Getting Active

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! Now I know that Christmas is NOT all about the gifts. But I'm such a kid inside that I still love the thrill of unwrapping the packages under the tree.

I received (and gave) a few gifts that I love so much I just have to blog about them.

The first one is the only thing that was on my Christmas wish list for myself. I really wanted some type of workout program to help me get back in shape... I'm tempted to say "post-pregnancy", but let's face it: I wasn't really in shape before I got pregnant!

I decided I would be more motivated to workout with the Wii than I would a DVD. So, I researched a few of the top sellers and asked for EA Sports Active.

I have only played it one time so far, but here are the things I already like about it:

• The game lets you choose your level of intensity and creates a workout right for you.
• You can choose a 30-day challenge, which keeps you on track with a different workout each day.
• The workout is only 20 minutes and rotates between a variety of activities. I have done Wii Fit in the past, but didn't ever feel like I was getting a lot of exercise because of all of the set-up time between each activity. Active keeps moving from one exercise to the next. For example, my first day included walking, jogging, boxing, lunges and arm curls, among the exercises.
• The workout then changes each day, rotating activities to work on different muscles. The 30-day challenge also includes days to rest.
• The set includes resistance bands to increase your strength exercises.
• It also allows you to workout with a friend, which you can't do with Wii Fit.

I do miss a few things that are part of Wii Fit.

• I love how Fit keeps track of anyone who uses it so you can compare your progress to others in your family.
• I also like the fact that Wii Fit tracks your weight, BMI and gives you the completely inaccurate "Wii Fit age". My age swings from 29 to 82 within a matter of days on that game! And yet, I still love finding out my Wii Fit age.
  

I also have a word of warning about EA Sports Active:

IF you have recently had surgery and IF your incision has not completely healed and IF until now you consider walking from your car into Target a major workout, then you might not want to start the 30-Day Challenge...

BECAUSE you will attempt to tell your "personal trainer" that it's not a good idea for you to jog or kick box or do lunges due to your physical limitations BUT she won't listen to you and will continue to encourage you to "give it your all" and "try harder"...

and IF you are a people pleaser and driven by goals, you won't want to let her down and you won't want to quit mid-way through and you MIGHT end up injuring your incision to the point you have to spend the entire next day trying not to move...

and THEN you will worry about what your personal trainer will say when you skip the next two weeks and you will even consider asking your husband to pose as you so she doesn't get mad at you.

But if none of this applies to you, then give it a try!

Um, me?? If you happen to bump into my digital personal trainer on the Wii, could you let her know I'll be back sometime AFTER the New Year?

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