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

"just do it"

[Anonymous Coward]

You don't need a "new plan," you just need to screw your head on straight. Your answer isn't coming up with a "schedule for working out" in your apartment, or even a gym membership. Just go outside, and run. Just go. Don't develop a schedule, don't come up with a "plan." Just get it done. Run as far as you can, then walk, then run some more! You will see results, probably faster than playing DDR. That game is a slight workout, but it doesn't compare to amount of energy burned running three miles.

And before you say, "I can't run three miles," neither could I before this most recent spring break. Since I wasn't leaving town or really doing anything, I decided to take the initiative to run, just to see what happened. It's been about a month, month and a half now and I've lost more than eight pounds. Running that far isn't an insurmountable task like it was before. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't particularly fun, and it certainly wasn't exciting, but it did work. Believe it or not, diet and exercise are the absolute best path towards your goal. And exercise is as simple as making yourself run. Times have never been better for the fast food junkie wanting to diet. You can still munch Jack in the Box, just get a pita or a salad instead of, well, anything else on the menu there. :-) Such competition amongst the fast food companies to be seen as healthy may just be a passing fad, but damn, take advantage of it.

One last recommendation: If you can afford it, invest in a treadmill. Running outside takes more commitment than running indoors. Once I didn't have to leave for a gym, or even go out in the cold, running quickly became a daily thing.

Re:"just do it"

[be951]

The problem is one of motivation....

True.

and this is why both running and DDR will fail.

Not necessarily true. If one enjoys DDR (or any other game or sport involving physical activity), exercise becomes recreation rather than work. The key is finding something that motivates you enough to exercise regularly, whether that is making the exercise more enjoyable or getting a kick in the ass from something (someone) else.

The reason gyms work at all for weight loss is that once someone has paid for something, they feel compelled to use it, which forms a simple but effective motivation.

Effective for some people. But many people have plenty of other sources of motivation, and work out in a gym for other reasons (more/better equipment, availability of trainers and/or spotters, etc....)

Re:"just do it"

[Uma Thurman]

The only reason that you think the women in the gym don't mind you looking at them is that you are not the most obnoxious creep in the gym.

As long as you are not the most creepy person in the gym, you're safe.

Re:"just do it"

[sartin]

Your answer isn't coming up with a "schedule for working out" in your apartment, or even a gym membership. Just go outside, and run. Just go

Actually for some people, a schedule helps a lot. Knowing the plan creates opportunity for reinforcement; there's the habit of the plan and the guilt of not following it to help.

For some of us, a plan is really required. With a job, a 3 month old, a wife on disability from a difficult delivery, and a 4 year old, pretty much anything I want to do has to either be scheduled or done between midnight and 2 (which is really another way of saying I've scheduled those two hours for personal time/sleep, whichever seems more imporatnt). Thanks to scheduling, I did a 40 mile bicycle ride on Sunday averaging a not overly pathetic 16.4 miles per hour. I managed to do that even though I hadn't been out on my road bike in six months. I scheduled in mountain biking time, some health club time, hikes with the 4 year old (I'm just guessing the occasional need to carry him a mile with 250 foot climb probably helped my endurance a little).

Doesn't matter much what you do, just about any physical activity is better than nothing. A plan might help if your personality or circumstances dictate. The important thing, plan or not, is to get out and be active.

Re:"just do it"

[Ertman]

Great advice, if you want to be a cripple by the time you are 40 years old. Running is possibly the worst thing you could do for your health. Stay at home in front of the PC and you are likely to have a healthier life.

Sure, running will give you great cardio fitness, but at the expense of arthritic ankles and knees.

If you REALLY want to get in shape, and be able to walk past your 50th birthday, take up swimming or cycling.

If you are going to spend the money to get a treadmill, get an elliptical machine instead. The good ones do a pretty good simulation of running uphill, but don't place much stress on the joints.

Re:"just do it"

[tverbeek]

But many people have plenty of other sources of motivation, and work out in a gym for other reasons (more/better equipment, availability of trainers and/or spotters, etc....)

The scenery.

The most fit I've been in my adult life (i.e. since I discovered alcohol) was when I was working at a college, where I had free access to the campus athletic facilities... complete with exercising college students. It's easier to keep your pace when trying to keep up with a nice-looking runner ahead of you on the track, or to squeeze out another 10 reps on the weight machines when there's a pretty young thing doing situps in your line of sight.

I used to work out

[metalhed77]

I used to work out, then I stopped out of laziness but kept playing DDR frequently. My legs, abs and a good bit of my torso actually got in BETTER shape as a result. My upper body has declined, but everything else is great. I just started working with a personal trainer and she was amazed how well DDR kept the rest of me in shape. Oh, stop playing if it starts to hurt, good tip :-D.

Nintendo had this 20 years ago

[nocomment]

see?

Re:Nintendo had this 20 years ago

[Metal_Demon]

Yeah but the only game it was really cool for was track and field and to actually do good at the game you had to pound on the thing with your hands. In fact me and my sister usta both beat on the thing at the same time. I don't think professional runners ran fast enough to be good at that.

