The problem was: I focused on the yoga and balance games. I did strength games, too, and felt stronger and more "centered" as I progressed throughout new poses and increased my repetitions. Meanwhile, I ignored the aerobic games and once the kids were out of school, no longer took walks outside. (I really couldn't "run" the way Wii wanted me too -- too much "bouncing" if you know what I mean.)

I probably gained some muscle, and I did lose a couple pounds here and there, but my clothes fit the same and my eating habits remained unchanged. During the summer, I ate, but I didn't work out. Once my "streak" at Wii Fit was broken by our trip, I had less of a motivation to use it again.

September brought an enormous amount of stress: the start of the school year brought relief in that I was home sans-boys, but an enormous project ate away those hours and then some. Instead of working out, I sat at my computer, trying to get the project "done" that seemed would never be finished because the more I worked, the more critiques I would get back.

At the beginning of October, I had an appointment with my very-skinny OB/gyn nurse practitioner. She told me point-blank I needed to improve myself. She suggested the South Beach Diet.

I thought South Beach was supposed to be just a crash-diet type fad, but when I followed the NP's advice by picking up the book, I was amazed that it is a life plan that involves sound advice.

I successfully did the two week "Phase One" restrictive part of the diet, and then only added back a few items for "Phase Two." Since I was in the swing of things and conscious of my need to lose weight, I also upped my working-out (although the NP told me I'd lose weight even if I didn't work out, which I'm willing to bet is true.)

I learned that steamed cauliflower is a fabulous substitute for mashed potatoes. And that those turkey-avocado sandwiches that I love are even better without the bread. I ate salads that I dressed up with sliced eggs, red pepper, and the aforementioned avocado and felt full (and happy!) I was especially happy that pairing lean meat with lean cheese is not only "legal" but encouraged. A great "side effect" of South Beach was that the flavored gelatin I made to serve as "dessert" helped me grow my nails back from all the biting I had done in September.

I greeted the holidays with pants that fall down unless I belt them.

I ended the holidays with pants that fall down unless I belt them.

During the holidays, I still ate what I would have: yes, I had lefse even though white potatoes are starchy. Yes, I had some Christmas cookies. And -oh yes- I had Christmas candy. But I haven't had that "oh, I blew it by eating a cookie so I might as well have a beer, too!" mindset. Instead, I've enjoyed the yummy food, but then ate carefully the next day. I've worked out a little extra when I know I'm having a treat. I don't consider what I'm eating to be a "diet" because I've adapted my "normal meals" to the South Beach "rules."

(Meanwhile, both Husband and my mother started South Beach because they saw my success, and how I wasn't starving myself. Husband has now lost more weight than I have!)

I added tea into the mix, too, and then resumed the Wii, at least a little bit. Instead of thinking "I must drink tea every day. I must do the Wii every day. I must eat a salad every day." I am doing a little of everything in rotation. And so far it is working.

My suggestion to readers for the Ultimate Tea Diet is to not necessarily replace all drinks with tea. I like a cup or two a day, but beyond that I get very jittery. I miss my carbonated soda (sometimes just carbonated water, sometimes diet soda) and will find something more caloric to substitute if I feel I "can't" have it because I need to drink tea. So instead, I make a small change. When I tried the book originally, I tried to make too many changes all at once.

I have a few suggestions to the makers of Wii Fit:

- I hope there is an update to add new yoga poses, strength poses, and perhaps other balance/aerobic games: I unlocked everything quickly and really want more! I'd happily purchase the hypothetical Wii Fit Yoga and Wii Fit Strength (etc) to continue to find ways to use my Wii Fit Board and earn "fit credits."

- I wish there were a way to set up a "workout routine" that would automatically take the user from activity to activity (either as a Wii-devised program or customized by the user.) There are too many clicks to go from one yoga pose to the next, so it takes 45 minutes or so to accumulate 30 minutes of actual "workout" when all is said and done. I'd rather naturally progress from pose to pose (with the knowledge that if I must break between poses, I can just press "A") This would also let me mix up strength with yoga, with balance, with aerobics. Although the "favorites" screen can be useful to mix things up, it still requires clicks and "set up" to select each new activity.

- It would be nice to have the option to not see one's weight/BMI every time, and yet record it every time for recordkeeping. I've seen research that suggests that monitoring one's weight every day can be detrimental, and I can understand why. Although I'd love for the data to be collected to see the overall trends, it isn't useful to see my weight every day. For example, when I have my period, I gain weight. When there is any weight gain, Wii Fit asks for the reason and then displays that reason on the user's graph. The reasons don't include female water-retention (and even if it did, I wouldn't necessarily want it on my graph, unless I wanted to really examine how my weight fluctuates with my cycle.) Instead, they are things like "ate too much" or "didn't work out." Although I am sure the makers of Wii Fit wanted to hold the user "accountable," sometimes the gain was random, so we shoudn't be scolded for it.

Some South Beach tips:

- Husband has been grilling steak and chicken in large quantities. We cut it up and have it available to put on salads or to snack on.

- While I was on Phase One, I was very good about cutting up all types of vegetables so they were readily accessible in our fridge: for salads, for omlettes, for just snacking on... To be honest, I've been hideous recently, only cutting up a few things and leaving the rest of the veggies whole in the fridge until I really need them. But that means I'm not taking advantage of "Hey, I can just grab a few sticks of red peppers to snack on..." and instead look for (more caloric) easily-accessible foods. So I have to get back in the "be prepared" frame of reference.

- There are some Phase II and III South Beach food products out there that I like -- some breakfast bars, granola packets (which I mix with nonfat yogurt) and even a southwest chicken wrap thing that tastes great. I found most stuff in the "convenience breakfast" aisle of my grocery store, and then the wrap in Target's refrigerated section. The South Beach bars in the protein-bar section are quite caloric, so I've passed on that.

--

In sum, I'm in a fairly good place right now as regards eating and working-out habits. I'm not quite where I was in November when I really made a push to lose weight, but I'm gearing up to that level again now that school is back. I need to allow myself those dips in vigilance as being temporary and not catastrophic.

As for my mind, I must admit I am still scrambled. I feel as though I have lots of things to do and no matter what, I'm forgetting something. (But I'm forcing myself to count "working out" as being a priority even though I know I'll be that much more behind on work when I finish.) Still, I admit that a dirty kitchen makes me feel frustrated, and a clean kitchen but a pile of un-done paid work makes me feel inadequate, too.

I need to clean up my space both physically and mentally. And I need to find ways of prioritizing things. For the time being, I am scattered.

For those of you who have a little bit of time but whose brains are mush like mine, consider trying things like Happy Neuron, Brain Age, or Big Brain Academy. I admit that when I get a chance to do these little games, I love it, so perhaps I should consider scheduling in a little time to sharpen my mind as well. Stay Tuned... for perhaps in January 2010 I'll declare success with the brain fitness the way I am reporting a significant improvement in my physical fitness this January. (Note I didn't say "success" since I realize it is always a work in progress!)

Disclosures:

- Ultimate Tea Diet was a ParentBlogger Network review. I received the book free of charge.

- I bought Wii Fit on my own -- no discount or other promotional consideration from Nintendo -- just my interest, spending my own money.

- I bought South Beach on my own, too, plus purchased the companion cookbook, from which I got some great (and YUMMY) ideas. Wish I had more time to cook.

- Happy Neuron asked me to check out their website. (review here) They did not pay me or otherwise compensate me (I do not have full access to the site -- anyone can get a free trial.) I did it because I think the idea is interesting, so wanted to pass it on to my readers.