So, I've been thinking about getting a Kinect simply for the purposes of working out. Yes, I could go to the gym, thank you, I really, really don't want to though - I hate it. I'm a lazy bastard.
 
Am I lying to myself thinking that a video game could actually make me work out? I think I might, and I also think it might work. Simply because it gives you the ever so important feedback during your exercise since it's interactive, and also because I could do it in my home. My main purpose with the work out would be to lose weight, since I'm 6.3/189 cm and weigh 230 pounds/105 kg, which is at least 20 kg too much. I'm chubby, and I know that if I don't do anything about it (I've been weighing this for a good year now, stable, no gain) I won't only look terrible next summer, I will be risking my health as I get older (I'm 22). 
 
Has anyone tried it with good results? If so, what ''game'' did you use, and did it work well? 
 
Appreciate all feedback except go running, go to the gym, get off your lazy ass and stop playing video games. I know very well I could do those things with motivation and self discipline, which I lack regarding working out. Tricking my brain into believing I'm not working out, just playing video games, is something I think could work.

I got a Kinect for basically the same reason. I've only had it for a week so I can't really report back any "results" yet, I can say that you can get a great workout with it. I've worked up a huge sweat and woken up sore from playing Dance Central and even Kinect Adventures on the more advanced settings can be a tiring experience.  
 
Like any workout, it will only help you if you stick with it, which is my biggest problem. I have a Wii Fit too and I just get so bored with that game that I can't keep playing day after day. I've played Dance Central for at least a half hour every day since I got it. I think the one thing I needed to finally get some exercise was achievements for doing so :) 

don't get a kinect for this reason. 
it just will not work for you, at no fault of the actual device. 
you will get bored of the games and thus end your desire to workout.  its just a fact with any game.
 
one of the best reasons for going to a gym is that your couch and fridge aren't 5 feet away, you would have to have super human control of yourself for the kinect to be effective.    

as a person who works out, i think free weights and machines are vital, not just cardio.  biggest complaint about cardio, it can be BOOORING. 
(thank god for the bombcast and headphones.)
 
yeah you dont want to hear it, but there is no magic bullet.

" I got a Kinect for basically the same reason. I've only had it for a week so I can't really report back any "results" yet, I can say that you can get a great workout with it. I've worked up a huge sweat and woken up sore from playing Dance Central and even Kinect Adventures on the more advanced settings can be a tiring experience.   Like any workout, it will only help you if you stick with it, which is my biggest problem. I have a Wii Fit too and I just get so bored with that game that I can't keep playing day after day. I've played Dance Central for at least a half hour every day since I got it. I think the one thing I needed to finally get some exercise was achievements for doing so :)  "

" don't get a kinect for this reason. it just will not work for you, at no fault of the actual device. you will get bored of the games and thus end your desire to workout.  its just a fact with any game. one of the best reasons for going to a gym is that your couch and fridge aren't 5 feet away, you would have to have super human control of yourself for the kinect to be effective.    as a person who works out, i think free weights and machines are vital, not just cardio.  biggest complaint about cardio, it can be BOOORING. (thank god for the bombcast and headphones.) yeah you dont want to hear it, but there is no magic bullet. "

Just find something that you enjoy doing and set goals for yourself, both long term and short term. It´ll be hard and it will hurt, you´ll want to quit and then you´ll reaaally want to quit; don´t.  
I´ve always hated the gym too, for me it was martial arts what did the trick, but it can be anything really, as long as you are ending up tired as shit and you stick to it.
If you can somehow link the kinect to your motivation it will work, if not well...

Get it. While the exercises aren't the most effective (don't get me wrong, these programs are good) it will help push you towards doing better exercise. It's a good jumping off point albeit an expensive one but if you're interested give it a shot.

Get it, get Dance Central, that's a great cardio workout, and you only need to play like 30 minutes a day or something, it's high intensity at almost any difficulty. 

