Friday, December 18, 2009

A Friend & Her New Wii Fit

Kit, my Iowa friend and former composition student who has her teenager Kayla still at home, shared some of her encounters with the new-to-her Wii Fit program. Enjoy!
Kerry bought me a Wii Fit for my birthday. Not because he thought I needed one, because I thought I needed one. Exercise and I are like oil and water. Just the thought of it makes me want to recline on the couch and eat potato chips. But the time had come in my life that I had to exercise to help rev up my slowed down metabolism and tone up those sagging muscles.

I didn’t realize that the Wii Fit has a personality that can make me smile or want to throw something at it. For instance, every time I step on the balance board to exercise, it groans. That’s funny at first, but after awhile it gives me a complex. If I skip a day of exercising, Wii Fit says, “Too busy to exercise yesterday, eh, Mom?” A few more days in between sessions and it tells me exactly how many days it’s been. I yell excuses at it like, “I was on vacation!” Sometimes it tattles on the other participants. “I haven’t seen Kayla in quite a while.” Or I might hear when I’m balancing on one leg during yoga exercises, “Your leg is shaking.” Like I hadn’t noticed. Or if I lose my balance, “Did you put your leg down?” Only to avoid crashing to the floor.

The balance board is also a scale, but not an accurate one. One day I weighed heavy and the next day light. The second day, it bawled me out for losing weight too quickly. When it was Kayla’s turn, it quizzed her about me. “Do you think Mom looks A. Thinner, B. Fatter, C. More Tone, D. About the same.” Kayla responded with D. It then replied, “You need to pay more attention to Mom.”

The best way to exercise with Wii Fit is alone. Empty the room of spectators and their comments such as, “You didn’t raise your leg high enough.” Or “Are you almost done?’ Or my favorite after demonstrating in front of Kayla how to hula hoop (one of the aerobic exercises), she said, “No daughter should ever have to see this.”

The reason I keep exercising is because there’s a reward – the balance games. My favorite is when I’m a penguin catching flying fish on a tipping iceberg. Kayla is best at hitting soccer balls while avoiding panda heads and shoes thrown at her. Hey, it may sound weird, but it’s my entertainment before I go lay down on the couch and eat potato chips. - by Kit Phelps, Tipton, IA