188.0 The Wii Fit and Me.

My recent return to physical therapy is working. How do I know? I pulled out the Wii Fit board, dusted it off, and was amazed at how much better I'm doing on both the balance and the aerobic exercises. Working on balance involves moving my weight backward and forward and side to side on the Wii Fit. One of my favorites is the ski slalom in which I have to ski down a mountain going through all the gates. If I miss a gate or go too slow, I lose points. I also can float a raft down a river trying not to hit the shoreline, while at the same time avoiding the bee that will get me if I go too slow. And then there is the table tilt where I have tilt the table so the balls will drop through strategically placed holes. Speed is important here too because if the balls roll too fast in any direction they fall off the table and I have to start over again.

The aerobic section is really fun because, among several activities, there is step. And I am now doing advanced step and it feels like dancing. Since my back surgeries I'm not supposed to dance so doing step is really fun. You follow the movements of characters doing it with you so there is even a sense of community, a virtual community of people keeping the rhythm and burning the calories together.

The other day I wrote about the study in the WSJ that determined that a gentle nudge from a person or computer can help people keep exercising. The Wii Fit tells me how I am doing and offers tips (if I want to read them).

If you have a chance, try out the Wii Fit. It's fun, gets the metabolism going, and is a great source of encouragement, especially if you are into little virtual people :).