I have serious weight problems, how much will this game help?

[Adamer]

I need a workout that I can do at home that is fun and engaging. I haven't got a VR headset yet but if this is the real deal in terms of giving you a good cardio workout then I will seriusly consider buying it.

Does anyone have long term experience with this game and serious weight loss?

[Balergus The Lergus]

This game has not been out long enough for major weight loss yet, but it is physically draining in many ways. This is a pretty great workout for many and would at the very least stop weight gain if played daily. If you have trouble ducking and rising at a quick rate though, do avoid some songs.

[SilentCaay]

A little cardio alone isn't enough to lose weight. There are a lot more factors in play. If it's in conjunction with minimal calorie intake, healthy eating, regular exercise and lifestyle changes then it can certainly help but I wouldn't expect an overweight person to start shedding pounds just playing Beat Saber.

[CarlB]

It will get your heart rate up and higher difficulty levels are more frantic. Like others have said though, activity level is about 30% of the equation. What you eat controls more.

Example a 300 calorie donut could require over an hour of cardio to "undo". It becomes very difficult to undo bad meals through exercise.

That said, I use VR for cardio myself in conjunction with boxing and DDR/Stepmania. Having different avenues helps avoid burnout.

VR cardio titles I really enjoy:
-BoxVR, it has workouts designed by professionals
-Sound Boxing, this is really fun, but it is all community beat maps. Some are great, some are lacking. The plus is they use youtube, so the songs are endless.
-Beat Saber, maybe the funnest rhythm/cardio game. The song selection is very limited right now though.

[Genghis Tron]

I lost quite a few pounds a couple years ago, and this is how I did it. I will also mix in what benefits you can get from this game as well. Note, there is a lot of generalities in here and I'm not trying to make any assumptions about your current situation. You will need to sit down and have a realisitic look at what problems you might be facing, but I think the concept is pretty solid.

So I stumbled on a post from Reddit that linked to bodybuilding forums (quite a few trolls exist on this forum, but were really helpful to one poster). Basically a guy went there posting how disgusting he was and wanted to be roasted. Instead the community got together to help the guy out.

First things first, your diet. As an example the people on the forum asked the dude how much he ate. Lets say you eat 10 chicken quesadillas every day for lunch. Not exactly the greatest diet, but you aren't going to stick with anything that has you reducing yourself to a kale salad all of the sudden. One tip was instead of eating 10 quesadillas, eat 8, then reduce it every day. This is less shocking to your system and will help you shrink your stomach, eventually you won't even be able to tackle 10 quesadillas in a day. Your first order of business is simply reduce your daily caloric intake. Obviously you want to eat better, but calories in, calories out (CICO) is the biggest factor for losing pounds.

To start of with CICO, I would suggest a calorie counting app. You need to log everything you eat. EVERYTHING. I would suggest a baseline first, which means not adjusting your diet, and log everything you eat in a typical day that way you can not only see how much your eating, but get an idea at a reduction plan. If you're not really gaining weight but eating 10k calories in a day, you know it takes 10k calories to maintain your current weight, so tomorrow needs to be less than that.

Next up, you want to increase your physical activity while you are on a calorie reduction. This is where this game can be helpful. You ARE going to sweat moving around. This can also be great if you're having joint problems and lost mobility. I wouldn't necessarily look at this game as the defacto way to lose weight, but it's something, and quite useful with limited mobility (if it's a problem) as previously stated. You may also want to take a lap around the house if you don't walk much, increase this distance when you feel you can so you can start building more muscle groups. The main idea here is doing ANYTHING is better than nothing. You aren't burning calories by sitting on the couch.

Do this for a few months and I guarantee you will be shedding some pounds. Once you get to this point it's a matter of continuing to eat better and increase your workout with your newly gained mobility.

Remember, this is not a race. It's going to take time, you will stumble a couple of times, but don't beat yourself up over it. Learn from your mistakes, do your best to make every day an improvement over the last. It may take years to do, but this is an entire lifestyle change. Eventually you will be at a point where diet and exercise are just part of your daily life and not a big deal to do.

Best of luck to you!

