May 21 finally arrived last week, and our countdown finally for the arrival of the Wii Fit ended. The only one in the house seemingly immune to its charms is my husband; the rest of us can’t get enough.  
 
When you first turn it on, the Balance Board will walk you through the initial set-up; this includes choosing your Mii, entering your height and birth date, as well as trying a balance game. Using this data, the game will tell you your body mass index (BMI) and Wii Fit Age.  I take issue with how they measure your “age” as it seems to be based mostly on balance and game skill than fitness. I run and have a resting pulse in the sixties, but my balance is less-than-stellar. On any fitness test given in a gym, I score very well. On the Wii Fit, my age varied by two years from one test to the next and it was older than my real age. A demo I watched of a healthy 24 year-old with a BMI of 22.3 gave her a Wii Fit age of 42!  Depending on how you scored, the game will allow you to set a Fitness goal -- a set amount of weight that you want to lose (or gain), or a BMI level you will want to reach in a certain period of time. It cautions not to try to lose weight too quickly. Those worried about privacy can keep their weight fluctuations and workout habits password-protected.

Wii Fit  lets you chose from 48 activities in four categories: yoga, strength training, aerobic exercise, and balance games. To perform them, you stand—or in some cases lie—on the special wireless Wii Balance Board peripheral that comes with the game. All activities in the Yoga and Strength Training categories allow you to view a 3D model of your chosen exercise, as performed by a virtual trainer. You can even view it in real-time, from almost any angle and depth, until you completely understand the correct body movements and positions.  It’s truly a wonderful set up.

If you like, you can watch videos of others doing the body test and certain exercises. It’s a great place to get a feel for exactly what the Wii Fit is. During and after many of the Wii Fit training activities, you'll gain important feedback on your performance. For example, during Yoga and Strength Training, you will receive detailed animations of where your center of balance is during your workout. Afterwards, based on your performance, you'll receive personal feedback that can help you improve your following sessions. Understanding your balance during workouts is essential to a good training.  Some of the line drawings after our hoola hoop sessions were pretty hysterical.

In many of Wii Fit's exercises, you'll spot either the Wii Balance Board icon, or something that looks like a yellow oval in the top-right corner. Generally, you'll see a blue circle or line on part of it—this shows the ideal zone for your center of balance. The blue line will trace your movement so you can see how centered you are. Afterwards, you get feedback on how you did in terms of the exercise chosen. You’re given a score and you get “fit credits.” The more fit credits you get the more exercises that get unlocked.
 
You can check your weight, BMI, and your Wii Fit stats without having to insert the game into your system  by installing the Wii Fit  channel. To do so, install it when the game prompts you on the second day of game play or click on the wrench from the main menu (top-right corner) and click on the install option. This is an easy way to keep tabs on your fitness level.

In addition to the standard four training modes, there is also a Favorites section included in Wii Fit. In this section, you can select from a list of 10 activities you choose most often—it's different for each user.

Now, my daughter quickly discovered you can cheat when you run but simply moving the remote up and down, but you won’t get any fitness benefits from cheating. You can also apparently cheat by letting the exercises run by not stepping on the board and using it as a way to unlock certain exercises that unlock with increased play time.  I prefer to do it the old fashioned way and earn them.

"Did you sleep well?" "Did you have breakfast yet?" Log on in the mornings before work, and you're greeted with such questions. I made the mistake one night when my daughter was having a sleepover telling them as they were going to bed that if they needed me I would be on the Wii Fit and then off to study. She suddenly realized she and her friend ‘forgot’ to use the Wii Fit together and that she had to set up a profile for her friend.  When my daughter stepped on the Wii Fit she was greeted with ‘shouldn’t you be in bed right now?’ proceeded by some words of wisdom about the importance of a good nights sleep. I was instantly in love: a video game telling my daughter to go to bed!
 
Here is a list of available exercises and what you need to do to unlock them. This list is complements of IGN Entertainment. This is an extraordinary site for all things game-related.

As you play Wii Fit, you'll begin to unlock more activities. For each minute you spend in-game, you'll earn one Wii Fit credit. The list below shows how many credits you need to unlock each activity:

Unlockable Activities Based on Time
0:10 - Tightrope Walk (Balance)
0:15 - Sun Salutation (Yoga)
0:20 - Rowing Squat (Strength)
0:30 - Single-Leg Twist (Strength)
0:45 - Standing Knee (Yoga)
1:00 - Balance Bubble (Balance)
1:10 - Sideways Leg Lift (Strength)
1:20 - Palm Tree (Yoga)
1:30 - Penguin Slide (Balance)
1:40 - Rhythm Boxing (Aerobic)
1:50 - Plank (Strength)
2:00 - Snowboard (Balance)
2:15 - (Yoga)
2:30 - (Strength)
2:40 - (Strength)
2:50 - (Yoga)
3:00 - Zazen (Balance)
3:10 - (Yoga)
3:20 - (Yoga)
3:30 - (Yoga)
3:40 - (Yoga)
3:50 - (Strength)
4:00 - (Yoga)
4:10 - (Yoga)

Unlockable Activity Variations Based on Performance
Super Hula Hoop: Obtain 3 Stars in Hula Hoop
Advanced Step: Obtain 3 Stars in Basic Step
Free Step: Complete Advanced Step 3 Times
Free Run: Complete Basic Run 6 Times
Balance Bubble - Advanced: Complete Balance Bubble Beginner
Basic Run - Distance Long: Complete the Short Distance track twice
Basic Run - Island Lap: Complete the Long Distance track twice
Table Tilt - Advanced: Complete Table Tilt Beginner
Skiing Advanced - Advanced: Obtain 3 Stars in Beginner
Snowboarding - Advanced: Complete Snowboarding 3 Times
Soccer - Advanced: Obtain 4 Stars in Soccer Beginner
Tightrope Walk - Advanced: Complete Tightrope Walk Beginner
Tightrope Walk - Expert: Complete Tightrope Walk Advanced

Unlockable Fitpiggy Colors
Bronze Fitpiggy: Accumulate 10:00 (hours) of Wii Fit  Credits
Silver Fitpiggy: Accumulate 20:00 (hours) of Wii Fit  Credits
Gold Fitpiggy: Accumulate 40:00 (hours) of Wii Fit  Credits 
 
Now, I’ve read all the reviews and some seem a bit harsh. Wii Fit is interesting, and I find myself looking forward to spending time with it. The Wii Fit  may not replace your personal trainer at the gym where you are benching heavy weights and customizing a rather intense work, but it will get you off the couch, give you a good workout and let you have a lot of fun in the process.