Fitness Games Don't Have Enough Shame

[Craig Owens]

Gamer-Size Me

Feeling unhealthy, overweight and depressed? There's an oft-overlooked solution to your body image woes: Play more videogames. Craig Owens spends two weeks with a selection of fitness games to figure out which ones make the cut.

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[MelasZepheos_v1legacy]

I remember talking to a friend about using Wii fit, and it assured her she was losing weight on a daily basis, at the projected numbers.

Then one day she was using it, went to answer the door, came back and had apparently gained five pounds.

She has not used it since. No substitute for gym and regular walking.

 

[Gunner 51]

...sic
"At this moment, I can't help but feel a bit betrayed. If any one company had a hand in my fall from svelte, toned grace, it was Nintendo. You didn't have to put 96 levels in Super Mario World, did you, Miyamoto? And what was I doing when the other boys were playing football? I was catching 'em all, that's what."

I apologise in advance for the unsympathetic tone of my reply. But people should learn to take responsibility for their actions rather than palm it off onto others.

And you didn't have to play the game. That was your choice. Play Mario or go outside with your chums - Nintendo didn't make that decision for you, you did.

You really shouldn't blame Nintendo for your own decision.

 

[Maluku]

I fear my oversize problem is not based on games alone. I walk everywhere I need to go and I am in the Gym 5 days a week for at least 2 hours. Still no dice, I just like eating to much.

I feel like games have another effect on me, they distract me from eating. As long as I have a good game I have to play (like Torchlight now) I eat less.

But if I am bored, I start eating. Games make me less bored.

The problem I have with those games shown here is:
1. They take money from desperate people.
2. They aren't much fun and shouldn't be called games at all.

To 1.: You wouldn't pick up such game just for fun, you would buy something else. The only people who buy this are unhappy people. Well at least they are doing something about it, but they are other better ways.

To 2.: Have you tried playing them without the need to reduce your weight or something? They are just boring. Wii Sports was hard on the border, but Wii Fit is in my opinion very unappealing. Even from a casual point of view. It just doesn't justify the price.

 

[hansari]

This got me thinking about the problem with virtual trainers in general: There's no shame. Whenever I turned up at the gym having missed a couple of sessions, or whenever I failed to reach my goals, my personal trainer, the terrifyingly well-built "Cliff," would look at me with a well-honed gaze of thinly veiled disgust. And it worked - which is why companies like Weight Watchers have built whole business models around the hot and needling sting of public embarrassment.

This is why I stick to the Gym too...anyone who has tried losing weight on their own knows its not the same when the public eye is on you. (it also isn't the same when you fail to meet your goal and yet your pockets are lighter because you still have to pay the fees...money is huge motivation to lose weight...)

 

[More Fun To Compute]

WiiFit is sort of fun. If you told me that I had to use it every day for the rest of my life then I would hate it. It's fine as something to help you with basic fitness over the period of a month or two but cutting down on the pies and ale is probably more important for losing weight.

 

[domicius]

Hmmm.... games can be a good source of inspiration, but in a surprising way.

I started running after having spent a few years watching my avatar running everywhere in City of Heroes. I thought "He looks pretty fit. I'd be sooo fit too if I ran around like that."

And whaddya know? It worked! I now run 3-milers three times week, with the odd 6-miler thrown in on the weekend when I have more time. And just like an MMO, I'm grinding my speed and my distance with the aid of my handy GPS. And enjoying the photorealistic scenery, of course.

Next on my list - trying out my avatar's flight power; that looks like fun!

 

[righthanded]

My girlfriend wanted Wii-Fit so I picked up a copy when it came out. I like it a lot more than I thought I would.

About five years ago, I was about 220 pounds. I was never fat growing up but after graduation and entering the working world, I was no longer a healthy medium build. I decided to start eating healthy (not easy since I worked for a vending company and was thus surrounded by 20 types of chips and 40 types of candy and chocolates and 30 types of coffee/soft drinks as well as a freezer full of crappy microwaveable burritos, pizzas, and sandwiches as well as about 10 different types of ice-cream). Basically I put myself on a 1600 or so calorie a day diet (no roll-over) and started doing some light exercise. It also helped that I lived near a small mountain so light exercise consisted of walking up that mountain and my job was in a warehouse in the desert--I really just needed to have a not horrible diet to lose weight.

Three months later, I was down to 180 and feeling pretty good about it but I still wanted to get down 165 pounds. This wasn't easy. I ended up quitting my job, which was basically a work out routine five days a week, to go back to school. I didn't have time and all other excuses not to exercise... but I kept a routine of eating healthy and was able to maintain my weight loss. And then I got Wii Fit.

