Who wants a Nintendo Wii + Wii Fit? Come on, you know you do.

Yes. And booze helps.

It's true. I am giving away a Wii + Wii Fit. Let's talk fitness, shall we?

There was a time in my life when I used to dance every day. All through elementary, junior high, and high school. Even in college, I didn't give up my dance classes. I could never imagine a life without some form of dance.

Then I switched majors halfway through college and had to work my ass off to finish school on time because there was no way I was staying in LA for one moment longer than I needed to. That meant the dance classes went bye-bye.

When I started working full-time, not being a morning person, I only had evenings to work out. Looking for that dance connection and inspiration, I went in search of a fun workout program with an emphasis on music and movement. And I discovered:

Jazzercise.

Yes. Oh, yes.

Jazz hands! (Actually, it wasn't like that.)

It was 1991, people, and I was what you would call, a hardcore Jazzercizer. I went three or four times a week and I was in the best shape of my life. I wore leotards and cut off tights. I used Exer-tubes and 8 pound hand-weights. I could do push-ups. I had a braided, yellow terry-cloth headband. And a Jazzercise water-bottle and towel.

In Jazzercise, it's all about the instructor, and my instructor was Barb who taught at Cubberley High School in Palo Alto. She probably peaked looks-wise in 1979, and she stuck with it. Because when you got a good thing going on, why change?. She was all poofy over-processed hair, headbands, high-top sneakers, thong leotards, and heavy make-up. She had psycho eyes. She lived and breathed Jazzercise, but I would put her up against a boot camp drill sargeant any. day. The woman kicked ass.

Then we moved to San Francisco, and Jazzercise wasn't the same. First of all, no sprung floor, we were 'cizin' on concrete and that just kills your joints. So I discovered yoga. And the miracle worker, Mr. Elfin Magic himself Michael Cooper at Yoga Tree on Stanyan. (Jai!) I devoted three years of my life to practicing there with him. Because, in case you hadn't noticed, when I do something, I tend to go a little nusto-overboard. Back then I used to think a lot about being a yoga instructor.

Then I had a kid and I had no time to exercise. And I'm the type of person that must. Just has to. And then I had another kid and well. I'm just now getting back to regularly exercising FIVE. YEARS. LATER. We signed up for a gym six months ago and they have childcare and dammit, I am going. It kills me, but I am going.

P.S. Breastfeeding does NOT make you "lose all the weight." It is not "a miracle." The weight does not "melt off." In my case, it did the opposite. I gained weight because I was hungry all the damn time.

Which brings me to the Nintendo Wii Fit that you know want.

I'm had a Wii Fit party last Friday, and in between tequila shots and sake bombs (kidding, Nintendo! Kinda...) we tried our hand the Wii Fit which isn't even out yet. (Post coming soon.) In the meantime check out these lovely and helpful ladies. They come to your party and help you play the Wii Fit. And look all cute in their matching sweat suits. Hate.:

If you play the Wii Fit, you will look like this. (Again, Nintendo, I kid!)

Because you are all so awesome, Nintendo wants you to have a chance at winning a Wii Console and Wii Fit game and balance board! Yes, you!

You want to win one?  Here's what you need to do: 

I want to hear your embarrassing fitness stories. Did you fall off a treadmill? Do the Jane Fonda Workout? Fart during partner yoga class? Sweat with the Oldies?  I want to hear it all, baby. And make it good because the most embarrassing story—the one that makes my judges (my mom, sister and I) cringe and laugh out loud at the same time—is going to win. I know you have some stories because a lot of you reading this are my age. And working out in the 80's? Was hella embarrassing. If you have photos or other graphics to illustrate your point even better. Posts don't have to be long, they just need to be full of shame and ridiculousness. The only burn I want to feel is from the flush of your cheeks.

DA RULZ

1. Go back to your blog and write your most embarrassing fitness story.
2. Be sure you link back to this entry, and let your readers know that you are entering to win a Nintendo Wii and Wii Fit from Three Kid Circus CITYMAMA. Hey, and no fair entering two contests. Okay, you can enter two contests, but you need to follow her rules (and post two DIFFERENT stories with two links back to each us) and youbetcherass we're going to compare notes to make sure you didn't win twice.
   
3. If you don't have a blog AND ONLY IF YOU DON'T HAVE A BLOG, leave your story in the comments below. I'd prefer it if you blogged it, but you know how it goes. And make sure you leave a valid email address. I don't spam. Promise.
4. Come back here and leave me a comment below with a link to your post letting me know it's up.

I will accept entries through midnight on Friday, May 23. I'll announce the winner right here on this very blog on Monday, May 26. Winner will receive her/his Wii + Wii Fit around June 18.

One prize (consisting of a Wii console and the Wii Fit game and balance board) will be awarded by Nintendo. And okay. I will scrounge up some consolation prizes consisting of items from my thift store donation bin. Hope you wear a size 9.5 shoe.

ANYONE CAN PLAY! SPREAD THE WORD! TELL YOUR FRIENDS!: CITYMAMA'S GIVING AWAY A WII FIT. WIIIIIIIII!

