You’ve seen the latest game system craze with Fortnite that completely changed the dynamics of the online gaming world that features today’s item shop that offers you amazing deals with in-games purchase. And with it, a revolutionary development in how we could potentially lose weight. The pros and cons of Wii Fitness® have been put forth in so many different ways that we, as consumers, are torn between whether this product will actually help us to lose weight or not. Bottom line? Wii Fitness® will not effectively work for anyone if they don’t work for it.

The idea behind Wii Fit® is simple. Hop on the Wii Balance Board® with guided instruction from a woman’s voice issuing from the game. You can then choose to go into Training. When you enter into Training, you have different categories loaded with different games, each one designed to target key areas of your body. The “Balance” category has games that will specifically focus on your body’s core (which controls weight distribution in your body, stance, posture, and alignment) and is actually one of the key areas of the game to initially focus on. Focusing more on how your core is will set you up to effectively use the muscles in your body during exercises. Other areas for actual workouts, muscle toning, and strength training can be found through different categories.

It’s easy enough to go through the motions while using Wii Fit®. Admittedly, you can lose some weight without putting any other effort into your daily routine. The results, in comparison to an effective regimen that includes Wii Fit® (and doesn’t center around the game system), will be profoundly smaller than if you take the time to step back and look at what has caused you to weigh what you do.

I originally purchased the Wii Fitness® system with the hopes that it would be enough to melt the pounds away. Most certainly, I wasn’t ready to make a lifestyle change. Mountain Dew® was my life source, and food was my addiction. My every waking thought was about food. How to prepare it, how to change it up, how to serve it with flair. I was merely a housewife obsessed with bringing it to the table and making it taste great. Certainly, there had to be something out there that would take the weight off without making me lose two of my loves.

Not so, as I found out. For two weeks, I worked out with my Wii Fitness® religiously for an hour at a time. I familiarized myself with every category and made sure to use the two that would be most effective at weight loss (Aerobics and Balance). I shed three pounds. Sure, it was three pounds less than what I weighed before, and I hadn’t, as of that point, had to sacrifice my soda or my food.

But logging in every day to do my Body Test was a real downer. Not just something that I could push into a corner. It’s one thing to see your weight in numbers. We look at our weight that way every day of our lives. Having to look at my weight as a character (known as a Mii) on the Wii Fit® was enough to crush me. Each day I would start off with a nice slim version of Mii (aka ME). Then it was time to want to run and hide as the system spewed out my weight in numbers. The numbers were no biggie. What those numbers did to my Mii had the biggest impact on my life since I was 16 and started to gain weight.

Next to your Mii on the game during the Body Test is a bar that is color-coded and stamped with different “stages” of your weight. You have Underweight, Average, Overweight, and Obese. After weighing you, your numbers for BMI (Body Mass Index), and actual weight are ticked off, your BMI going first. As your BMI shoots upward, your Mii gains weight. That’s right. My Mii got fat. Disgustingly fat, in my opinion, did not reflect the body type that I have as a real person. But, for me, it was more than enough to kick me into gear. Oh, especially when the woman’s voice that instructs you throughout the game blatantly calls out “That’s OBESE!”. It didn’t take long for me to get tired of hearing that, and to respond back “That’s ENOUGH!”

I wasn’t satisfied with the ratio of working out vs. weight loss. It wasn’t happening for me. What was happening for me was that somewhere in my brain the “that’s obese” mantra was repeating itself, and making an impact on my life? Without realizing it, I completely stopped drinking soda. I started looking at what I was eating, and cutting it in half. All bread in my current diet regimen (which was none) were replaced with whole grains or wheat. I no longer drank anything but water. Salads? Incorporating them into my new food outlook was easier than I thought. Fruits, veggies, no sweets? Easier said than done, but I did it. Normal activities that I went through on a daily basis were now done with a purpose. To burn calories. For most activities, if I wasn’t sweating, I was cheating myself. So I pushed harder.

The Wii Fit® became the center of everything I did or didn’t do on a daily basis. Logging in to find that I had dropped x amount of pounds in x amount of days thrilled me to no end. I finally had a goal, something visual to look at, and it was working for me. It took a month to drop 23 pounds.

Since then, I have signed up for many websites that track the food I eat each day for calories, log my activities to show how many calories I’m burning, and to help me reach my goal. My goal is not in pounds or BMI. My goal is to hit that color-coded bar stamped with Overweight, then blow right through it to Average.

So, will the Wii Fit® work for everyone? Most certainly not. It will work for those who need a fresh look at themselves (even if they really don’t look like that) and will be driven towards a new goal. For those who are willing to make the changes needed in their lives in order for the Wii Fit® to give them just enough to keep their metabolism going. For those, like me, who needed that extra special incentive to do what needs to be done.

I do recommend Wii Fit® even if losing weight isn’t a goal. The games are fun and competitive. With so many different things to choose from, it’s not easy to get bored with the system. And for those who live in colder climates, as I do, it’s a great way to get exercise during the storms and blizzards that winter brings.