DDR is not easy

[cloudless.net]

"working out is hard, playing video games is easy"

DDR is not easy! It took me a lot of practicing to pass the first stage. By the way an hour of playing DDR is much more tiring than working out for an hour. However it is fun and even addictive so you'll keep on playing it.

StepMania

[semaj]

StepMania is fantastic, and is open source. The only tricky thing is finding the songs to play on it, there are a few free ones and people have converted a lot of the (copyrighted) Dance Dance Revolution ones, but they're obviously of dubious legality. There are a few IRC channels around where you can download packs of all the songs.

It's a fantastic program, and there's even an Xbox port! Try it, I think you'll be surprised how polished it feels!

I don't have any experience of losing weight with it though - I kind of have the opposite problem. :-)

Re:StepMania

[m8pple]

I use stepmania with a pc and a solid dance mat, mainly for exercise rather than enjoyment. I try to do 40-50 minutes of pretty fast dancing a day, which used to be enough to knacker me out, but these days I have to hold 5kg weights while dancing to get a decent workout.

I wasn't fat to start with, just unfit, but it is most definitely good exercise if you can get fast enough and do lots of songs one after another. Most of the stories on the internet about people losing weight with DDR seems to be from obese people getting down to normal weight, which I guess doesn't require one to get so good at DDR, nor spend much money on arcades/mats.

Whether it is any better than just going out running is debatable; I guess it depends on your personality whether you will find an hours DDR more boring than 40 minutes running, and whether you have enough money to get a decent mat. I've moved on to alternating between DDR and running; running for endurance training, DDR for quick intense sprint type bursts and a better upper body workout (with the weights).

Re:StepMania

[Relic of the Future]

There's also PyDance (written in Python, of course, and is available as a Debian package). It's not quite as polished as StepMania (they're, of course, looking for more help), but it runs a hell of a lot smoother on my PII-350 then bloated StepMania does. And you can d/l every DDR song from DDR:UK (well, all but the 2 newest ones available off xbox-live). (You can get them in groups by mix via bittorrent, or d/l them one at a time as .zips.)

As a DDR player...

[Eneff]

Start out on a local DDR machine. http://www.ddrfreak.com/ has a game locator. Play 20 bucks worth, and see if it's worth investing in.

If it is, get a good, durable pad. DDRFreak will have suggestions. You can get the pads for Playstation or PC.

There are also instructions on building your own, but if you have trouble with the motivation to exercise already, just buy a pad. Don't give yourself excuses.

I don't play DDR.

[ForestGrump]

Howewver, what I can tell you is:
1. change your diet. veggies and veggies. Eat healthy, no more double bacon cheeseburger 3 times a day. No more soda. Instead, always have a liter of water on you. Sit down, have a meal, leave. Don't dibble dabble at the table with food infront of you. It will only make you eat more.

2. start moving. If your thinking, pace. Sure you may seem like a nervous wreak to your boss, but atleast your going to look sexy doing it (some day that is).

3. Remember. Energy in > Energy out = weight gain
Energy out > energy in = weight loss.

Laslty. If you feel the urge to swallow something, swallow water.

-Grump

Re:I don't play DDR.

[BladeMelbourne]

Very insightful.

I would like to add:

1. Consume at least 2 litres of water per day. If you exercise during that day, drink an extra 1-2 litres. If it is a hot day - drink an extra 1-2 litres. Water helps keeps the brain 'on task', it flushes impurities from your body, it's energy content is negligible and it is cheap. Remember - if you are feeling thirsty - you are already starting to dehydrate.

2. Consume no more than 20 grams of fat (not FAT32) per day. Even if you rarely exercise (like me) - you will loose weight (like me). Nutritional info can be found on product packaging - keep a daily tally - but dont be obsessive. Do not consume excess carbohydrates - the body can convert this to fat. Oh, and once a week, reward yourself with a decent unhealthy meal.

3. Ensure you get all the protein, vitamins, minerals, etc that your body needs. Dont forget calcium. Dont forget fibre - your bowels will thank you with regularity. If you dont think you are getting everything - take multivitamins. No point looking lean if your body is unhealthy, your bones weak, your intestines full of toxins, etc.

4. Try not to eat large meals close to bed-time - the body will not metabolise the energy content from the food and store it as fat. If you are really keen, have 5 (healthy) snacks during the day instead of 3 meals.

5. Limit alcohol consumption to one occasion per week - but get blotto if you feel the need.

6. If you are out on the street - try not to carry cash - it will be harder to get junk food.

Re:I don't play DDR.

[Dahan]

3. Remember. Energy in > Energy out = weight gain
Energy out > energy in = weight loss.

Yup, remember that E=mc^2, so if you want to drop a kilogram, you only have to have a net energy expenditure of about 9E16 joules... no problem!

Re:I don't play DDR.

[hankwang]

Water helps keeps the brain 'on task', it flushes impurities from your body

Myth. There is no scientific evidence supporting

• that humans need to drink large amounts of water
• that the thirst response of your body has a fundamental misadjustment. (An exception may be extremely intensive sporting, but not normal day-to-day life)
• that impurities are flushed from the body more effectively if you drink more. That is not how the kidneys work.

