Journey2Fitness

In Japan they Measure Waistlines Punitively!

Wow. SA Tech blogger L. A. Lorek reported in Twitter today this tidbit from the NYTimes about the Japanese government measuring people's waistlines and imposing fees on the fat due to elevated healthcare costs.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/13/world/asia/13fat.html?_r=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&oref=slogin

Depending on WHERE they measure the "waistline" - I might could pass the women's test, just barely. But if they put it down at hipline where the jeans meet, no way.

I wonder if we had such a thing here, would I finally rein in my overeating? If every biscuit or doughnut looked like an increase in fees... I don't know.

Any of you experimented with a fine-based structure, or a weight loss financial rewards structure? I've heard of parents sponsoring weight loss with cash and such. Does that work?

Wii Fit: I'm the Donkey

Game theory is something that interests me intensely. I'm an interaction designer, so I watch how games are designed, why they succeed or fail. Jane McGonigal has a lot of important things to say about game design.

And the Wii Fit? So far, I'm finding it a very well designed game. It's doing its job to keep me interested, motivating, working away at it.

Game theory basically breaks out this way.

There's you, you're the donkey. I'm the donkey. Any user = donkey.

There are carrots - rewards. These can be anything, small and cheesy works fine. An audio fanfare, ta-dah! A "You Win!" badge graphic or blue ribbon. Putting you into the "top ranked results." Wii Fit uses all these, along with the Android Trainers saying "Way to Go!" or "Great job!"

And there are sticks - punishments, negative reinforcements. Seeing my weight go up = stick. Doing less well compared to my own previous efforts, stick. Wii Fit goes REALLY light on sticks. It's pretty relentlessly cheerful and encouraging, but no more irritating than your typical Weight Watchers leader or personal trainer at a fitness center.

I've been at this TWO full weeks. TWO WEEKS! Without missing a day, no excuses, weighing myself every day. I'm not freaking out about the weight. I'm making progress, feeling stronger. This is fabulous!

Now I get to decide whether I'm killing my Weight Watchers membership....that's 40 bucks a month I could use for other stuff. I'll probably give it a couple more months.

I'm having a Wii Fit

I saw San Antonio Express-News reporter Laura Lorek tweeting about the upcoming release of the Wii Fit. I bought a Wii for our studio, to explore the new interaction technologies, and have had great fun imagining the possibilities. So far, Guitar Hero III (Legends of Rock) is my favorite Wii game.

So I went and bought an $89 Wii Fit the day they came out. Despite lackluster U.S. reviews, I ended up being lucky to score one on opening day at our local GameStop.

Do you know about the Wii Fit? The Nintendo Wii is of course the game system that includes remotes with relative motion detection and a sensor bar to watch the user's movements. The Wii Fit is - basically a scale, a pretty, white, digital scale with no readout. But it does a whole lot more. If you haven't looked into this, check out Nintendo's videos on their site or on YouTube.

The "balance board" has four sections, so it can measure relative pressure from side to side and back to front. It infers things like your posture from the way you distribute your weight across it. I can't BELIEVE I'm buying a "game" with a scale!

Setup was a breeze, easy, flawless. My 10-year-old son was keenly interested in the thing too, and I was grateful to see that it was well designed enough to shield my shocking weight from him (hovering unfortunately above TNTMNBN). It let me password-protect the info as well.

I didn't enjoy being told I'm "obese," but it was no surprise. It gives me something to work for, and it's telling me the truth. I can handle the truth. It's mine. My weight, my body. My results. I think this thing is helping clear through some of my denial already.

I've been a Weight Watchers member off and on, mostly on, since 1998. That's 10 years. In that time, I have discovered that I like to eat more than I want to be thin, but attending meetings and periodically recommitting myself to the WW system helps me keep my weight from ballooning up. I've tried going off Weight Watchers a few times, my weight begins to creep up, and I go back. It stabilizes.

After 10 years of the weight-loss religion of "only weigh yourself weekly" - buying what amounts to a scale and weighing every day - seemed like a wicked thing to do, a dangerous thing. What if I begin to obsess about my weight?

But since I already enjoy Jazzercise, step aerobics, yoga and other activities the Wii Fit promised, I decided to give it a try.

Wii Fit Early Results

So far, I like it a lot. I like that I get a choice of trainers - a man and a woman. I like that they're generic and plainish - I can spend a lot of energy resenting a trainer if I'm given the least encouragement; these are nicely semihuman, so while I like them fine, I feel free to interrupt them when they're talking, like you would an android.

I think I can anticipate some of the complaints about Wii Fit. It doesn't move fast enough through the menus, it forces interaction with the trainer. I think I'm going to not look up reviews, but relax and give this a try.