EA SPORTS Active Review

My husband is a "Project Architect" for a family owned design/build firm that specializes in Christian churches. Recently he passed the exam to become LEED Certified (I'm so proud!). Among getting a few extra letters at the end of his name, he also received a bonus from work (Thank you Lord for always providing). After figuring out what our needs are and saving some of it, Byron thought we should have a little fun to celebrate his hard work and achievement.

He surprised me by purchasing EA SPORTS Active for our Nintendo Wii. We tried it out last night and it is sooo cool. We do have the Wii fit board and game, but I found it to be easy to slack off on. The Wii fit game doesn't give you a whole lot of guidance or a program for you to work with, but just lets you pick and choose the exercises you want to do. You can spend the whole time doing balance exercises and feel good about working out for 30 min. with no real results in the end. EA SPORTS Active focuses more on burning calories and getting your heart rate up with combining strength training exercises as well. You have your own personal trainer that makes a workout program for you. You are able to customize it a little if you just don't feel like running that day or some other exercise. You can also pick out the intensity of the workout you want and even what kind of music you want in the background. The graphics are pretty good too. They have you start with a 30 day challenge which includes 20 workout days and 10 rest days that they plan out for you (great feature!). I like how I am already starting to sweat in the first minute or two of the workout (which rarely even happened for me with the Wii fit game). They also go back a forth from cardio to strength training throughout the workout with little rest, which gives it a lot of variety and doesn't bore you. At the end of your workout they entice you to work out again by telling you what new exercises they will incorporate into your workout next time (like practicing your tennis skills or kickboxing). They do have feature where you can workout with another person that we have yet to try. That will be a fun thing to be able to do together. The only thing I wish they would add was an option to keep track of your weight and BMI like the Wii fit does. The game does not require you to have a Wii fit board (although they will integrate it in some exercises if you have one), which I realize is probably the purpose of more sales for the product. The other thing I don't like is that I'm 23 weeks pregnant and can't get as intense as I would like to with the workouts right now. Maybe I'll have to do a little experiment to see how long it takes me to get in shape after the birth of the baby.

So far I think this is a great game. My husband enjoyed it and is motivated to continue with the 30 day Challenge, which is great! What I really like is that we can do it together. If you have a Nintendo Wii and don't have a Wii fit board (or if you do) and are looking for some variety in your workouts BUY THIS PRODUCT. Can't wait for our workout tonight...

**Hubby, feel free to add any of your own comments/reviews on this game**

Wii Weekend Happenings

Dispite all of the snow, we had a good weekend. We definitely got a lot of exercise shovling....along with doing our Wii fit. We really got to test out our Wii this weekend. Friday we brought the Wii over to my parents' house and played Raving Rabbids and Wii sports with my mom and sisters. Afterwards, we watched The Chronicals of Narnia: Prince Caspian. I liked it for the most part. I have only read "The Lion the Witch and Wardroab and this movie made me want to read the rest of the books.


Saturday we went over to my husband's uncles house to celebrate his (uncle D.) birthday. His actual birthday was the day after our anniversary. We went over there a little early to play board games and brought our Wii over there as well....boy, did we have fun. I couldn't believe it, but Grandpa & Grandma even played. Mind you, they have never played any sort of video game in there lives. It was great! Uncle David liked it so much he purchased the extra Wii we had (long story). Here are some pictures of the fun...

Grandma doing the ski jump on Wii fit & Grandpa bowling. He got really into that game :)

My parents-in-law bowling. Looks like Rick is coaching her.

Grams & Gramps resting after all that fun.


Father & Son...I love this picture!

..

Two Years and Counting...

My husband and I get to bring in the new year with our anniversary. I can't believe it has already been 2 years! 2 wonderful years, might I add. I love you, babe!

We went to our favorite place for dinner, Biaggi's Ristorante Italiano. We don't go there often, so it was a wonderful treat. It really is one of the best places around to get good Italian food. I had an Alfredo pasta dish and Byron tried swordfish for the first time.

We don't really buy each other gifts on our birthdays or holidays, but we do buy something we can both enjoy as an anniversary gift to ourselves. This year we purchased a Nintendo Wii. My husband has been joking around about getting a Wii for the past year, but after playing my Uncle's Wii we both agreed we should definitely get one.

We purchased the Wii fit as well. I know there are mixed reviews out there, but so far it's worked out pretty well. I really enjoy the fact that most of the time you are playing games that are actually exercises. So you get a workout while having fun at the same time (B likes that too). Although I think the Wii fit game is good, it could be better (like being able to create your own workout program or have ones already created instead of picking & choosing exercises during your workout) and more of a challenge in some areas. Jillian Michael's from Biggest Loser has a game that was recently released that looks more challenging. I'd like to get that one.

The house rule we made is that we have to do the Wii fit before we can play any games that day. It's worked out so far! This is definitely a motivator to workout-everyday!

We also purchased two games that we would individually enjoy. Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess-Him (He's really excited about this one) and Rayman's Raving Rabbids TV Party-Her. I just love this game. The "Rabbids" are cartoonie and very cute. It has a total of 50 games that are very well done and fun to play. My husband enjoys it too and it's multi-player so we can play together. If you get a wii or have one already, I HIGHLY recommend this game. My sister said it looks like a kid game, but it really is for everyone.

All in all we had a nice day and I am looking forward to many more years of marriage together.

...