A Dumbbell In A Home Gym

Kimkins: Caveat Freakin' Emptor.

As I've said before, I try to stay away from blogging about Internet trainwrecks. But sometimes, one of them gets under my skin and I have to say something. And this isn't even just an Internet trainwreck; it's a full-blown fraud, in my opinion. More after the jump, if you're interested. And believe me -- even though this entry is long, there's a lot I've left out.

Check It Out!

Just wanted to let you know that there's an interview with me over at Weight Loss Tips today. Even though you've probably heard enough about me, I highly recommend checking out the other interviews; you'll find all kinds of people following all kinds of programs, and they're interesting and inspiring reads.

Sadly, I think I've finally been felled by the Martian Death Virus that's been clobbering people over here for months, which is why I'm bundled up on the sofa with tea and soup rather than at the office. What a way to start a weekend. Bleah.

Anyhow, stay healthy and happy Friday, all.

A Dumbbell In A Virtual Gym.

Or: This Little Piggy Went "Wii, Wii, Wii!" On Her Way Home.

In keeping with the idea that video game consoles do not necessarily have to mean sitting on one's ass for hours scarfing down Pringles and Dr. Pepper while blowing up monsters, my husband bought a Nintendo Wii last week after a whole lot of online hunting and stalking. He's been talking about them for months and I caught his excitement, so it felt like Christmas all over again when the online UPS tracking showed that our package was coming today.

The Wii comes bundled with a sports pack, and because the game controller is wireless you can stand up and duplicate the motions of whatever "sport" you're playing at the time. The five sports included on the disc: Tennis (haven't tried it), Golf (zzz), Baseball (also kinda zzz, although thank god they keep it to three innings), Bowling (yay!), and Boxing.

I've been playing the boxing on and off all evening. Folks, my arms HURT. I tried a virtual boxing game at Dave and Buster's last December and noticed right away that I got a pretty intense upper body workout. Thankfully, the Wii's characters all look like cute little Lego people and don't bleed; the game at D&B's creeped me right out when my very realistic-looking opponents started to swell up and spit blood and teeth before going down for the count. Ugh. (Yeah, I kicked their virtual asses. I just felt vaguely guilty about it.)

As for the bowling, my average is a cool 100 points over what I generally get with my trusty Hello Kitty ball at a real bowling alley. I'll be interested to see if the virtual practice improves my real-life bowling or if it screws it up even more.

And I can finally link to one of my favorite bloggers without being off-topic: John Scalzi is beginning "an orgy of dieting and exercise" (that sounds so much more interesting than "lifestyle change," no?), and he's starting the exercise off with Dance Dance Revolution. Having finally moved up to a level above "Totally weak beginner," I can attest that DDR will make you sweat.

Have a great weekend, all.