Wii Be Jammin'

This has been the summer of getting healthy again. About five years ago, I lost a lot of weight through healthy eating and an obsessive workout regimen. Five years later, I've put on a large portion of that lost weight and completely fallen out of the workout habit. I got lazy. I got complacent. And I've got a closet full of clothes that bear witness to that. My goal is to get back into those clothes. I began the process this summer with a renewed focus on what I eat and how much I eat. I've revolutionized my eating habits, introducing more fruits and vegetables and cutting back on unhealthy, processed junk foods. I could count on one hand the number of times I've eaten fast food this summer -- and those three times found me ordering a grilled chicken sandwich or a salad rather than a greasy burger and fries. (I've not eaten french fries since early June. Seriously!)

The result of this healthy eating is that I just feel better. I've lost roughly 15 pounds in about six weeks. What hasn't happened in that six weeks, though, is a renewed focus on exercise. I've talked about rejoining a gym, but I am worried that I will struggle to find time to go to the gym and will essentially be pouring money down the drain. I wake up every morning and think, "Oh, I should go for a walk" but it's too hot; "Oh, I should ride the exercise bike" but I don't feel like putting on shoes; "Oh, I should do yoga from On Demand" but I'm too lazy. I've been really disappointed in myself.

At the same time, my sis and I have been talking for about six months about buying a video game system. My motivation was initially two-fold: I wanted to be able to live stream Netflix onto my tv and I wanted to be able to play Rock Band. (That would allow me to realize my long-held dream to be a rock-n-roll drummer!) After reading and researching and talking to friends, I settled on buying a Wii. It gave me all that I wanted with an added bonus -- it would force me to get off my fat ass and be active. (And before you ask, no, Wii Fit is NOT on my wish list right now. I am just not ready to have a video game tell me how fat and out of shape I am. Maybe once I'm fitting into those clothes in the closet I'll be ready for a snarky video fitness trainer.)

I bought the Wii last week. It came with Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort. I will admit that we spent the first day or so of Wii ownership watching stuff on Netflix. I was excited to be able to watch first season episodes of Saturday Night Live; my sis was excited to find old school 90's Nickelodeon cartoons like Angry Beavers and Aah! Real Monsters. Slowly but surely, though, we've found our way into the game discs. I spent Friday afternoon while my sis was at work playing 18 holes of golf . . . and going a stunning 36 shots over par. My sis has found a talent for bowling with a score pushing 200. She also is, apparently, quite a basketball prodigy. Yesterday before we went to the movie, I played about a half hour of tennis -- and did the same this morning upon waking up.

While playing tennis yesterday, I realized I was breaking a sweat -- like pretty seriously. I did a little research and found out I'd burned close to 100 calories in that half hour. Not too shabby.

I know that the Wii cannot be my only source of exercise and that eventually I need to motivate myself to pursue some more serious outlets for fitness. But at least the Wii is putting me one step closer to those elusive clothes in the closet and making me feel a little less like a lazy slug. And if I can have a little bit of fun at the same time, how much cooler is that?