Reviews
(15)
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My Weight Loss Coach DS is an awesome idea. It comes with a free pedometer, that you can plug into your DS! It lets you track your steps each day easily. The rest of the 'game', though, is a mixed blessing.
The game is broken out into a number of areas. Each day you plug in your pedometer so it knows right away how many steps you took wearing it. I already own a pedometer which plugs into a computer, and I have to say my other one is much better. This one just counts total steps. The other one actually tracks them by hour and by intensity - so you get an instant graph of how active you were each hour, which were quiet steps, which were energetic steps and so on. It's much more helpful.
You can input other activities you've done, but it's a very kludgy interface. You choose an icon of what type of general thing you did - housework, team sports etc - and then manually spin a clock dial to point at an interval. It won't even let you check the box if it's under an hour worth of effort.
Then
The game is broken out into a number of areas. Each day you plug in your pedometer so it knows right away how many steps you took wearing it. I already own a pedometer which plugs into a computer, and I have to say my other one is much better. This one just counts total steps. The other one actually tracks them by hour and by intensity - so you get an instant graph of how active you were each hour, which were quiet steps, which were energetic steps and so on. It's much more helpful.
You can input other activities you've done, but it's a very kludgy interface. You choose an icon of what type of general thing you did - housework, team sports etc - and then manually spin a clock dial to point at an interval. It won't even let you check the box if it's under an hour worth of effort.
Then
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17 price(s)
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I bought this because I thought it would be a fun and healthy way to use my DS. I enjoyed the novelty of it for two and a half weeks before the pedometer, which is enormous and bulky, stopped working. I contacted Ubisoft, the mfg, and got an email that I should send it back and if they couldn't find anything wrong with it, I could purchase another one for 10 bucks!?! What, after I paid for it, plus shipping?! It's not cheap for what little you get. You can't even track your calories accurately!! Not to mention the frustration of the pedometer working when it feels like it! If this was $19.99, I wouldn't complain, but the retail value is $39!!
I returned it, not worth the stress...
I returned it, not worth the stress...
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This product could be dangerous if you expect it to calculate a "balanced diet" for you. What it means by "balanced" is that the calories of the food you have consumed are sufficient to "balance" the calories you have expended. I had been reporting the food I had eaten (you pull various food icons from the different food groups over to a cartoon figure) for over a week but one day, when I had eaten too many carbs and not enough vegetables, I started to get uneasy. While the program said the diet was "balanced" I knew it was not nutritionally balanced. The next day I calculated my food exchanges on a piece of paper, but instead of what I had actuall eaten I put down that I had consumed nothing but chicken. The program said this diet was "balanced". The next day I did the same thing, only instead of what I had actually eaten I told the program I had eaten nothing but candy. Again, it said my diet was "balanced".
This game is good in that it offers incentive to exercise, and a lot of good
This game is good in that it offers incentive to exercise, and a lot of good
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This cute, little game provides playful, positive enforcement of healthy lifestyle behaviors that should help most people make improvements gradually. Its major emphasis is on getting you to move more, an essential factor in sustained weight loss and long-term health. Focusing on easy adjustments, such as a gradual increase in daily step count, this product should fit into the life of most American adults. It accommodates a wide variety of pre-existing fitness levels, allowing you to count nearly any movement from housework to karate in your daily minimum of 30 minutes of exercise.
The way it tracks your calorie intake each day is particularly friendly, and a great improvement on most fitness programs I have tried for handheld devices. Tossing aside detailed lists of foods that make recording intake a time-consuming chore, you select foods from categories based on average number of calories for average-sized servings. Nearly any food can be accounted for, even when eating out.
The
The way it tracks your calorie intake each day is particularly friendly, and a great improvement on most fitness programs I have tried for handheld devices. Tossing aside detailed lists of foods that make recording intake a time-consuming chore, you select foods from categories based on average number of calories for average-sized servings. Nearly any food can be accounted for, even when eating out.
The
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I pre-ordered this game back in December 2007, so you can imagine how excited I was to receive it. At first, I loved it. I had no idea how sedentary I was until I tracked my steps with the pedometer. I thought it was very cool that the pedometer hooked up directly to the DS and uploaded the steps automatically. I found the challenges cute and helpful. I found myself moving around alot more to get my steps in. It has been a pretty good motivator, but 2 weeks later I have not lost any weight.
The lack of weight loss, however is not my complaint. The pedometer itself is chunky and obtrusive and yesterday the clip on it broke. When I first received it, it was extremely difficult to clip on my waistband. I think that a spring-loaded clip would be much more durable, but the clip on it is basically immovable. The good news is that you can still input your steps in the game manually, but now I get to shell out some more money on a new pedometer.
Since I pre-ordered this item, I only
The lack of weight loss, however is not my complaint. The pedometer itself is chunky and obtrusive and yesterday the clip on it broke. When I first received it, it was extremely difficult to clip on my waistband. I think that a spring-loaded clip would be much more durable, but the clip on it is basically immovable. The good news is that you can still input your steps in the game manually, but now I get to shell out some more money on a new pedometer.
