This week I am spending some time visiting my friend Mike in Philadelphia. A while ago (at the time of its release, actually), Mike ordered a Wii Fit and he just received it this past weekend. So yesterday we eagerly set it up and played with it for a while. Even though I have been pretty awful at everything that has to do with the Wii since I first laid eyes on it (honestly, no one is worse than me at Wii sports. I am also a pro and Mario Kart and cannot win a single race in the Wii version of that game to save my life), I thought that I would probably have a good chance of doing well with a fitness game. WRONG!
The first thing you do when you set up the Wii Fit is have it take your weight and height in order for it to calculate your BMI. Mine is, apparently, just at the cusp of overweight (it is worth stating, I think, that the weight that the Wii Fit gave me was roughly five pounds heavier than I actually weigh) with a BMI of 24.somethingabovefifty. The Wii Fit then tells me I should aim for a healthier BMI of 22 and has me calculate how much weight I have to lose in order to do so--18 pounds! I never even thought I had 18 pounds to lose. That would require me losing muscle mass, I'm pretty sure, and I'm not really in the mood to do that. We are not off to a great start.
The next thing you do is a balance test to figure out your Wii Fit Age. Mine is 39. Yeah, that's right, to the Wii Fit, I am 13 years older than I really am. This result is based on my performance on a balance game. So even though I can make it through 90 minutes of yoga classes (which involve a huge amount of balance) and do balancing poses like tree, eagle, crow, side plank, and warrior 3, I'm 50% older, fit-wise, than I should be. According to a video game.
Needless to say, I was not all that happy. I mean, I know it is just a game, it's not to be taken seriously, but it sort of felt like a real blow. I will see if the Wii Fit and I can make peace with each other. I did have a proud moment when I beat (well, by beat, I mean I got a perfect score) on one of the 'harder' yoga poses, that you have to unlock in order to do. I am, apparently, simultaneously a yoga master (according to the Wii Fit, mind you!) and 39 years old. These are things I never knew about myself.
In other news, I recently registered for another marathon which means there are now two on the horizon (Philadelphia in November and the National Marathon in March '09), and I updated my blog so that I now have links to the blogs of my fellow Virtual Run Club members. I also want to welcome SueWho to the foodie blogosphere and I encourage everyone to welcome her and read her healthy eating ideas! This is the woman who has helped me along the path to healthy eating throughout my life; she is a great cook and comes up with great ways to work healthy food into everyday eating!
I was also tagged by Rachel, and I promise I will follow up on that soon :)
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7 comments:
Yea the Wii fit seems to be a tad bit off. It did the same thing with my cousin who is tiny!
Now that makes me want to take the Wii fit test to see how much weight it tells me to lose. (Prediction: Approximately 25-30 pounds.) FIE I say, because I picked my goal weight out before I decided to go out and lose it, and this is where I decided I wanted to be. If no one were chubby they'd just find something else to fixate on. :P FIE, because I'm in good enough shape and I want to keep my hips.
Meanwhile, pssst, don't tell anyone but I am now going to start using my blog and copy you and have it be about running and so forth. Okay, tell people if you want to. I don't care.
...I kind of doubt if they will either. ;)
I've been wanting a Wii Fit for a while, but I just don't know any more. Partially, I don't think I'll find the time. I tried it this weekend and it had the weight pretty accurate, but I agree that balance test is bogus. How can one stupid little test determine my wii fit age? Hope you can make peace with it and wow, 2 marathons within 4 months, I am impressed. I am sure once I run one, this will seem like no big deal.
oh dear Lord I don't want to know what the Wii fit would say about me!
It really irks me that the wii fit has that built in. I've heard that the bmi calculations are really in inaccurate for kids. I read something about an athletic 12 year old girl being told that she needed to lose weight. That is just WRONG. Sheesh. Lets let kids be kids. They are most likely going to worry about their weight when they are adults, why jumpstart the obsession?
I think the BMI test is bogus for anyone. You have to take muscle mass vs. fat into account.
Some of the games for the Wii look fun though. I'm hoping my son asks for one soon. :)
I got to try a Wii Fit at a conference I recently attended and even though I regularly do yoga, it seemed to point out little details that I need to focus on to keep my form and body in better alignment. But I didn't get to do a test to see how "old" I am. And even though it's just a "game" and has the potential to frustrate people, maybe that frustration will serve as motivation for more and more people to get up and move! It was interesting to hear your assessment on the Wii Fit though!
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