Jenn Hethcoat and her 3-year-old son, Brendan, practice some soccer moves using the Nintendo Wii Fit game. Jenn uses the game about four times per week to get in shape. She also is one of the founding members of a Web site called Wii Fit Mommies, where moms blog about their experiences and find inspiration.

Lawrence resident Jenn Hethcoat says one of the benefits of using Wii Fit is being able to spend more time with her children, Brendan and Lillian.

Jenn Hethcoat, a mother of two, works out for at least 45 minutes four times per week. Her routine consists of balance exercises, aerobics and yoga.

However, unlike others trying to lose weight, she doesn’t go to a fitness center, she’s not enrolled in a special class and doesn’t have a home gym — unless you consider a Nintendo Wii Fit a home gym.

Hethcoat, who lives in Lawrence, is one of four founding members of the Web site Wii Fit Mommies, a fitness blog started shortly after Julie Maloney, of South Carolina, shared how she lost 60 pounds using the gaming system. The women created the site to give people a place where they could work together and motivate each other in their weight loss while having fun doing it.

Three weeks after beginning her workout routine — and without adjustments to her diet — Hethcoat says she lost 8 pounds and has noticed improvements in her posture.

Hethcoat has tried other fitness programs. She and her husband belonged to a gym for years. She also took spinning classes for awhile. When she had a child, she started walking, pushing her son in a stroller. When she had a second child, walks became more difficult.

“That’s the one thing I like about the Fit,” she says. “I can do it right here and with both of my kids. I can do it any time. I don’t have to change my clothes or worry about the weather. There are no excuses.”

Hethcoat admits she wasn’t sure if the Wii Fit would give her a true workout.

“I didn’t know how that would work exactly, but the first time I got on I thought it was easy,” she says. “I was just having fun, but the next day I could feel my muscles. The more and more you work out, the more levels you unlock the more difficult the workout gets.”

The Wii Fit Mommies site (http://fitness.coolmomguide.com) includes weekly Fitness Friday posts written by both the mommies and a featured forum member. Since the site launched in December, it has gained more than 400 members. The members share their stories of previous weight-loss failures, as well as weekly diary entries detailing their challenges and successes as they work toward their individual weight loss goals.

Hethcoat’s goals are simple. One is to lose weight; a second is to be more active, playing with her children.

“The third one is for my kids, for my daughter specifically, to grow up not watching me worry about my weight, so that’s never an issue for her.”

Andrea Hudy, strength coach for Kansas University athletics, says while the Wii Fit alone does not provide an adequate workout for a highly competitive athlete, it could be beneficial based on each individual’s needs.

“We use many types of resistance training activities and many types of conditioning activities beyond the scope of what the Wii has to offer to help our athletes prepare for the rigors of competition,” she says. “On the other hand, I have often considered purchasing a Wii Fit for some specific activities, such as balance, to help our athletes.”

She explains the Wii Fit has many characteristics of a legitimate exercise program.

“The Wii has the following tracking options — body weight, BMI, balance, agility and Wii fit age. So you do get tracking of improvements in areas and it has a feature that lets you record and track other exercise that you can perform in addition to the work with the Wii,” Hudy says. “The Wii Fit gives you a personal trainer that demonstrates every exercise and performs it with you, encourages you and evaluates how you did each time and it allows you to set the number of repetitions. All of these are features that I would think add legitimacy to any exercise program.”

Hudy explains a person could get a genuine workout if he or she improves weight and BMI, as well as balance and flexibility. So it is possible to see benefits with the Wii.

“It gets you moving and increases your awareness of your fitness level. It encourages you to exercise more,” she says. “I would encourage people to find what works for them and to have some fun with their programs.

“We cannot all be Division 1 athletes, but we can all be more active and healthy. I would encourage people to find what works for them. I have found the Wii to be friendly for all ages and fun for all age groups. It is always popular at family gatherings and gets the children up and moving. That is good to see.”