Wiiiii!!!!!

When the Wii gaming system first came out, my husband and my daughters were very excited.  I didn't get on the bandwagon, however, until I began seeing commercials for the Wii Fit. 

Since my husband's birthday is in April, I made him a deal.  I would get him the Wii for his birthday if he would get me the Wii Fit for Mother's Day.  He was all for it.  After his birthday, he and the girls soon became very proficient with the games that came with the Wii and the few additional games that the girls bought for his birthday.  I was content to wait for the Wii Fit I knew was coming on Mother's Day.

Mother's Day finally rolled around and began with the traditional breakfast in bed, church, Sunday School and lunch out with friends.  When we got home and changed, the girls ceremoniously brought me my gift and I equally ceremoniously unwrapped it.  Of course when I got the Wii Fit, everyone else had to try it out first. 

Part of the set up of the Wii Fit includes creating a Mii that represents each player and recording beginning statistics.  After plugging everything into the TV, my husband asked my oldest daughter to step on to the Wii board so we could see how it worked.  She stepped on and it responded with a very polite, "Thank you."  She began creating her Mii to look similar to herself.  She then had to enter her height, take a balance test and the Wii board weighed her and told her she was "normal."  Her Mii grew slightly to adjust to these measures.  Next my youngest stepped on and did the same.  Her Mii was "underweight" and adjusted to a smaller size.  My middle daughter was a little hesitant to step on so my husband went next.  When he stepped on the board it gave a little, "Oh" exclamation.  Now I was beginning to get nervous.  After creating his Mii, according to his height and weight he was "overweight" and his Mii grew accordingly.   My middle daughter finally got on.  She's a little self conscious about her weight so at first she asked us not to look.  When she stepped on the Wii board, it gave that same little, "oh" and the ominous duh, duh, duh before announcing that she was overweight.  Her Mii grew accordingly and as it grew, it's shirt rode up to reveal it's bulging stomach.  At this point, all I could imagine was stepping on the board and hearing it scream, "Get off, get off, get off."  Finally I gingerly stepped up onto the board.  I chose my Mii image, logged in my height, took my balance test and closed my eyes as it weighed me and calculated my BMI then, "Duh, duh, duh!  You are obese."  My Mii grew, it's shirt rode up and it's bulging belly was revealed.  I felt like that was me standing up there for my family to see, fat and all.  I was determined not to let this "game" get the best of me so I went straight from set up to work out.  I chose a personal trainer, the male one (I named him Todd just for kicks) and proceeded to the Yoga workout.  I thought that might be the safest start on these old and tired muscles.  As I was working out, the Wii trainer (Todd) had more encouraging words for me like, "Keep that leg straight.  You can do better than that.  Is that all you've got?"  I didn't let this deter me.  I wasn't going to let this "game" win.  I continued my workout daily for about a week and then one day I just didn't get a chance to get on the Wii.  The next day when I got on, the Wii asked with a sarcastic tone, "Where were you yesterday?  Too busy too work out, hmmm?"  And proceeded to tell me why it's important to work out daily.  If I gained weight it told me and then asked me to take a multiple choice test to determine why I had gained weight:  1)  eating too much, b)  snacking late at night, c)  eating junk food, d)  skipping workouts.  Never once did it give me the choice of PMS for gaining 1/4 lb, or maybe building muscle from all the workouts.  Don't think I didn't tell the Wii when the reason for my weight gain was PMS either. 

Gradually I got use to the abuse and the game questioning my diet and exercise but then one day that little game went too far.  I turned it on, set up the board, and it went through the typical, "I haven't seen you in 2 days."  "Did you get enough sleep last night?"  "It's important that you work out every day." etc.

Then it asked a new question.  It said, "Have you noticed a difference in Catey lately?"    

"Heck yeah,"  I thought.  "She's a teenager and getting to be stubborn and argumentative pretty much all the time."

"She's been working out every day."  replied the Wii.

I didn't want to be bothered.  I just wanted to work out so I skipped over the question just to get going. 

The next screen popped up with, "I guess you haven't been paying enough attention to Catey lately." 

That was the last straw.  This gaming system had criticized my weight, my eating habits, my exercise habits and now it was telling me that I wasn't paying enough attention to my children!?!

By the time my husband got home that night, I had placed an ad on ebay:  "For sale or trade.  Wii Fit.  Willing to sell cheap or trade for a treadmill, bicycle or weights."

So much for high technology weight loss at my house.