When you weigh yourself, the WiiFit tells you how many more pounds you need to lose or gain in order to make your goal. On a day when your weight goes up, even a little, it will tell you that you're going in the wrong direction. And if you do lose weight and it's not fast enough to meet your goal in time, it tells you.
This is annoying.
So Joy and I tell it our goal is to gain 20 pounds. Then any day when our weight goes up, it compliments us.
What they OUGHT to do is program it to occasionally say something different. For instance, "Hey, I know your weight hasn't gone down in a while and that can be discouraging, but don't sweat it. I mean, it's only a number. It's just one way to measure your health, and it has absolutely nothing to do with your value as a human being. I think you're great. Just saying."
Showing posts with label Wii. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wii. Show all posts
Friday, February 26, 2010
Monday, September 7, 2009
Riiview: 1 Year Later
This is the story of four people with the same dream: to lose weight on the WiiFit.
At first there was just Diiego (D's ego, green in the middle) and Lilac (Joy, red). Then our nutritionist told us what our proper weights should be and we realized that even if we got down to them, our WiiFit would still claim we were overweight. So we created two taller characters, the 6'11" Alter Iigo (green on the left with a goatee) and the more pedestrianly-heightened Tinuviiel (yellow).
We used the WiiFit for exercise for 6 weeks and 10 weeks respectively, but kept weighing ourselves on it regularly ~twice a week. As you see from my chart on the left, my weight fluctuated within 10 pounds for most of that year. Partly this is because the WiiFit is a terrible scale - unreliable with swings of 6 pounds from one day to the next without extremes in diet or exercise. But the pattern is pretty clear: no change.
Then came the South Beach Diet in May. Practically overnight you can see a clear break where I drop a decade and slide my way down another one. I've kept those 20 pounds off for over a month, and today's weighing was tied for my lowest in the year. Now, we'll see what 2 weeks in Italy does to that, but the results are pretty sweet.
Joy's graph on the right shows her battle to lose her pregnancy weight. You can see she has finally achieved this, with a drop starting in June when she joined me on the diet. Both of us are in spitting distance of a normal BMI compared to our proper ideal weights.
"Weight really is a strange thing. I gained 30 lbs in about three months and couldn't seem to find a way to get it off. Even working out hard every day and following the advise of a nurtritionist. But the South Beach diet has worked miracles. I am still a little impatient and wish that the weight went off as fast as it goes on, but I am so grateful that we have found a way to be healthy and lose weight. I have always a diet was just an unhealthy way to loose weight, but this has changed my life, a diet can also be a change of lifestyle and a determined choice to be healthy! The choices can be hard sometimes, but if I am really dedicated and not feeling flimsy about the choice, it is not so bad :)"
But getting back to the WiiFit. It kept our interest for a month and has been useful since. For us, its best feature was the step aerobic program that set up a friendly competition between us. I also really liked the boxing program. But it was always the same routines while My Fitness Coach gives you at least some randomization and a feeling of newness. That, and we weren't losing any weight despite doing its exercises for over an hour a day, 6 days a week. Each of us did keep using the WiiFit as an exercise log for our walks and other efforts for a month or two after we stopped using it for exercise.
Getting the WiiFit was the primary reason we got the Wii in the first place. Since then, we've added several other favorite games that we play regularly: Harvest Moon, Rune Factory, Cooking Mama, Zelda, My Fitness Coach (Joy's still going strong and I still use it occasionally).
"It's fun to play with family or friends."
At first there was just Diiego (D's ego, green in the middle) and Lilac (Joy, red). Then our nutritionist told us what our proper weights should be and we realized that even if we got down to them, our WiiFit would still claim we were overweight. So we created two taller characters, the 6'11" Alter Iigo (green on the left with a goatee) and the more pedestrianly-heightened Tinuviiel (yellow).
We used the WiiFit for exercise for 6 weeks and 10 weeks respectively, but kept weighing ourselves on it regularly ~twice a week. As you see from my chart on the left, my weight fluctuated within 10 pounds for most of that year. Partly this is because the WiiFit is a terrible scale - unreliable with swings of 6 pounds from one day to the next without extremes in diet or exercise. But the pattern is pretty clear: no change.
Then came the South Beach Diet in May. Practically overnight you can see a clear break where I drop a decade and slide my way down another one. I've kept those 20 pounds off for over a month, and today's weighing was tied for my lowest in the year. Now, we'll see what 2 weeks in Italy does to that, but the results are pretty sweet.