Drink water or products with a large water content when you feel thirsty. Excessive water intake can lead to loss of minerals.

Consume no more than 20 grams of fat (not FAT32) per day

This is a modern belief, especially prevalent in the USA, which is quite disputable. All experts agree in any case that saturated fats and trans-unsaturated fats are unhealthy. However, cis-unsaturated and polyunsaturated fats (roughly the ones that are liquid at room temperature) are not unhealthy per se. Fats are digested much more slowly than carbohydrates, which makes you feel saturated for a longer time after a meal.

Limit alcohol consumption to one occasion per week.

Moderate intake of alcohol has been proven to have a positive effect on heart and blood vessels. The negative effects of alcohol on the liver start only at higher intakes. Moderate here means up to 2 standard glasses (e.g. 100 ml wine or 250 ml beer) per day for males and 1 for females. Essential here is that there is a small amount of alcohol in the body most of the time, so spread out the alcohol intake as much as possible over the days. If you drink red wine, you'll get the additional benefits of the flavonoid anti-oxidants as well.

Of course, it's true that alcohol carries a lot of calories.

Re:I don't play DDR.

[drinkypoo]

All experts agree in any case that saturated fats and trans-unsaturated fats are unhealthy.

The problem with making blanket statements is that they are nearly always false. Whether or not it's true, whether or not you think Taubes has an agenda, not everyone believes that it particularly matters what kind of fat you take in.

From the article I linked:

But it gets even weirder than that. Foods considered more or less deadly under the low-fat dogma turn out to be comparatively benign if you actually look at their fat content. More than two-thirds of the fat in a porterhouse steak, for instance, will definitively improve your cholesterol profile (at least in comparison with the baked potato next to it); it's true that the remainder will raise your L.D.L., the bad stuff, but it will also boost your H.D.L. The same is true for lard. If you work out the numbers, you come to the surreal conclusion that you can eat lard straight from the can and conceivably reduce your risk of heart disease.

The real issue is that you have to eat appropriately for your activity, and one thing that dieticians DO agree upon is that we are eating too many processed carbohydrates and too many carbs in general as a nation.

Cut out saturated fats if you must, but mostly you should consider that if you're not burning what you take in, you're going to get fatter. Also you should realize that the more highly processed carbohydrates are (or the simpler they are, some of them start that way, like sugars) the faster they will metabolize and if you're not burning them as fast as they're converted they're probably going to be stored as fat.

Some alcohol carries a lot of calories, some doesn't. Scotch, vodka, gin, and similar alcohols have nearly no sugar in them, it's all been converted to alcohol. HOWEVER, your body turns to alcohol first so you are not burning fat or even carbohydrates you've taken in while there is alcohol in your system.

Re:I don't play DDR.

[sharkey]

Your statement is false. I currently have my liver monitored for abnormal behavior due to the drugs a doctor has me on which can possibly damage it. So far, the drug has not done anything noticeable to my liver in the past two years. However, drinking alcohol has directly caused my liver levels to spike. How do I know this? I never drank alcohol before under a year ago. It took abstaining two months from alcohol to lower the levels down to what they were again.

You have been on a drug that may affect your liver for two years. After having been on said drug for, you began to drink alcohol, following which you began to notice spikes in your "liver levels". Your conclusion: I mixed a prescription drug that can affect my liver with alcohol, causing issues with my liver. Therefore, your statement about alcohol consumption which does not mention mixing alcohol with other substances must be false.

Does the drug you are taking have a warning on the side concerning alcoholic beverages?

The Hacker's Diet free, online book & spreadsh

[ivi]

It's been around for a while, but may be worth
a fresh mention:

www.fourmilab.ch/hackdiet/www/hackdiet.html

Exercise AND Diet

[bakes]

Together a good exercise program AND a good diet will help you lose weight. Playing DDR for 30-60 mins per day is a good start, but only half the battle.

BTW, when I say diet I mean eating PROPERLY, not necessarily eating less. Just eating less doesn't help that much if it's still all junk.

The best way to go is to get up an hour earlier than you do now and exercise first thing in the morning, rather than trying to squeeze it in at night when you are tired and really don't feel like it. You might find you are a little tired (especially mid-afternoon) for the first few days, but once you are used to it it's a great way to get the blood pumping and get you started for the day.

After a while your body will become accustomed to your exercise pattern, and your weight loss might plateau. If this happens you should look at occasionally doing something different, such as swimming, cycling, running, or a sport like ultimate.

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.

First, you need a rig...

[jaybird144]

All right, first off, I would like to say that I have lost weight by playing DDR - not much, mind you, but some. Enough for me. (I do other things too, but primarily DDR.) As far as equipment goes, it sounds like what you are looking for is very similar to my own setup. I use an open-source DDR emulator called Stepmania that runs under Windows, Linux and Mac OSX. (Note, I run it under Windows, personally, and cannot vouch for how well the other versions work.) I use a pair of pads that I bought off eBay for about $40 (similar to these), which I like a lot better than the really thin ones that tend to be more common. Finally, I have an adapter to hook the Playstation gamepads to my PC through USB. As for songs, there are several places around the Net to find them...I'm sure someone else will mention them, but just know that it's illegal to have them unless you own a copy of them (which sometimes means having a machine). As such, I'll leave that as an exercise for you to find, if you so wish.

