a dilemma in terms of time and place. Ideally joining a gym or the Y would be best, but I don't have the money in my budget to do that right now. There is a small exercise room in the apartment complex where we live, but I've had difficulty making myself go there. In pretty weather (i.e. - not too hot, not too cold, not raining, sleeting or snowing!) I've been known to bring my walking shoes to work and go walking in the nice little park near my office, or even just huff and puff up and down the very steep road by the office. Some evenings in the spring and summer if I come straight home from work I can go down to the little greenway that's within walking distance of my home (except that you have to cross over the interstate on a bridge - which freaks me out a bit!) And on weekends I sometimes drive to a state park that's about 30 minutes away to walk the two-mile loop there.

But the exercise needs to be sustained and that's where I tend to "flake" out. I get so annoyed with myself because I always feel so much better when I work out, even if I'm initally sore and tired because I'm so out of shape. Just one workout causes me to feel like I'm breathing easier, have more energy and believe that all things are possible. But my biggest problem is eventually getting bored, or busy, or whatever lame excuse I need to stop doing the exercise.

Wii Fit
We also faced the dilemma of how Jenn the trainer could monitor my progress. Being pregnant and the mother of an active almost two year old, we weren't sure it would always be practical for her to go with me on my walks or other workouts. And she wanted to make sure I wasn't cheating when I exercised, or going out to ostensibly exercise but skipping out (not that I would, you know!) Chase and Jenn have the Wii Game system and had been enjoying the Wii Sports that are on there - and some of those can cause you to work up a sweat. But the Wii Fit system would also help us keep track of my weight loss progress and BMI index. So we all chipped in and bought the Wii Fit system.

Wii is a pretty cool system but a little intimidating. You hold a remote that is what interacts with the system, recording your scores in the games you play, etc. With the Wii Fit, it almost becomes like "Hal" the computer in 2001: A Space Odyssey - you feel like it's human and knows your every movement! There is a pad you stand on that is both a scale and part of the recording mechanism in addition to the remote control. The first time you get on it puts you through your paces to weigh you, determine your Body Mass Index, measure your balance, and even determine your fitness "age."

The features are fun, funny, and sometimes annoying. To start you create a virtual version of yourself called a "Mii." You design the body, hair color, etc. to try to get it to look as much like you as possible. That's the "you" who will be doing the exercises on the TV, based on the movement you make yourself while holding the remote. After you've created your "Mii" the system starts assessing your weight and BMI. Then, whatever your weight is, the "Mii" morphs into that size! (See profile photo) So now I have this fat little virtual me on the screen reminding me of what I need to do.

To add insult to injury though, and to make sure you stay motivated, after that, every time you step on the scale when you first turn the system on, the scale makes this audible "oompf" sound - smart-alecky thing! And it tells you when the last time was you accessed the system and chides you for not being on it more often!

So this is my plan now: every couple of days I'll work out on the Wii Fit, where they have yoga exercises, aerobics, strength training, and balance games. I'll try to get in 30 minutes at a time, and as out of shape as I've been that feels like more than enough. I'll rest on alternate days, although on those days at lunch I'll probably at least get out and walk. On other days, instead of doing Wii Fit, I'll do Wii Sports. They have a boxing game on there that really gets you going - so that's a nice aerobic exercise that's fun too. And on weekends I'll still try to get out and walk the two mile loop at Long Hunter Park on Saturday or Sunday. The goal is to stay active, but not to get into a routine that eventually gets boring.

When I do get on the Wii Fit, it offers to weigh me every time and recalculate the BMI, which you can opt out of, but I'll probably do it at least once a week. It records your weight and shows your progress on a chart - so you're getting the visual aid of seeing how you're doing.

I can only hope that as I lose weight, my Mii person will gradually reduce in size.

She damn well better!