One week to go. I really can’t believe that the time has gone by this fast. When I started this project my wedding still seemed far away and my normal nightly ritual was watching TV before bed. Now as I go into the last week of my experiment I feel like a different person and so some extent, I am looking like a different person.

But don’t get the wrong idea. Wii Fit is not a magic device. It takes a lot of time and some hard work. What it really requires is a strong commitment. And it’s that commitment that I struggled with this week. As my wedding approaches and my free time decreases, Wii Fit isn’t getting as much of my time as it had in the past. Next week will probably be even harder. However, since both my future wife I enjoy the game, I can see both of us continuing with the program far beyond the limits of my experiment.

Daily journal entries and the usual weight and BMI data can be found below.

Day 36 (March 12th)
BMI: 24.57
Balance Age: 37
In game playing time: 41 minutes
Actual playing time: 50 minutes

More arm exercises today. This workout is always a lot harder than the one I do on “abs day”. But because it is more difficult I get a larger feeling of satisfaction when it is done. I am also starting to get some arms that aren’t so embarrassing to show.

One of the best exercises in Wii Fit is one done without the balance board. It instead uses the Wii remote. What I do is get on all fours and lift my left leg behind me while simultaneously lifting my right arm. The lifted arm and leg, if done correctly, will be in a straight line parallel to my torso. In my hand is the Wii controller and the score is based on how well I can hold the controller level in my outstretched hand. If the controller shakes, the score goes down. It looks easy and the first 10 repetitions or so are not bad at all but when I get to around 15 I really start to feel it. It is hard to keep my hand steady for each 3 or 4 second interval. I do not look forward to doing this one, but I do it every day because the level of challenge is what makes it a good exercise.

I really want to work my stomach more. The daily exercise is defiantly making an impact but there is still more flab than I would like in that area. Tomorrow I am going to increase my abdominal exercises two-fold. To do this I will cut out some of the aerobics. I am no longer overly concerned with weight loss and want to focus more on my body shape. I never had the desire to be “that thin guy”, I would much rather be a guy who just looks healthy.

Day 37(March 13th)
BMI: 24.79
Balance Age: 27
In game playing time: 42 minutes
Actual playing time: 54 minutes

I had to teach night classes and do other work tonight. It was past my bedtime before I even started Wii Fit, and I was already tired before I even switched the Wii console on. But I still knew that I should do my workout. With such good progress being made, it would be a shame to waste it.

It’s unfortunate when I can’t do my workout properly. I really enjoy working out if the circumstances are right. But when I am tired or have a lot of things on my mind, I find that not only is it not as enjoyable, but I really don’t push myself very hard.

Of course, even if the effort is not up to usual standards, it is still good for me. And the 200 jackknife sit-ups I did will surely not be wasted, but I really look forward to the days when I can be totally focused on the workout I am doing. Even a poor workout is better than no exercise at all (as long as I do the exercises right) and I’ll feel better about myself in the morning.

Day 38 (March 14th)
BMI: 24.44
Balance Age: 27
In game playing time: 35 minutes
Actual playing time: 40 minutes

My workout today was short but intense. I did only the hardest exercises and didn’t put in time with aerobics or Yoga. Today was all about tying to build strength (mostly in the arms and shoulders to be exact). I did push-ups, the “plank” exercises, and several of the other harder ones. I was trying to, as the old expression goes, “feel the burn”. And burn it did.

Because of this, tomorrow will be a “recovery” day. I’ll let the muscles repair and do aerobics to burn fat and Yoga to improve flexibility. I am going to see how this works. I had no problem with how I was exercising before (some hard exercises and some aerobics everyday), but I just want to try something different. I’ll see how it works.

As I get to a certain point with things like push-ups or “plank” exercises, my arms will begin to involuntarily twitch. Since I am not used to actually pushing myself to that point I am not entirely sure what to do. Is it a warning sign that I should stop or should I try to power through it and put in those last few reps? Right now I take it as a sign to focus on a different muscle group for a little while.

Earlier in the day, my fiancée also put in some time with Wii Fit. She can be seen above as a penguin and below enjoying the mini-game. I’ve never been into the mini-games much myself but they are very well designed and she was having a blast with this one.