Re:First, you need a rig...

[spectral]

The biggest thing to worry about is whether the adapter works properly. Some register the dpad buttons as an axis, and thus you can't do jumps properly. The stepmania page has links to adapters that work and don't work.

The OS X version on my friend's powerbook runs about as well as the windows version does on my computer. The linux one seems to stutter a bit more, I don't know why, but I'm working on it.

I play on ignition pads when I'm at my friend's house, but prefer the arcade pad feel. When I can't do either, I just practice rhythm using the keyboard. Even that's fun, I don't know why.

I don't need to lose weight though, I just play it because it's fun. And because the girls seem to like it. ;)

Re:First, you need a rig...

[CMECC]

After my kids got hooked on DDR at a Nickel-Nickel arcade, I called Red Octane who makes one of the best DDR dance pads available. They were very helpful. I bought a bundle with Konami's DDR MAX 2 and Red Octane's Ignition 2.0 Pad. The dance pad has sensors over the entire area, and doesn't slip on the floor (the cheap mats do slip & wear out quickly). Konami makes DDR games for PlayStation 1, PlayStation 2, XBox, & PC. There is a USB adapter available (about $15 US) to connect the dance pad to play the PC version. The game comes with several levels, probably 100 songs, & can be enjoyed by beginners and up. The game also also has a training mode to teach technique, and a workout mode. Konami is releasing version 3 of DDR Max this fall.

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!

Try something fun and sociable

[CompVisGuy]

Try and find a form of exercise that you enjoy and which also has a sociable element.

I do Taekwondo twice a week. It's easy to keep going regularly because:

1. The classes are fun, so I look forward to going.
2. The people are very friendly, and TKD is usually very inclusive (ages, sexes etc.). This social aspect helps you keep going.
3. There are regular gradings (when you test for a new belt), usually every three months, so there is regular positive reinforcement.
4. Not only do you learn an effective form of self-defence, lose weight, gain strength, flexibility and self-confidence, but you will get regular opportunities to put your day-to-day worries to one side -- if you have a stressful job, this is very rewarding.

I'm not saying TKD if the way for you, but the above qualities make it a good way to get and stay fit, without dropping out.

pydance

[Sailor Coruscant]

pydance is another open source DDR clone, with support for all sorts of different mats and dance games.

They also have a good faq with information on what mats to buy, and how to convert a soft mat into a proper hard mat.

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.

Re:Stop procrasti-planning and Start Sweating.

[duggy_92127]

Grabble is correct in all respoects, including his attitude. Particularly: it doesn't matter, at all, WHAT you do, as long as you're sweating. In one sense, you're on track: you've possibly identified something fun (DDR) that should get you moving, so on that note, follow through and get a pad and start.

But on the other side, you ARE looking for a "quick way out". Going to the gym only sucks because what you've been doing there is not fun. My gym has racquetball courts, which I randomly tried one day and BY GOD, how much fun was THAT?? I'm in there 1-2 times a week now, and sweatin' all over the place.

Or get a sub-$100 hybrid bike from Target and start riding around. It's insanely easy to spend 2-3 hours on a bike, especially once you find the "good trails" which, I assure you, are VERY close to your house. That's hundreds of calories burned and hours of healthy elevated heartrate with no perceived effort, because it's just fun to ride around.

Personally, I do the above, and I also took up swimming about six months ago. Talk about low-impact but all-body workout! I've had pulled muscles from other activities, but didn't feel any pain at all while swimming; but for such a low-impact activity, it sure does work EVERYTHING. Strong legs, strong arms and back, abs... and once you get into a rhythm, your mind can wander and you think about what you like, and suddenly you're finishing up a mile. An hour of swimming is great all-around exercise.

In addition, Grabble's comments on food intake are spot-on. Stop eating "meals", and start eating smaller, balanced "mini-meals" throughout the day, snacks, almost. Almost immediately, you'll start being less hungry, and you'll be amazed at how LITTLE food you need to remain not hungry. In fact, once you do that, you'll have to be careful not to eat too LITTLE, because that can slow the metabolism. If you're very overweight, I'd cut the intake by more that 5% off of weight*15 calories, at least at the beginning.

My personal success story? On Thanksgiving of last year, 2003, I was 250lbs and just decided, forget it, I'm going to change this. I picked swimming, and jumped in a pool and taught myself to swim laps. I did that every day for four months, while also adjusting my eating, as per the above. In the last two months, I've eased off the swimming a little and added the cycling, and recently the racquetball, and some weight lifting for tone.

The result? I'm just about to break the 200lb barrier, and if I do say do myself, I'm looking great. Strong shoulders and back from swimming, and legs from that and cycling; chest and even abs are firm and VISIBLE, which is a new thing. It's absolutely amazing, and I wasn't out there killing myself every day, we're talking 30-45min in a pool, just getting the heartrate up. That's all it takes.