...now go blog!

Comments

[shannon]

ok, this is a story from the 90's. um, late 90's. maybe 2000. so anyway, i joined 24 hour fitness in 1997 and went once. from 1998 to 2001 i was bartending near the gym and everyone i knew was a member there and they kept telling me i had to go. so i started going after work, after i'd been drinking all night, when the sun came up and everyone was workin' out before they went to work. i was totally lit most of the time, which made it more fun! and tolerable! i'd been going for about 2 weeks, after paying for 3 years, and one day i passed out, on the bike, and fell off. one of the guys who worked there, who was totally hot, helped me up and asked if i was ok. i felt like a total booze bag, couldn't stand up and figured he could smell my shame. so i cancelled my membership. the end.

[Jenny]

Oh, man. I've got a couple of 1990s era workout stories that would make you die. DIE to the point of deadness.

I'll save those for over a drink, though. Can't wait to read the entries!

[Kelly]

I'm blogless, so here's mine!

Um, after college I was living at home for the time being and joined a gym for women near my parents house...also the gym my mom and her friends belonged to.

Those women in their mid-50's showed me up every.single.day. I mean, I wasn't in great shape, but they could do way more yoga poses and had a much stronger core than I did (or do now!)

Nothing like your mom pointing out that you're doing the routine wrong! How embarrassing!

[Liz]

I have a really embarrassing fitness story (+)we don't have a wii (=) I'm am SO in!

[Belinda]

Oh, man, I have been wanting one of these since seeing it at the J&J thing. Have some of the injuries I do, balance is my key issue in any kind of exercise program. Even just to walk, I use dork-poles. OK, they're called "skiwalking" poles, but I think my name is more fitting.

[christina]

When I was in college taking a Health, Fitness, and Nutrition class I injured my foot. So the instructor altered the fitness program for me and I was to go to the school gym and put in X amount of time/at a certain tension/resistance setting on a rowing machine. It was my first time ever in a gym and I had no idea how to work the machine, any machines for that fact. It was used a lot by the sports folks, especially the football players and I was pretty intimidated to ask for help. So I just hopped on, pressed a few buttons and went about my workout. I was feeling pretty good about myself and proud that I was rowing so much and not getting too tired. After about a week, one of the football players whom I knew b/c he lived in the same dorm came by with a buddy and asked how I was coming along. I proudly, ok, bragged a little, about how great it was going, how I was able to row so much and how it was so easy and how I didn't know why people thought it was so tough. Then he looked down at the machine a bit to see what I had done and gently mentioned that nothing had registered (read: I hadn't really set a level or anything). In fact, apparently all I had done was turn the damn thing on -I didn't realize it was supposed to count and show time and all that other stuff. I felt pretty embarrassed.

[sherry]

When I did kung fu almost ten years ago, our two instructors were brothers. The younger one was really hot. One time we were doing sparring exercises and bag work. I was trying to perfect my roundhouse on the bag and he came around to correct my form.

He got me to do the kick and then freeze. When I did, he came over to turn my leg just a little bit to show me to the correct angle.

As he pulled my leg up just a little higher, I farted. There was enough noise in the class that I don't think anyone else heard but my ass was so close to him that there was no way for me to hope that the hot kung fu guy hadn't heard it.

He looked at me and said, "Do it like that" and then high tailed it out of my corner and went to help someone less gassy than me.

I'm sure I totally impressed him. My kung fu was STRONG!

[Mocha]

The sad part is that I have many stories from which to choose. Sad could be the wrong word there. Pathetic? Devastating?

No fear. I'm starting to write now.

Woo Hoo For Wii!
(don't anybody steal my blog post title)

[kristine]

I need a blog :( During high school I was on the "busty" side & wanted to get fit. i knew a ton of people who ran, but there was not a sports bra strong enough.So I went the Tae kwon Do route. And would wear a sports bra w/ two tight tanks over it. One day I was running late & decdied just on the bra, under the TKD top.Those tops are a wide w. neck, but I was coverd.During sparring I heard a loud pop-snap. It was the front clouser of my sports bra busting OPEN. So I ran to the back room. We were never supoosed to leave the mat area w/ out permission. TKO master was big on rules & respect. I tried to fix the issue w/ the bra, not possible. So when I returned to the mats, hoping to gather my stuff & sneak out. WRONG. Master Shin had the class seated & awaiting my return. I was told to do 5o push ups & run the studio 8 laps while all watched & then explain & apologize for my leaving the room. The class had about 7 boys from my school, upperclass . There was no way I was doing it, so I said "No thanks, I'm going home, my bra broke- have a nice night" A few boys laughed & were told to run the parking lot, other gasped in shame for me. I went outside & called my parents to get me. And I never went back. Now I wear pull over sports bra , thankfully they make them much better than they used to , but I stll wear double tanks. Now I take my daughter to the gym, has daycare. But due to her starting preschool, I cancelled my membership to pay for a portion of school. The thought of Wii Fit while she is @ school excites me!!