Joy's graph on the right shows her battle to lose her pregnancy weight. You can see she has finally achieved this, with a drop starting in June when she joined me on the diet. Both of us are in spitting distance of a normal BMI compared to our proper ideal weights.
"Weight really is a strange thing. I gained 30 lbs in about three months and couldn't seem to find a way to get it off. Even working out hard every day and following the advise of a nurtritionist. But the South Beach diet has worked miracles. I am still a little impatient and wish that the weight went off as fast as it goes on, but I am so grateful that we have found a way to be healthy and lose weight. I have always a diet was just an unhealthy way to loose weight, but this has changed my life, a diet can also be a change of lifestyle and a determined choice to be healthy! The choices can be hard sometimes, but if I am really dedicated and not feeling flimsy about the choice, it is not so bad :)"
But getting back to the WiiFit. It kept our interest for a month and has been useful since. For us, its best feature was the step aerobic program that set up a friendly competition between us. I also really liked the boxing program. But it was always the same routines while My Fitness Coach gives you at least some randomization and a feeling of newness. That, and we weren't losing any weight despite doing its exercises for over an hour a day, 6 days a week. Each of us did keep using the WiiFit as an exercise log for our walks and other efforts for a month or two after we stopped using it for exercise.
Getting the WiiFit was the primary reason we got the Wii in the first place. Since then, we've added several other favorite games that we play regularly: Harvest Moon, Rune Factory, Cooking Mama, Zelda, My Fitness Coach (Joy's still going strong and I still use it occasionally).
"It's fun to play with family or friends."
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Exercise Crazy
So I am starting to see why many mothers feel that they do not have much to talk about at least about themselves. Then Derrill is usually telling you the news about Hyrum, so what do I need to say right?
Well, I have discovered that I am currently exercise crazy. I want to be walking all of the time. I walk while I do my dishes, I walk sometimes while I shower. I walk while I cook (of course all of them are in place) I walk when I eat and when I read. Infact I realized just yesterday that I am having a hard time motivating myself to do anything that doesn't allow me to do some kind of exercise at the same time.
Why the unceasing motivation to exercise? I can only attribute it to not gaining any noticeable effect. I had no idea how altered my body would be after I had a baby and the last 10 lbs just won't come off. (so I am really looking for 40, but I try not to let on to myself too much). :)
I am really excited about the exercise game that Derrill got for our Wii. I think he may have already mentioned it before "My Fitness Coach". It really gives me a good work out and so now, even if I do not see weight loss I know that it will help me feel like I am getting fit, which I want more. I really want to feel like that I am in shape and I am glad to be on the road there. I have always maintained that I am more interested in my health than I am in my weight and I still feel that way (it is just more challenging with more weight to focus that way).
So this post is a celebration for me, starting on a new road to fitness and loving it.
Well, I have discovered that I am currently exercise crazy. I want to be walking all of the time. I walk while I do my dishes, I walk sometimes while I shower. I walk while I cook (of course all of them are in place) I walk when I eat and when I read. Infact I realized just yesterday that I am having a hard time motivating myself to do anything that doesn't allow me to do some kind of exercise at the same time.
Why the unceasing motivation to exercise? I can only attribute it to not gaining any noticeable effect. I had no idea how altered my body would be after I had a baby and the last 10 lbs just won't come off. (so I am really looking for 40, but I try not to let on to myself too much). :)
I am really excited about the exercise game that Derrill got for our Wii. I think he may have already mentioned it before "My Fitness Coach". It really gives me a good work out and so now, even if I do not see weight loss I know that it will help me feel like I am getting fit, which I want more. I really want to feel like that I am in shape and I am glad to be on the road there. I have always maintained that I am more interested in my health than I am in my weight and I still feel that way (it is just more challenging with more weight to focus that way).
So this post is a celebration for me, starting on a new road to fitness and loving it.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Utah, part 2: The North
So now we're back at home, but warm and happy thoughts of UT linger. I hope my brother's muscles have recovered.... He woke up with me about 6 in the morning (Mon, Nov 24) to drive around Utah lake to pick up a chest Joy's brother Doug had carved for her and that a kind cousin has been storing for her the last six years. S and I hauled it upstairs and into the van (where it ... almost fit) and got back in time for his work. We passed it off to my parents later in the trip so it can stay in storage with my stuff. Assuming we ever leave Ithaca (a probability 1 event), there will only be one other place for us to haul stuff from. After a bit of economics work, we drove up to Logan, Mendon, and all points north to be with Joy's sister and her family.