Losing weight and toning up doesn't have to be a painful chore; just pick something remotely fun and start doing it every day, ever for a tiny amount of time. DDR, just buy a pad and start up. Get a bike and ride around. Jump in a pool and "swim laps", even if you suck at it. Tennis and racquetball are great fun, even alone against a wall. Get the heartrate up doing something fun, ANYTHING fun, and keep at it; since it's FUN, it won't be a chore, right? :)

Best of luck to you. Feel free to contact me, anybody, if you like, to talk about this topic. I'm pretty passionate about it, since I've lost 20% of my body weight in six months and just feel great! :)

Doug

Priorities and how to make it easier

[SilentJ_PDX]

Until you make losing weight a real priority in your life, you're never going to achieve much. (I don't really get the sense that the poster is ready to make it a priority)

Making it a priority inevitably means giving up other things... giving up time for exercise and/or giving up food to diet. I chose to go the time route because I love food too much. I give up about 10 hours a week to run now, which means I sometimes miss going out with friends, TV shows, reading time, etc.

However, it's not all bad news. When I finally decided to get off my ass, I joined a running club. Believe it or not, this group is almost more social than exercise ("a drinking club with a running problem") and there are runners of all abilities. Having a group of people sharing the pain really helps and we all encourage each other. These days, I actually look forward to the group runs and I'm constantly challenging myself to go faster.

Good luck... but the first step is really deciding to make health/weight loss a priority.

Pads

[Xepo]

Everyone else is pretty much correct, it doesn't matter what you do, just do it, and stop procrastinating. But noone has really answered the ddr pads question, and you don't wanna waste money. I don't know how overweight you are, but that can really affect your enjoyment of the ddr pads. The flat pads (incredibly thin ones, as opposed to the 1-inch thick ones) will fail within 5 months if you play much, the thicker pads...there are all different kind of varieties of them. Anywhere from $30 - $150. Most people will be perfectly fine with $30 pads from ebay, but one of my friends (whose like 7 foot and is massive), can't play on it at all, cause the pad bunches up. Red Octane pads (~$90) are widely known as the best soft thick pads, and the foam inside is quite a bit more firm than the $30 ones. Plus they're more sensitive, which won't really matter unless you're planning on stepping extremely lightly. If you're going to go with soft pads, I'd suggest either Red Octane thick pads, or the flat pads.

Oh, it also depends on what you're planning to play on. The flat pads are mostly unplayable on carpet, unless you take the time to tape them over some hard wood to make them into hard pads. You'll see all sorts of tutorials if you google for it on how to mod flat pads.

Next, if you're okay with spending like $150 per pad, you can get hard plastic, or metal pads. I don't really have much experience with those, as I don't have the cash to afford that. The top of the line hard pad is widely known as cobalt flux. They're absolutely beautiful pads, but they're $300 a pop, a little insane pricing for most players. But, unless you've played the game before, and know that it'll help you, I wouldn't suggest spending much. Actually, I'd suggest buying two flat pads for $12 from ebay and duct taping them down and playing on some concrete or hard wood, until you know you enjoy it.

Elliptical machines are the best

[Paladine97]

I bought an elliptical machine for my house and I have lost over 20 lbs now. I like ellipticals better than treadmills because they have much less impact which helps your knees.

You have to make exercising a priority or else you will get nowhere. I used to be about 10 lbs over my ideal weight, and now I'm 10 under and am in the maintenance mode (I don't want to lose anymore!). I have increased energy and feel great. I don't feel like such a sack of shit when I haul up loads of stairs.

Here are some things that helped me that might help you.
1) Drink only 0 calorie things. No pop, No juices. Just water or diet pops (I've actually developed a taste for Diet Pepsi after having hated the stuff all my life).
2) My workout routine is simply 25 minutes at max, 5 minutes cooldown. The machine tells me I'm doing about 200-240 watts. Equals about 400 calories burned when I'm done (though I think the calculation is a little off because other machines rate it higher, like 500). I work out every other day, usually at night when I get back from work. DO NOT SKIP A DAY. If you do, make it up by doing two in a row. I tend to eat at 6 o'clock or so, then I let my system digest and then I workout in the 8-9 hour. Throw in a DVD or charge up the iPod, and I'm kept busy.
3) Avoid high-calorie foods. Basically, eat whatever you want. No restrictions on fat or anything. But avoid super high-calorie foods. For example, don't buy an apple pie from McDonalds (they are like 500 calories!!).

Easy to lose weight w/ DDR

[DroopyStonx]

First, you need a good pad. There's a Red Octane foam mat you can get for $100 that's pretty decent, or you can shell out $300 and get a Cobalt Flux/a pad which is pretty much indestructible (someone tested it by running it over with an SUV and it still worked perfectly).

Second, if you want to lose weight, you need to eat properly. A good gague is your body weight x 10 in calories per day. 40% of which must come from protein and carbs while 20% come from fats (you can change up numbers to suit your own body). Eat good fats found in Salmon/Flaxseed Oil and eat carbs low on the Glycemic Index (brown rice, natural oatmeal, vegetables, etc..)

Third, you need to workout. DDR is considered HIIT (high intensitiy interval training) which means you go through small bursts of aerobic activity. For example, you do a song on standard mode, your heart rate could get up to 90% of its max. When you're done, rest for a minute or two till your heart rate goes back down to 60-65% then start again. This cycle will cause your body to burn more fat than a steady cardio session.

