Wiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!!

[Opsa]

Hey-o! We had a little money this Yule, so we finally got the Opsalette something she has been wanting: a Wii player. It was on sale, and we figured we don't always have the money, but we did this year so why not.

It came with "Just Dance 4" and we have been really enjoying it. Last week I started doing the 10 minute workouts each morning, and this week Th'O'lette has had off from school (exempt from exams because of excellent grades), and she has joined me doing the 25 minute workouts. We do the dances too, but the workouts are well-designed, starting slow with warm-ups, moving to more energetic dances, and then cooling off with yoga stretches.

I have really been needing aerobic exercise, but am not a gym person (couldn't afford it, anyway), and found regular exercises extremely tedious. But these are so much fun, the music is lively, the graphics are colorful, the dances are challenging, plus the routines change  according to how much energy the machine senses you are expending. It estimates how many calories are burned, and gives points for matching beats, which add up to winning prizes such as new avatars and new challenges.

I am hoping that I will keep up the regimen I have started. All ready I have a spring in my step. I was a little sore (but not hurting) at first, and then again when I upped the workout, but I felt like I warm accomplishing something.

I hope that this will help me get my heart rate up each day, so my heart will be healthier.

Anyone else tried it?

[Griffin NoName]

Never tried one. Sounds a really great idea for exercise.

[Aggie]

Dance is great exercise.  When I go to a concert or DJ show, I approach it as an athletic event, albeit one that I can do when I'm a sheet or so to the wind . I'll be on the floor for hours, with the odd break for water. I tend to limp for the next couple of days, especially if it's the kind of music to get me bouncing (calf muscle overwork!).

[Opsa]

Oh yeah, I can feel the burn, but it feels great. This morning Th'O'lette and I did a Wii workout again and by the time Mr. Ops came home we were just dancing around and singing and full of beans. You'd think it would wear you out, but it has the opposite effect: we feel like moving around even more.

[Sibling DavidH]

We have a Wii at Friday Club.  I never use it, so as to let the participants have more time, but some of the games are excellent.  They all sit round and cheer/boo whoever is playing. 

[Opsa]

I cheer and boo myself.

So far I have kept up the program. I am up to doing the 45 minute workouts, now. Just had a physical yesterday and the doc said my abs are in good shape and I am limber. I have also lost about four pounds, according to my scale. The scale at the doctors office was not so generous!

Still, I believe that I am getting some benefit from getting my blood moving around more. My head and mood seem better, or maybe that's just because it is finally looking a bit like Spring around here.

[Opsa]

It's been a year since I started doing the Wii Let's Dance workouts. I have not done them every day, in fact I usually average about three days a week and at some point went back to the 25 minute workouts.

I don't seem to have lost ANY more weight, which is disappointing. Maybe it is because I am not dieting as well. That would probably help! My main concern was that I felt very flabby and out of shape- as in I could feel my heart pound as if I'd been running when I had just walked up some stairs, and I knew that wasn't good.

I still have a thicker waist than I'd like, but part of that may just be middle age spread. My arms and legs are firmer though, and I found when I was shoveling all that snow we've been having I was not getting exhausted and dizzy, like I did last year.

So no, I do not look like a supermodel (never had the face or hair, anyway!) but I do feel stronger and healthier, so I'd call that progress. I intend to keep up the workouts. Need to get  a new disc though- I'm getting a bit bored with the same old tunes!

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

The current beauty ideal is so completely overrated that I won't even go there, what matters is that you are having enough physical activity and are healthy.

[Bob in a quantum-state-of-faith]

Woot! 

Your firmer muscles easily translate into a longer life, and better quality of life, too. 

That ought to be more than sufficient to celebrate. 

[Griffin NoName]

Your increased muscle probably just makes up the weight lost.

[Opsa]

  Hey, that's what I keep telling myself! 

[Aggie]

Ayuh, it's fitness, not fatness, that counts IMHO.

The current beauty ideal is so completely overrated that I won't even go there, what matters is that you are having enough physical activity and are healthy.

*rumble* The women I've known who naturally fit the current beauty ideal tend to struggle heavily with it. Better to be a bit unique.

[Opsa]

More fun, too.

It is hard to appreciate the lady who scowls over her diet coke when everyone goes for out ice-cream.