After Cheeky Panda was born, I started doing exercise to tone the arms and legs by using Wii. Yes. the video game system. I don't like to go to gym stared by strangers or ended up staring at strangers. The EA Sports Active game actually work very good and it came with a elastic band for strength exercise. I used it for a month or so, I saw my upper arms are toned and were so happy of the result.
Honestly, I didn't really expect much in the beginning. I only want to move a little to boost the mood and feel like I am myself again while the baby sleep. The visible result was unexpected and the confident boost was just amazing. I wanted to continue but a one day break of the routine just killed it. I got too lazy to get up the couch again the next day and just forget about it.
This time, after a whole year of nursing Chunky Panda, I started to try exercise again. After all, two pregnancies have their huge effects on me. I gained 40 lbs then lost 30 lbs for the 1st one. Gain another 40 lbs and lost 30 lbs again for the 2nd one. Lucky for breastfed my babies, the 30lbs actually lost by itself from nursing, I didn't do anything extra to loose them. But also because of nursing, breastfed moms' bodies will keep the 10 lbs just to make sure there will be enough fat to product milk. I was pregnant again before I done nursing Cheeky Panda, so.... before I could try to loose the last 10 lbs, I started gaining weight again.
I was on the scale another day, 20 lbs more than I have these two wonderful kids. I think it is time to do something again. This time I am going to use XBOX 360 KINECT. Sound weird but they actually are fun and help you burn calories. The main reason I switch to Kinect is no controller, you (the player) is the controller. I enjoy the Wii but really hate to exercise with two remotes on hand, who work out like that? The Kinect make much more sense, at least for exercise purpose.
My favorite games are Dance Central and Your Shape. They are both fun and sure keep your body moving. Dance Central is more fun to me because I like dancing to begin with. It has hit songs and cool moves in the game, started from a step by step tutorial, then you can perform it and even try a dance battle. Every song have different levels, you can build up your dance skills to your favorite tunes. I have to say they do have quite different moves in different levels which keep it fun.
Your Shape is more an exercise core game, I bet you can tell by the name. It has different programs for you to choose from. The one I tried was for loosing baby weight (yes, they have a program for that). Starting the game, those exercises don't really look hard at all. But you will know how hard it is when you actually doing it, at least for someone like me who do not exercise on a regular basis. The screen will have a computerized personal trainer showing you what to do, and you will see yourself right behind the trainer. This helps you realize how exact or how far off you are comparing to the model positions from the trainer. Since the cameras track how you move, they compare your moves to the right positions, so it is less likely you will hurt yourself by doing them wrong. It also have a calorie burning scale right there as you working out, quite motivating.