I've actually compared 30 minutes of DDR vs. 45 minutes of aerobic exercise and DDR is by far the best. For me, I burned around 600 calories in 30 minutes as opposed to burning 600 over 45-60 minutes with regular cardio. On top of that, it's fun. Running on a treadmill is boring as hell and the time goes by so slow, but when you play the game and workout, time flies and before you know it, it's done.

As long as you eat properly and workout so that you have a 1000 calorie deficit a day, you should be able to lose 2 lbs of fat per week.

Advice from a DDR-aholic.

[Relic of the Future]

Hi, I'm Mudlock, and I'm a DDR-aholic.

Okay, now that that's out of the way... don't listen to these people that say "forget DDR, just go outside and run!" If you think the game is fun, that motivating factor will be much more important than how "efficient" your workout is. Even if running is 10 times as effective as DDR (and I doubt it's more than even one and a half), if you don't actually DO IT it doesn't matter.

As for the game itself, if you've got a PS2 or XboX, pick up any of the mixes available for that system (MAX or MAX2 for PS2 or Ultramix for XboX) in the pack that comes with a pad; that pad will work fine for a beginner. After you wear it out playing on it, then worry about getting a $100 pad or two. If you're going w/ PC, get StepMania or PyDance (as other have already suggested) and hit DDRUK to get the songs. Pick up a cheap ($30) pad and a good PS2->USB adapter (again, other folks posted good advice about that earlier).

As you play, constantly stretch your limits, and take advantage of playing at home instead of the arcade. Turn on the "event mode" option so you can play continuously w/o returning to the main menu. Turn failure off, (it's unmotivating). Try at least one song that you KNOW you can't pass each time you play.

And remember, it's always a good idea to check with your doctor before starting a new exercise regime; they can tell you a lot better about water and nutrient intakes than anyone on slashdot; they're better educated on it plus they know your medical history and condition better than we do.

Oh, and have fun :) I've played this game about 5-15 hours a week for almost two years, and it never gets old.

Re:Advice from a DDR-aholic.

[odaen]

Few pad ideas

You can get a 'Logic Pro dance mat' which is ignition style from Logics own website. The previous logic pad I had (black backed) has only ever had a split in it and still works pretty much perfectly.

Try to avoid 'plasticy' style mats, like the plague. These don't last long at all, and tend to break after 2 weeks use.

If you are going to go for a metal pad, try red-octanes or the ones off play-asia.com, these seem to be the popular picks. AVOID the pads on ebay as these are all cheaper metal pads which bend like hell.

Finally if you want to go all out, cobaltflux is the way to go. www.cobaltflux.com These last forever!

In terms of getting a program to use them, I recommend either stepmania or dwi, and an EMS2 USB converter, which works on both windows and linux. The ems2 usb, comes complete with 2 sockets, so you can play doubles mode if you are so inclined.

In fact I'd be very tempted just to ignore getting an official console version and get all the songs you need from ddruk.com .

My 0.02GBP

[Second_Derivative]

Hi. I'm Second_Derivative, and I am also a DDR addict. Unfortunately I'm a skinny little bastard so I didn't have any weight to lose in the first place from playing DDR (although I seem to have lost some anyway which is a bit worrying). With that in mind, take what I say with a pinch of salt.

Firstly, before you shell out $300 for a cobalt flux, grab $10 or so and pop down to your local arcade (I'm assuming you live in the US or Canada). With luck you should see a DDR Extreme machine (or maybe some flavour of Max. Don't play DDRUSA, the hardware is ancient and the song selection is pretty abysmal). Pop in a few credits, put it on Beginner or Light mode and try a few songs. Ask some of the other players there if you need any help -- one of the things that really stands out about DDR is its community. Unless the players there are a load of elitist wankers they'll usually be more than happy to help a newcomer get to grips with the game.

Try this for a few days and see if DDR is the game for you. If you don't like the game, it isn't going to work, pure and simple. To get to the stage where you're going to really burn large amounts of energy, you'll need to be playing songs with a rating of 9 (these are referred to as 'catas' in the lingo), or 10 if you can manage those. Ask some of the local players to demonstrate what this involves. The point is it will take several months' worth of practice to get up to that level. You have to keep pushing yourself to try the next difficulty level otherwise you're not going to exert yourself. Hopefully though if you like the game you'll find yourself wanting to do that anyway.

Anyway, if you decide you're up for it, then yeah go for at least a RedOctane pad (although I'd buy a BNS Beatgear if you want to go down that route. Same sort of construction, cheaper, and RedOctane tends to astroturf a lot which personally really pisses me off), but if you can afford it go for Cobalt Flux. If you're in the EU, go to liksang.com or playasia.com and look for "metal mat with rail". Anything below Cobalt Flux will usually require some custom modifications to be able to withstand heavy play. That and I haven't heard of anyone passing, say, Max 300 on a soft mat (the 300 refers to the song's BPM by the way. Let's just say it's one of the harder ones ...).

