HEALTH

Wii Fit turns getting in shape into a game

Nintendo’s $90 Wii Fit promises to use your Wii video game console to make you sweat.

That may be a stretch, but there’s no denying that this fun collection of mini-games, most of which use the Balance Board, makes getting some light exercise pretty darned pleasant.

The Balance Board is about the size of a folded newspaper, and wirelessly talks to your Wii console. It acts as a scale — ouch — and more important, measures tiny shifts in your weight and balance.

On screen, those shifts translate into everything from your balance in yoga poses to how you do crossing a tightrope between skyscrapers. The technology works well, in general, and is customized for the individual player.

Mini-games are divided into categories: yoga, strength, aerobics and balance. Each contains a few games that are open initially and more that open up as you spend time with the game or improve on existing mini-games.

The balance games include things like slaloming down a ski slope, using your body weight to steer between flag gates, or playing soccer goalie, shifting your weight to head off incoming soccer balls (and ducking to avoid thrown shoes and other objects).

Strength training includes things like pikes, push-ups and leg extensions; yoga includes poses like tree, warrior, half-moon and forward fold.

Aerobics includes basic and advanced step aerobics; one and two-player running, which creatively uses your Wiimotes as pedometers; and hula hooping, a hilarious mini-game in which you have to swivel your hips to keep hoops going and periodically lean in the correct direction to catch more.

The aerobics and balance games are a lot more fun (and less serious) than the strength and yoga poses, but you have to acknowledge the smart use of technology in every section.

FASHION

Between sizes

Q: I have difficulty finding clothes that fit properly, even though I have a well-proportioned figure. I am 5-feet-4-inches tall and weigh 120 pounds, give or take a pound or two. If I buy regular sizes, the tops are usually too big. If I buy petite sizes, the bottoms are too short. Where do I find tops and bottoms that fit right?

A: Your height puts you at the divide between petite and regular sizes. And the fact that tops are too big and bottoms too short suggests you are short-waisted — or, if you prefer, long-legged.

This means you will find the best fit with petite-size tops and dresses, and regular-size skirts and pants. Having to shop in two different departments is an inconvenience, but it’s also the answer to getting the best fit.