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I'm 45, and I LOVE it!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 79 / 80
Date: June 30, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This game is VERY good for people trying to get healthier, especially if you're currently sedentary.

The first thing it asked me to do was drink a glass of water. The little stick figure was hilarious to watch until I drank the water.

The second activity it had me do was walk 500 steps using the pedometer that comes with the game. It took 5 minutes.

The first food related task I had to do was put the salt shaker into the cabinet.

Good ideas . . . and very simple for this inactive Mom of 3. I know I need to get healthy, and I am proud of myself for starting.

My weight loss coach is lacking...

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 50 / 57
Date: June 27, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I agree with the other person's review. This game is fun and cute, but I feel that it would be more beneficial to someone who is clinically overweight. If you are in the healthy weight range, this game might not be for you.

The pedometer that comes with the game is rather large and difficult to conceal. It also makes a little bit of noise. The game relies on the use of the pedometer. If you don't live in a safe neighborhood that you can walk around in you will not be able to do some of the challenges.

If you are overweight or are looking for something that will put you in a healthier mode--this game is for you. If you are looking to lose those last five pounds this game might not be for you.

My Non-Hollywood Fitness Coach

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 64 / 81
Date: June 26, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I just bought this product today and I had some expectations. I will say that the little stick figure they use to coach me through is pretty darn cute. Especially when she mumbles (like a better version of a sim character). However I was not happy when I entered my weight and it figured that I was in a healthy BMI range, therefore telling me I only need to work on maintaining my current state of flab.

I am not writing this because I am trying to be anorexic or unhealthy. But I know for a fact that there are areas that I would like to tone and lose inches from. I think the weight loss coach would be more effective if it asked you how much you wanted to lose and then based its program around that. As it is now, it'll probably only recommend exercises and food intake that'll keep me where I'm at.

Pay attention Nintendo! My Weightloss Coach needs a part 2 with improvements!

Other things I've noticed during my limited use:
1. If you accept a challenge by mistake , there is no button to cancel the request.
2. Also, I got a food challenge of eating hard boiled eggs... this stuff makes me nauseous even when I smell it. Where's the menu option that lets you cross out foods you don't eat??

I'm going to keep using it and hopefully some of these cons will be out weighted by future results.

I bought it, I LOVE this!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 25 / 25
Date: July 04, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I bought this and wondered if this was going to be easy to use. Diets are not easy and lets face it...unless exercising is your hobby...exercising pretty much $uck$!! LOL I had to get something that motivated me! I am pretty much 100 lbs. overweight, short, I'm 38 years old and this "game" is perfect for those that are overweight. And it IS easy to USE!

I AGREE with one of the last opinions made by someone that if you are mostly fit and have just a bit of flab to lose, this isn't for you and that Nintendo SHOULD come up with "My Toning Coach"! GREAT IDEA (Im sure if people get thru this coaching...they would WANT to explore the next step...no?)

I like how it compares things to how far you walked (and believe me...walking is my only option of exercise right now...). I've been walking with the pedometer now for less than a week and already I've walked the distance of "up and down Mt. Everest"...WOW! ME? Who knew?

I am a cook at home and love to make and eat everything in the world. I like how this coach tells you to enter all the food you ate for the day and shows you how your exercise balances with your food choices...it sometimes tells you to set a goal of, for example, "try not to eat anything today that has any form of grease." Ok...cool! I can do that for 1 day or two...but you dont have to do that every day!

This is way cool. And would LOVE a part 2 later on down the road. I would buy part 2 now if they had it just so I'd be ready for it. It's so interesting what they do with a Nintendo DS these days! WAY TO GO N2DS!

Very Cute! GREAT for motavation

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 20 / 20
Date: July 01, 2008
Author: Amazon User

The Little stick figure as mentioned in other reviews is absolutely adorable! it was fun to get started with that cute lil thing. I rated this game 4 stars because there are somethings i think need to be improved, Overall the pros of this game far out weigh the cons. The Pros of this game is its fun, its easy to follow, it doesn't make you feel overwhelmed with the amount of steps you have to take. The challenges are small and simple but overall they make a big difference. The Pedometer that came with the game is pretty accurate and easy to wear. It's a breeze to upload your steps into your Nintendo DS. It really threw me off to see it logged down how much i ate (the choices i made) and how much exercise i get in a day. WOW! im a total bum! lol (my words,not the game) The food intake and choices you are required to log down benefit EVERYONE! skinny ,thin ,average and overweight see with their own eyes what they need to do to make healthier choices in there life. MOST IMPORTANT for me was the goals were not intimidating or out of reach for the average person and it's a EXCELLENT motavation tool. The CONS of this for me were when i was going through step by step and a the page turned their was no way you could go to the previous page, VERY ANNOYING! some stuff i wanted to read over and had no way of getting back to it, you cant stop and save right on the spot either so if you shut it off you have to start all over again. This was just in the beggining part of the game, the other annoying part was not being able to reverse a wrong choice or being able to cancel a challenge, maybe im not doing it right ( i am new to nintendo ds ) but this game should have a "go back" or something like that on all of its pages so you can back out and re-read things or make changes. And hey Nintendo!!! did you even consider that people have different diets??? im a vegetarian ( no eggs and no dairy in my diet ever!) so that is a problem for me when it comes to some of the food choices, i just skip that and replace it with something similar, its not that hard, it just would of been nice if the game had asked about the foods you ate or avoided when making your profile. Surely im not the only vegetarian out there! Hope this review helps!