As for a PC setup, Stepmania is a good bet, and DDRUK.com do some good bumper packs (just download the Dance Dance Revolution (n)th Mix -(Whatever)- and PSX/PS2 and Solo packs and don't bother with all the weird Disney/Tokemeki/whatever offshoot versions). Any good non-Radioshack PS2 to USB converter should work ... other posts have covered this issue in more detail.

Try to get into the community of it a bit as well. Competition with your fellow players is the single best driving force for getting better, and I certainly wouldn't be as good as I am now if I didn't regularly converse with people who were much better. DDRUK itself has a really good community, try joining that (list Tau as your referer :D )

Hope this helps...

General advice (mats, program, song choices)

[Anonymous Coward]

I think you should ignore those people who are saying you "need to get out and sweat". I played DDR before I pretty much mastered it (B on most 10-footers on normal settings, for DDR freaks). I could happily play for hours because it genuinly is fun.

OK: for mats, I have here two Ignition mats in a wooden frame, with rubber mats from our car nailed on the bottom to reduce friction on our wooden floor. That's my recommendation. If you want a hard mat, get the best - especially if you're overweight. Don't get a flimsy sort of hard mat; my one only lasted a month or so.

Don't get some pathetic plastic mat - they crumple, slide around, and have a too-smooth surface. If you do get one for some reason, fix it onto the floor with bricks. If you have a wooden floor. put something under the bricks to avoid scratching the floor.

Get a proper mat with a foam mattress.

Use StepMania (DWI if SM runs too slow), and use BitTorrent to get song files. I suggest you screw with the whole "legal thing" and go leech at ddruk.com. Start from 1st mix and go up to 8th mix. Then pick other stuff slowly, if at all - they tend to have lower quality songs.

Turn off the lyrics in the StepMania options, they're a distraction.

Progress quickly: Just skip all the one-footers and go straight to 2. 3 isn't such a big step. From 4-6, you will probably have to redo your style (I won't detail it here) and then you can progress nicely. Be aware that completing a 9-footer from 3rd Mix (the earliest mix to have them) is considerably easier then the 9-footers from 8th Mix. Always play a few songs you know you will pass and always play a few songs you know you will fail. Vary your training style - sometimes, play easy songs intending to AA them, sometimes play hard songs intending to C them, sometimes pick songs 5 in advance, sometimes set up a course, sometimes add modifiers, sometimes play facing sideways, etc. etc. etc. There's a certain level where playing is the most fun, and you should enjoy it while you can (but don't be scared to progress!)

MMORPG, or other games, with DDR input?

[ggwood]

So since MMORPG's are infamous for addiction, all one needs is to connect it to use a DDR pad as part of the input. Instant weight loss. I imagine the legal warnings - people with health problems will have problems - to be issued will be prodigious. Clearly, you'll need a keyboard for chatting between fights otherwise you'll loose the community which is why people keep playing games with horrific gameplay value and poor graphics. I'm envisioning using the DDR pad to either move around or to fight and do special attacks.

Currently, in Everquest, we smack the auto-attack button and maybe one or another button every few seconds. Yet with the DDR pad, perhaps you could have certain rythmic steps to *keep* autoattack up and have other steps to move your character around (reposition them) and to keep other things going, too. Obviously, you'd need difficulty settings.

Actuallly, maybe the DDR pad would work better as input for a fighting game, or a sports game (how ironic). Trouble would be, in one player versus another human player mode, the more physically fit one would have an edge - the degree of which could be tweaked by game mechanics.

Nevertheless, somebody (not me) should take advantage of the new DDR as an input device for new, other, games.

If no one is doing this already (which I doubt) it would be a great opportunity for an open source game.
_________________________________________

Try this

[weekendwarrior1980]

Here's something I follow: Monday: Bench Press (12,10,8) Incline Press (12,10,8) Pullovers (12,10,8) Chin-ups (25-30 reps) Bent-over Rows (12,10,8) Deadlifts (Power train) (10, 6, 4) Crunches (3 sets of 15 each) Wednesday: Barbell Clean and Rows (12,10,8) Dumbell Lateral Raises (12,10,8) Heavy Upright Rows (Power train) (10,6,4) Push Press (Power Train) (6,4,2) Standing Barbell Curls (12,10,8) Seated Dumbbell Curls (12,10,8) Close-Grip Press (12,10,8) Standing Tricep Extensions with Barbell (12,10,8) Wrist Curls (12,10,8) Reverse Wrist Curls (12,10,8) Reverse Crunch (3 sets of 15 each) Friday: Squats (12,10,8) Lunges (12,10,8) Leg Curls (12,10,8) Standing Calf Raises (12,10,8) Straight Leg DeadLifts (Power Train) (10,6,4) Good Mornings (Power Train) (10,6,4) Crunches (3 sets of 15) All in all it should take you about 45 mins every other day to do these exercises. Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday: Cardio for an hour. (split cycling/treadmill) So there you go, good balance of aerobic and anaerobic exercises. It builds your endurance and strength. However, a forewarning, if you're not doing for health reasons, you're likely to fail. I've toned down quite a lot and lost 30 pounds in a year.

