Now, the thing here is, this is not the sort of thing I typically do. Although I am a nerd and I love technology, most often I don't feel the need to run out and purchase something cool the minute it is available. And I certainly don't ever do this for something that requires me to get up at the crack of dawn to beat out other would-be buyers. Part of this has to do with my financial situation: most of the things I drool over fall squarely in the realm of "want, not need." (The iPod Touch is a great example of this: I still can't find a way to justify buying it, as much as I've salivated over it for the last year...) But the other part is, I'm just lazy: for most things I just don't care enough - even if I'm going to save a bit of money - to get out of bed, get dressed and haul my ass down to the store just so I can have the privilege of owning some piece of technology or game or toy that will be obsolete in a year. I also dislike crowds with a passion, so big blow-out sales are the last place you will ever find me.

But this Wii Fit thing, this was different. I've been wanting to find something that would inspire me, interest me, motivate me to get active. Even a little bit active. I miss being in good shape, but running has become more trouble than it's worth due to injury and nothing else has really piqued my interest over the last year. Having supremely low levels of energy hasn't made it any easier, either. So when I noticed the Wii Fit game would be coming out soon, I started to think about getting one.

Seeing an ad in the paper on Sunday pretty much sealed the deal, though, since I figured I'd better strike while the iron was hot. So off I went to the store this morning at o-dark-thirty to get my game. There were 5 other people there in line with me, so I didn't feel quite so nerdy. (Interestingly, I was the youngest - and thinnest - person there.) Fortunately, I had some "extra" money I'd been piling up in savings, so I didn't go into debt to pay for it or raid my emergency fund. It was still a bit painful to lay out all that cash up front, but now that I have I'm really glad I did it.

After playing for a bit of time this morning and again after work, I'm really impressed with the "balance board" and the software. It offers yoga, strength training (including core strength) exercises, and balance and cardio "games" to play, and the more you work out, the more "games" and exercises become available. I was pleased to discover that the exercises are fairly challenging, but you don't have to do a lot to get new exercises to become available. (I did 30 minutes today and got a new yoga pose and three new strength exercises, for instance...)

I'm excited about this now, and have set a goal of losing 10 pounds by my birthday (August 14).

And if you're thinking about getting one and still need a couple more reasons to justify the purchase, here are the advantages (over a gym or paying for a class) which I've identified so far:
a) It automatically keeps track of my progress, the amount I'm working out, and keeps me apprised of where I'm at relative to the goal I've set for myself.
b) I don't have to leave my house to get in a work-out.
c) I don't have to arrange my life to attend a class somewhere that costs too much and requires me to drive somewhere 45 minutes away.
d) I can do as much or as little as I want, or stop in the middle of an exercise, without feeling guilty that I've just wasted money.
e) In addition to the health/exercise benefits, when I'm done working out and there's nothing on TV, I can download and play games I remember from my childhood (like Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, Pac-Man and Donkey Kong) in addition to playing new games for the Wii (like Dance Dance Revolution, Endless Ocean and Guitar Hero!) or Nintendo Game Cube.

And lest any of you think this is not a "real" work-out, I'm here to tell you that my arms and abs are already starting to get sore from this morning's session. Hopefully I can walk tomorrow!