We all know that doing exercises can assist us losing weight. Health and fitness are tied directly to weight. If you become overweight the easiest way to return to your ideal body weight is through a healthy diet and exercise. But seriously - is playing the Nintendo Wii exercise?

The answer is - it depends. It's like asking 'is taking a diet pill really a diet plan?'. The Nintendo Wi is marketing itself, at least in part, as an exercise machine as well as a games console. Instead of the traditional controllers, the Wii uses a nunchuk which is motion sensitive. Moving the nunchuk through the air in certain motions results in certain things happening on the screen. With the correct games, this can involve the user doing the same amount of physical activity as if they were doing exercises. When we are moving about our body converts body fat to energy, resulting in a fun way to lose weight.

The console ships with a suite of games called Wii Sports, and to day these are the best games that allow you to play console games and exercise at the same time. In particular the Tennis and boxing are going to get you moving around the room. You'll check out those blogs about people playing the Wii for 30 minutes a day and losing several pounds per week, and you'll see how it's possible. But is it a diet plan or just an excuse to play games?

If you want to lose weight you ultimately need to start looking at healthy eating. With a healthy diet you are training your body to expect nutritious food intake at every meal. Using weight with exercises is also possible, but if it is not done properly, in conjunction with a healthy eating plan, you are probably just losing weight that you will put back on. Health and fitness are so closely related and diet is a huge part of our general health. A healthy diet actually prepares our body for exercise. Your body will want it. Just doing exercises on the other hand can be very stressful on an overweight body that is not prepared for it. In fact, being overweight your body will find exercise quite uncomfortable and this in turn is likely to lead to you giving up after a short time.

Maybe all of that is just sceptical thinking though. While exercises may only be a temporary benefit without a healthy eating diet plan, they are certainly not going to be a detriment. When we are given diet tips one of the first is usually to plan meals that are easy to make and taste nice. If you have to choke down the food to lose weight your success will be only as good as your perseverance. If the food tastes nice then you will look forward to eating it. The same principle apples with the Nintendo Wii and exercise. The point is that Nintendo are trying to make exercise fun. People will exercise because they enjoy it, not because they feel they must. And because of that they are likely to continue exercising for a long time. If they combine it with healthy eating then playing console games may just be the exercise of the future.