" Get it, get Dance Central, that's a great cardio workout, and you only need to play like 30 minutes a day or something, it's high intensity at almost any difficulty.  "

I have Dance Central and Your Shape.
 
I was certainly getting a lot of exercise when I first got Dance Central what with me and my wife playing it for like hours a night. Like any other game it's slowed down since but we still tend to hit a couple songs a day so it's not "a lot" of exercise but it still draws sweat, and some is better than none.
 
As for Your Shape, I can't promise I'll stick with it but I can say it's been tearing me up enough to know that if I do, it should work. It's kinda like using a workout tape that tells you when your form and/or timing is not correct - an important element that videos lack.
 

@Keen_12

While the exercises aren't the most effective (don't get me wrong, these programs are good) it will help push you towards doing better exercise. It's a good jumping off point albeit an expensive one but if you're interested give it a shot. "

I haven't played with the Kinect myself but games like Dance Central and Your Shape look like genuinely good work-outs.

It pretty much comes down to what motivates you.   If you get motivated for a while and it tapers off with traditional workouts its likely to do the same thing with Kinect.  That said there are some plus sides to Kinect  aside from Dance Central for cardio.  The EA active and Fitness evolved track your form pretty well which can serve to motivate you to get 100% on all the exercises while learning good form and technique.  With good form and technique your body should eventually hurt less from exercise and the results of the exercise should be more visible.  That might help you stick with it a little bit longer and at the very least if you get bored and decide to move on again knowing good form and technique will help you with other exercise regimens.

" @Ertard: From personal experience - Working out with a video game takes just as much dedication as working out with videos or anything else like that.  I did lose 10lbs one summer doing WiiFit, but I was actually good about doing it religiously pretty much every day as soon as I got up. "

Thanks for all the awesome feedback. I still haven't decided. Truth be told I don't even have a 360 any longer, so I'd have to get one - which wouldn't be only for Kinect and working out, of course, but also for work and console gaming. 
 
@Rattle618:
The main issue is I don't enjoy traditional workouts. At all. In fact, I hate it, and can't motivate myself to do it regardless of reward. Whenever I've done it for longer periods I've been seriously depressed and used it as really good therapy, and gladly I'm not now. And as you said, KInect might work to motivate me, still not sure though.
 
@The_Philosopher:
I drink about 3 liters of water every day and has so been doing for the last 10 years. Yeah, it works. Chewing gum makes you hungrier, but hey, whatever works for ya. I always eat breakfast. The problem is not what I eat, at all. I can eat anything with some restraints, and have no issue with discipline here, and I don't gain weight. In order to lose weight and still continue eating like this I would have to work out - that's the issue. Everyone in my family is fat, even those who work out or have physically demanding jobs, the only reason why I don't get fatter is because I eat properly. Regarding running and walking, I'm a smoker (yeah that might be a bigger issue then weight, I know that :D) and can't hold out for long without coughing up a lung. Also, I can't do it in the winter, I got a weird skin condition that makes my legs/body itch when it's cold (I live in Sweden) and I get warm, with the itch being so powerful I want to scratch my skin off and has so done in the past, with scars to prove it. TL;DR:  I eat ok and the issue is I'm a lazy unmotivated bastard when it comes to exercise. 
 
@ProfessorEss: Sounds good across the board, and seeing what people wrote here I will probably just get Dance Central if I end up doing this whole thing.
 
@agentboolen: Don't live in the US and the closest one is around 300km from here, but I guess all of it applies to any gym with group workouts. Not for me, but thanks for the tip. 
 
@melcene: Yup, I do realize that.. But as Valrog says the feedback might make it work better. 
 
@Vacancy009: Thanks for the nice tips :) 
 
Now to a more important issue I hadn't even considered. Am I totally fucked regarding the Kinect if I don't have enough space? The most I could get from my TV is probablty 10-15 feet / 3-4,5m, live in a small student apartment. Anyone that's tried it in such a small space? I could do the exercise, it's just that the whole Kinect-detector thing might be too close. Am I screwed?