Imagine how foolish I felt, standing naked on my brand new Wii Fit balance board in hopes of shedding a few pounds off my initial weigh-in (and avoiding the dreaded “obese” verdict), when the game asked me to enter the weight of the clothing I was currently wearing.
I re-robed and started over again.
Today is day one in a weekly diary I plan to keep on my Wii Fit experience (you can read the Globe & Mail's review of Wii Fit here). Each week I will provide a brief update as to my body mass index (BMI), weight, and Wii Fit Age—Nintendo's verdict regarding my overall fitness level. I plan not to change anything about my lifestyle over the course of this test other than my five times weekly Wii Fit workouts. (Proof: I sucked back a large Diet Coke from McDonald's during my inaugural play.)
I tried all of the activities initially available in the game (many are unlocked over time), and by the end of my workout—a full hour later—I was huffing and puffing.
Strangely, I enjoyed yoga—an activity I have gone to great lengths to avoid in the real world—the most. Turns out years of sitting at various angles of recline on couches and in office chairs has somehow given me awesome balance and posture. I achieved Yoga Master on all but one of the exercises.
Speaking of balance, the activities meant to improve my equilibrium—heading soccer balls and slalom skiing—were the most enjoyable. Unfortunately, they were also the activities from which I felt I derived the least physical exercise.
On the other hand, effeminately shaking my hips while miming a Hula Hoop motion turned out to be good little aerobic workout. I also enjoyed the running-in-spot challenge, which involved slowly trotting through a virtual park filled with dozens of other walkers and runners, for about five minutes. I actually laughed out loud at one point when another jogger in the park—a Mii avatar set up on my console by one of my friends that looks remarkably like him—tripped and fell on his face as I passed him.
But the most physically draining activities were the strength exercises, which involved push-ups, sit-ups, and a host of other challenges that left me aching and breathing hard. I see myself dreading these exercises in the days and weeks to come.
I'll have impressions of newly unlocked activities next week. Until then, here are my starting numbers:
Weight: 182 pounds (overweight, but not obese, according to Nintendo)
Body Mass Index (BMI): 27.60 (I need to drop it to 24 in order to lose the “overweight” classification)
Wii Fit Age: 32 (Two years younger than my real-world age—yay!)