We really love Fran's kids, Abby and Christopher. When Joy had stayed with them for a couple weeks years ago, Abby cried when she left. Christopher (a very tall 6 yr old) wrestled with me a lot. Abby was less rowdy than in past visits, but we had a wonderful time early Thanksgiving morning while Hyrum needed to be fed just talking and then reading the scriptures together. We read most of Alma 42 and she was really touched by the scriptures and the power in them. It was a really great morning.
Tuesday, sister Fran wanted time with her nephew while her own children were at school, so we took off for the Logan temple where we were selected to be the first couple at the session. It was a very nice time there. Joy remembered very fondly how her grandfather would drive up to the front door and drop grandma off while he went to find a parking space. We would have done that too, except we were trying to get ahold of her mother and forgot. I redeemed myself by picking her up from the front door. (Isn't redemption what the temple's all about anyway?)
After the temple, we picked up Joy's mother (left) from her convalescent home and met Fran (right) and brood at the clan-famous TINY SPICY. The restaurant isn't called Tiny Spicy, but the primary reason for going to this Mandarin restaurant is their chicken dish called Tiny Spicy. Rather than the usual orange color a sesame or General Tso's chicken would have, this chicken is deep red. It's Very Good and worth its addictive reputation. We spent the rest of the evening playing Life: Pirates of the Caribbean style.
Wednesday I took the whole day off and we went to a place called "Fun Park" t
hat has rollerblading, bowling, laser tag, and a pitiful collection of arcade games. I don't skate thanks to my mission accident on ice, but the kids and Joy had fun there. I got a little work done despite it being my day off. Hyrum was really excited to watch everyone rollerskate/blade. Abby skated up just as I was taking a couple shots, and they're priceless.
Then we had a good game of bowling. Joy beat me for the first time. I had a HORRIBLE first 5 frames, but once I decided to forget approaching the lane properly and just chuck the ball from the line (a lot of my game depends on how frictional or slippery my shoes are), I got a couple strikes and several spares on the last 5 to almost catch up. I had given up on catching her and was only intent on doing better than the six year old who had bumpers. That's how pitiful a game it was for me. (I should mention that Christopher and I tied at Wii baseball twice so we had a nice competition going on that day already.)
That night we decorated for Christmas and took some great pictures. Hy is saving his favorites when he tells about the vacation in his own words, so watch out: some great pictures will be forthcoming. Fran had bought Hyrum a Santa suit, and it's really adorable on him. I took a few pictures with Joy and him, and then Christopher really wanted to get in on them. Joy asked him, "Would you like Santa to sit on your lap?" This was the resulting shot.
Thursday we drove just a little bit south to Brigham where the big family gathering was held. In its hayday, hundreds of cousins would descend and fill the cultural hall. This time around, we did justice to the multi-purpose room. I found it very entertaining how few people Joy knew. She knew the older kids in most families, but if they were under 20, she probably didn't. Several of the more important branches of the family tree were there, though, and we had a nice time getting reacquainted.
Joy's mother and grandmother were at the head of the table. Grandma Elzinga saw us and just had to hold the baby (her 92nd great-grandchild). She showed him to a few family members, then returned him to Joy, commenting, "I forgot how heavy these things can be!" Joy later took this picture of me with her grandmother in the kitchen cleaning up. (Why with me? Well, the baby was on me and Joy had already hugged her goodbye, I guess. There are other pictures of Grandma and Hy, but I think this one turned out the best.)
We also made a happy re-acquiantance and first acquaintance: Joy's brother Dustin, whom she hasn't seen in ages, and his newlywed wife. I've never met either of them. It was a casual hello until she blurted out, "Macademia!" in the serving line and we chimed in, "Oooooh, Macademia!" We then proceeded between us to redo most of the Vestibules' hit recording "Bulbous Bouffant," and fast friendships were instantly formed. For those of you unfamiliar with alleged songs that have been played on the Dr. Demento show, here's a link to an animated version. We talked about other things too, of greater interest to us likely than to any of you, like their romance. I will wait on posting this until Joy has had a chance to insert her own comments about the luncheon ... here:
" I was actually suprised at how few of my family were there, but I was able ask after some of my favorite cousins that I haven't seen for a while whose parents were there. We got there a little late, so it felt that before we even got around to visiting with everyone, people were already being ushered in to get pie. Then before I even finished eating half the room was cleaned up. I guess when you have 14 children and resulting grandchildren (over 70) and great grandchildren (over 90), and even have great great grand children, you have to know how to get things done. It felt more like home later when we went over to grandma's to visit with Aunt Noni and grandma Elzinga. Uncle Howard was there who Hyrum liked very much. My favorite part of the actual Thanks giving fiest was getting to know my sister-in-law and brother better."
