MightySlacker,
Welcome to the group and you're definitely not the only one that hates those damn Mountain Climbers. My last workout had 4 sets of those and each set made me think "Oh crap, not again!".
Regardless of where each of us is at today and what our goals are, we all face the same struggles of trying to maintain good eating and exercise habits over the months and years as your lives change. Your challenges aren't unique, but I commend you for your continued pursuit of good health and congratulate you on the very solid progress you've made so far this year. While my goals are probably more modest than yours (I'm just looking to drop about 10 pounds or so, but it actually involves dropping 20 pounds of fat and adding 10 pounds of muscle), I'm very impressed that you were able to drop 13 pounds so far this year. That doesn't happen by accident...it takes hard work and attention to what you eat.
In any case, you've inspired me to try to step up the pace of my effort, maybe doing some easier workouts on my "off" days or doing a better job of watching what I eat, so thanks for sharing your story
@gaminmonster:
Like they say, the best exercise program is the one you will stick with, because while each offering might have some things that are better than others, they are all better for you than doing nothing (unless of course they have some dangerous aspects to them such as extreme dieting or are physically damaging to your body). For the console based fitness "games", I think they all have some quirks that can be annoying (sensors not registering your motions correctly, heart rate monitor isn't accurate/consistent, etc.). If these shortcomings are so bad that they discourage you from continuing the workout, then that's a big problem.
I've used the Wii-based EA Sports (original version) and found it acceptable. Sometimes it was a bit annoying holding the Wii controller or dealing with the leg strap that holds the nunchuk controller, but neither was a fatal problem. I never finished the whole workout program I started last year (got some sort of food poisoning that took me down for a few weeks and then I never got around to starting back up) but I may actually go back to that program again just to make sure I get my money's worth out of it and keep some variety in my workouts.
I like the PS3-based EA Sports 2 package, but I don't think the motion sensors are as accurate as the Wii controller was when using EA Sports 1, but it hasn't really been a big problem for me. And based on the feedback of the others in this group the PS3 version of EA Sports 2 seems to be working reasonably well for them.
I've hard the Kinect version of EA Sports 2 has bigger problems with registering your movements. And I'm not positive, but I believe they also have a different set of exercises because the Kinect can't register certain motions (such as those on the floor). Maybe they'll fix these things in a future update, but the PS3 version looked like it had the fewest issues so that's the one I went with.
I've also heard that the Kinect-based Your Shape: Fitness Evolved isn't bad. I have it and it had some fun exercises, but I haven't explored it much because I decided to just get started with EA Sports 2 first. Once I finish the 9-week program and complete some of the other trophies in EA Sports 2, I may switch over to Your Shape and give it a try. Of course, if you don't already have a Kinect, then this would be an expensive choice.
In any case, with the price drops (from $99 to $59 to $49 and sometimes on sale for $39) I don't think you can go too wrong picking up EA Sports 2 for the PS3 and going through the Kick Start and 9-week programs.
The main thing is that you can't let little annoyances get in the way. Even if you go to a regular gym, you'll run into problems....someone is using the machines you want to use, your hand hurts, the place smells....there's always something you can use as an excuse for giving up. So the best thing you can do is to try to ignore those shortcomings and stay focus on your goals. Having a good group of people you associate with that have similar goals can also be a big help, because if you know that they know whether you are working out or not, that alone might be enough to make you do a workout you might have been tempted to skip because you were feeling a bit down that day.
I can tell you that with every workout I do, I'm checking the group's stats to see who's been working out, which milestones they've hit and how the group's overall stats are doing. I like seeing that others are joining up and each time I see that someone has done another workout I'm thinking "Good job, keep it up!!" Sometimes I'll see that someone is really burning things up and it makes me think I might want to step up my game a bit too, so using EA Sports 2 and joining the CAG group has some motivational benefits.
ING HATE MOUNTAIN CLIMBERS. I also hate when I do a tough workout and busy like 200 calories, then do 30 minutes of easy steps on Wii Fit and burn 184 calories.