Are Wii having fun yet?

Nintendo’s Wii Fit™ and I started off on the wrong foot when it called me “obese” and calculated my Wii Fit™ age to be 74! It arrived at this number after comparing my body test results with the “average results of an ideally fit person in my age bracket.” Now how fair is this for people with Parkinson’s? Still, I was determined to show the Wii that I could hold my own against anyone, even if it killed me.

Thus began my addiction to the Wii. Driven by my competitive nature, and not by Mirapex, I recently found myself ski slaloming at 1 a.m. when most normal people are sleeping. “Why?” Because I knew that I was ready to kick butt. Sure enough, standing on the balance board and shifting my weight from side to side I sailed through all the gates at breakneck speed, kicking up snow, and shaving two seconds off my best time to finish in 27.25 seconds.

Wii Fit™ makes working out fun, whether it’s the animated graphics, the cheering crowds of virtual onlookers, the upbeat music, or the instant gratification of tracking your progress in real time. Like Santa Claus, the Wii “knows if you’ve been good or bad” and won’t miss the opportunity to let you know it.

There are more than 40 different activities and multiple skill levels within the categories of yoga, strength training, aerobic exercises and balance games. The need to best my husband motivates me to push myself to the next level. I tend to stick with the activities I’m best at, not that I excel at any of them. After only a week, I noticed improvements in my balance and posture. Similar results have been reported in clinical trials of people with Parkinson’s.

When I tire of Wii Fit, I switch to Wii Sports to box a steady stream of tougher and tougher opponents waiting to get a piece of me. Exhausted and sweaty, I yell at my opponent, “Stay down, sucker.” Some think I have taken competitiveness too far and suggest that I seek a 10-step program to overcome this. My only problem is finding an accelerated program.

P.S. I've just got a Wii Fit™ and soon Sheryl & I will be able to compete against each other! Can't wait!

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