After filling up on pie and Hyrum MUNCHING ON HIS FIRST ROLL OUT OF HAND (admittedly, he only ate about 5 crumbs, but he opened his mouth and bit down on something we were trying to feed him from our hands for the first time), we went back down to my brother's place. Next stop: St. George, Vegas, and back to Provo.
On a sobering note, my own grandmother (Dad's mom) suffered multiple strokes Tuesday night and Wed. We heard about it on Thanksgiving. Dad flew back to CA to be with her. In what can only be described as a miracle given the number of strokes and even a heart attack they uncovered and the length of time before she received medical treatment, she was able to walk just fine very quickly and was released back home on Friday. For her and Dad, the most frightening aspect for her was how her speech was affected, though that has mostly come back as well. How thankful we are Dad was able to go spend time with her and that she's alright now. It could have been MUCH worse. We really missed her at the Watson family dinner held in Las Vegas as a result of the trama that she had been through, but felt so blessed that things turned out so well in her recovery (leaving the hospitals with not physical restrictions on activity).
We really love Fran's kids, Abby and Christopher. When Joy had stayed with them for a couple weeks years ago, Abby cried when she left. Christopher (a very tall 6 yr old) wrestled with me a lot. Abby was less rowdy than in past visits, but we had a wonderful time early Thanksgiving morning while Hyrum needed to be fed just talking and then reading the scriptures together. We read most of Alma 42 and she was really touched by the scriptures and the power in them. It was a really great morning.
Tuesday, sister Fran wanted time with her nephew while her own children were at school, so we took off for the Logan temple where we were selected to be the first couple at the session. It was a very nice time there. Joy remembered very fondly how her grandfather would drive up to the front door and drop grandma off while he went to find a parking space. We would have done that too, except we were trying to get ahold of her mother and forgot. I redeemed myself by picking her up from the front door. (Isn't redemption what the temple's all about anyway?)
After the temple, we picked up Joy's mother (left) from her convalescent home and met Fran (right) and brood at the clan-famous TINY SPICY. The restaurant isn't called Tiny Spicy, but the primary reason for going to this Mandarin restaurant is their chicken dish called Tiny Spicy. Rather than the usual orange color a sesame or General Tso's chicken would have, this chicken is deep red. It's Very Good and worth its addictive reputation. We spent the rest of the evening playing Life: Pirates of the Caribbean style.Wednesday I took the whole day off and we went to a place called "Fun Park" t
hat has rollerblading, bowling, laser tag, and a pitiful collection of arcade games. I don't skate thanks to my mission accident on ice, but the kids and Joy had fun there. I got a little work done despite it being my day off. Hyrum was really excited to watch everyone rollerskate/blade. Abby skated up just as I was taking a couple shots, and they're priceless.Then we had a good game of bowling. Joy beat me for the first time. I had a HORRIBLE first 5 frames, but once I decided to forget approaching the lane properly and just chuck the ball from the line (a lot of my game depends on how frictional or slippery my shoes are), I got a couple strikes and several spares on the last 5 to almost catch up. I had given up on catching her and was only intent on doing better than the six year old who had bumpers. That's how pitiful a game it was for me. (I should mention that Christopher and I tied at Wii baseball twice so we had a nice competition going on that day already.)
That night we decorated for Christmas and took some great pictures. Hy is saving his favorites when he tells about the vacation in his own words, so watch out: some great pictures will be forthcoming. Fran had bought Hyrum a Santa suit, and it's really adorable on him. I took a few pictures with Joy and him, and then Christopher really wanted to get in on them. Joy asked him, "Would you like Santa to sit on your lap?" This was the resulting shot.Thursday we drove just a little bit south to Brigham where the big family gathering was held. In its hayday, hundreds of cousins would descend and fill the cultural hall. This time around, we did justice to the multi-purpose room. I found it very entertaining how few people Joy knew. She knew the older kids in most families, but if they were under 20, she probably didn't. Several of the more important branches of the family tree were there, though, and we had a nice time getting reacquainted.
