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Wii Fit

 
So, I haven't written about my attempt to lose wight and live a healthier lifestyle in quite a while and I really don't have time to write a long post right now, but i wanted to take a minute and sing the praises of Wii Fit.

This is the real deal, folks.  It's the Wii's killer app for couch potatoes who want to improve their lives.

After 12 days of using the Wii Fit balance board and working out using the software for 30 minutes a day I have dropped 6 pounds.  That might not sound like much, but trust me, dropping from 196 to 190 makes a huge difference in my facial appearance and body type.  Over the last year and a half, trying Nutrisystem and Jenny Craig I always found it hard to break 195 and get down to where I looked and felt different, and it took Wii Fit to really put me over edge.  I haven't looked or felt this good in a while and I'm only a week and a half into my new exercise routine.  My BMI has also gone down along with my weight.

And on top of the great physical results I'm getting, Wii Fit is fun.  I enjoy getting up every day and doing 30 minutes of activity on the board (which ends up being about 45 minutes due to transition screens and the initial body tests).  You can customize your routine so you don't get bored by repetition and you can even run with someone else (the running is actually running in place, but it puts you through the paces).

If you have a Wii I highly recommend getting Wii Fit.  It will change your life if you apply yourself.  It changed mine.

Eat less and exercise.  It works.  Who knew?

-Otis

Caveman Mode

Once again, I'm deep into what I like to call "Caveman Mode" . . . deep into work on multiple projects, all with deadlines looming and coming within weeks of each other.  When project saturation hits, I usually let my beard grow out and the barber shop is not a place I make time to visit.  The picture to your left is but as slight exaggeration.

Here is what I have going on . . .

Work on Oddly Normal: Fignation Times continues.  Inking Jess's pencils are taking longer than I'd thought, so the process of completing pages is slower than it was on the second book.  And with Leigh starting a new full time job this month (congratulations, Leigh!), I'm not sure how much I'll be able to depend on her for help with color flats.  It might be time to find some eager intern to work on color flats in Photoshop.  If anyone out there is interested in that kind of position, shoot me an e-mail.  If not for this book, then the next one for sure.

Based on our current schedule, I'm hoping to have a 20 page preview of the third Oddly Normal book available sometime in February, so stay tuned!

I've also started coloring pages for Zeek!, and I plan to post the first chapter online when I have it completed.  I'm not sure when the book will be done (I'm hoping for a 2009 release, but that may be wishful thinking since it's my "free time" project), but I'm loving what I've done on the book so far and can't wait to show it off.  I've decided to do the book a little differently than other projects.  Except for the penciling, all of the work is being done entirely in Photoshop.  In other words, I'm inking the characters with the bezier tools and doing fully painted backgrounds (much like I did with Oddly 2).  A lot of people are probably wondering why I'm not inking in Illustrator.  Well, because I don't like Illustrator.  I prefer doing it all in Photoshop.  It's just a preference.  And using the bezier tools in Photoshbop has been so successful that I may start inking all of my personal pieces this way from now on.  It gives the work a crisp, clean, professional look that I like.  Hopefully, readers will like it, too.

Here are a couple of preview panels from the book (each from a different page, this is not part of a sequence):

The other thing that will set this book apart from my other projects is that I have intentionally chosen a very specific and limited color palette in which to work.  I did it as a challenge to myself, but it's making the finished project look very nice, I think.  Time will tell.

I'm also deep into the writing of a new original graphic novel called Spellbinder.  Yes, I know there was a comic called Spellbinders, but I don't care.  And neither does my publisher.  So there.  This is a story I've had sitting in the narrative hopper since I was in my early 20s, so I'm thrilled to finally be able to get around to turning it into a reality.  It's a western with fantasy elements, so it should be a little grittier than what I've done in the past.

As if that weren't enough . . . I'll be starting work on the Indiana Jones Heritage sketch cards sometime this month, in January I start writing an original graphic novel for the amazingly talented Nicc Balce and sometime soon I may be writing a new project for Viper Comics that I can't talk about yet, but if it happens it will be a big stepping stone in my career (trust me, I'll share more when I can).  Oh, I almost forgot . . . Leigh and I are moving to a new apartment later this month.  It wouldn't be a Christmas without a major move, right?

So if you don't hear from me much over the next few month, please know that it is simply that I am busy working on many, many projects.  In fact, I'd wager that I am entering the busiest working period of my life.

Okay, enough chatter.  Back to the grindstone, Cave Man.

-Otis

Wii Healthy Update

A few days ago I stepped on the scale and saw that I'd hit 200 pounds!  That's a loss of 20 pounds in just over two months, using daily Wii exercise (based on the recommendations of the Wii Healthy website) and (later on) the addition of the Nutrisystem meal plan.  I think I could have lost more than that, but I ate very badly while in San Diego and wasn't exercising while I was there.  But I'm back on the plan now, so I'm on my way toward my next goal . . . 190!

