Why I brought the Wii Fit?

I brought the Wii Fit Plus last month from the store Smyths (the toy store). I brought the Wii balance board, Wii Console and Wii Fit Plus for the total price of £185. The reason I brought it was because of the poster outside the shop which showed how it can monitor your bmi and weight and the different games and exercises which the Wii Fit offers.

I chose the black Wii Fit console and a matching black board because I wanted it to match the plasma TV. Wii Fit is also available in white. I don't think it is available in any other colours except black and white. My main reason for buying the Wii was because I wanted to use the Wii Fit Plus and loose some weight and stay healthy.

How to use the Wii Fit?

First you have to set up the Wii Console by connecting it to the back of your tv. You then have to place the Wii Fit CD in the cd drive. You are then presented with a menu and you have to choose the second top option (using the Wii Console) to create your own personal Wii which will represent you by your name. I tried to make my Wii look like me as much as possible. There are a range of options to design your face shape, nose, eyes, ears, eyebrows, lips, hair, height etc. Once you have designed you Personal Wii character, it will appear in the Wii Fit Plaza.

When your personal Wii character appears in the Plaza, it wil ask personal details such as height and age to create your profile which you have to enter using the Wii Console. The Wii Fit will then measure your weight and bmi. This will be saved on your profile. You will then be asked to complete balance tests which will calculate your Wii Fit age. Every day you log on to the Wii, you can choose to get weighed and it will also monitor your bmi. This will be displayed as a graph so that you can easily view how much weight you have lost or gained. Each time you log on, the Wii will also tell you whether you have lost or gained weight (that is the best thing I love about the Wii). The Wii let's you monitor the weight of babies too. My daughter is two years old and I have been monitoring her weight using the Wii as she is underweight. However, she is not allowed to participate in games until she is three years old.

There are different activities that you can take part in, such as training games, aerobic and balance games, yoga and strength training etc. My favourite games are Perfect 10 and Obstacle Course. Perfect 10 involves shaking your hips to get the numbers to add up to 10 (It really is so much fun!). Obstacle course involves running and jumping through obstacles (however you are not allowed to jump on the Wii Balance board (you have to bend your knees to mimick a jump!). I found this game really addictive and I found myself really sweating to get to the top level! The Hula Hoop games involves shaking your hips to circulate the hula and Wii Fit Plus will calculate how many hoops you have circulated. I certainly felt this on my hips! The step game involves stepping up and down the balanace board according to the foot movements shown on screen. Other games offered on the Wii Fit Plus involve Rhythm Kung-Fu ( I have found this a bit tough!), Island Cycling, Bird's-Eye Bulls-Eye ( you have to fly like a bird in this one - really imaginative!), Snowball Fight ( this is where I take out all my aggression!), Tilt City, Rhythm Parade, Skateboard Arena and many other games!

When you get a certain number of points, the activity will unlock you to the next level. After each activity, it will count the minutes you have been excercising for. I have been aiming to complete about 30 minutes each day.

The Wii Fit plus contains more games than the original Wii Fit (roughly about 15 more and is definitely worth upgrading to Wii Fit Plus ).

Conclusion

The graphics of the Wii Fit Plus is very good (colourful and very animated - I like the actions and facial expressions that the Wii characters make!). The sound and music is very good as well and the music is very relaxing! The Wii Fit Plus is very simple to use and doesn't take long to learn (quite straightforward). I have not tried the multi-player function yet as I only have one Wii-remote so I will comment on this later!

One of the best features I like about the Wii Fit is that, if you do gain weight, the Wii will ask you to choose a reason why you gained weight (e.g ate too much, drank too much, indigestion etc). This is very thought provoking and makes you conciously aware throughout the day, that if you eat too much, you will have to explain yourself to the Wii!

I am very pleased about purchasing the Wii Fit. Although, I have not lost a lot of weight (I have lost half a kg so far), monitoring my weight on a daily basis has made me more aware of what I am eating and to make sure that my weight does not increase!