Since I pre-ordered this item, I only
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The challenges aren't always 100% possible, but you don't have to take on a challenge...well unless you ask for the surprise challenge. If you take one and it's too daunting, there's no penalty. It just tells you that to try and pick challenges that fit your lifestyle. I'm 8 months pregnant and I'm managing just fine.
It encourages you to exercise and watch your food intake and based on questions asked at the beginning, it gives you a goal to reach for. It's not an exact science as sometimes you have to fudge the food tracker, but it's a great little start for on the go.
The pedometer isn't the best. It's bulky and I find that it keeps resetting if I bump into something. But here's good news...you don't have to use it. If you want to get something better, the one that comes with the game is a good start. And you can manually enter steps, it will prompt you that the pedometer isn't inserted and then you just use the +/- to add or remove steps.
I like that it gives you a goal
It encourages you to exercise and watch your food intake and based on questions asked at the beginning, it gives you a goal to reach for. It's not an exact science as sometimes you have to fudge the food tracker, but it's a great little start for on the go.
The pedometer isn't the best. It's bulky and I find that it keeps resetting if I bump into something. But here's good news...you don't have to use it. If you want to get something better, the one that comes with the game is a good start. And you can manually enter steps, it will prompt you that the pedometer isn't inserted and then you just use the +/- to add or remove steps.
I like that it gives you a goal
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As a person who has struggled with eating disorders in the past and is looking to improve her health habits without getting mired in the muck of "weight goals", I was uncertain about this game at first. I have been afraid to start a health plan because I was afraid that it might get out of my control and I would end up with a recurrence of my illness. But I decided to try this game, partly because of some of the complaints of people who had played it, such as the fact that you don't enter your intake in precise Weight Watchers-style way. Keeping lists of exact "inputs" and "outputs" is a characteristic of anorexia; I had several notebooks full of that info and it is a slippery slope once you start doing it. Another complaint was that if your BMI is normal and you are trying to lose weight, this game won't help you do it. If the game helped you lose weight when you were at a "normal BMI", it would be fostering an eating disorder, so I'm glad it asks you to maintain your weight by eating
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I bought this game not knowing what to expect. It is fun and helpful in many ways. The 'coach' is a cute stick figure who motivates you through funny sounds, expressions, and actions. The distance 'reward' system is well-done. For every task or challenge you successfully complete, you get mileage which eventually adds up to walking The Great Wall of China or whatever. It is a good, graphic way to illustrate your progress.
Now for the downside....You have to enter all physical activity & food you eat on the day it happens...no going back the next day to enter that just before midnight snack or last minute exercise. This is tremendously inconvenient & unhelpful. It negates much of the value of the program for me. The other unhelpful thing is that you account for your calories by selecting from groups of general foods; if you ate something unusual, you have to take your best guess as to its equivalent.
As many have noted, the supplied pedometer is clunky & falls off constantly, but
Now for the downside....You have to enter all physical activity & food you eat on the day it happens...no going back the next day to enter that just before midnight snack or last minute exercise. This is tremendously inconvenient & unhelpful. It negates much of the value of the program for me. The other unhelpful thing is that you account for your calories by selecting from groups of general foods; if you ate something unusual, you have to take your best guess as to its equivalent.
As many have noted, the supplied pedometer is clunky & falls off constantly, but
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Overall I really like the game. I've had it for about 2 weeks and I've lost 4 pounds. It really gets a sedentary person up and moving around. I also like that it helps you keep track of everything. The exercise choices are great- I love the fact that housecleaning is an option. I put in some great music, set my timer for 30 min or more and have fun cleaning my house and losing weight! The food balance tracker is nice- I've been as honest as I possibly can (more food choices are needed). I like the fact that the game tells me if I need to do more exercise to balance out my food intake. Two things I really don't like: 1. The pedometer is really bulky and noisy plus it accidentally resets to zero often. Since you can manually input an estimate of steps, I purchased a smaller pedometer of my own and have been using that. 2. The challenges- ok I mostly like the challenges, but it assumes everyone lives in an urban area and walks to stores. When the nearest grocery store is 20 miles
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I bought this and wondered if this was going to be easy to use. Diets are not easy and lets face it...unless exercising is your hobby...exercising pretty much $uck$!! LOL I had to get something that motivated me! I am pretty much 100 lbs. overweight, short, I'm 38 years old and this "game" is perfect for those that are overweight. And it IS easy to USE!
I AGREE with one of the last opinions made by someone that if you are mostly fit and have just a bit of flab to lose, this isn't for you and that Nintendo SHOULD come up with "My Toning Coach"! GREAT IDEA (Im sure if people get thru this coaching...they would WANT to explore the next step...no?)
I like how it compares things to how far you walked (and believe me...walking is my only option of exercise right now...). I've been walking with the pedometer now for less than a week and already I've walked the distance of "up and down Mt. Everest"...WOW! ME? Who knew?