[Lorraine]

A Moment of Athletic Mortification: My Story
(sorry, I don't have a blog)

I will now transport you back to the year 1982 - the year I was in grade 10. It was a time of knee-high tube socks, platform Cougar running shoes, and "short-short” sateen shorts.

I was a cute teen, with several redeeming features - none of which, unfortunately, made me cute in the athletic "Wow! Look how fast that girl can run" way, and definitely not in the "Wow! Look how amazingly coordinated that girl is" way either. My cuteness was more in the "Wow. Look how quickly that girl can rattle off the periodic table" kind of way.

Unfortunately, my proficiency in Chemistry or English Literature did not preclude me from having to participate in PE, as we called it. "Physical Education" is how it showed up on report cards; however, I maintain that there was no "education" component to it at all – more of a grueling hour daily of being pelted by balls during dodge ball or thinking of ways to avoid smacking the volleyball with the inside of my wrists.

And when the weather turned to less rainy (you see, I live in the Pacific Northwest where it basically buckets with rain 360 days a year, and is drizzly the other five) we were pushed outside to "run". The runs had none of the training aspects you might find in the bigger high schools, and we had no guidance from our PE teacher other than the "RUN FASTER!" she would bellow out her window as she followed us IN HER CAR through the streets of our small town (oh yes she did!).

So, one less-rainy day in 1982, I was sporting my beautiful blue and red striped tube socks, my red sateen shorts, and my freshly decaled "A Touch of Class" t-shirt that was all the rage back then and shuffling behind Mark Barnes* (*names have been changed to protect the clueless) - a beautiful, feathered-haired god with whom I had been besotted since I first laid eyes on him in grade 8 (TWO YEARS before) and who had no idea I existed. (You can feel the adolescent angst now, can't you?)

On that day, I was doing my jog/shuffle in a best effort to keep up with Mark when I got struck with an idea – I would sprint past him in my most graceful canter and toss a clever line over my shoulder to him. Yes, that was my moment of brilliance – an intricate plan that was hatched in a split second after two years of unrequited adoration.

We were nearing our destination so I had to make my move. I picked up my pace, pulled my head up, and did the best impersonation of an athlete I could muster. But, in a moment that was indicative of most of my romantic life for years to come, I planned poorly. For, as I was making my move to sprint past him, we came up on a chain link gate. It was just over knee-high and if I was going to execute my over-the-shoulder clever remark, I had to jump the chain and toss my remark simultaneously.

At this point, you may have guessed that coordination is not a strength of mine. As I was mid-air, giggling out my witty "Watch out slowpokes!" comment, my toe caught the chain, I spun like a fly on a web, landed face first in a massive mud puddle and sprained three fingers on the hand I had tried to brace myself with.

My darling Mark Barnes, the love of my life, the boy whom I had coveted from afar, did not even break stride. That feathered-haired, tube socked god leapt that chain like a gazelle, while derisively barking in laughter, and then just carried on.

It took me all of the next class to get cleaned up, and I truly thought I might perish from mortification.

I never did profess my love to Mark Barnes.

But the sprained fingers did get me out of PE for a week.

[beth]

I decided a few years back that judo would be an EXCELLENT way to get in shape and learn a little self defence, because really who doesn't want to be able to kick an attackers ass and look hot while doing it, right??
So I signed up and went... unfortunately the class that worked with my schedule was ALL kids. But the instructor assured me that since they were more advanced (thanks, that helps the self esteem A LOT buddy) that the size difference wouldn't matter.
Suffice it say, I got beat down by a twelve year old girl who was half my size, cried in front of bunch of middle schoolers AND THEIR PARENTS... and never went back. The End.
Can I please have the Wii so can get in shape in the privacy of my own home, where I belong?
:)

[Liz@thisfullhouse]

Yay, glad you guys were able to...ahem...work it out ;o)

My post has been running here:

http://www.thisfullhouse.com/reviews/2008/05/blogging-fyi-mo.html

Thanks!

[Liz@thisfullhouse]

Aaaand I reposted it here:

http://www.thisfullhouse.com/this_full_house/2008/05/she-works-hard.html

Gosh, but I want a Wii ;o)

[Leah]

Our story is posted here:

http://omommawrites.com/2008/05/16/we-want-a-wii/

Thanks for this awesome opportunity!

[Deborah Dowd]

I couldn't resist the opportunity to win a Wii Fit or tell a story. I have posted my embarrassing post at http://play-with-food.blogspot.com.

[Deborah Dowd]

I couldn't resist the opportunity to win a Wii Fit or tell a story. I have posted my embarrassing post at http://play-with-food.blogspot.com.

[Deborah Dowd]

I couldn't resist the opportunity to win a Wii Fit or tell a story. I have posted my embarrassing post at http://play-with-food.blogspot.com.

[Deborah Dowd]

I couldn't resist the opportunity to win a Wii Fit or tell a story. I have posted my embarrassing post at http://play-with-food.blogspot.com.