Run easy, run often

[Anonymous Coward]

My method:

1. Run 100 feet, walk back home
2. skip a day
3. Run 110 feet, walk back home
4. skip a day
5. Run 120 feet, walk back home ...
6. Run 1 mile, walk back home ...

I did this over a 4 month period and went from being out of breath after 100 feet to being able to run 7 miles continuously.

The Key is to always run a little more than the last time. Sometimes, when you have the right weather, food intake, and your body cooperates, you can run more than 10 extra feet.

DDR and weightloss

[BohemianCoast]

If I just do DDR, and don't diet as well, I don't lose any weight. However, I do feel better, feel happier, look better, and I'm much fitter. If I also diet, then I lose weight. I've been doing DDR at home for about 18 months now; I rarely play in the arcades (I have small children). I'm not a great player, but I have a lot of fun and work up a sweat. I have a PS2 (bought, essentially, specifically to play DDR on -- cheaper than the gym), several games, and ignition-type dance mats (the ones with padding in them and easily feelable edges to the arrows). I'd take issue with the chap who said 'just run'; running's way harder on your knees than DDR (as long as you use padded mats), and it's harder to integrate into your lifestyle than in-house exercising. Plus, as a result of the DDR, I can now run when I need to -- to catch a bus or catch my kids -- without getting out of breath. And my walking speed has gone from 'slower than most people' to 'faster than most people'; I'm only 5'1", so catching most people up when walking is a really good feeling. Plus it makes you feel more empowered when walking alone at night. Although you can get DDR working on your PC, you risk using up tons of time that you could be exercising in finding songs, getting the set-up working, sourcing exactly the right sort of adapter (I recommend Lik-Sang), and so on. You need to be careful that you're not attempting to find a time-spinning exercise-avoidance strategy. Getting a console's not expensive; you can pick up a second-hand PSOne for only a few dollars, and get a mat and game bundle. If you're doing DDR for weight loss, then I picked up a tip from an occupational health specialist, who explained to me that exercise that shifts your body weight (like walking or running) is better for your general health than exercise that doesn't. Ordinary one-mat DDR is pretty static. But if you do double, where one person dances across two mats, you have to shift your body all the time. Result; it's much harder exercise. It's also a greater intellectual challenge, which I like. (DDR is as much work for your brain as your body; something that isn't true of most exercise). If you're a beginner, you should probably leave double until you can do four foot dances straightforwardly. Home DDR is better for exercise than arcade unless it's easy to fit a visit to an arcade into your routine. Even so, the home versions have more and better non-stop features, and the key to making an effective exercise routine from DDR is to increase the time you spend dancing and reduce the time you spend fiddling with the controls, choosing songs, checking your records and so on. DDR's not the only video game that gives you a workout. Eyetoy and Eyetoy Groove exercise your upper body, as does Samba De Amigo. And we found that playing SSX on a snowboard controller was great for balance. Have fun

Not the most creepy person in the gym

[MythoBeast]

As long as you are not the most creepy person in the gym, you're safe.

A lot of guys have a misguided idea of what "most creepy" means. Usually it means "most threatening". Most women have a creep-o-meter, and if you exceed the green zone they'll start to mind. Some women like to be looked at, but most of the pretty women shy away (and stop showing up) if they get stared at by anyone.

Appearances matter, but not the way you think. Good looks doesn't count as much as good hygene. Women usually don't mind a clean-cut guy, unless he's good looking or leering, both of which will get you marked as predatory.

If you don't want to scare women away in the gym, follow a few simple rules:

1. Don't look directly at them the first day that you notice them. Yes, I said DAY. If they're there on your next visit, then they're safe to briefly check out.
2. Never stare. If you don't get enough information from a breif glance, you need to come up with an excuse to talk to them. If you don't think you'll get anywhere talking to them, then staring will only make things worse.
3. Exercise while you're there. Don't just wander around, look exhausted, sit on a machine, set the weights, look exhausted, change to another machine, sit on it, look exhausted, play with the weights some more, maybe do a few slow reps, then go get a drink of water and stand around the fountain looking exhausted, (etc., etc., etc.) Women notice that kind of thing and quickly tune in to the fact that you aren't there for the machines, you're there for the people using the machines.

Doing it right now!

[ZephyerX75]

Hello, I am a 15 year old male, and after realizing i gained 9 pounds in only 3 months, and looking at my stomache, seems like it went there. So my friend got into DDR, and i decided to follow suit. To me, DDR isnt just excersize, its also very fun. I have lost 7 pounds in a period of...oh a month and a half, playing around 45-60 minutes a day, drinking 3 bottles of water ^_^. All you need is a pad, any will do, and the game (total around 60-70USD). Once your skill level gets good, and you find that the crappy generic pad slides too much while doing complex dance moves, you might want to invest in a better pad, such as the DDR Extreme 2.1 (www.levelsix.com) which is in the mail for me right now ^_^. Also, i must stress that you should stretch for around 5 minutes before playing, and start with slow songs for a warmup, procede to the faster songs, then when you figure its time to stop, do a couple of slow songs for a cool down. For great motivation try to get a friend to do it with you. Hope this helps, DDR sure has helped me!