[prophanity]

Hey Adam, I own this and Boxvr, and i've gotta say, you get yourself a great little workout even in as little as 30 mins I work out a good sweat on both these titles. You'll feel it next morning! The key is that unlike the gym which is a hassle to get to in my free time, I can play (making your workout become play is the best) these games at home, no hassle.

I will say that regular cardio will more than likely work much better, but I find it hard to find the time after work.

Best regards!

P.S Genghis Tron gives some great advice above!

[potatoes]

I've been playing it since release, and while I see a lot of people say it's a huge workout and their arms are dead tired after doing it, for me, it's not much of a workout. Maybe if you start hopping and jumping and dancing with the music but I tend to stand fairly still and I play Expert / custom crazy songs.

That doesn't mean I don't break a sweat, but honestly, I think most of the sweat is from having a vr headset over your upper face that doesn't breathe.

If you honestly want to lose weight in a fun way but want something that isn't big impact, get a bike. Even if i's a basic one from Walmart or Target for $100-150. Use it as much as possible. Get out and explore your town or city, or the back roads. Use Google Maps and find points of interest to ride to. See local landmarks or just commute to work or for errands.

If you can keep at it, even without a diet, you will lose weight. A diet would help even more, but not everyone is ready to make the jump on a full diet. Even a slow cutback is great though.

Biking is great for overweight individuals for its low impact on your overall body, letting you sustain exercise longer than, say, running.

[Bill Tetley]

As a fat ♥♥♥, over the past week I have lost 3 lbs. playing this about an hour a day along with changing my diet.

[Vhan]

just take a look to VoxVR and SoundBoxing.
and remember... complement all exercise with a good diet.

[HoHoHO]

Diet is better than Exercise if you are trying to lose weight.

A fast food meal combo (burger, fries, drink) is 1500 calories. You need 5 to 6 hours of exercise to burn off those calories.

[Smokers :)]

lost 7 pounds so far! the fun!!!! just tried a rave tune...what a way to start the day! sugar is the major killer these days..cut down on sugar......26g of sugar in a pot of yogurt ! just swap that for ordanary pot with only 1 or 2 g sugar...HUGE different in a few weeks...cans of soft drinks are a killer..drink water...you will have 300% more energy after a week..but the 1st week is hard...Go for it...and yes this game is the BEST VR..and I have vive since it came out...only game i play really anymore...

[Adamer]

Thank you for all the advice and things guys, I do appreciate it, especially the diet points.

[00H Wee!]

Good luck on the weight loss Adam. After getting out of the Navy, I've let my body go to hell by eating fast food, not exercising, and unfortunately I spend most of my free time watching movies. Beat Saber along with Gorn are a couple staple titles that absolutely will build up a sweat, yet are extremely addicting and engaging. As for diet and cooking, I'm cooking the vast majority of my meals via the sous vide method. Typically, I'll find some healthy recipies online and come up with a few days worth of meals, than after shopping for ingredients, I'll then prep what I can followed by vacuum sealing for sous vide cooking later in the week. That way whenever I want to eat, I'll just throw the vacuum sealed food in the water bath for cooking. It takes a bit of work that one day a week, but it does help me eat better.

[Unicycle]

If you enjoy the game, I'd say go for it! It might not be a huge help with weight loss, but any phyiscal activity is a heck of a lot more than none. If you're going to be playing games, this is a good one. I spend way too much time sitting throughout the day, so I'm trying to spend more time in VR games, as opposed to watching tv or playing games from the couch. Side note- The harder difficulty levels really ramp up the activity level, and no, I haven't been able to get through any of them at extreme without the no fail option, YET. :)

(Relly well said by Genghis Tron above!)

[Burningspaceman]

You're not going to burn calories with this game if you are very overweight. If anything it is a light warm up for any real workout.

[Nicolas505]

I have been playing Beat Saber for 45 days, totalling 40 hours of playtime (my session is about 1 hour almost everyday, which is a 500 to 600kcal burn).

I weighed in 103 kg at the start, and so far I have lost 3.9 kg as I weighed 99.1 kg this morning, and I think that's a very good evolution (no exercices have ever been intersting enough for me to keep going).

The intersting part is that I have barely changed my eating habits, I still enjoy deserts, pizza, ice creams... but I keep an eye on calories intake, so I definitely eat less than I used to.