Last week I lost weight with Wii Fit. But like most weight loss programs, the real challenge is keeping it off. As you burn off fat and build muscle it is even possible to gain weight while still getting healthy. I knew all of these things before going into week 3 and I was prepared for the fact that the first weight loss might have been too good to be true.

Still, I trained longer this week than either of the first two weeks and I met some personal goals. But I can’t chart feelings, only numbers. So did the weight go up or down? Read on to check out my daily journal entries and find out what the scale told me this week.

Day 15 (February 19th)
BMI: 25.18
Body Age: 22
In game playing time: 47 minutes
Actual playing time: 1 hour 3 minutes

My back is still fine today. In fact I was able to complete the sit-ups endurance mode twice today (100 sit-up each). Unfortunately since I took focus off my back for a number of days my arms were sore this morning. But I guess I can say it’s a “good kind of sore”. It’s not a soreness that annoys me it is one that tells me that I actually worked hard enough to be sore. It’s a feeling I haven’t had in years. And call me strange, but I like it.

Something that does annoy me however deals with the Wii Fit board. I think it would be great if it had a side button. One of the only things I don’t like about the game is that after each exercise the game displays several screens of information giving you your score, tips, etc. To get past these screens you need to pick up the Wii remote and press the “A” button. Every single time. I just wish there was a side button on the balance board that I could hit with my foot instead of constantly getting off the board to get the remote. But then again maybe that is all part of the exercise. Still I wish I didn’t have to break up my workout to fetch it.

Day 16 (February 20th)
BMI: 25.02
Body Age: 24
In game playing time: 42 minutes
Actual playing time: 58 minutes

Today’s workout felt great and was satisfying on many levels. First of all I was able to work up a really good sweat today, which always feels great. Second, I met a goal earlier than expected. As I mentioned last week, I have never in my life been able to do 20 proper push-ups. The most I was ever able to do was about 15, and that was back in Jr. high School I set a goal to be able to do 20 of them by the end of February. Today I did 21. I know it’s a very small accomplishment but I am happy for myself. It was a hurdle that I have never been able to overcome before.

On the suggestion of some comments I received on my “Week 2” post, I did not do sit-ups today. I will now try to alternate between arm and abdominal exercise in order to give each muscle group time to rest. I will however, try to do some aerobic activity each day. Today I did the boxing, which is still my favorite of the mini-games.

Day 17 (February 21st)
BMI: 25.18
Body Age: 26
In game playing time: 31
Actual playing time: 42 minutes

My training focused on abdominal and aerobic exercise today. To tell the truth since my arms weren’t all that sore I considered doing some push-ups as well. But I decided to play it safe and save them for tomorrow.

The first 40 sit-ups are the hardest I have discovered. When I am doing the endurance mode and get to about 25 I think to myself “I am never going to be able to finish this” and at 35 I think “I should give up and do some other exercise for a while”. However, if I just keep powering through I eventually hit “the zone” and it feels like I can almost do them forever. When you get to 100 the endurance mode automatically ends, but lately I have been like “That’s all you got? Give me some more!” When I started Wii Fit 2 and a half weeks ago I could do about 25.

I now have 3 or 4 stars on most of the Yoga activities. Still a lot of room for improvement in my form but according to the game my balance is getting a lot better. I still think I should do more yoga. It doesn’t feel as rewarding as doing 20 push-ups or 25 squats, but it is probably fairly important to my overall fitness level.

It turns out that when you crack 10 hours of actual workout time, the little “anthropomorphic time counter thing that looks like a pig” changes color. It seems happy about the process and I am happy for it.

Day 18 (February 22nd)
BMI: 25.31
Body Age: 33
In game playing time: 28 minutes
Actual playing time: 39 minutes

Today I had a small party at my house so I started Wii Fit pretty late. I was only able to put in 28 minutes before the clock rolled past midnight; Still, I think I put in a pretty good workout today. I focused on my arms and legs with push-ups and squats. I feel bad for not getting any aerobic exercise into this workout but I hope to make up for that tomorrow.

I made it to level 5 on the “marble rolling” mini-game. At the advice of one of the commenters on my “week 2” post, I did it the game in a squatted position. It is very difficult to hold that position for so long and because of that it is better exercise. I hear that there are 8 levels to the marble game and I will try to do them all. For the most part I have been avoiding the balance games because I felt they were of little use (more diversions than exercises) but I am now finding out that if done correctly, they can be fairly effective as well.

