Addicted

I am addicted to exercise. Wow, I never thought I’d say that. More to the point, I’m addicted to the Wii Fit. It’s true, I really do love it.

I think I realized today why I like it so much. You see, before something was missing from my workouts—and today I realized what that was. Company. I am a very social person, and it has always been far more tempting for me to have a beer or watch TV with Iwanski or pretty much anyone else than to go walk on the treadmill by myself. But now—even though it’s a virtual person—I really do feel like someone is working out with me. And exercise videos just don’t cut it, either—Denise Austin is peppy and encouraging to the point of being almost annoying, but she doesn’t actually interact with you. The Wii Fit does. And that’s why it’s so awesome.

My new favorite exercise game on there is Wii Fit boxing. The “instructor” is an animated, talking punching bag who sounds like Adam Corolla—even though Iwanski insists he doesn’t. (He does. Trust me.) Anyway, basically the punching bag instructs you on the pattern of punches to do, and then you use the remotes to “punch him” in that pattern. (Iwanski has to continue to remind me to back up from the TV when I’m playing this game. Oh yes, the Wii Fit has added a whole new set of rules to Iwanski’s list.) Anyway, the animated punching bag tells you when you’ve thrown a good punch or done a good block—and he continuously reminds you to “feel the burn” and other motivating phrases. It’s fun!

I also love all the balance games. One minute I’m skiing down a hill trying to slalom through checkpoints, and the next minute I’m tubing down a river, trying to avoid hitting the riverbanks and other obstacles. Most recently, I unlocked a fun balance game where I’m a penguin on an unsteady iceberg, trying to catch fish by moving back and forth across the ice, without falling in the water.

Oh yeah, that’s another great thing about the Wii Fit. After about every 10 minutes of game play, you unlock new games and exercises, so there’s always something new to try. I know eventually I’ll unlock everything, but it’ll still be fun because there are so many different exercises to choose from.

So far, I’ve exercised between 30-60 minutes every day since we got the Wii Fit. That sure beats my previous track record of—say—30 minutes a week (not counting walking to work and to restaurants & stores).

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna get my penguin ass off the couch and go try to catch some fish.