Hopefully, come the winter, Leigh and I will be able to add Wii Fit to our Wii Healthy toolbox!

Wish us luck!

-Otis

Wii Healthy Update

Okay, it's been a little over a month since Leigh and I started our Wii Healthy experiment, and we've both lost a little weight, but not that much.  Personally, I plateaued at about 210 pounds just playing Wii Sports.  Aside from the minor weight loss, the biggest benefit for me is that playing Wii Sports every day made me more active in general and greatly helped my chronic back pain.  Since starting on the Wii Healthy plan, my back pain has virtually disappeared, which makes this experiment worth it for me, even if I don't lose any weight in the process.

Leigh and I have decided to continue with the Wii Healthy plan, but to augment it in a couple of ways.  The first thing we're doing is that we're actually going out to play REAL tennis a couple of days out of the week instead of Wii Tennis.  We've already hit the court a few times and despite the fact that we're awful tennis players, we're going to stick with it.  The second way we're augmenting the Wii Healthy plan is by signing up for the Nutrisystem meals plan.  After a week on the plan I'm down to 206 pounds.  I'm hoping to get down to 200 or less by the time of the San Diego Comic-Con.

So is all this about vanity?

Partly, yeah.  I want to look good.  Who doesn't?  But I also want to feel good.  As a writer and artist, I lead a pretty sedentary lifestyle.  And sitting around all day doesn't do my back any good.  Getting up and moving around, even if it's playing Wii Sports, is much better than doing nothing at all.  And it turns out that Wii Sports has done the impossible, by inspiring Leigh and I to begin playing actual sports.

What's really amazing about all of this is how much I'm enjoying the lifestyle change.  Leigh and I have a ton of fun with our new exercise regiment (virtual and actual) and the Nutrisystem plan is incredibly convenient in terms of meal planning.  Hopefully, this feeling will last.

I'll let you know in a month.

-Otis

Wii Healthy

Some of you who read this will laugh, some of you will be skeptical and some of you may just be envious that we have the opportunity to attempt this kind of experiment.  And I don't blame any of you for your various reactions.  If I didn't have a Wii, I'm not sure how I'd react to someone saying that they had started an exercise regime focused on playing video games.

But that's exactly what my wife and I are doing . . . we're playing Wii Sports for 45 minutes a day as part of a new work-out schedule that we learned about from a website called Wii Healthy.  The website has gone to the trouble of telling you how many calories you'll burn playing each of the five games for a certain amount of time.  It has also shown off some testimonials from people who have used Wii Sports as part of their own weight-loss/exercise plans.

Leigh and I have been doing this for about a week (wiik?) now.  Each day for half an hour we play tennis, standing (of course) and moving around as much as we can.  We have a big screen TV and our Ikea living room chairs are easily moved to accommodate full range of motion.  We finish off with boxing for 15 minutes.  The other 3 games in Wii Sports (Baseball, Bowling and Golf) don't really require a lot of movement, so we've been sticking to Tennis and Boxing.

Like I said, I understand that some people may be a bit skeptical at the thought of someone using Wii Sports to exercise and lose weight.  But you'd be surprised at how tired you can get playing tennis and boxing for 45 minutes.  During our first week of playing, Leigh and I were exhausted and sweating like monkeys after going head-to-head on the virtual court and in the virtual ring.  Like the old saying goes, "time flies when you're having fun", and Wii Sports is so much fun that not only does time seem to speed by during our work-out, but the more you play the more you get into the fun of playing.  So you end up exerting more and more energy with each match.  And when you switch over to boxing, the energy output is ramped up even more.  At the end of our boxing time, Leigh and I are exhausted.  It's amazing how tired one can get by playing these games.

And the plan seems to be working.  We bought a scale when we began this adventure so that we could track any weight loss and I'm shocked at what I've lost after just one week of Wii exercise combined with a slight change in diet.  I've gone from 220 to 211 pounds!  I was shocked to see that my weight had ballooned to 220.  I topped out at 190 during my time in the Air Force and I haven't stepped on a scale since my last mandatory weigh-in back in 2004.  I knew I'd gained some weight, especially since I now work at home writing and drawing all day.  But seeing 220 on that scale was an eye-opener.  So I've made it a goal to get back down to 190, which seems like an achievable goal.  And even if the Wii Healthy plan doesn't pan out in the log run, I'll switch over to daily trips to my apartment complex's gym and hit the treadmill.

But I highly recommend that anyone with a Wii with an interest in adding an exercise/weight-loss plan to their lives give this Wii Healthy experiment a try-out.  It just may change your life.  And who wouldn't love to be able to say that they lost 20 or 30 pounds playing a video game?

-Otis