I have been a heavy person for most of my life. Going as far back as my teenage years I have struggled with my weight. It took me 20 years to grow up and make a difference. In January of this year (2020) I decided enough was enough. VR Fitness has changed my life. Here is where I started, where I failed, and where I’m at now.
Struggling to Begin
I spent weeks scouring the internet for the best way to eat. I probably read hundreds of articles that conflicted with each other, each saying they held the key to the “right” way to approach diet. I had before tried many of these, but this time was different. This time I had the discipline to see it through. Or so I thought.
After a month of dieting, the weight was still there. I put on a few more pounds. Confused, angry, and dumbfounded I ordered a pizza, two actually. After scarfing most of them down in record time, it occurred to me that maybe I needed to approach this differently. I needed to exercise.
I enlisted the help of a few coaches. One of which was an Air Force Special Operations instructor. Who better to help me get in shape than this physical fitness stud? He put me on a strict schedule of workouts and I followed.
I was running, rucking (carrying a weighted pack while walking at a brisk pace), push-ups, sit-ups, flutter kicks, mountain climbers, and the dreaded burpees. I felt like I was absolutely going to crush my goals and get where I wanted to be.
I Quit!
When you go from being sedentary to 100 miles per hour you will have some problems. I went from couch surfing to running 3 miles in a matter of 3 days. Couple that with the sugar/carb detox and I was living in a literal hell. What happened next was inevitable.
After 3 weeks, I started “today’s” exercise. It was a series of push-ups, sit-ups, mountain climbers, and a 2-mile run. I woke up with a splitting headache but decided to push on. I drank water, stretched, and ignored my body’s plea for me to take it easy. I went to the high school track and started my routine. Around my 4th lap around the track, I noticed a pain in my groin. “Push through the Pain!” I said out loud. By the 6th lap, the pain was so intense that even walking seemed to be an exercise in human survival. I had an injury.
Confined to the couch, with severe pain and an inability to exercise, the feeling of quitting not only entered my mind it took it over. So I fell back into old habits. I gave up on my diet and exercise was out of the question. To add insult to literal injury I weighed myself and saw that I had gained 4 pounds over the past month. I was done. Why bother? Why put in this much effort if it only ends with failure, pain, and the same vicious cycle I remembered from the past. I quit.
Shall We Play a Game?
This story has a happy ending, or rather a happy BEGINNING! Working out as much as I had, something new started to happen to me. I was frustrated about being on the couch. I wanted to be up and moving. Waiting on my injury to heal I turned to Virtual Reality games. I was in a depressed funk and I remembered in the past that playing games like Beat Saber pulled me out of a funk in the past. So I figured let’s give this a go!
After three days of playing Beat Saber about half-an-hour or so, in the morning. I started to notice that my mental health had pulled out of the steep dive. My injury started to feel a lot better, and I thought maybe this would be a good time to get back into working out.
It was as if all the planets had aligned and everything made sense. I was already working out half-an-hour a day and I did not realize it, not even slightly. Sure I got a little sweaty, but I was playing a game. Not once did I consider that I was “working out”.
I was pretty skeptical that this was actually “working out”. After all, it’s a game. I started to search through many articles to find out if there was any truth to this personal discovery. As it turns out Virtual Reality is working out and depending on what you do the intensity can be greatly increased.
Going off what I had read online, I purchased a few games and set a schedule for myself. Games like Until you Fall, Box VR, Thrill of the Fight VR Boxing, Beat Saber, Pistol Whip, and Synthriders. I established a routine and the results are, for the first time in my life, in my favor.
The Happy Beginning, a Habit Beginning
The bulk of my workouts now are playing VR Games. I spend on average 1.5 – 3 hours a day playing VR games. It is now Mid August and I have lost fat off my body. My clothes fit differently. My face and body are changing. 30 Minutes of Beat Saber has turned into two straight hours. No more am I someone that dreads working out.
I count calories, I eat mostly healthy but I do not deny myself foods or beverages that I want. No more diets. I just eat. This only works for me because of the number of calories I burn while working out in Virtual Reality.
Rucking with a 40-pound rucksack, for an hour burns 900-1000 calories for someone my size. That is a lot of effort, there is plenty of room for injury and of course dealing with the summer heat. Playing “Thrill of the Fight VR Boxing” for an hour burns 1,000 calories for someone my size. Playing BoxVR for an hour burns about 950 Calories. Beat Saber for an Hour and a Half burns roughly 750-800 calories. Rucking is effort, playing a game is FUN!
So gone are the days of giving up, quitting, and never looking back. I am living proof that VR Fitness is not only very real, but it is also exactly what I was looking for. I no longer have a “routine” I have a habit. That is the key to success with fitness, establishing a habit that you can stick with. My habit is VR Fitness.
To follow my weight-loss journey and to stay up-to-date with my progress using VR to get in shape, follow me on Instagram, and check out my other articles!