Joy's mother and grandmother were at the head of the table. Grandma Elzinga saw us and just had to hold the baby (her 92nd great-grandchild). She showed him to a few family members, then returned him to Joy, commenting, "I forgot how heavy these things can be!" Joy later took this picture of me with her grandmother in the kitchen cleaning up. (Why with me? Well, the baby was on me and Joy had already hugged her goodbye, I guess. There are other pictures of Grandma and Hy, but I think this one turned out the best.)
We also made a happy re-acquiantance and first acquaintance: Joy's brother Dustin, whom she hasn't seen in ages, and his newlywed wife. I've never met either of them. It was a casual hello until she blurted out, "Macademia!" in the serving line and we chimed in, "Oooooh, Macademia!" We then proceeded between us to redo most of the Vestibules' hit recording "Bulbous Bouffant," and fast friendships were instantly formed. For those of you unfamiliar with alleged songs that have been played on the Dr. Demento show, here's a link to an animated version. We talked about other things too, of greater interest to us likely than to any of you, like their romance. I will wait on posting this until Joy has had a chance to insert her own comments about the luncheon ... here:" I was actually suprised at how few of my family were there, but I was able ask after some of my favorite cousins that I haven't seen for a while whose parents were there. We got there a little late, so it felt that before we even got around to visiting with everyone, people were already being ushered in to get pie. Then before I even finished eating half the room was cleaned up. I guess when you have 14 children and resulting grandchildren (over 70) and great grandchildren (over 90), and even have great great grand children, you have to know how to get things done. It felt more like home later when we went over to grandma's to visit with Aunt Noni and grandma Elzinga. Uncle Howard was there who Hyrum liked very much. My favorite part of the actual Thanks giving fiest was getting to know my sister-in-law and brother better."
After filling up on pie and Hyrum MUNCHING ON HIS FIRST ROLL OUT OF HAND (admittedly, he only ate about 5 crumbs, but he opened his mouth and bit down on something we were trying to feed him from our hands for the first time), we went back down to my brother's place. Next stop: St. George, Vegas, and back to Provo.
On a sobering note, my own grandmother (Dad's mom) suffered multiple strokes Tuesday night and Wed. We heard about it on Thanksgiving. Dad flew back to CA to be with her. In what can only be described as a miracle given the number of strokes and even a heart attack they uncovered and the length of time before she received medical treatment, she was able to walk just fine very quickly and was released back home on Friday. For her and Dad, the most frightening aspect for her was how her speech was affected, though that has mostly come back as well. How thankful we are Dad was able to go spend time with her and that she's alright now. It could have been MUCH worse. We really missed her at the Watson family dinner held in Las Vegas as a result of the trama that she had been through, but felt so blessed that things turned out so well in her recovery (leaving the hospitals with not physical restrictions on activity).
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Miscellany: WiiFit and Books
We have had our WiiFit for 50 days now and actually used it about 40 of those days (-7 Sundays and a few sick days). The WiiFit is a glorified scale ... but it's actually not that reliable. My weight will fluctuate by over 4 pounds from one day to the next! Up 6, down 5, down 2, up 3.... This makes it difficult to rely on it to tell us how much we weigh. What we put a little more faith in is the overall trend. For both of us, it's slightly down, but not by an incredible amount.
We enjoy the aerobic workouts most, Joy on step aerobics and I like it's boxer and the step aerobics. We have a regular challenge to see who scores best on the steps. "I'm ahead again! I got like 629 or something like that!" Hmmm, the bar is raised again. They also have some comfortable yoga stretches, some strength training exercises, and I enjoy the balance games.
The WiiFit also tries to calculate your BMI (body mass index) which is your weight in kg divided by your squared height in meters. The idea is that a person at 22 is ideally healthy. The problem is that the weight that would give us a 22 is NOT our ideal weight! For me, it thinks I should weigh 150 pounds. Now when I weighed a mere 196 right after my mission, I had a handful of people telling me I was unhealthily thin. My nutritionist says my actual ideal weight is 215. That's because I have a lot of muscle and other lean mass. Joy has a similar miscalculation, though hers isn't as large a miscalc as mine.
So we have a way to fool the Fit. I calculated the height of a person who would have as their ideal weight our ideal weight. We created two new characters (mine is named Alter Iigo) who we then claimed are that tall. So the Wii thinks I'm 6'11 and tells me I am merely overweight rather than grossly obese. The Wii stays alive longer that way.
