My family is not health conscious by nature. My husband was involved with sports like soccer and rugby in school, and loves to hike, but I’m much more of a couch potato as far as my lifestyle habits are concerned. My kids follow my example! Sigh.

As I began training for my marathon last year – going from couch potato to marathoner in about 3 months! – I discovered the joy of a fit lifestyle. Alas, my teenaged kids weren’t buying it.

I tried to get them to do a quick walk around the block with me and the dog. I tried different fitness DVD’s with them. I tried having them design their own fitness programs – all to no avail.

And then it happened. A friend began sharing her excitement with me about the Nintendo Wii Fit

Now, we had the Wii already, and the Wii Sports game, but I found that it got boring very quickly once the initial “buzz” had worn off. I assumed the same would happen to the Wii Fit.

We decided as a family to go on over to my friend’s house and try it out. We had a BLAST! I was impressed with the quality of the exercises offered, the variety, and the combination of fun and difficulty. I could see that this was something that would last a long time. I was also pleased that you could track your weight, BMI, fitness goals, and other fitness exercises (DVD’s, time in the gym, walking, etc.) as well as just work out. It is a total fitness solution.

My family is quite competitive, and we have a riot trying to beat each other’s scores. We aim for the equivalent of 30 minutes a day (the Wii Fit program clocks your time for you), 6 days a week. We have good days and bad days (remember the Diligence post from Wednesday? – We’re getting better!) but I can assure you I have NO trouble getting my kids to work out when I suggest they go play with the Wii Fit. The game is also designed in such a way that it’s constantly correcting your posture, your balance and your skill, so we are all learning to do the exercises correctly.  Very cool.  Very clever.

This is a totally impressive piece of equipment, and a huge amount of fun for the whole family. I HIGHLY recommend it – if you can get your hands on it!

Darlene

Wow, it’s been a while since I wrote. I’ve been asking God to help me go deeper with Him, and whew! He’s been answering. I’ve had to do some major, soul “housecleaning”- confessing of sins, recognition of strongholds, and the like. It’s been quite a journey, and we’re (obviously) not finished, but it’s been interesting and challenging, and I’ve seen God in a way I’ve never seen Him before – not sitting there with a big stick ready to whack me when I mess up, but coaching me to walk forward on rough ground, like a parent encouraging a child’s first steps. Kinda cool, really.

On the “fitness front” I got to play with a Wii Fit yesterday at a friend’s house. WHAT A BLAST! I was thinking it was going to be sort of hokey. I was amazed at the quality of fitness exercises, and the fun I had doing a 30 minute workout. There were tons of options for every fitness level, and as a competitive sort of person, I could see that I would have fun trying to reach and maintain the #1 place in the family graph! I thought it might be something I grew tired of quickly, but I’m thinking that with the variety of options, and the many different levels, along with the very encouraging coaching, I could see that this could become a family favourite.

What a cool way to get a bunch of computer junkies up and moving!

Darlene