A message to all members of The Wii Mommies - I Emailed This To You, Too :)

Okay, people. Do you see that picture above? That's me, two years ago. I weighed in around 220 pounds (I
honestly was afraid to look at the scale). I knew I had to make a
change in my life and nothing worked for me. Then my mother introduced
me to the Nintendo Wii and a few months later, my husband heard about
and ordered the Wii Fit.

I had NO IDEA what the Wii Fit was going to do. I had never heard of it, no one was talking about it and I just
played it. I did NOT think of it as a chore or workout. I only played
the games sections - never touched the yoga or strength out of sheer
repulsion of the the thought of pain and failure - just played games and
you know what? I had fun!

After one month of simply playing (and of course I tried various dieting along the way, none of which worked for
me until I realized I can eat what I want if I just watch how much of it
I eat), I lost 11 pounds. As the months past, more weight came off.
As I started to lose the weight, I took the plunge into the yoga and
strength areas and found a routine that worked for me.

Shortly after, I was introduced to the EA SPORTS Active series of workouts. There is Personal Trainer and More
Workouts in the series so far and possibly more to come (I hope!). Since
the "virtual fitness" revolution has come alive, there has been an
explosion of games created by companies for the Nintendo Wii and I only
know those two. I also have Ubisoft's Your Shape game, but haven't put
enough time into it as of yet to give you a good feel for it.

I'm always asked about my routine, my diet, my determination.

You have to find your own. You have to take a look around to see what you think fits your needs. In the
beginning, the Wii Fit was what I wanted because I had a lot of weight
on me and high impact cardio wasn't something I was interested in
because I didn't like feeling my parts jiggle, so to speak. The slower
pace of the Wii Fit allowed me to get fit while playing games and I had
no problem playing every day and yes, I played for an hour. I did not
"work out". I played.

Once I dropped a good amount of weight I was introduced to EA SPORTS Active, I loved that fact that I had a
personal trainer in a box (literally) and I had the total body gym
workout I always wanted to have but never got because I loathe gyms.
They just seem like a place already fit people go to flirt with each
other and I have sanitary issues so prefer not to sweat where someone
else just did.

Through the use of those two products, I have lost over 100 pounds in two years. I look good, I feel good and I
aim to inspire. There has been a bit of a lag in this site because I've
been trying to maintain it with giveaways but all that does is bring
you in here, and I need to find a way to get you moving around without
awarding you prizes. Your health is the prize, I want this to be your
support! You have got to do this yourself.

The Wii Mommies is a COMMUNITY. We are here to encourage and support each other. Without the love and support
of the active members here, I know I would have given up at some point
but knowing I am an inspiration to you gives me the drive to stay fit. I
still eat what I want, I just get full easily. Since I'm a size four
*brag*, I've just moved on to using the Wii Fit just for yoga to start
toning up some parts I'm not a fan of (cellulite) but I want to hear
about all of YOU!

I can not do this alone. I can't advise each and every one of you. I don't know your body shapes and
lifestyles. That's why we have so many areas here. You can write
something in the forum, reach out to others for help. Find a group. DO
SOMETHING. This is a check in station. Not the workout station. You
have to stop saying you need to do it. You have to get off your butts
and DO IT.

Get up. Work out. What's 30 minutes of your day? If you get it done, you'll feel so much better about
yourself. If you don't do it, you'll just feel guilty and then might
over compensate, causing yourself more stress to the point of giving
up. Just get up, play a game for 30 minutes. Come tell us about it.
You don't know how your one story can change another person. I had one
story. One simple story about how I lost 60 pounds using the Wii Fit
and it turned into a journey that took me to over 100 pounds lost in
two years. That's another thing. It took two years. There is no quick
fix, that's why this is a community of SUPPORT.

I am so blessed to have all of you in my life but PLEASE, get up and give me a hand here! I don't care what game
you play. Even if you don't have a fitness game, the boxing that comes
with the Wii is a workout in itself. I know we have members who don't
even have a Wii but enjoy learning about dieting habits and other
fitness routines.

There are three key components to getting fit and maintaining it. You need to watch what (and how much) you eat,
you need to exercise and you need constant support and communication.
The Wii Mommies is basically the weight watchers of Virtual Fitness,
only we're free.

Sorry for the blast, but this is me being nice. In the next few weeks I'm going to start amping things up in
here. I have NO IDEA how but I'm going to go all Jillian Michaels in
here and start screaming if I have to. Stop telling me you have to use
it. Start using it. I don't care what "it" is, just start moving. Take
a look at that picture at the top, then take a look below. It can be
done. I did it.

WOOT!

-Julie Maloney

The Wii Mommies