The important question, though, is whether or not the WiiFit has helped us exercise more. The answer is yes. Before I started walking to campus every day, about half of my exercise was done on the Fit, and most of that wouldn't have happened without the ease of having it in my house. "I'm kind of a funny exerciser. I feel guilty/selfish if I spend too much time exercising. But the Wii helps me feel like I have permission to exercise, and I LOVE to be healthy. So I'm enjoying it. I especially appreciated when Derrill figured out we could do the free form step aerobics faster than it counts and it would still count our paces. Then you can go as fast as you want."
"I really like jackknives. It's my favorite ab exercise, and I learned it on the Wii. One thing I really like, since I have a baby, is that it will let you log in 5 minute increments. And you can add exercise you do outside of the Wii.
It is anticipated that it will be of the greatest help once the snow is here "and even on days when it's too hot in the summer."
-----------------------------
Joy and I finished reading Fablehaven books 2 and 3 together, interrupting The Wishsong of Shannara to read them both. We loved them! Joy's greatest complaint about them is that Book 4 isn't out yet. I don't much care for the teenage love interest (Gavin) that was introduced in Book 3 for the lead female (Kendra). I'm secretly hoping that he's really an enemy so she doesn't have to be with him.
-----------------------------
Projects completed:
We moved our bed to the other side of the room. Granted, this is about 6 inches, but in the process we took everything out of the room, cleaned it thoroughly, and then re-constructed the bed on the other side of the room to reduce the chance of mold formation on the outer walls. We also moved the couch away from the outside wall for the same reason, which meant moving two bookcases as well. "It wasn't a major clean up of the garage, but it took us some time."
We had a plumber here to fix the emergency water shut off valve that didn't shut off anything.
I still need to install some more insulation under the trailer where we thought there had been a leak, and there's a VERY LONG list of projects that have been on my honey-do list for months.
"And then we're going to be sending away our computer." The laptop has been waxing old. Dell has kindly offered to examine it to see what other damage they can do, so we may not have the internet in our home for the next week or two. "Given when our service contract ends and how many times we plan on being out of town with it, it makes sense to have a thorough check of it done."
-----------------------------
Dates:
We went to Watkins Glen to tour the falls and leaves. Hyrum loved it, bouncing up and down the whole way in his frontpack. (It would be a backpack, but it's on my front.) Our date to the third game of the World Series last night was canceled due to rain delay.
Joy bought us a second Wii Remote (Wiimote) "and Derrill soundly whooped me in all of the Wii Sports. Good for him." I hear tell if I keep it up, she'll challenge me to boxing, cause she knows I won't him a woman. "I'm pretty good at that, aren't I?" You are quite engaging to watch.
This is Joy hidden behind a waterfall at Watkins Glen. The light was fading pretty bad and the flash doesn't seem to have done much. Oh well. Go to W.G. and behold the back side of water!
We enjoy the aerobic workouts most, Joy on step aerobics and I like it's boxer and the step aerobics. We have a regular challenge to see who scores best on the steps. "I'm ahead again! I got like 629 or something like that!" Hmmm, the bar is raised again. They also have some comfortable yoga stretches, some strength training exercises, and I enjoy the balance games.
The WiiFit also tries to calculate your BMI (body mass index) which is your weight in kg divided by your squared height in meters. The idea is that a person at 22 is ideally healthy. The problem is that the weight that would give us a 22 is NOT our ideal weight! For me, it thinks I should weigh 150 pounds. Now when I weighed a mere 196 right after my mission, I had a handful of people telling me I was unhealthily thin. My nutritionist says my actual ideal weight is 215. That's because I have a lot of muscle and other lean mass. Joy has a similar miscalculation, though hers isn't as large a miscalc as mine.
So we have a way to fool the Fit. I calculated the height of a person who would have as their ideal weight our ideal weight. We created two new characters (mine is named Alter Iigo) who we then claimed are that tall. So the Wii thinks I'm 6'11 and tells me I am merely overweight rather than grossly obese. The Wii stays alive longer that way.
The important question, though, is whether or not the WiiFit has helped us exercise more. The answer is yes. Before I started walking to campus every day, about half of my exercise was done on the Fit, and most of that wouldn't have happened without the ease of having it in my house. "I'm kind of a funny exerciser. I feel guilty/selfish if I spend too much time exercising. But the Wii helps me feel like I have permission to exercise, and I LOVE to be healthy. So I'm enjoying it. I especially appreciated when Derrill figured out we could do the free form step aerobics faster than it counts and it would still count our paces. Then you can go as fast as you want."
