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The errands I had to run this time around meant I didn’t have a whole lot of time to get any “working out” done on Monday, so instead I shoved all of my gameplay into Thursday. Given that I still had chores in between gaming sessions, the result was recording the final workout at something in the neighborhood of 10 at night and rendering the videos finishing at 3 in the morning.

The further result is that, at the time of posting this blog entry, only the 360 degree versions of the videos are uploaded to YouTube. You can check out the Fitness Games playlist or subscribe to my channel if you’d like to know when the split-screen versions (and one screen-recorded version) are available.

And on with the updates!

First we have the inevitable before-and-after photos comparing January to now:

Literally “now” as I’d completely forgotten to take the July photos on my first day off of the month so I took them today.

Oh, and I’m now wearing a 35-waistline in my work pants; previously I couldn’t even fasten up that size (when the 36’s were already loose enough to need a belt or feel like I had to constantly pull them up), even while I was wearing 34’s in casual jeans. Probably should go back to wearing a bra for these photos for consistency’s sake–that would at least tell me if there’s any real change to my Dolly Parton lookalikes–but my spare tire doesn’t look as prominent as it used to be.

And of course the “meat” of this series, the actual games:

Given the articles I’ve seen disparaging games like Wii Fit for promoting eating disorders, there is something that I feel bears mentioning, something that I had included in the video description but I had not addressed in the heat of the moment, and that’s that there is far more to “weight loss” when it comes to being healthy than simply losing weight.

Not only does being fit have more requirements than that, but even your actual literal weight doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re unhealthy if you don’t have other details to help interpret that number.

We’re talking:

• Age (if you’ve played the game before, you might have noticed that the game never gives you a fitness age lower than 20; not only that but I’m moderately sure I remember a warning at the beginning if you attempt to create a profile for someone underage. Basically, this game is not designed to accurately measure a child’s fitness)
• Bone density
• Muscle mass (depending on how you exercise, you can theoretically build enough muscle to offset the weight difference of any fat loss, get fitter and lose inches, and still not noticeably lose weight)
• Fat content (and here we finally have the part that I’m trying to lose)

The Wii Fit Balance board, like any scale that does not measure more than your actual literal weight (such as FitBit’s cheaper Aria Air), can only give you a vague idea as to your BMI which does not take any of these other factors into account. The only reason I continue to rely on these scales is because, even at my theoretical fittest levels, every doctor I’ve spoken to says I should still be about sixty pounds lighter than what I am… at least if I wish to focus on lean muscle instead of body-building; the numbers the Wii Fit gives me can still be used to approximate my progress towards that goal.

And of course there’s the fact that Wii Fit is a game, not a medical diagnosis. It’s meant to be fun, not taken seriously.

Next we have another rhythm game in Ring Fit Adventure, this time focusing on Arms and Legs:

I could actually hear the music well enough this time to pick up on the rhythm (TV volume is at the same level as in most of my videos). Not that that prevented me from making mistakes, of course. 😉

Then we have the not-a-workout that is skydiving (because brand new save) and Frisbee throwing in Wii Sports Resort:

I was reminded of a few things when making this video:

• I only have one Wii Remote Plus–I’d thought for sure that I had two, but the white remote must be from the original Wii (not a big deal in this game but I’ll need to acquire a second one or forgo doing any dance games on Wii Fit)
• Throwing a digital frisbee is really not much of a workout for my purposes (I reserve judgement on making any title-specific playlists outside of the fitness focus, but I anticipate several activities getting removed from my spreadsheet as I go).
• I’d erased my custom Miis some time ago (all except the one doing the skydiving; no idea where he came from but I’ll want to create a new one for future gameplay)
• I suck at this game. Even the pup agrees.

The first proper attempt at using my 360 camera while streaming VR to my PC… and also the first attempt at Beat Saber’s campaign mode:

I didn’t think I was zoomed out that far when I set this up for rendering, but I might want to zoom in closer to the screen in future videos. The camera is clipped to the edge of my desk via a GoPro clamp so I can’t just set it closer unless I’m willing to rely on a tripod that will need repositioning whenever I need to see the monitor.

And the final video from the night, the best themed game to be found on the Stealth Board (I might be a little biased 😉 ), Motor Core:

While my recordable workouts all got shoved into a single day, I still did my Zombies Run missions all but one day out of the week.

Spoiler alert: I thought the implications of episode 4 were sad. Specifically before listening to the 5K training app.
After, though…? A Lost Child was more along the lines of “heartbreaking.”

To be honest I don’t remember why I didn’t do Homefront on Tuesday, though given my habits I probably got sidetracked by social media (instead of putting more progress into the mountain of books) again.

But I am nearing the end of the Homefront segment, which means I’m nearing the point where I need to decide whether to move straight on to The Walk to account for the “watch the screen” requirement for the game element (even as dead as traffic tends to be on my road, I’m not terribly keen on doing that while walking outside which is probably why I haven’t played Pokemon Go in a long while)… or interrupt the primary story missions to do the handful of “New Adventures” that are a mix of running and “homefront” exercises.

And of course, my final monthly update.

I gotta say, I like that average a lot more than the July 1 weight… but I can’t say it’s unexpected, seeing as the beginning of June was still on the tail end of losing weight while I was recovering from a cold.

Suggested products in use, Amazon Affiliate links included where possible:

• GoPro Fusion 360 degree camera
• GoPro Gooseneck
• GoPro “Jaws” clamp
• Grifiti Nootle universal phone mount
• Wii Fit U plus Fit Meter
• Wii Fit U digital version (there are different price points on Amazon but as much as I’d like to support secondary sellers I haven’t decided how I feel about buying a digital copy from them, though there’s always the option of just buying a Nintendo gift card and buying the game straight from the Nintendo shop)
• Wii Fit Balance Board plus Fit Meter (This is the bundle to get if you go straight for the digital version without owning hardware from the previous incarnations)
• Fit Meter (green) or Fit Meter (black) (the color is solely a matter of personal preference)
• Full Wii Fit U bundle (game, balance board, fit meter)
• Ring Fit Adventure for Nintendo Switch
• Stealth Core Fitness (basic “fly yellow” model)
• Padded compression sleeves
• Oculus Quest (I have the original, thus the link. I’d done some research on the 2 to decide how it would most likely affect my migraines–weight plus IPD–and decided my best bet was just to stick with what I have.)

And in other news, I just replaced my year-old (did I really buy it that recently?) Instant Pot 8 quart Viva with an equally-sized Duo Crisp… tested it out last night with a couple of salmon fillets. Yum! My next cooking experiment will be trying a recipe that turns canned salmon into burgers though I’m pretty sure I’m making those on the stove.

(The Duo Crisp was bought from the thrift store at half the new price. I think I’d prefer the 6 quart model just because it will take up less space in the pantry, but for all the need to declutter I’m not yet desperate enough to buy a third one purely for the sake of downsizing… hindsight being 20/20 I should’ve bought a new 6 quart model in the first place and skipped the thrift store option, but maybe when Black Friday/employee Christmas bonus discount rolls around I’ll have made enough of a dent in my student loans to consider a new one worth the cost. Though I might consider it worth buying right this second if the 3 quart model had a Duo Crisp version….)