Did you get Wii Sport or Wii Fit as a gift over the holidays? Have you ever wondered how it compares to the real thing?

ACE (American Council of Exercise) decided to research the efficency of Nintendo’s Wii Fit exer-game. This is what they found.

• Island Run and Free Run resulted in the highest energy expenditure. Unfortunately the rates were not high enough to maintain or improve cardio respiratory endurance.
• The maximum caloric expenditure for any of the activities after 30 min of participation was 165 calories and the lowest 99 calories.
• In every case it was found that doing the actual activity burned considerably more calories than the virtual one. The reason for this is that there is a lot of mandatory instruction where you can be standing and listening for up to 15 seconds at a time. This doesn’t allow the body to stay warm or the heart rate to stay elevated for the whole 30 minutes.
• The step used in step aerobics is an average of 6 inches whereas with Wii Fit the step is only 1 or 1.5 inches high creating a lower calorie expenditure.

There wasn’t any research done on the potential benefits of the balance exercises, Yoga, or strength training. They do believe that balance will improve. The strength training and yoga are very traditional and should give you the same results if you were to perform the exact same exercise in the gym or studio. Wii Fit is limited in its levels and variety of exercises and yoga movements so once you reach the top level you can not advance further.

Wii Sport was researched separately. More calories are expended with the Wii Sport versus the Wii Fit. Although the findings are similar to Wii Fit. The calories expended are still a lot less compared to the real thing. (To view the complete study see http://www.acefitness.org/getfit/studies/WiiStudy.pdf )

Wii has created a great concept to get us off of the couch and moving around. They deserve a lot of credit for this. It is definitely better than sitting around being a couch potato. Relying solely on the Wii Fit or Wii Sport for your exercise may not help you achieve your New Year’s Resolutions goal, but it is definitely a start. The more calories your burn over time, the better off you are. It is definitely not a replacement for the real thing, but at the end of the day whatever gets you moving and keeps you consistent is what will work best for you. So find something you like and stick with it.

Stair Jumps

Adding an exercise that works your cardio system at the same time as increasing your muscle strength is a great bonus to your work outs. It will help to burn calories faster and keep your heart rate up.

Build yourself up until you can do all of the steps below. Bend your knees, squeeze your stomach and use your arms to help you jump. Try to land softly with the use of your abs, and keep your knees bent. If you stand straight up after each jump you will fall backwards with momentum.

1. Jump with both feet up 1 step
2. Jump with both feet up 2 steps
3. Jump with both feet up 3 steps
4. Jump with one foot up 1 step
5. Jump with one foot up 2 steps
6. Run up and down 5 times single stair
7. Repeat 5 times

Watch a demo video on YouTube.

*note: if you are afraid to go all the way up the stairs you can stay at the bottom using only the bottom 3 steps repeating each jump 10 times before moving on to the next. (Always make sure you have doctor’s clearance before exercising. If you have knee problems do not try this exercise)

How Important is Breakfast?

Often we treat our cars better than we do ourselves. We take our cars in for regular oil changes, always make sure there is gas in the car and when the service engine light comes on we take it to the garage to get checked out. Food is fuel. Often we skip meals, don’t give ourselves quality foods, and rarely listen to what our body is telling us.

People who start their day with a healthy breakfast have reported less chronic disease, increased longevity and overall health. Other added benefits of a good breakfast are increased attention span, an energy boost and better control of your emotions. People who eat breakfast tend to be less overweight than those who skip it.

Skipping breakfast can create irritability, short attention span, lack of alertness, longer reaction time, low blood sugar, decreased productivity and fatigue.

If you are not hungry in the morning it could be because you had too large of a portion size for dinner or too much to eat before going to bed. Your digestion slows down when you are sleeping. Some people are not used to eating breakfast so start small and build it up over time.

Many breakfast cereals contain sugar in them and are processed. These are definitely not your healthiest choice. Read labels carefully making sure you are eating products low in fat, sodium, sugar and less processed.

Try these alternatives to boxed cereal. Add fresh fruit to the ideas below.

• Oatmeal (not instant/packaged) or other hot grain cereal with honey, cinnamon, raw nuts and raisins
• Yogourt sweetened with honey, raw oats, nuts and seeds
• Easy Cereal Bars Cookies (Sept 2009 Issue)
• Protein Pancakes (May 2009 Issue)
• Omelette or other type of egg and a slice of whole grain toast.
• Almond butter and jam on whole wheat toast

Start your New Year right! Eating breakfast every morning is a quick and easy start to healthy living!

Chicken and White Bean Soup with Spinach and Parmesan

3 - 14 ounce cans low-sodium chicken broth
1 ½ cups plus 3 tbsp. tomato/basil pasta sauce
1 - 15 ounce can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
¾ tsp. crushed red pepper
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced thin
Salt and pepper
6 ounces prewashed baby spinach
½ cup chopped fresh basil
¾ cup grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese

1. In a Dutch oven, bring chicken broth, pasta sauce, and cannellini beans and crushed red pepper to a simmer.
2. Turn heat to low. Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper, add to broth. Gently poach chicken, stirring occasionally, for about 2 minutes. (The broth should barely simmer)
3. Stir in baby spinach. Continue cooking soup until spinach is wilted and chicken is just cooked through, about 2 Mins. More.
4. Stir in basil;
5. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Ladle soup into bowls, and top with grated cheese

Makes 4 servings

407 calories, 43g protein, 36g carbohydrate,
10g fat (3 saturated), 10g fibre

Recipe by Rocco DiSpirito