I am a cook at home and love to make and eat everything in the world.
I AGREE with one of the last opinions made by someone that if you are mostly fit and have just a bit of flab to lose, this isn't for you and that Nintendo SHOULD come up with "My Toning Coach"! GREAT IDEA (Im sure if people get thru this coaching...they would WANT to explore the next step...no?)
I like how it compares things to how far you walked (and believe me...walking is my only option of exercise right now...). I've been walking with the pedometer now for less than a week and already I've walked the distance of "up and down Mt. Everest"...WOW! ME? Who knew?
I am a cook at home and love to make and eat everything in the world.
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The game is ok. I have been doing it for a week, but I honestly don't think it will help loose weight. The food tracking is really sketchy. It doesn't even have all the food choices so I have to kind of guess at what's there.
The quiz games are just to easy. I don't like the pedometer at all. It is to bulky and it always falls off. Thankfully the game always the steps to be entered without it, but it only lets you put in an estimate. I have been using my own pedometer.
The quiz games are just to easy. I don't like the pedometer at all. It is to bulky and it always falls off. Thankfully the game always the steps to be entered without it, but it only lets you put in an estimate. I have been using my own pedometer.
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The Little stick figure as mentioned in other reviews is absolutely adorable! it was fun to get started with that cute lil thing. I rated this game 4 stars because there are somethings i think need to be improved, Overall the pros of this game far out weigh the cons. The Pros of this game is its fun, its easy to follow, it doesn't make you feel overwhelmed with the amount of steps you have to take. The challenges are small and simple but overall they make a big difference. The Pedometer that came with the game is pretty accurate and easy to wear. It's a breeze to upload your steps into your Nintendo DS. It really threw me off to see it logged down how much i ate (the choices i made) and how much exercise i get in a day. WOW! im a total bum! lol (my words,not the game) The food intake and choices you are required to log down benefit EVERYONE! skinny ,thin ,average and overweight see with their own eyes what they need to do to make healthier choices in there life. MOST IMPORTANT for me was
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This game is VERY good for people trying to get healthier, especially if you're currently sedentary.
The first thing it asked me to do was drink a glass of water. The little stick figure was hilarious to watch until I drank the water.
The second activity it had me do was walk 500 steps using the pedometer that comes with the game. It took 5 minutes.
The first food related task I had to do was put the salt shaker into the cabinet.
Good ideas . . . and very simple for this inactive Mom of 3. I know I need to get healthy, and I am proud of myself for starting.
The first thing it asked me to do was drink a glass of water. The little stick figure was hilarious to watch until I drank the water.
The second activity it had me do was walk 500 steps using the pedometer that comes with the game. It took 5 minutes.
The first food related task I had to do was put the salt shaker into the cabinet.
Good ideas . . . and very simple for this inactive Mom of 3. I know I need to get healthy, and I am proud of myself for starting.
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I agree with the other person's review. This game is fun and cute, but I feel that it would be more beneficial to someone who is clinically overweight. If you are in the healthy weight range, this game might not be for you.
The pedometer that comes with the game is rather large and difficult to conceal. It also makes a little bit of noise. The game relies on the use of the pedometer. If you don't live in a safe neighborhood that you can walk around in you will not be able to do some of the challenges.
If you are overweight or are looking for something that will put you in a healthier mode--this game is for you. If you are looking to lose those last five pounds this game might not be for you.
The pedometer that comes with the game is rather large and difficult to conceal. It also makes a little bit of noise. The game relies on the use of the pedometer. If you don't live in a safe neighborhood that you can walk around in you will not be able to do some of the challenges.
If you are overweight or are looking for something that will put you in a healthier mode--this game is for you. If you are looking to lose those last five pounds this game might not be for you.
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I just bought this product today and I had some expectations. I will say that the little stick figure they use to coach me through is pretty darn cute. Especially when she mumbles (like a better version of a sim character). However I was not happy when I entered my weight and it figured that I was in a healthy BMI range, therefore telling me I only need to work on maintaining my current state of flab.
I am not writing this because I am trying to be anorexic or unhealthy. But I know for a fact that there are areas that I would like to tone and lose inches from. I think the weight loss coach would be more effective if it asked you how much you wanted to lose and then based its program around that. As it is now, it'll probably only recommend exercises and food intake that'll keep me where I'm at.
Pay attention Nintendo! My Weightloss Coach needs a part 2 with improvements!
Other things I've noticed during my limited use:
1. If you accept a challenge by mistake , there is no button
I am not writing this because I am trying to be anorexic or unhealthy. But I know for a fact that there are areas that I would like to tone and lose inches from. I think the weight loss coach would be more effective if it asked you how much you wanted to lose and then based its program around that. As it is now, it'll probably only recommend exercises and food intake that'll keep me where I'm at.
Pay attention Nintendo! My Weightloss Coach needs a part 2 with improvements!
Other things I've noticed during my limited use:
1. If you accept a challenge by mistake , there is no button
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