Wii Fit Thoughts

When I lost 41 pounds from January 2007-May 2007 there were 3 things that were effective in helping me lose the weight.

First, I checked my weight at least every week; keeping track of my weight frequently kept my weight loss goal on my mind and I paid more attention to excercise and what I ate.

Second, I lost the weight along with other people. We talked about our weightloss and supported each other.

Third, I had a reward for accomplishing my goal (my Wii).

Wii Fit makes a very effective weight loos tool because it provides all three of these elements. Weighing yourself everyday and seeing it charted out makes your awareness of your weight "bubble up inside you." This in turn makes you more aware of what you eat and what exercises you do. Second, Wii Fit, like the Brain Age titles from Nintendo, also encourages people to communicate about the game. It is enjoyable to see other people's progress in their weightloss and through their high scores in the minigames. Finally, Wii Fit is a video game. I love unlocking new activities and trying to beat the high scores in the game. The rewards are built into the game. Even if Wii Fit doesn't provide as good of a workout as running or swimming it is a good weight loss tool because it provides these three elements. However, Wii Fit can make you very sore and cause you to sweat (even ask Tammie). Overall I think Wii Fit is a great game and I have begun to see some modest results from it as well.