"I really like jackknives. It's my favorite ab exercise, and I learned it on the Wii. One thing I really like, since I have a baby, is that it will let you log in 5 minute increments. And you can add exercise you do outside of the Wii.
It is anticipated that it will be of the greatest help once the snow is here "and even on days when it's too hot in the summer."
-----------------------------
Joy and I finished reading Fablehaven books 2 and 3 together, interrupting The Wishsong of Shannara to read them both. We loved them! Joy's greatest complaint about them is that Book 4 isn't out yet. I don't much care for the teenage love interest (Gavin) that was introduced in Book 3 for the lead female (Kendra). I'm secretly hoping that he's really an enemy so she doesn't have to be with him.
-----------------------------
Projects completed:
We moved our bed to the other side of the room. Granted, this is about 6 inches, but in the process we took everything out of the room, cleaned it thoroughly, and then re-constructed the bed on the other side of the room to reduce the chance of mold formation on the outer walls. We also moved the couch away from the outside wall for the same reason, which meant moving two bookcases as well. "It wasn't a major clean up of the garage, but it took us some time."
We had a plumber here to fix the emergency water shut off valve that didn't shut off anything.
I still need to install some more insulation under the trailer where we thought there had been a leak, and there's a VERY LONG list of projects that have been on my honey-do list for months.
"And then we're going to be sending away our computer." The laptop has been waxing old. Dell has kindly offered to examine it to see what other damage they can do, so we may not have the internet in our home for the next week or two. "Given when our service contract ends and how many times we plan on being out of town with it, it makes sense to have a thorough check of it done."
-----------------------------
Dates:
We went to Watkins Glen to tour the falls and leaves. Hyrum loved it, bouncing up and down the whole way in his frontpack. (It would be a backpack, but it's on my front.) Our date to the third game of the World Series last night was canceled due to rain delay.Joy bought us a second Wii Remote (Wiimote) "and Derrill soundly whooped me in all of the Wii Sports. Good for him." I hear tell if I keep it up, she'll challenge me to boxing, cause she knows I won't him a woman. "I'm pretty good at that, aren't I?" You are quite engaging to watch.
This is Joy hidden behind a waterfall at Watkins Glen. The light was fading pretty bad and the flash doesn't seem to have done much. Oh well. Go to W.G. and behold the back side of water!
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Oh, the Games Wii play
No, I have never played a Wii. Derrill only has at MEnrichment with our branch. So...... why would Wii care what games people play?
Jealousy, mostly. Our brother Steve and his beauuuuutiful wiife have recently invested in a Wii for health purposes. You may understand this if you have heard of the Wii Fit which allows them to exercise in the 'privacy' of their own home entertainment system. Wii have listened with wrapped attention to their stories of how they are enjoying their Wii Fitness and (since they bought it used) their adventures in Wii babysitting or in other words getting all the parts to work.
So there I was at Target, today, minding my own business, getting toilet paper and other necessities. And as my husband often does at Target, I thought I would just see how much the Wii system costs, when it is available for purchase. When Derrill is interested in a game he checks on the game's descending price while we are at the store. Derrill calls it going on a pilgrimage or paying homage.
I had receive the impression that a Wii is very hard to find. There are websites dedicated to how to find a Wii. I found one that made me laugh out loud about how you need to get to know the store manager and be a stocker of the shipments of Wii. I was perfectly prepared by the fact that once we decided to get the Wii it would take some real work to find one.
When we found out that Steve and Emilee have a Wii and how much fun they were having with it, I stared thinking about how it could be nice to have a fitness center (of sorts) in our home that doesn't take up much space as space is a premium in our home. Additionally it is difficult to exercise outside in extreme heat and freezing snow. The expense for the Wii and Wii fit didn't seem much more than a gym membership would be. Really I think that if a person is doing some excersize all the time it is better than a lot of exersize once in a while.
Derrill and I actually had some conversations about whether there was a joint interest for the gamebox, where the money would come from if we did get. We even watched a few videos online of people using the Wii Fit. We had determined that we would probably get the Wii, but would wait until after Thanksgiving (when we could try our Steve and Emilee's Wii) and after Christmas (because there is such a shortage of them at Christmas). Really Derrill and I usually think about large purchases for a long time. We had decided that it would be a great thing to do with some fun money that Derrill had been saving since before we even got married. And also the Wii can play my favorite game Harvest Moon so it is not only games of shooting.
