I should be going off to bed but I’m going to write something since it’s been so long. I last posted about the Go Red for Women heart health challenge so I will follow up from that for now. It’s now the eleventh of the month and I’ve been exercising nearly every day so far. I missed one day and on another I only just managed to fulfill the thirty minutes of the challenge by walking when we were out earlier in the week. I wasn’t feeling well that day so I feel that I was doing well to get that far.

So far, most of the exercise has been indoors, using programs on the Kinect, which was a birthday present. I should backtrack a bit and say that when I first got the Kinect, it didn’t work particularly well on our tv in the living room as it’s such a small space. What eventuated was we got a new tv and moved the old one into our games room and the Xbox is now connected there, which allows the living room to be more lived in, so to speak. The games room isn’t that big but it’s far more spacious and the Kinect works quite well in the space.

One of the programs I bought was Your Shape: Fitness Evolved. A while back we bought a version of this for the Wii and it was a disaster to use. There was the space problem but it was really not geared towards the less fit or beginners. This program, however, does a far better job. It does have some problems with providing the right excercise, but it’s a vast improvement over the previous one. For one thing, it’s mostly doable at the lower end of the scale. I will say, however, that it’s a good idea to try out little bits of it at a time. When I first used it, I tried out several short routines and ended up sore and uncomfortable for so many days that it was about a month before I willed myself to try it again. I’m glad I did return to it because I think I’ve got a better handle on what I can manage each day.

Another program I bought is Dance Central, which is a pretty odd choice for anyone who knows me that well. I don’t tend to like dancing and I’m fairly klutzy. But I read that this program is good about showing you how to do the moves by breaking it down into smaller bits and providing opportunities to practice and get it right. There was a demo on the Kinect Adventures disk that came with the Kinect and it seemed like it might be useful as an exercise tool. So far, I am making some progress. The first song is a Lady Gaga song, which drives me a bit batty…but I’m kind of used to it now, at least while I’m using the program. It’s taken a while but I’ve managed to get through all three levels of the song and I’m pretty competent on the hard level. It’s a rather startling feat since I honestly didn’t think I’d ever conquer some of the moves. Anyway, once I got to the medium level I added a second song that I didn’t know at all and dislike far more than the Gaga song. I’ve kind of got used to that one too…can’t say I’d ever be happy to hear it on the radio. A few days ago I added the third song and I seem to be progressing a bit more quickly.

I knew dancing to be a very good exercise but I am finding this out first-hand as I practice the different dances. Even when I am using the break it down mode, my heart gets pumping and I work up a sweat. I find that mode is good for warming up and also serves to remind me of the moves I need to use for the full song. I have been in a habit of doing this program for a little while, then moving on to the Your Shape program. Today I think I might have gone just a bit overboard by trying out an interval training program which lasted twenty minutes. I’d already worked out for quite a while and was pretty sore by the end of it.

A third Kinect program I bought was the Sports program, which I am not using for exercise at the moment. It’s fun for playing with the family but I find some of the activities are a bit harsh on my feet so don’t want to depend on it for regular exercise.

The challenge goes for ten weeks so I am hoping I will be able to stick to some regular exercise in that time. And hopefully I will manage to avoid injury that creates stumbling blocks in my efforts to be fit again.