Overall I find this game helpful, but...

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 10 / 10
Date: July 07, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Overall I really like the game. I've had it for about 2 weeks and I've lost 4 pounds. It really gets a sedentary person up and moving around. I also like that it helps you keep track of everything. The exercise choices are great- I love the fact that housecleaning is an option. I put in some great music, set my timer for 30 min or more and have fun cleaning my house and losing weight! The food balance tracker is nice- I've been as honest as I possibly can (more food choices are needed). I like the fact that the game tells me if I need to do more exercise to balance out my food intake. Two things I really don't like: 1. The pedometer is really bulky and noisy plus it accidentally resets to zero often. Since you can manually input an estimate of steps, I purchased a smaller pedometer of my own and have been using that. 2. The challenges- ok I mostly like the challenges, but it assumes everyone lives in an urban area and walks to stores. When the nearest grocery store is 20 miles away, picking up groceries as you walk the dog is NOT practical and many of the physical challenges are based upon similar strategies. Perhaps on the next version when inputting your profile an urban/suburban/country location can be an option.

Walk it off, candypants.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 10 / 11
Date: July 18, 2008
Author: Amazon User

My Weight Loss Coach is, by and large, a fun, creative, friendly way to get - and stay - motivated to make your life a little healthier. Your guide is a smiling, animated stick figure, who's always quite liberal with the applause and encouragement.

When you first fire up the program, it spends some time explaining how things work, and asking for things like your gender, birth date, height, and weight.

The screen where you enter your weight made me laugh. Using a sliding doctor's scale, you input how much you weigh. Weigh too little for your height, and the character on the screen gradually morphs into a beanpole. Weigh too much, and the character grows a fat gut and starts to sweat and look tired as you move the sliders higher.

From these measurements, it gives you a rough calculation of your BMI. It also asks some questions pertaining to your lifestyle, how much physical activity you typically engage in, etc. From there, it starts to formulate a plan to gradually whip you into shape.

The program breaks down into two basic parts: your "Daily Session" and "Backpack." The "Daily Session" contains 4 categories, namely, Pedometer, Challenges, Physical Activity, and Food Balance.

The Pedometer section asks you to enter the number of steps you walked during a given day. This can be done manually if you have your own pedometer, or by directly uploading the data from the included pedometer.

The Challenges section contains quite a number of little challenges, all related to better health in one way or another. It includes things like doing pushups (counting them off out loud into the DS's microphone!), walking to the grocery store, drinking a cup of herbal tea, walking 3000 more steps than usual during a 24-hour period, and many others.

Physical Activity is where you input what you've done of a physical nature during the day, and for how long. It includes things like walking the dog, lifting weights, doing housework, playing basketball, etc.

The Food Balance section is where you input what you ate during that day. Based on this data coupled with all the other physical activity you entered in the categories above, it will give you a general idea of whether or not your caloric intake is balancing out well with your physical exertion.

The "Backpack" section of the program allows you to update your personal statistics, view your progression toward goals, and take quick quizzes related to health. The quizzes are easy, but they serve to help reinforce your knowledge of healthy habits, and unlock a greater variety of challenges that will show up in - where else? - your Challenges section.

My Weight Loss Coach doesn't seem to be designed to blast the fat off your frame, like Body for Life or some sort of cabbage soup diet. Rather, it sets manageable goals and encourages you to take little steps, just a few at a time, to ease yourself into better health. It's kind of like spending forty bucks for your own live-in personal trainer, who's got lots of time to gently persuade you to make improvements.

Sure, you won't see quick and massive changes, but hopefully you'll train your mind and body to have healthier habits in general, which will be better for the long term. After all, how many people do you know who actually stick with the Atkins diet - or any other radical diet or exercise program - for the long term?

Every day, the game sets daily goals for you - walk X number of steps, do Y number of challenges, get at least Z minutes of physical activity, and keep your food intake in balance with your physical output. If you miss a goal for any given day, that's no big deal; you can try again tomorrow. As you fulfill your goals, it measures your progress by showing how far you've "walked" - the first milestone is at roughly 12 miles, which is apparently the distance it takes to get up Mount Everest and back down. This is just the first of 20 milestones. Not a bad motivator.

It also sets longer-term goals, such as having you get your weight down to a certain level within a month. Various charts and graphs let you see where you've been and how far you've come. For example: the BMI graphs. Your BMI is tracked as a line against a colored background. The healthy BMI ranges are shown in green, and as you start to get away from that healthy range (or, if you start out in an unhealthy range like me), the colors turn red.

