Psychology, Shopping, Water Intake

Shoppers Unite!:  There are two different products that I would like to purchase to assist with my weight-loss journey but I'm feeling overwhelmed and under informed by information I've found on the internet so I could use your insights if any of you are familiar with these pursuits.  The first item is some type of dance related work-out type game for the Wii.

• Dancing With The Stars:  It looks like you really just wave the controller around to match signals and it doesn't actually teach dance moves or provide a work-out.  
• Gold's Gym Dance Workout: Too much like a work-out and not enough like a game.  
• Zumba Fitness: Looked awesome but I've never bought any kind of dance game for Wii and some of the reviews I've read on amazon said it's all but impossible to follow and that there are sensitivity issues with the Wii controller.  
• Dance Dance Revolution: I fail to see how this game will teach me how to actually do any kind of dancing that I would ever want to replicate in public.
• Just Dance: Reported to have the same motion problems as Zumba and I'm not sure about the music selections.  

I like hard rock and goth rock music mostly, some alternative, tiny amounts of pop, and *gasp* the occasional techno tune.  I'm actually very eclectic with music but also somewhat picky.  I want a game that is going to get my whole body moving, will actually teach me how to dance, will get me sweating, and provides enough gaming entertainment that I forget I'm "exercising".  If the game has some kind of calorie monitor that would be a MAJOR plus but I'm not seeing that as a feature in any of the games I've reviewed so far.  I would even be down with a non-dance game if it gets me really moving.  I have Wii Sports Resort, Wii Fit, and EA Sports Active but these get old very fast.  I'd be down with an RPG type game with an actual story-line where I have to use the controller as a sword or something of that nature even.  If any of you have tried these games, or have suggestions for other similar Wii games please feel free to share your thoughts.

The second product is a calorie counter.  I would prefer an arm band and I am fairly convinced that I want one that counts calories based on heart rate, not motion detection.  When I do leg lifts my arm is totally stationary so a motion-sensor based counter will be useless.  Plus caloriecount.com estimates that I burn over 2,000 calories just living a sedentary lifestyle and I am still not totally comfortable with that so I'd like a tangible way to get a second opinion based more on actual heart rate than estimations.  I have found only one arm band heart rate/calorie tracker (BodyMedia) and it's almost $200 plus requires a monthly online subscription to view the data.  HOLY CRAP!  I've found a few watches (Schwinn Heart Touch), and one ring (Carepeutic Kh249) for around $30-$60 which is way more my price range but I can't help but question their accuracy.  One plus of a watch/ring is that most of them have stop-watches which would be ducky for me because I'm currently using the stop-watch on my phone and it's lame.  Feel free to chime in on this one as well.

Welcome to Psychology: So last night I had a dream that I found to be very interesting and I wanted to share it with you.  It was more of a nightmare really; I was in this huge house that was filled with dusty old clutter, dolls, doilies, mannequins, antiques, etc.  There were dozens of other people in the house with me, so many people that it was claustrophobic.  Half of the people in the house, including myself, were humans and the other half were Vampires.  The vampires had this marshmallow flavored gelatin type thing (looked like a Jell-O Jiggler from the commercials) and they were trying to tempt the humans to eat it because if we ate it that would give them permission to drink our blood.  I somehow realized this and refused to eat it but the people around me started to give in to the temptation and, as they did, the vampires started to feed on them.  I would try to run but the vampires would drag me back and everywhere I went in the house this was going on so I couldn't get away from it, and it was so crowded that everyone was bumping into each other no matter where you went.  So I am trying desperately to resist these vampires but they just keep insisting that I eat this jello thing and it's starting to get really tempting but I know that if I eat it I will die.  This sounds really stupid, I know, but I was frantic and really terrified in my dream that I would eventually give in and eat the jello.  I didn't watch anything vampire related, read a vampire book, or eat jello right before bed.  Am I the only one that sees this as a giant, glaring, subconscious metaphor for dieting?


Interesting Water Intake: I am a nerd.  There I said it.  So I guess I just assumed that my new mug I got for my birthday, which I have been drinking everything from (with the exception of wine which I literally drink out of a measuring cup now) was 8 oz.  Nope ... it's 12.  Now with coffee I only fill the cup half-way because I like to get 3 servings (one per day) out of my french press.  But with water, I fill that baby to the top every time so I realized that the 5 glasses of water I've been drinking daily amounts to 60 oz of water EVERY DAY!  Wowsers!

I found a free online belly dance instruction course and This Chick kicked my ass!

Food:
5 glasses of water
1 cup of coffee with creamer
1 nonfat yogurt
1 whole wheat bagel
2 Tbsps laughing cow light cheese
1 cup of spaghetti
8 oz Tomato Baked Chicken
1 cup cheddar pasta
2 cups dry popcorn
1 Hostess 100 calorie snack pack
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Daily Caloric Intake: 1423



Exercise:
20 min belly dancing
10 min cycling (90 RPM)
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Daily Caloric Burn: 304