In today's fashionably late episode of Speak Up on Kotaku, commenter God Hand BrynnFlynn talks about that old video game weight loss standard, the exercise bike.
HOW TO LOSE WEIGHT PLAYING VIDEO GAMES:
1. Buy this bike.
2. Buy a hack 'n slash, action, button masher, or other game that doesn't require accuracy in aiming but requires constant interaction. Games like God of War, Heavenly Sword, Assassin's Creed, etc., are all excellent for this purpose.
3. Anytime you want to play these games, or any game, or watch TV, you must be on the bike. You must constantly pedal at what seems like a comfortable pace. I recommend setting the resistance so that you have to work somewhat to maintain 15-16mph.
4. Watch the pounds melt away. Up the resistance if you feel it's too easy to pedal. You'll find you pedal faster during intense action sequences—this is good, make sure you use it to eliminate any frustrations you have about how the game is going.
I've lost 15 pounds using this method, and my boyfriend has lost 20. It just plain works. RPG's aren't the best because they have 'lull' points where you're not doing anything, and that's when you'll notice you're getting tired, or working out harder than you might like if you're at all lazy. Playing these games keeps your mind occupied, and is probably the most efficient way to burn calories.
Of course, you still need to track your caloric intake using something like myfitnesspal.com (which I can't recommend enough), but this is a great way to take your weight down to the level that you can start jogging, or doing something more intense. Just exercising won't bring your weight down, but using my bike is how I make up for 'bad' days or going out to a nice restaurant where I can't control ingredients. And come on—I spent $160 on my bike, and it's down to $130 at the time I'm writing this. Isn't it worth it to spend this money on something that is going to help you lose weight and get healthier?
My boyfriend and I have had our bike since *checks Amazon purchase history* April, and put 1k miles on it together. We've put even more mileage on it since we started tracking our calories in June. I'm looking forward to my cholesterol tests in January—I have a feeling they're going to tank from where they were before (combination of diet and genetics screwed me over in that regard).
Thoughts? Has anyone tried something similar? How can we make exercise fun without using gimmicky exercise games?
About Speak Up on Kotaku: Our readers have a lot to say, and sometimes what they have to say has nothing to do with the stories we run. That's why we have a forum on Kotaku called TAY. That's the place to post anecdotes, photos, game tips and hints, and anything you want to share with Kotaku at large. Every weekday we'll pull one of the best TAY posts we can find and highlight it here.