I am hurting. A lot. I have been whining to Mike about it all day. And then I whined to Robin some more when she got here. So much that Robin ended up giving me a back rub just so I'd shut up about it already. Have I mentioned I love her. Because I do. But before we go too much further let's back up for a minute so I can state the obvious.
I am not at my ideal weight. I would like to be at my ideal weight, but... you know, whatever. Back just before I got pregnant with Abby I lost somewhere between 20 and 30 pounds, but then... you know, whatever. I lost the weight by eating a lot of salads and riding my exercise bike. I was committed to that thing and I logged a lot of miles. I "rode" all the way to Michigan. It was effective, but I hated it. I still hate it. Actually, I hate it more now then I did then.
Since Maya was born I have been making promises to myself that I will work that time on the exercise bike back into my schedule. But I don't and the truth is I really don't want to. The ideal time, for me, to ride that hateful contraption is right when I get home from work. Unfortunately it is not the ideal time for the rest of my family. The ideal time for my family is after the kids are in bed, but the kids bedtime means wind down time for me. And I'm not willing to give that up for the bike.
Now I love to walk, but hate to walk on my own and don't really like walking with the iPod. I hate that disconnected feeling, not truly feeling aware of my surroundings. I'm weird that way, I know. The other thing I can't seem to do is find a walking partner. I get lots of offers, but no follow through. For Mike and I to go together it means dragging the kids along and then we're stopping to inspect every twig and blade of grass along the way. And to be honest, Mike would rather walk on his own with his iPod. Apparently I'm too chatty.
Fast forward to the Christmas of 2008, the BlogMother clan gets up in the morning to find that Santa has left them a shiny new Wii video game system. At some point Mike tells me he's heard of people losing weight from boxing with their Wii. As I have mentioned a time or twenty before we are loving the Wii. All four of us. Maya can't quite play yet, but she likes to grab the nunchuck if it's not already in use and "play along". She's also very encouraging when you play, always ready to congratulate you on a strike and so on.
Friday night we had company over and after they left and the kids were in bed Mike and I fired up the Wii. And we started boxing. When it was my turn Mike commented that I was pretty good at it. So I kept boxing. Next thing you know I had knocked out 10 opponents in a row, most in the first round and none got past the second round. It took a little over half an hour and I was sweating by the time I was done. More importantly I had enjoyed myself, immensely.
Today muscles that I don't normally use were screaming, but still I played. Maybe not as vigourously as yesterday, but I did box a couple of show-off fights for Robin and the kids. I am now at Pro status and the fights are getting tougher. When we first set up the Wii I took the fitness test and was horrified to see my Wii Age was 61. I am proud to say that yesterday it was 24, a good decade younger than my actual age. I didn't take the test today. I was afraid I'd be around 80, if I did.
I am looking forward to purchasing a Wii Fit, when they, once again, become readily available in stores. I'm also on the look out for Wii games that require a somewhat more vigourous game play. Once I get my hands on a Wii Fit expect to see some progress reports here to help keep me on track.
12 comments:
Oh Shan! I remember when you rode to Michigan. You never did make it to Florida!!
We have a Wii and I get dd exercise type of games. I LOVE the Hannah Montana dance game. I dance that all the time. This Christmas we added Wii Cheer (cheerleading) and Dance Revolution for more exercise. Dd is fighting me for a turn. I love Dance Revolution. I work up a sweat on that too.
I never could get into Wii Sports, but the girlie girl games are right up my alley.
I also heard Outdoor Challenge is VERY big on excercise, but I haven't picked that one up yet.
I'm so excited to hear you've found something fun! I got on a big fitness kick over the summer, but it was torture. The bulk of my 13-17lb (it fluctuates) weight loss since July has been because I've eaten only until full and cut down on and the amount of sweets (one or two cookies instead of five, things like that). But despite the fairly large amount of weight loss, things I thought would be far less flabby are still flabby and I know I need to add in some fitness to TONE TONE TONE. We don't have a Wii and I'm sure it's not in our immediate future as the funds just aren't there, but I'm thrilled to be hearing so many good things about the fitness involved in these games and how fun they are.
My neice-to-be has a Wii and we got her a Wii Outdoor Adventures game where you kayak, snowboard, whack-a-mole, etc (I think it has six different games, and a game mat). I haven't heard yet how fun it is, but it looked like a BLAST and my brother and his fiance were both excited to get home and try it out as well. LOL
congrats on the awesome boxing abilities!
PS I really really want a Wii now! LOL
Hey Shan. When I was staying at my sister-in-laws a couple of months ago while her husband was away, I did Wii Fit every night I was there and was feeling it big time. It was way better than riding a bike or going to the gym. I really liked it (esp the balance games and yoga). I can see that people can easily lose weight and get toned using it. Esp when it is sitting right there in the living room. Way to go! Sorry about the sore muscles though. :)
good for you Shan...very proud of you!!
The wii fit is so FUN! I love it! And I agree with the sore muscles thing...
I've heard some really good things about the Wii fit! Good luck and have fun!
Happy New Year to you and your family, Shan!
Kellan
If you like Twilight you'll LOVE the Sookie books! I think the characters have more depth...
(so this comment won't be a total non sequitur) I like to listen to them while I walk on the treadmill...makes the workout go by, and my reading done all at once!
I do hope it works for you. You have to really enjoy it to make it work or it won't be a life change.
If I could see I think I would enjoy the wi
I specifically offered to babysit for friends who had a Wii. Their baby goes down at 6pm. I played straight for 3 hours! I could barely move the next day. Llove love love the boxing. Total workout. I hope they get a Fit so that I can babysit again!!
Good luck!
Cool! Sounds like fun. I really like boxing (I used to do those Taibo fitness tapes all the time). You know, I've seen the commercials for Wi fit and they don't make it look nearly as cool/impressive as everyone else is making it sound. I'm getting tempted.
Btw...after the baby comes and I get the go-ahead for movement...I'll be in ~desperate~ need of a fitness buddy...
;-)
Work on the family for letting you go out after work...
Julie LB - seems like a million years ago doesn't it? I would really like to pick up the Outdoor Challenge. It looks like a lot of fun.
Leah - Sorry I made it sound so attractive:) And good for you on the loss. It's not easy.
Karen - I am looking forward to trying out the Wii fit. And the muscles are good now. I guess they're getting use to the work out.
Darlene - thanks.. smooches!
Betsy - yeah that was not fun.
Kellan - thanks, same to you and yours.
Cristan - I'll have to pick them up. I used to read while riding the bike.
Angela - thanks, me too.
Julie - it sure is a work out. Shockingly I actually look forward to doing it each day.
Normie - you're welcome to come one over and take ours for a test drive. And I'm totally in for walking after Baby K arrives!
My Canadian friend said he got his Wii at Superstore??? Is that the actual name of the store? He said most people don't think to get something like that there, so whenever he goes, he gets what he wants. Might want to try there for Wii Fit.
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