Day 39 (March 14th)
BMI 24.50
Balance Age 20
In game playing time: 49 minutes
Actual playing time: 1 hour

Today’s workout was a lot lighter than yesterday. I mostly did aerobics, yoga and mini-games, but I was still able to work up a pretty good sweat. However without the strenuous activities mixed in, I really don’t feel as satisfied with the workout. I know some people will buy Wii Fit and use it mostly for the mini-games. There is nothing wrong with that, they are a lot of fun, but really the longer I do Wii Fit the farther I want to push myself on the harder exercises and the more rewarding I find my exercise program.

The real test of my workout is going to come this weekend. I have my bachelor party and I will be out of town for 2 days eating at restaurants, etc. Now I never really dieted during this experiment but at the same time I tried to avoid large amounts of over-eating. I know without a doubt that after this weekend my weight will go up. The question is, can I bring it back down again in a reasonable amount of time? I’m interested to find out.

Day 40 (March 15th)
BMI: 24.36
Balance Age: 37
In Game Playing time: 37 minutes
Actual Playing time: 42 minutes

I finished my workout today before lunch. In about an hour I am leaving for my bachelor party trip. I’ll be back tomorrow night. My friends have planned the entire event and I am pretty sure there will be a lot of eating and drinking involved. I just hope this doesn’t mess up all the progress I have made. But actually this might reveal some very useful information. At certain times in my life there will definitely be times when my food intake is abnormal. For example: Christmas time, Thanksgiving, vacations, etc. This will be a chance to see if my weight loss is temporary or if my body can quickly recover from weight gain. I hope that I have actually built up my metabolism in the process of losing weight. I’ll know soon enough.

Day 41 (March 16th)
BMI: 24.86
Balance Age: 20
In game playing time: 43 minutes
Actual Playing time: 47 minutes

Today I feel guilty. My BMI rose since yesterday and I feel fatter. Last night felt strange, not just because I was eating and drinking more than usual, but also because I went to sleep without doing Wii Fit. As I said, it has really become part of my routine.

To get back in the swing of things I did a fairly strenuous set of arm exercises as well as some leg lifts and squats. It was harder than usual to get through this workout but I knew it was important to get back in step and a lighter workout was not what I was looking for.

I am hoping that within the next few days I can return my BMI to what it was before the weekend-long-party. If I can do this quickly, then perhaps Wii Fit is leaving a more permanent mark on my body. If it takes me another 2 weeks to make up for two days then perhaps I am back at square one with my physical state. In the last 6 weeks Wii Fit proved to me that I could use it to loose weight if I do it every day. This week I am going to find out if Wii Fit can help even if I cheat a bit.

Day 42 (march 17th)
BMI: 24.57
Balance Age: 20
In game playing time: 54 minutes
Actual playing time: 1 hour

My BMI dropped back down to around the level it was at last week. That is a relief. I thought it would take forever to reach that level again. From this point on I really have motivation to avoid overeating again. As I said from the beginning of this experiment, I did not plan to change my diet. And for the most part I haven’t. However I have noticed that since I weigh myself everyday I am becoming more aware of my weight. And on some level I believe I am choosing to not overeat weather it is a conscious decision or not.

Today I put in a good 54-minute workout. It felt wonderful to return to my daily pattern. I did my standard sit-ups and the hula-hoop game. After that I did leg exercises and yoga. I have to confess that in the last two weeks I have not done very much yoga. I am so busy lately that when I do manage to make time for Wii Fit I want to use it for the harder exercises. I know I should try to make time for both and once I have some free time again, I am sure I will. Because of this neglect, my scores on yoga were lower today. However, they are still much higher than when I started.

Week 6 Wrap-up

Total time spent this week: 5 hours 1 minute
Total time since beginning the experiment: 30 hours 32 minutes
Current weight: 76.1 kg (about 168 lbs)


Total weight change this week: -.4 kg (-.9 lbs)


Total weight change: -3.9 kg (-8.6 lbs)

Not much of a weekly change at all. But looking at the total weight change the picture is a lot brighter. I would say there is a possibility that I could reach a total of 10 pounds lost by the end of this experiment. That would be a nice number to finish on.

My motivation to do Wii Fit remains very high, but my time and energy to put into it are reaching a low point. My wedding is the most important thing right now and I must focus on that to make sure the day is very special. But I won’t neglect Wii Fit either because I want to look good in that Tux.

Next week I will present both a week 7 Wrap-up and my overall results. As usual I will try my hardest to do daily updates to my journal but as the wedding approaches they might come in a bit late. Thank you in advance for you patience.

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