Houston, Wii Have a Problem

So, Santa brought me a Wii Fit for Christmas this year. Very sought after, so I'm very excited (and grateful to PC, the Wii fairy) to have it. Not excited enough to get it out of the box until yesterday, but excited in theory. I had to get all the Christmas junk out of the way, read the instructions, and rearrange furniture to make it happen.

Well, I get it out, sync it up, load it into my machine and off we go. Overall, I have to say I like it. It's cute. The little Miis (the cartoon versions of my family and friends) applaud and dance around me when I do well. I need all the support I can get. Of course, when I don't do well, my character drops to her knees in defeat and cries. She's really gotta toughen up. I refuse to have a sissy for a Mii.

So far, here's a rundown of my experience on my first day.

1. I setup my Mii, getting her weighted and BMI calculated and whatnot. I took the balance test and did all the other stuff to get baselined. I have to say I was not particularly thrilled when it told me I was overweight and announced my Wii Age to be 33. I guess it could be worse.

2. I set my goal of 3 pounds lost in 2 weeks. That was the most it would recommend. I'm down with that. I joined Weight Watchers last Monday, so that will help.

3. To improve my balance tests (and ultimately get me back in the 20s!) I started with the balance games. In the first one, my family kicks soccer balls at my head and I have to try to shift my weight to lean over and head but it back. I didn't do so well, especially when they started lobbing soccer cleats and panda heads (I don't know why) at me, which I had to dodge. I did so poorly the first time that when I did adequately the second time, all the characters danced and cheered around me. Sad. I only earned one star for my performance.

4. Next, I did the two different skiing activities. In first, I had so ski downhill and shift my weight to go through the flagged checkpoints. I either missed it entirely or I ran over the flags. Oops. Not so good. Neither was the slalom. Generally I'm supposed to squat down and try to get my balance lined up over this blue dot, then I straighten my legs at just the right time to see how far I can jump. Half the time it didn't register me standing and I would roll down the hill in a giant snowball. Great. One star again on both of those.

5. Then I tried this game where I had to shift my weight to make these balls fall through holes on a table I could tilt. I did pretty good at that, I think. Just as it told me I did awesome, my left leg cramped up. Well, first my foot. The arch of my foot drew up so tight it was as though I was in 5 inch heels. I couldn't straighten my foot or put it flat onto the floor to walk it off. That was followed by my calf cramping into a wicked knot. I screamed for about five minutes, the dogs jumping around doing their best to help while I swatted them away, tears in my eyes, until I could finally force my foot flat and limp around the living room. Awesome. Two stars until I started screaming.

6. I didn't let it get me, down. No sir. I got back on, but switched to an aerobics activity. Shifting back and forth on my feet was out. On to hula hooping. That one was actually quite fun and I'm ashamed to admit, got me a little sweaty and my heart pounding. Generally, I swung my hips around while Mii Jason and Mii Jim (my father in law) threw hula hoops at me to catch. I had five going at one point. I'm sure I looked ridiculous, but whatever. Two stars on this one!

7. Next I tried the step aerobics. Me and about fifteen other Miis were all on stage to perform our stunning rendition of Wii Riverdance to an audience. Mainly it was me trying to keep to the beat stepping up and down and to the sides and whatever. I did okay. Got a round of applause from the audience, but only one star on this one. I think I was going too fast at first. I'll show them.

8. I had two minutes left on my 30 minute goal, so I decided to do a yoga activity to cool down. With the deep breathing pose, I tried to keep my balance centered while breathing to the rhythm of the contracting and expanding circle. Three stars on this bad boy. Those months of sporadic yoga PC and I did last year seemed to do some good. That is, if standing in one place and breathing steady is a skill. :)

At last, my 30 minutes were in the bank. Lots of hoorays and such. I was done. I happily put my board away and turned it off. Now that I have it setup, I'll try to get on it pretty reguarly. It was fun. I did like it. Screaming aside. And of course, as PC has mentioned, you're determined to prove it wrong. No, I'm 29, not 33. No, I don't fall down a lot. I am awesome and I am going to show you. I am going to get the high score. I am going to earn all 4 stars! If competition doesn't get me off my butt, nothing will.

Is exercise part of your resolution this year? How's it going? Do you have or want a Wii Fit? If you have one, what's your favorite activity? I haven't gotten to try them all out yet, but I'm curious as to what others like.

SP

PS. Julia Harper's winner will be announced Monday, so check back to see if you've picked up an autographed copy of For the Love of Pete!