While Chris was on his business trip to Las Vegas, I was watching my favorite summer TV show "So You Think You Can Dance?" before going to bed. Since we have a DVR, I usually fast forward through all the commercials. It just happened as I was clicking the button that I caught a flash of a commercial where someone was doing yoga, and I backed up to see what it was advertising.
See, I've been interested in building my yoga skills ever since I went to Utah in April for Staci and Clark's BYU Graduation (my post about that has yet to be written because I'm a blogslacker, but I will do it soon, trust me). Staci is a wonderful yoga instructor, and we got to attend one of her classes while we were there. It was my first try at the poses, but I was very intrigued at how they made my body feel, and I wanted to get better without necessarily joining a yoga studio or trying to catch yoga classes at 24 Hour Fitness. (When I go to classes at 24, I always feel like a total schlub while everyone else is a graceful swan.)
So, back to the commercial. Turns out it was advertising the new Nintendo Wii Fit. Wii Fit is an exercise game designed around the Wii Balance Board, which is the size of two bathroom scales and measures the amout of force applied to its four quadrants.
I had resisted getting a Wii for our family ever since it came out. First of all, we already have too many game systems in our home and always have. Dreamcast, Play Station, Play Station 2, XBox, XBox 360, PS2, Nintendo DS, Nintendo DS Lite, GameBoy, and probably a couple of other ones I'm not remembering at the moment. Too many! The extra expense for a nifty new technology was something that I didn't see the need for... until now.
I watched the commercial and was fascinated. These people were doing hula hoop, yoga, pushups, all while standing or leaning on the Balance Board and watching the TV show them how to do the exercises! I went online and read up on all the details of the system, and I was completely sold. Here was my perfect solution to the fitness quandary I have struggled with for years! How do I find time to go work out in the midst of a very busy schedule, while staying home with my kids and not having a babysitter immediately available to me whenever I want to go for a walk or run by myself? I could do Wii Fit exercises at home, whenever my schedule and my energy level permit, and the kids would enjoy participating!
I called Chris the next morning and told him that I wanted a Wii, and I nearly had to throw ice on him through the cell phone to revive him from a dead faint. Once he recovered, though, he couldn't get on the plane fast enough to get home to go shopping!
So on Tristan's 5th birthday, May 23, we went Wii hunting! In order to use the Wii Fit, you have to have the Wii itself. Harder to aquire than it sounds, because everybody sells out as soon as they get Wiis in stock! We drove to 5 different stores to find the Wii, the Wii controllers, and the Wii Fit. It was exhausting and exhilarating all at the same time! After we took Tristan for his birthday dinner at Joe's Crab Shack, we spent the evening playing all the fun new Wii games like Bowling, Golf, Baseball, and Boxing (in which Tristan beat the pants off of all of us!).
The next day, I pulled out my precious Wii Fit and began my personal journey toward strength, balance, and fitness. I stepped on the Balance Board for the first time and found out my Wii Fit Age, my exact Center of Balance, my exact weight, and even my BMI (Body Mass Index). I was able to set fitness goals for myself that the software tracks and shows me how I'm doing. I was given my choice of a male or female trainer, and then I begain the Training. The Wii Fit has Yoga, Strength Training, Aerobics, and Balance exercises. As I go through the exercises, I earn credits in my Fit Bank, which unlocks more and more exercises for me to try.
I'm hooked. I work out at least 5 days a week for at least an hour. The beauty of the workouts is that they are exactly at the level I need them to be. I never feel overly strained, but it's incredible how comprehensive they are! I can get a good 30 minutes of cardio in, but still serenely finish with some wonderful yoga poses that center me and cool me down. I can build my muscles and my balance one day, and tone and stretch the next. It's all up to me, and it doesn't require any special equipment other than my Wii Fit. The very best part - Ethan and Tristan absolutely love to watch and cheer me on. They've got their very own profiles on the Wii Fit and love the activities as much as I do. Our whole family is on Board together!
