Wii Fit Challenge: week 3

Condition 1: 84 pounds to lose

First off, Wii Fit, look, I’m sorry. I know last week I said I didn’t need you, that our relationship was becoming stale. But the truth is, I need you. My diet isn’t quite whole without you, and I hope you’ll take me back. No, I promise there’s no one else. Just you and me, Wii Fit.

Needless to say, I learned a valuable lesson this week. So, to recap, at the end of last week, with minimal workouts and just strict dieting, I was able to lose 10 pounds.The progress made, while deflating my stomach also inflated my head, and I started out the week without a care in the world.

The first day or two, I didn’t work out at all, and even more dangerously, I got a little lax with my diet. It started out rather honestly – a Sunday night movie night with a little ice cream sundae to go along with Sherlock Holmes. At first I was adamant, I wasn’t going to partake, but with some subtle prodding by my wife, and the fact that I had to make the sundaes for the family, I eventually gave in and had a little one. Granted, I was able to control my portion size, just a scoop and a half of ice cream with a small amount of toppings, but even still, dessert was an extra 600-700 calories that I didn’t need. Needless to say, the scale went up on the next weigh in.

For the first part of the week, the transgressions continued, albeit limited. I never fell off the fast food wagon, but a few trips to restaurants combated any efforts to lose weight. I was in danger of falling back into my old habits. 

Finally, after a trip to the ice cream stand with the family, I realized that watching what I ate wasn’t enough. The family ordered ice cream cones, I ordered “fat free/sugar free” frozen yogurt. Of course, they served me a gargantuan portion, that I naturally devoured (I was raised in a time when you were supposed to clean your plate whenever you ate). Upon checking in with Wii Fit, I discovered I had gained again and it had to stop. It wasn’t just the food that was doing me in, though. Things like the NHL playoffs, Bioshock 2 and laundry got in the way. It seemed the world had successfully distracted me, and I had to fight to come back. 

Thankfully, I discovered a Wii Fit feature that has significantly helped me get back on track, the Free Step. The Step modes in the game are a pretty good aerobic workout, stepping in time on the Balance Board, throwing in some kicks, side steps etc to the tune of some bad Nintendo music. 

The Free Step mode takes this concept and simplifies it as well as extends it. No flashy step moves here, just your typical stepping up and down on the board, but this time, it allows you to set an amount of time you want to work (up to 30 minutes), then lets you go. 

The Wii Remote continues to mark the beat (if you so choose), and you are free to watch tv or do anything else you like during the workout. This has proven great during hockey playoff season. I just set up a 30 minute workout that I start at the beginning of the third period, and off I go. It’s a great way to get that extended aerobic workout, and not feel (like I do so often) that I’ve completely wasted my valuable free time working out. 

Now, I haven’t tried playing Bioshock at the same time, and I’m guessing that might not work so well, but it might be worth a try. 

The good news in all of this is that, even with my shortcomings in the first part of the week, I was able to make a pretty remarkable comeback before my final weigh-in of the week. It was Friday when I decided enough was enough and got back to working out, but even with only three days of hard work, I was still able to undo any damage I had done in the beginning of the week. I was able to recover so much that I still managed to lose a few pounds at the end of the week. 

So now, the stats:

Starting weight: 267 lbs Ending weight: 264.5 lbs (Loss of 2.5 pounds) Starting BMI: 35.2% Ending BMI: 35.06% (Loss of .14%)

What is interesting in all of this, especially as I approach Condition 2 on my scale of personal fattiness, is I am beginning to notice results.

Since the experiment began, my size 44 jeans have been retired (although they always were large, now obscenely large), my size 42 jeans are almost too big, I’ve gone up two notches in my belt, and I am certainly feeling better about myself.

Like the polar ice cap, my gut is slowly receding, and I am noticing that my shirts are no longer leaving nothing to the imagination. Also, on a personal note, this coming Wednesday I make a return to the ice rink. 

For the first time in almost five years, I finally fit (barely) into my hockey pads, and this week is the first practice in what I hope to be my triumphant return to recreational hockey. While I’m a bit nervous about how much I’ll be able to take (us goalies don’t get a break), at least I go out there not fearing that I will have a massive heart attack and die on the ice. 

Additionally, it was nice to see that now the BMI scale reading for me on Wii Fit no longer makes it all the way to the top. n fact, I’m only .06% away from getting out of Class II Obesity (aka morbid obesity).

I’m hoping that by the end of my workout tonight, I’ll be working my way down to just overweight. 

I’m also happy about the lifestyle changes I’ve made. I’ve gone three weeks now (save for my day one mishap) without visiting a fast food drive-thru. When I eat out, I eat my veggies first (always a chore for me), and I am making better choices all around.

This week, in a rush, the wife brought home the local pizza special and a salad. I am proud to say, where normally I would have had a few bites of a salad and 3-4 slices of heavily topped pizza, I ate an enormous salad, and a slice of cheese pizza. 

Aside from an occasional glass of wine, my alcohol intake has been reduced as well. All in all, I am feeling better. I think I look better, have more energy, and am more active. I’m still in a good bit of pain occasionally, as my body isn’t used to working this hard, but I’m pretty sure that the pain will subside over time. 

And people are starting to notice. I’ve had three people come up to me today alone, to tell me that I must be losing weight and am looking better. Needless to say, I’m starting to like the attention I am getting.

The important lesson I learned this week is that, at my size, there is no be all end all solution to weight loss. It was easy at the beginning, because with so much weight to lose, just reducing my food intake and light exercise were enough to work miracles. Now that I’ve lost over one stone, it’s become apparent that there is no easy way out of this. The combination of diet and exercise is the only thing that will get me through the experiment. 

With the progress I’ve made in the last three weeks, I’m starting to feel like I have a real chance at getting at least a good portion of this weight off. At the beginning I thought it was impossible, but now, with almost one-fifth of the weight gone, I can see the end in the horizon. Granted, it’s still very far away, but I know it exists.

I would like to take a moment to thank all of my readers out there, especially the ones who have sent words of encouragement. Even more thanks to those out there who have told me I have inspired their own weight loss challenges. Knowing that someone is out there reading this, and getting inspiration from it, motivates me to keep moving. It’s one thing to fail for myself, but I’ll be damned if I let my readers down. You guys are a great motivating factor, and I greatly appreciate. 

If you have words of encouragement, stories of your own, questions about weight loss or need motivation yourself, feel free to e-mail me at Jason@ironotaku.net. I try and answer every single e-mail, and I love to hear from you guys.

So, the big question next week: will I get to Condition 2 on the fattiness scale and leave morbid obesity forever behind? Check in a week from now to find out. 

Last week’s challenge details and results are here.