I wouldn't call the game a miracle worker. Mostly what it does is augment and encourage your own willpower. Rather than cracking the whip and saying "Okay, from now on you're going to stop eating junk and start a 6-day-a-week weight training program," it has you do little things, like drink more water and move around during commercials on TV. How can you burn out on a program that has you drink more water and asks you to get up off the couch for a few minutes?

There are a few drawbacks and clunky parts to the package. I don't especially care for the food input system, which asks you to enter the calories you consumed by dragging pictures of food into a stick figure's mouth. Scrolling through all the menus in search of what you ate during a given day is pretty time consuming and annoying, not to mention somewhat generalized and inaccurate. More often than not, I go with the "quick" food entry, which simply asks you to take a guess at whether your daily meals and snacks were light, balanced, or heavy.

And I really don't care for the included pedometer. I've never used a pedometer before, but I can't imagine they're all this bulky and noisy. It uses a mechanical counting mechanism which clicks with every step you take. Visualize someone walking right behind you, holding a retractable ballpoint pen, clicking it every time you take a step. It's like that. I'll probably end up getting something quieter.

Additionally, I'm wondering if there's the possibility of overlap between the Pedometer section and the Physical Activity section. For example, if you spend 30 minutes walking your dog while wearing the pedometer, will the program give you credit for both activities? The game's a little unclear on this.

Overall, though, I would recommend this program to people who need that extra motivation and lots of little hints and suggestions to improve their health. There's nothing mysterious or magical about what you need to do to lose weight - eat less, exercise more. Not all of us are predisposed to do either. This game will help.

Perfect for the out-of-shape gadget geek

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: July 06, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I've had this for a week so far and love it.

I'm a bit of a tech geek -so I enjoy using it and it motivates me to keep "playing the game."

This is definitely NOT for someone who already works out and is very knowledgeable about diet/exercise/nutrition. For someone like me, however, it has already made a huge difference.

I am walking every day and keeping a close eye on what I eat. It's with me all day - either as the pedometer or using the DS at mealtime to enter my food intake and answering questions/playing games.

Two downsides - you can't lock your profile, so if someone else gets a hold of it (like my kids did) your profile can get all messed up. Relative to that, unlike Wiifit, you can only have one profile and one user (obviously) of the pedometer. It's too bad because my entire family is intrigued by all the fun I'm having.

My recommendation for future versions would be to provide for multiple users and sell the pedometers like they sell extra game controllers for other games.

Another thought that ocurred to me would be that having this interact with Wiifit would be awesome.

Summary - good for the middle-aged guy or gal who wants to get in shape at a reasonable pace, enjoys gadgets, and wants to have fun.

Health is totally fun!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 10
Date: July 12, 2008
Author: Amazon User

As a person who has struggled with eating disorders in the past and is looking to improve her health habits without getting mired in the muck of "weight goals", I was uncertain about this game at first. I have been afraid to start a health plan because I was afraid that it might get out of my control and I would end up with a recurrence of my illness. But I decided to try this game, partly because of some of the complaints of people who had played it, such as the fact that you don't enter your intake in precise Weight Watchers-style way. Keeping lists of exact "inputs" and "outputs" is a characteristic of anorexia; I had several notebooks full of that info and it is a slippery slope once you start doing it. Another complaint was that if your BMI is normal and you are trying to lose weight, this game won't help you do it. If the game helped you lose weight when you were at a "normal BMI", it would be fostering an eating disorder, so I'm glad it asks you to maintain your weight by eating and exercising in equal measures. Many diets are a very mild form of eating disorder, so one should always be careful and watch for signs of illness in yourself when starting one. But this game is a sane way to approach health improvement. It stresses that small changes make big differences in the long run. The long run is key here. Drastic is not applauded by your (totally cute) stick figure weight loss coach.

I did not buy this game hoping to lose a megaton of weight. I just wanted something fun that helped me keep my nutrition and fitness goals on track, and for that this game is great. I love the challenges. I love the coaching sessions which focus on energy and health rather than obsessing over the number on the scale.

And for people who do want to slim down, this is actually a good way to do it. I think that one would be hard pressed to exhibit her latent eating disorder tendencies using a game like this. It doesn't let you. It's always talking about how as you increase your activity, you must increase your food intake in order to build muscle and keep a steady energy level.

It's not for those who might be training for a marathon, but if you would like to improve your health and maybe lose a little weight in the process, this is an excellent game for you. This game should be called "My Health Coach". I'd be way more excited about advertising how awesome it is to people if that were the case. But it is. Awesome.

Pretty Good

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 8 / 9
Date: July 03, 2008
Author: Amazon User

The game is ok. I have been doing it for a week, but I honestly don't think it will help loose weight. The food tracking is really sketchy. It doesn't even have all the food choices so I have to kind of guess at what's there.

The quiz games are just to easy. I don't like the pedometer at all. It is to bulky and it always falls off. Thankfully the game always the steps to be entered without it, but it only lets you put in an estimate. I have been using my own pedometer.

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