Good morning and welcome to January’s first edition of Dear Heather. I am thinking it might need another title, so if you have a suggestion, I’d love to hear it. If it comes down to a contest, well – I may launch one just for that reason next week. Let’s see how it goes. In the meanwhile, let’s dive into a couple of letters I got over the weekend.
Arguing Over the Game Console
Dear Heather,
You wrote an article about the Nintendo Wii and my husband and I have been having an argument about whether or not to get a Wii since Nintendo released it last year. We have a Playstation 2, we have a Nintendo Gamecube and we have an XBox 360 and we do use them to play games and to do fitness. I have Yourself! Fitness for the Playstation 2 and it’s a great workout, but now my husband really wants that Nintendo Wii and I don’t think we should be wasting our money. He saw your article and now he says that’s an even better reason to get the Nintendo Wii – because he would use it for a workout. Help – is there a really valid reason that I should give in and let him?
– Tina Boyle
Dear Tina,
Yes, I talked about the fitness possibilities of the Nintendo Wii, but if you are already using fitness programs on the gaming consoles you have, you may not be the audience they are looking for. I would hesitate myself before spending that much money on it, but I’m bored with the fitness programs I have and my husband is interested in the wider variety of games associated with the Nintendo Wii. That being said, it’s also important to recognize that Nintendo is not marketing the Nintendo Wii as a fitness tool. There are sports games and more coming and there are already ways to use it to make it a fitness opportunity – but if you are looking for solid reasons to invest, you and your spouse may want to wait a few months. Good luck!
I Go Out Walking
Dear Heather,
Thanks for writing this column and thanks for what you do in bringing us these articles. Last year when I started reading the fitness blog I started walking regularly. You mentioned it several times and I got into the habit of walking all the time. Currently, I average 3 miles a day and I walk 5 times a week. I only skip the walking on days when I’m overwhelmed or it’s really lousy outside.
I have lost about 35 pounds overall walking like this, but I wanted to get your input into my workout – should I be doing more? I don’t have a lot more time than I am already using and I like my walks the way they are. I lost a lot of weight in the beginning and the weight I’ve lost since has been gradual. Any help you can give me would be really appreciated. Again, thanks for your help.
– Tony Christian
Dear Tony,
Thanks for your note. I can’t tell you how great that is that you’ve lost so much weight with your walking program. It’s important to recognize that a walking program is a great part of any regular workout. If you are enjoying your regular walk, just shake it up a little – add some hand weights that can increase stress and tension or ankle weights. You might change the location you are walking in to add incline to your regular walking. You might also explore the various parks in your area to see if any of them have workout stations where you can perform a workout at each station that would increase your number of fitness options. It can also be just as simple as adding distance if you enjoy the walking you do.
If the walking is getting boring and you want to shake it up – consider adding roller blades, roller skates or a bicycle to your workout – this can put a demand on your muscle groups that is different from standard walking so don’t try to push yourself to the extremes you can get with the walking. Build up slowly and let your muscles warn you when they are feeling stressed and tension. You’ll find that your endurance is a great assistance in learning these new programs – good luck with it and I’d love to hear more about your progress.
That’s it for our installment of Dear Heather this week. What questions do you have that you’d like answered?
You can check out previous Dear Heather … articles for more questions and answers.
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