I think it was a big mistake to let Konami design those new filter traffic lights.
It was last week that I decided I ought to lose some weight, after realising that after being able to tighten my belt an extra notch after the California holiday -- yes, I went to the USA for two weeks and managed to noticeably lose weight -- a tendency to snack and a sedentary lifestyle had resulted in me putting it all back on again within a month of coming back.
I'm currently 91kg, which is 200lbs, near enough, and at 6'3" this isn't a particularly dangerous sign, but I do come in at the very top end of the healthy range with a BMI of 25. For someone who was quite skinny growing up (well into my twenties in fact), this is annoying. So I'm going to try to lose 5kg (10lbs).
Eating healthier is obviously a big part of this plan, but who wants to read about my diet? So here are my plans for exercise.
There are really only two forms of exercise that I enjoy at all. My favourite is walking, but the satisfaction involved in walking is heavily related to the surroundings, and it's a slow way to burn calories, and prone to disruption by bad weather. Since I don't live in a perpetually sunny Lake District with eight free hours every day, I've had to fall back to the other type of exercise: DDR.
DDR is my shorthand for all those games you play with your feet and a directional pad, and they're a great way to get a workout without feeling like it, because you're preoccupied with trying to beat high scores or finish a difficult song. It really is a form of stealth exercise, and I find it easy to tire myself out. Fortunately nobody is watching to laugh at my clumsy efforts to master 4-foot songs.
I've set an old PC up downstairs with TV out, for the sole purpose of running Stepmania, an open source DDR clone that's identical in every important respect, and I'm downloading lots of songpacks, both official and fan-created. This gives me a stockpile of songs and stepfiles much bigger than found in any of the console titles. Some of the music is actually good!
With this setup I shouldn't have any excuse not to get in at least a half-hour's practice a day, and I'll aim for at least an hour. Should help me do something about those extra kilos, but even if it doesn't, it'll still help me beat Carl at the game at the next BBQ :)
My setup
- an old PC (Athlon 900) running win2k, but linux would be fine
- a Geforce2 MX with TV-out
- Stepmania
- song packs from DDRUK and elsewhere
- a SmartJoy Plus PS2->USB converter
- a generic PS2 dance mat
Leave a comment