Weight Loss through Dance Dance Revolution?

An anonymous reader writes "Looking at the beer gut that's developed over the winter, and the excercise schedule that I haven't kept for more than two days at a time, I realize that I need a new plan. A gym isn't the answer; I can't keep a schedule for working out in my apartment, there's no way I could make it to the gym on any regular basis. I've had multiple people in the last few weeks tell me stories involving weight loss through Dance Dance Revolution, and it sounds like a great idea to me! working out is hard, playing video games is easy, and dancing is fun. But a Google search turned up way too much info, and way too little of it was useful unless I want to spend the next four weeks researching this. Does the Slashdot community have any ideas, suggestions, or personal experience that they cared to relate on any of these topics?" "First, what's the best pad to get? What kind of differences are there between pads? Is it worth spending $100+, or will the cheaper pads do? Second, what software is best to use? Ideally I'd like to have something expandable, which means getting a PC rig rather than a PS2 one. Are there any open source DDR-type programs? How does one acquire songs?"

Comments

Nintendo had this 20 years ago

[nocomment]

see?

Worked for me.

[c_wraith]

I'm down about 50 lbs from my heaviest, about 30 of which I can attribute almost directly to DDR.

Arcade play beats home play, for the most part. Home pads that are actually good quality run several hundred dollars. And if you find an arcade community you like, the social aspects are a lot of fun too.

The key is to have fun. As long as you manage that, everything else will be easy.

Dance Dance (revolution?)

[acceber]

I am an exercise freak. There is nothing better than getting out and playing sport or doing some form of exercise, because for me it's an adrenaline rush.

Having said that, I don't exercise if it's boring. I cannot stand walking for long periods of time unless I have music or company with me. Obviously, exercise is hard work, and because exercise is fundamentally the most effective way of losing weight combined with sensible eating, trimming down to that size 8 or whatever is hard work too.

I don't do DDR becuase yes, it is harder than it looks and I feel stupid everytime I try. My friend has a DDR mat which she connects to her PC and she has a go at that but it's painstaking work to set it up, put the disc in and wait for it to load. Going out to the city to Intensity or Playtime is just too embarrassing because I'm terrible at it.

I dance, choreograph dance, do competition aerobics and play all sorts of team sports because it is just that much more fun and it's never monotonous and repetitive (no I'm not gay, I'm a girl - sorry but that stereotype exists, sadly). Unlike DDR, which I get bored of after about ten minutes, sport and dancing to music without jumping around on a crazy mat is a lot more appealing. Sure, DDR can improve your co-ordination skills and make you sweat a bit but that's about it in my opinion. You can achieve better co-ordination skills in playing sport as well as dancing and aerobics not to mention the benefits of flexibility, improved cardio-vascular system, creativity and social skills.

Of course, it's ultimately up to the individual. I understand that what is fun to me, isn't necessarily fun to everybody else, as there are other factors to account for such as fitness level, personal interests and expenses etc. There are so many ways to exercise it's not funny, so experimenting with different methods will surely find the right one for you.

By the way, try Capoeira - Brazilian martial arts which combines self-defence and dance!

Stop procrasti-planning and Start Sweating.

[Grabble]

In true Slashdot style, I'm going to presumptively answer a request you didn't ask: "Help me lose weight."

Also, you're doing what I used to do, so I'm going to be harsh. Very.

YOU'RE PROCRASTIPLANNING!


Close your browser.
Now.
Do ANYTHING that works up a steady sweat for 30 minutes.
Then do it again tomorrow.


Unless you've exercised in the last 72 hours, researching "the best pad to get" (oh my god) is bullshit, and I think you know it. STFU and sweat. Now. Go on, scram. Posting questions to slashdot about exercise is like the salesman who optimizes his contact management software instead of picking up the damn phone.

Trust me. I know how good it feels to plan out the good things you're going to do. That way, you're not really procrastinating. No, no. You're preparing. The project is underway.

No, it's not. "Research" isn't "doing".

If your question to Ask Slashdot is anything other than delusion and procrastination, you will be sweating each of the next five days, whether or not you've (again, oh my god) found an "open source DDR-type program".

About what to eat...

There's a lot of confusion about how to eat to lose weight. Here's the nutshell.
Remember the 3 Cs...

1) Calories: Daily, Eat 15 calories for every pound you weigh. But subtract 5% so you lose weight without slowing your metabolism.

2) Clock: Spread your daily caloric intake over 5 or 6 meals, evenly spaced thru the day.

3) Components: Every meal should have calories evenly distributed between carbs/protein/fat.

Not easy, not simple, but straightfoward and effective.

Result: Your body has a steady supply of just-in-time fuel. This discourages fat storage, big time. It also prevents energy spikes and crashes, big time. The 5% deficit is pulled from the fat stored while you were procrastiplanning.

Am I a bodybuilder? No. Am I shredded? No. Am I a trainer? No. Was I a contract programmer for someone who was? Yeah.


(Attention detail-mongers and nitpickers: Shhh! Go do something useful! These are generalities!)

Godspeed, anonymous sweating guy. Stop planning and start sweating.


P.S. Feel free to curse that asshole Grabble all the while. Just as long as you're sweating.