I’ve wanted one for a long time, and yesterday I finally splurged and purchased a Wii Fit. Last night after the children were in bed, Steve and I registered our Miis and did the initial body test.
This involved standing on the balance board and trying to center your body balance. In order to get to his center of balance, Steve had to lean WAY forward. We should have realized something was wrong then. But we didn’t.
It was only later when I was getting ready to do lunges that we realized something was wrong. It was telling me to put my right foot on the board, and I was, but the Wii Fit board didn’t think so. It turns out that we had our Wii fit board backwards. This also explained the problem with the twist things I did. When I was twisting forward, it thought I was sticking my butt out backwards.
Now, if you haven’t used the Wii Fit before, I must warn you — it doesn’t sugar coat anything. It measures your body, and the little dots count down as you wait for the results. In the meantime, the Mii version of you waits to hear the results too. Steve did this first. When it came time to announce his BMI and weight, his little Mii guy plumped up like a Ball Park hot dog, and there were sound effects too. It was hilarious right up until the time my Mii girl did the same thing. Plus, sometimes, when you step onto the Wii Fit board, the Wii Fit board groans.
Not to mention it knows when you are cheating. It’s like Santa Claus. I was trying to balance on my right ankle, and when I couldn’t do it because that ankle is weak, the Wii Fit board KNEW when I put my left foot down for just a moment to help me keep from falling over. And when Steve decided to go to bed in the middle of doing lunges, my personal trainer knew when I stepped off and started heckling me.
Steve didn’t go beyond the initial body test, but I did 30 minutes of different exercises after he went to bed. It turns out that I am not very good at ducking soccer cleats and panda heads, but I am very good at swinging my hips for the hula hoop.
The Wii Fit really emphasizes balance, and there are some things that require you to stand for a bit on one foot. I don’t have any problem doing that when I stand on my left foot, but I can”t do it for long standing on my right foot. My right foot is the one I broke in December 1997. I’ve had three surgeries on it, and I suspect I will have more in the future.
After our initial body test, the Wii Fit tells you what your Wii Fit Age is, and it turns out that even in virtual reality, Steve and I aren’t far off on our ages. I had suspected he would be a bit younger than me, but he isn’t. We are both 47 according to our Wii Fit age.