So after we had calmly and detachedly discussed the Wii, I asked at Target if they had a Wii.
The guy said that they did have one Wii and that it had arrived today. Well I found that kind of interesting (it was $250) and continued getting the items that I came to the store to buy.
I had called Derrill to ask what size of white board would be best (they had two sizes), and casually mentioned that Target had a Wii instock. I asked, kindof just teasing, "So do you think that we should get it?" As we were discussing it, I realize how amazing it was that there actually one in the store. (the store guy told me that their shipments usually come in on Sunday and there are usually about 25 people in line to get them-he doesn't even know how they find out they are getting a shipment since they are not planned ahead of time.)
I walked back to the games to tell Derrill about some of the games that were available. When I got back there, a lady said, "oh, they have a Wii...... I could get a Wii or I could get my brakes fixed. I never have money when there is one that I could buy." I thought that was hilarious. So we decided to get it
Above is our Wii sitting as a trophy on our TV. We will not open it until Derrill finishes his third paper for his dissertation, so that is can be a motivator for him. We expect to have a lot of family fun with it, we seem to do alot of our vacationing at home anyway. So I will begin as I started. I have still not played a Wii.
Take care everyone, I will hopefully write a blog about Hyrum soon. It sounds like he is up from his nap.
Jealousy, mostly. Our brother Steve and his beauuuuutiful wiife have recently invested in a Wii for health purposes. You may understand this if you have heard of the Wii Fit which allows them to exercise in the 'privacy' of their own home entertainment system. Wii have listened with wrapped attention to their stories of how they are enjoying their Wii Fitness and (since they bought it used) their adventures in Wii babysitting or in other words getting all the parts to work.
So there I was at Target, today, minding my own business, getting toilet paper and other necessities. And as my husband often does at Target, I thought I would just see how much the Wii system costs, when it is available for purchase. When Derrill is interested in a game he checks on the game's descending price while we are at the store. Derrill calls it going on a pilgrimage or paying homage.
I had receive the impression that a Wii is very hard to find. There are websites dedicated to how to find a Wii. I found one that made me laugh out loud about how you need to get to know the store manager and be a stocker of the shipments of Wii. I was perfectly prepared by the fact that once we decided to get the Wii it would take some real work to find one.
When we found out that Steve and Emilee have a Wii and how much fun they were having with it, I stared thinking about how it could be nice to have a fitness center (of sorts) in our home that doesn't take up much space as space is a premium in our home. Additionally it is difficult to exercise outside in extreme heat and freezing snow. The expense for the Wii and Wii fit didn't seem much more than a gym membership would be. Really I think that if a person is doing some excersize all the time it is better than a lot of exersize once in a while.
Derrill and I actually had some conversations about whether there was a joint interest for the gamebox, where the money would come from if we did get. We even watched a few videos online of people using the Wii Fit. We had determined that we would probably get the Wii, but would wait until after Thanksgiving (when we could try our Steve and Emilee's Wii) and after Christmas (because there is such a shortage of them at Christmas). Really Derrill and I usually think about large purchases for a long time. We had decided that it would be a great thing to do with some fun money that Derrill had been saving since before we even got married. And also the Wii can play my favorite game Harvest Moon so it is not only games of shooting.
So after we had calmly and detachedly discussed the Wii, I asked at Target if they had a Wii.
The guy said that they did have one Wii and that it had arrived today. Well I found that kind of interesting (it was $250) and continued getting the items that I came to the store to buy.
I had called Derrill to ask what size of white board would be best (they had two sizes), and casually mentioned that Target had a Wii instock. I asked, kindof just teasing, "So do you think that we should get it?" As we were discussing it, I realize how amazing it was that there actually one in the store. (the store guy told me that their shipments usually come in on Sunday and there are usually about 25 people in line to get them-he doesn't even know how they find out they are getting a shipment since they are not planned ahead of time.)
I walked back to the games to tell Derrill about some of the games that were available. When I got back there, a lady said, "oh, they have a Wii...... I could get a Wii or I could get my brakes fixed. I never have money when there is one that I could buy." I thought that was hilarious. So we decided to get it
Above is our Wii sitting as a trophy on our TV. We will not open it until Derrill finishes his third paper for his dissertation, so that is can be a motivator for him. We expect to have a lot of family fun with it, we seem to do alot of our vacationing at home anyway. So I will begin as I started. I have still not played a Wii.
Take care everyone, I will hopefully write a blog about Hyrum soon. It sounds like he is up from his nap.
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