At the dinner party I got a few comments from friends saying I looked thinner. I am not sure if they were just being nice or not but it made me feel good. Also by the time the party was over I think another person was thinking about buying a balance board. Below are two of my friends trying the game out.

Day 19 (February 23rd)
BMI: 25.37
Body Age: 31
In game playing time: 37 minutes
Actual playing time 50 minutes

This weekend has been difficult from a fitness perspective. Yesterday I hosted a party and today my girlfriend’s friends from Tokyo visited. We went to a restaurant and stayed for several hours all of which were spent eating. When I finally got home it was hard to get into the workout. I was full and tired.

As I was eating at the restaurant, I was calculating in my head how many Wii Fit minutes I would have to put in to “make up” for the evening. I never really looked at my eating habits like that before. I would just eat. Now I feel that it I eat too much I am wasting my progress.

I was tired but I still put in 37 minutes and was able to do 200 sit-ups. It’s won’t make up for all the food I ate, but It made me feel a little better than if I had just gone to bed.

No part of my body has been sore for a few days. It’s goods that it doesn’t hurt but in a way the soreness is also a sign that the exercise is working. I think I am going to increase the difficulty of my workout in the future. As they say, “no pain no gain”.

Day 20 (February 24th)
BMI: 25.12
Body Age: 26
In game playing time: 1 hour
Actual playing time: 1 hour 13 minutes

Perhaps it is out of guilt for the last 2 days, but today I put in my longest Wii Fit session so far. It felt wonderful! I mentioned last week that there were still 2 mini-games I hadn’t unlocked. Well, one of them became available today. It was a very simple step aerobics activity. For this activity I just have to move along with my Mii on the screen. The Wii remote speaker acts as a metronome for keeping time and you can speed up or slow down the tempo with the up and down arrows. As I said it’s very simplistic but also very good for working up a sweat.

I did push-ups again today. I set a new personal record of 23. I also did the normal leg exercises and squats. Only 4 minutes of yoga today but I was so involved in the other training I kind of forgot about it. I am going to aim to have at least 20% of my workout be yoga.

The longer I use Wii Fit the more I enjoy it. The first 20 minutes of my workout are always the worst. My body is stiff and not used to working out. But around the half hour mark I really begin to enjoy what I am doing.

Day 21 (February 25th)
BMI: 25.15
Body Age: 31
In game playing time: 1 hour
Actual playing time 1 hour 7 minutes

I put in another full hour today. I started with yoga since I am trying to add more into my routine. Then I did 20 minutes of step aerobics, which actually went by really quickly. Since I did arm exercises yesterday, I did my set of 100 sit-ups today. After that was the usual course of leg exercises and squats. For fun I decided to finish it all up with a round of the boxing game.

Since I have become much more used to the exercises, I no longer have to concentrate so hard on watching the television screen. I now find that during the repetitive exercises like the sit-ups or step aerobics my mind begins wandering. I don’t see this as a bad thing. When I am at work, watching TV, reading, etc., my mind focuses on the task or leisure at hand and I don’t often have much time to just let my mind wander and think about whatever it wants. That’s why it often takes me so long to fall asleep. In my bed, in the dark I finally have time to collect my thoughts for the day. I can sometimes lie there for hours. The last few nights however, I have fallen asleep minutes after hitting the pillow. Maybe it is because during my training time I have time to think or maybe it simply the fact that since I am exercising harder I am just tired. Either way, I like it.

Week 3 Wrap-up

Total time spent this week: 5 hours 5 minutes
Total time since beginning the experiment: 13 hours 25 minutes
Current weight: 77.9 kg (171.7 lbs)
Total weight change this week: -.9 kg (about 2 lbs)
Total weight change: -2.1 kg (-4.6 lbs)

Not only did my weight not go back up, it actually continued to go down. Also, recently I have started seeing some tangible evidence of the weight loss. Several pairs of my jeans are now getting loose around the waist and one pair that I haven’t been able to wear for 3 years fits me again.

The weight loss is great, however the real benefit that I have found is the increase in strength and general sense of well being I get from doing a daily exercise program. For the first time, I am feeling a little bit of pride for my body. If I never lose another gram, but am able to keep these feelings, then “The Great Experiment” will be a success.

But I have heard people say that the first 5 pounds are the easiest. It will probably get harder from here on and the progress will become less apparent. It will be interesting to see what happens in the weeks to come. Right now I am really enjoying my daily workout, but is it going to become boring after the first month? Is the weight loss only a temporary effect? I’m looking forward to finding out, hope you are too.

The Great Experiment: Wii Fit - Main Page (Daily updates can be found here)