At long last!

Posted by Kate A. in Editors.

A second issue!

We’ve decided to go somewhere in between monthly and bi-monthly now, so you can expect a new Lucy about every six weeks or so. In the meantime, we’re taking on a lot of new bloggers, so there will be more frequently updated content as well.

This month we’ve got some great new writers. You can also now subscribe to Lucy’s email list to be notified of site updates (just click on ’subscribe’ up at the top of the site).

Enjoy the issue!

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It’s a little addictive

Posted by Kate A. in Mii and my Wii Fit.

I went swimming today. I go once a week because Edinburgh’s got some awesome public pools and it’s not too expensive compared to what it costs to go to the gym or take a class. The swim center I go to is a nicely restored and renovated victorian bathhouse style pool. It’s even better that I get to go during the day when there’s barely anyone there. I guess that’s one benefit of being in school rather than work.

Anyway, I did something like 30 laps, so I didn’t plan on doing a whole lot of Wii Fit today. I figured I’d just do the body test and a bit of yoga and then I’d be done. The great thing about the Wii Fit is that it lets you record activities you do outside of the game, so I can keep track of my swimming or walking or whatever. Doing a body test every day seems a bit silly. I’ve always been told you shouldn’t really weigh yourself that often because you won’t see results anyway. But it does function as a way to get me to turn the machine on once a day and stay in the habit.

The thing is, once I start, I don’t really want to stop. I’m assuming I’ll be unlocking new activities for quite a while before I’ve got access to them all. After I do a few activities, it’s always giving me something new to try out. I told myself I was only going to do each yoga exercise I’ve unlocked so far once today, and there are about 6. But then I was having fun (even though I’m still rubbish at yoga), so I did the hula hoop aerobic thing for a few minutes and then some of the balance games.

Before I knew it, I’d racked up 20 minutes. And that’s on top of my 30 minute swim workout and 20 minutes walking! And I could have kept going, but this girl needs to make dinner.

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A virtual piggy bank of fitness

Posted by Kate A. in Mii and my Wii Fit.

When you synchronize the Wii Balance Board for the first time, it begs you not to step on it yet. Then  it makes a little noise every time you do step on. A little strange, but I don’t think it will ever stop being amusing.

In any case, my first Body Test was a disaster. I failed to take into account that our floor is slanted. Only by a few degrees mind you, but I had no idea how hard that would make it to balance properly. The dancing balance board on the screen told me how awful my balance was. I told it how awful my floor was and went off to get some bits of cardboard and a spirit level.

Everything in our house is leveled this way. I’ve got cardboard squares cut from the dividers that come packaged with my boyfriend’s actuarial course notes shoved under the legs of dressers, wardrobes, and now under my Wii Fit balance board. It’s not pretty, but it makes all the difference.

I wasn’t expecting a terribly good Wii Fit Age to start, so I wasn’t too miffed when it told me I had the fitness level of a 33 year old. That’s 9 more years than I’ve been on the planet, but 33 is certainly not old.

In any case, Mr. Balance Board helped me set a goal for myself to help lower my BMI, and then I was off on my first Wii Fit adventure.

I thought that perhaps my next Body Test would paint a completely different picture, what with my artificially level floor and all, and I was partially right. My updated Wii Fit age (on day two) is 24, which is my actual age, so that’s good. However, apparently my center of balance is still to the right, even after making sure the board was level, so i guess I have my posture to work on.

I wonder if it’s possible that one of my legs is ever so slightly shorter than the other. Nobody is completely symmetrical, and if a few degrees in the floor can make such a difference, a few millimeters in length surely can as well.

These exercises are fun and short, and I can do a different combination every day, which should do wonders for my interest in continuing. The trainers are a little disturbing in that their mouths don’t move when they talk and they look a bit vacant. The animated balance board actually has more personality, but I’ve always enjoyed Nintendo’s way of personifying inanimate objects. It’s just a shame you can’t be trained by the board instead of the humans. But a balance board can’t exactly demonstrate a yoga pose, and as it tells you itself, you’ll ususally be standing on the guy, so there’s not a whole lot he can do about it.

In any case, I think I’m going to like this Wii Fit stuff. Especially considering a delightful little creature, the fit pig, keeps track of my time. Like a piggy bank, only for my health. I do like piggy banks.

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