First weigh in was 172 lbs. Shit, I'm doing okay with this weight loss thing. Well, lets set that goal to 165 and away I go. I'm not saying that Wii Fit is a good exercise routine. What it does do is put your weight in front of you and it also shows where you want to be. I definitely credit it for helping me keep an interest in my body health--something I never really took a lot of notice of--they yoga and mini-games and what not are a bonus. If the goal of Wii Fit is to give you a few reasons to get you on a scale every couple of days, its a success on that front. I can't say if it's good or bad as the only factor in an exercise routine since I've never wanted or needed to use it as such.

This is my 534th day and I'm 150 lbs.

 

[Nuke_em_05]

... good job reviewing the games... ish.

Maybe just regular diet and exercise are good. Blaming games for you being fat and then running to them to solve your weight problem is like asking your crack-dealer for addiction counseling.

Of course, I have a problem with blaming games in the first place. As an earlier comment hinted at and I have said many times; personal responsibility. No one made you play the games instead of exercise.

 

[LeonLethality]

I have a regular workout so it doesn't matter how lazy I get while gaming as long as I do my routine every day I'm fine

 

[BlueInkAlchemist]

Almost two pounds in two weeks from playing video games isn't anything to sneeze at, so well done.

I'm curious, though, if you gained it right back.

 

[NiceGurl_14]

I remember when I played DDR a lot and that helped me lose a lot of weight at first but then I got injured and now I can't really play anymore but I wanna lose the weight that I had re-gained.

 

[Soxafloppin]

I dont think WiiFit is a suitable exercise resume. Just go to the gym.

 

[BloodyOne]

Trying to adapt video games to our life is a great idea. In theory. The most successful form of this, is character development and stories, which help us bond with whomever we happen to be shooting with from a third person perspective.
Attempting to bridge the gap between out love of games, and the physical realm, is a dream that will remain elusively intangible for a very, very long time[footnote]Or until we get some actual Gundams to fight wars with.[/footnote].

 

[Vanbael]

Gamers and Wii Fit will never mix because Wii Fit is more like torture and it has very little physical activity that will make someone break a sweat unless.
In all seriousness, real exercies like biking, swimming, weight lifting, anything else that can be found at a gym is much better than a Wii Balance Board. Nintendo made it to sell to health nuts and maybe it was targeting people who needed some exercise in their life, but I seriously see nothing out coming out of it that is benificial except metal stregth for the unobservant health nuts.

 

[Craig Owens]

I apologise in advance for the unsympathetic tone of my reply. But people should learn to take responsibility for their actions rather than palm it off onto others.

And you didn't have to play the game. That was your choice. Play Mario or go outside with your chums - Nintendo didn't make that decision for you, you did.

You really shouldn't blame Nintendo for your own decision.

To be fair, the section you quoted from is a touch tongue-in-cheek. I don't even have a wife, let alone a mistress.

 

[Craig Owens]

Almost two pounds in two weeks from playing video games isn't anything to sneeze at, so well done.

I'm curious, though, if you gained it right back.

Not really, I started a full-time job a little after finishing the article, so I've been kept busy. I'm still hovering right on the borderline of an acceptable BMI for my height, which, to be honest, I'm pretty happy with.

 

[J.McMillen]

If you want something that will make you break a sweat, find a copy of "Yourself Fitness" for the original XBox or PS2. If a 15 minutes workout with that doesn't wear you out, crank up the difficulty and/or lengthen the workout.

 

[Sillyiggy]

My story may be a little different than most. I decided to use Electronic Arts Wii Active as a supplement to my gym routines not as my sole method of exercise. Mostly because I think getting a small work out is nice in the morning, but making time to go to the gym twice (once for a small wake up workout then 4-5 hours later the real McCoy) while juggling work and an evil baby.

The results are pretty nice, and while I have no experience with other Health genre games it seems to be more aerobic than my casual glances at Wii Fit. The thing that it seems to have helped me most with is a little more variety and it seems to have helped me workout areas that I was neglecting with my routine (Basketball, Running, and Weightlifting). I was basically just performing maintenance I guess but the inclusion helped things start working fast.

I would basically categorize it as active as an Aerobic video. Which I generally boycott on account of being born male (not really, but I just don't get into them). My sister uses Netflix to get aerobic videos regularly (plus you get to try a whole load of different ones) so that may be better for some people who are looking for home fitness as opposed to a gym (which I am assuming most people interested in these games are).

The funny thing is, while it is now a regular part of my routine originally I bought it for my wife. I figured I would never touch it since I exercise so much at the gym (I think anyway). She hasn't touched it in months.

 

[Biek]

Weighing yourself daily is pointless. Too many factors like food and digestion so you wont get an accurate picture of your weight loss progress.

Do it once every 2 weeks combined with a healthy diet and exercise routine (at least 3 times a week). Results guaranteed.