I recently uploaded a video for public outreach on a project I’ve been working on for the last nine months or so.  Please enjoy!

Some reflections as the Wii Fit experiment is now closed:

1. Yes, I broke a sweat during each workout, but there is never any replacement for vigorous exercise with sustained effort.
2. While I have more or less the same weight as I did a month ago, daily exercise has improved my body image.
3. The Wii Fit game is more of a trainer.  It has been a couple of weeks since I’ve used it last (besides weigh-ins).  Instead, I have begun to rely solely on independent work outs.
4. The game does instill a feeling of needing to work out.  I plan to increase the intensity of my workouts from this point onward.

So overall my verdict is positive.  While the game itself doesn’t succeed in body shaping, that was never its intent in the first place.   Where it finds the most benefit is instilling good exercise habits and an awareness of one’s body, which is even more valuable to the average member of its audience.

The cashier looks at my 70% Isopropyl Alcohol and 30 13 lb. trash bags.

“I want you to answer something,” she says as she stares at the high school-aged girl walk out the door with her newly-acquired $10 T-Mobile card.

I try to analyze her motive in real-time during this brief pause.   What did I do? This purchase doesn’t seem suspicious, does it? Did I do something inappropriate? Is there something hanging out of my nose?

“What does it mean when a man…”

Oh no.

“…has you move in with him…”

Please, stop.

“…and then goes out of town…”

No…no, anything but that.

“…and then has his random Navy buddies move in with him and casually casts you aside as if he doesn’t care?”

Her pause is expectant.

I try my best in spite of mortification: “Uhm…is he in it for…” *gulp* “…a co…comfortable relationship?”

Alex Trebec buzzes me on that question and she continues as I roll my right foot on its toes to act out my discomfort.  She goes on to talk about him giving her $800 for a computer, and then something about how she wanted to return the computer but he told her not to, and then someone told her the check would bounce.  It was at this point a benevolent Santa Maria began to push me away and put her People magazine and assorted chocolate candies on the counter.

“I need to know what it means,” says the cashier, following me with her eyes as I walk away.

“I don’t know,” I answer truthfully, “we’re not all the same.”

I catch a few flying bugs on the way out due to my agape mouth.

At this point in the experiment the Wii Fit’s role has been relegated to weighing and basic body tests.  As far as daily exercise goes I am no longer being guided by the in-game trainer.  Instead, I have decided to self-guide my exercise routine for the sake of both efficiency (no menu scrolling between routines) and self-reliance.  In this respect, instilling the desire to exercise on a daily basis is the most beneficial aspect of the Wii Fit software.

Two observations for today:

1) Wii Fit is not helping me lose weight by itself.  Granted, this is not unexpected due to the game being calisthenic in nature.  Also, I am on the low end of the weight spectrum and if The Biggest Loser is any indication the lower one’s body weight is the harder it is to lose weight.   Given my weight at the beginning of the experiment, my goal was almost a 4% weight reduction.   In retrospect, that was a highly optimistic goal.  In reality, my body weight has fluctuated in a predictable pattern around an average weight of 144 pounds.  Today is the only outlier because I was at an event which fed me dinner for lunch.

2) I noticed today that a protuding part of the balance board in the rear center has been in contact with my carpet, which has been biasing my measurements.  By adding the leg extensions to the board and re-weighing, I gauge this bias as approximately -2.5 lb from my actual weight.   However, for the remainder of the experiment I will weigh myself without the extensions for the sake of consistency.

Besides adding daily exercise to my regimen, I have also made sure to pay attention to what I eat.  I don’t know if it is a placebo effect, but I have felt an increased urge to eat meat since I began exercising.  Not wanting to offset progress I’ve been making with the consumption of red meat, I have instead opted for fish.

Canned salmon with spiced light mayonnaise on toasted bread and a leaf of Romaine Lettuce has composed the main course for most of my dinners over the past week.   Then, after a small amount of time, a peach or nectarine.   Later in the evening I top off my intake with a delicious (no sarcasm here) bowl of flax seed and fiber cereal.   I have thus far thoroughly enjoyed this menu and will continue to use it.

Even before this experiment, I have always tried to be consciencious about my daytime meals.  A glass of juice in the morning provides enough substinance for my stomach to be comfortable until Noontime.  At that point, the lunch menu usually consists of PB&J, baked potato chips, yogurt, and a relatively low-fat cookie.  I also keep a cereal bar on hand for any afternoon cravings.

One thing that I haven’t thought of in my little experiment is the balance between fat weight lost and muscle weight gained.  Granted, I’m not pumping major iron here—my current regimen consists of calisthenic exercises for a half hour every day with some aerobics.  However, I am still curious about this balance especially as I am on the low end of the “normal” weight band.   Could it be more difficult for me to lose weight (even five measly pounds from my starting weight) at my level and would muscle gained mask any fat lost, especially if I move to a more strenuous regimen?

Another noteworthy observation:  I am 2.6 pounds heavier than my starting weight, but I feel better now about my body than I did when I started.

An interesting pattern has developed in my weight fluctuations.  My hypothesis is as follows:  my weight more or less declines during the week while I have control over what I eat and increases over the weekend when I tend to eat out with Amy.  This weekend has produced a pronounced weight gain which I believe is due to being surrounded by wedding and junk food.  And lo, once being in control of my own food intake after the weekend I have begun to lose weight again.  This knowledge will be very helpful in setting future weight loss goals and being cognizant of the consequences of what I eat.   I may also re-examine my current weight loss goal based on my weight loss performance in the near future.

Being a graduate student has consequences besides having no life, experiencing frequent self-doubt, and cultivating intense jealousy toward friends who have obtained an actual job/money.  Sitting in a chair running simulations all day and then sitting on the couch doing homework all night tends to have a deleterious effect on the body.

I am of average height (5′10”) and below-average weight (140’s).  However, because of the nuances of my frame even with my current weight my midsection has softened.   I also distinctly lack tone…anywhere.  Exercise can handily remedy these problems, but its just so God awful boring.  I need visual stimuli.  I need something I can hop onto in my studio apartment and just go.  I need Wii Fit.

Wii Fits are currently more difficult to find than their mother console, but I serendipitously stumbled upon three this last Wednesday and began a regimen right away.  The anthropomorphic balance board on the screen asked me for my goal and I gave it a reasonable 5 pounds over the next month.   I have at my finger and toe tips personal training in the way of Yoga, Strength, Aerobics, and Balance.   I plan on writing about my progress and reactions over the next month to gauge the effectiveness of this program and anything I change outside of the game to encourage my desired body change.

“…even her leadership of her high school chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes all could help McCain’s standing with social conservatives who have been skeptical of him…” - Washington Post

I stopped putting High School experiences on my resume a long time ago (and I’m only 23).  Remind me why we care what John McCain’s 44 year-old running mate did when she was 17?