My children gave me a Nintendo Wii video game console and a “Wii Fit” video game for Christmas. I was excited. Exercise isn’t my favorite pastime, and I thought a Wii Fit would make exercise more fun.

I stepped on the “Wii Fit” balance board for the first time and let it tell me what kind of physical shape I was in. It told me I was overweight. Actually I am right on the line between overweight and obese. Someone who lives in my household with me snickered as I was doing this. My response was to tell the snickerer to try this. Of course, the snickerer decided quickly to snicker in another room where he was safe.

I decided to try the balance exercises since I have had broken bones in both a leg and foot in the last five years. It told me I was unbalanced. The snickerer told me he already knew this. I wasn’t too shocked by the unbalanced diagnosis as I tip over easily, but the overweight/obese diagnosis made me face what I already knew but did not want to acknowledge.

When my jeans were too tight I told myself that they shrunk in the wash. When I looked in the mirror as I was trying on clothes at retail stores I told myself that they rig the mirrors. But alas the Wii is right — I am overweight, almost obese. I decided to take the Wii seriously and use it to exercise.

I was proud of myself that I actually was taking the time to work with the Wii every day. After a few days I decided to check out the progress I had made and I let the Wii evaluate me again. I had gained weight! How could that be? The snickerer, who happened to be hiding behind a door, informed me that chocolate and brownies might have something to do with it.

Recently the headlines focused on the fact that more and more Americans are obese. They determined that fast food restaurants and school lunches contributed to Americans’ obesity and especially American children being overweight.

I thought about this as I picked up various grocery ads this week. I looked at the ads because my shelves were like Mother Hubbard’s. The cupboards were bare and I couldn’t even give my dog a bone. Although Sam doesn’t head to the cupboards, he heads to the refrigerator every time we open its door as he knows the good treats are there, or so he hopes. However, the refrigerator was bare, too.

As I checked out the ads I realized that they featured many deals, but most of them were for fast, prepackaged, highly processed foods.

I didn’t become overweight because I frequent fast food restaurants. I became overweight because I don’t take the time to exercise, and I don’t take the time to cook a healthy meal or have healthy snacks on hand.

Part of the reason I don’t do those things is because a busy life gets in the way of planning. It is easier to eat prepared packaged snacks and dinner foods then to take the time to cook from scratch. Also, as I look at the ads and check out the prices, I find that pre-packaged, fast-preparation foods are the cheapest, but these foods also contain breading and many calories. It is easier and cheaper for me to buy these already prepared foods than it is to start from scratch and take the time that I don’t usually have to cook.

It is also easier to sit in front of the TV or computer than it is to exercise. There is so much technology that keeps us busy, we don’t have the time to take care of our health. It is work to eat healthy and take care of ourselves.

I started the Blue Zones challenge but didn’t finish because I broke my foot. That isn’t an excuse, but it was my excuse. I couldn’t get around to exercise and someone else fixed my meals, but I could have tried harder. When I was healed I could have started over but I didn’t. So my Wii is right. I am overweight and I am unbalanced. We will just block out the almost obese.

I can’t blame the fast food restaurants; I can only blame me. If I had children who were overweight, I couldn’t blame the fast food restaurants or school. I could only blame me because I would be the parent who was feeding them.

However, after looking at the grocery ads and looking at the economy and the people who are out of work and struggling to feed their family, I can understand why it is hard to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Feeding a family so they can eat healthy costs money, unless you are lucky enough to be able to have had a garden or access to raising your own meat.

So the news can tell us Americans are overweight. The news can tell us that fast food is part of the cause. Fast food is cheap so maybe that is all people can afford when feeding their family. Maybe processed, prepared food is how Americans are able to put food on their table. So instead of the news telling us what is wrong, perhaps they can help us find a solution so healthy foods are affordable for all.

But the buck actually stops at me. I am the cause of my own weight gain. I can’t blame fast food, the economy, my mother and father or the snickerer behind the door. Possibly I can blame the Snickers bar that I consume every day.

Wells resident Julie Seedorf’s column appears every Monday. Send e-mail to her at thecolumn@bevcomm.net .Her blog is paringdown.wordpress.com. Listen to KBEW AM radio 1:30 p.m. Sundays for “Something About Nothing.”