Fitness (attribute)

Fitness is a physical attribute of Sims in The Sims 2 and The Sims 3. Unlike real-life fitness, a Sim's fitness has very little impact on anything other than their appearance. Fitness is not affected by or dependent on the body/athletic skill. Fitness is generally increased through exercise and avoiding over-eating, and fitness is decreased through lack of exercise and eating too much.

The Sims
Fitness is not an attribute in The Sims. A Sim's body shape is determined by the clothes being worn, and, unlike later games, is not affected by exercise, eating or any other activity.

The Sims 2
In The Sims 2, each Sim has a fitness scale, which can be seen in their Simology panel. The scale is divided into thirds, with the lower third being Fat and the upper third being Fit. The middle third is usually called "Thin". When creating a Sim in Create a Sim or Body Shop, the player can choose whether the Sim will be Thin or Fat, but cannot create a Fit Sim.

Fitness has no effect on a Sim other than on his or her body shape. A Sim's body shape is not directly controlled by his or her fitness level, but by flags in his or her character file. These flags normally update when the fitness scale moves into a new range, but they may not do so immediately, Also, it is not unusual for pre-made Sims and Townies to have fitness levels that do not match their body shape flags. A Sim's fitness will decrease if he or she continues to eat after his or her hunger need is full. A notable exception to this is drinking juice, which does not affect a Sim's fitness. Also, if FreeTime is installed, Sims who have Pleasure or Grilled Cheese as a primary or secondary aspiration have aspiration benefits which affect how quickly they gain or lose fitness. The Pleasure benefit Fast Metabolism allows a Sim to build fitness 50% faster, while the Grilled Cheese benefit Bottomless Stomach causes a Sim to lose fitness 50% slower.

Sims can increase their fitness in various ways, but not all are equally effective. Most activities that increase Body skill will build fitness, but not all do. Sims can increase fitness on community lots, even if they are not gaining Body skill. However, their body shape will not change until they go home, unless they are on a college community lot or a secret hobby lot. Children can perform some activities, such as swimming, which build fitness, but if a child reaches the Fit level, his or her body shape may not change until he or she becomes a teen. (Some outfits for children have a working fat morph, but not all do.) Sims do not have to perform fitness-increasing activities to maintain fitness, as long as they do not overeat.

Sims may build or lose fitness on community lots. However, only playable Sims can change their body shape. Townies and playable Sims who appear as non-selectable visitors will not change their body shape regardless of how much they work out—or how much they eat. Their fitness will increase, but their body shape will remain the same.

In the base game, Sims can build fitness by working out, swimming, and doing yoga. With Bon Voyage, they can do Tai Chi or engage in log rolling and axe throwing. With FreeTime, they can use the ballet barre, go jogging, or play basketball or soccer.

Fitness and other life states
Servos and PlantSims can eat, even though they have no Hunger meter, and do not need to eat. Therefore, anything they eat will decrease their fitness. Servos and Bigfoots can become fit or fat, but their bodies will not change.

Other ways to change fitness

 * A witch who has reached level 1 of Magic skill can cast neutral spells which can change any Sim's body shape, even a ghost's. The spell Corpus Athleticus makes Sims fit, while Corpus Fleshicus makes Sims fat.
 * With testingcheatsenabled set to true, shift+clicking a Sim will allow the player to instantly make that Sim fit or fat, but not thin.
 * A Sim's fitness level and body shape flags can be manipulated with SimPE, and can even be used to make a Sim fat and fit at the same time. Sims will appear fat, but they may appear to have somewhat muscular textures on a close examination on the top half of the body. However the game will eventually reset the correct flag that corresponds to the Sim's fitness level.


 * Notes

The Sims 3
Fitness in The Sims 3 has been enhanced from The Sims 2. Sims no longer have a viewable fitness scale. Instead, the only way to tell their fitness is by their physical body shape. Instead of changing all at once when a certain fitness level is reached, a Sim's body shape changes gradually through working out or overeating.

With the Fast Metabolism lifetime reward, Sims gain fitness faster and lose fitness slower, much like the Pleasure and Grilled Cheese aspiration benefits combined. With the Body Sculptor lifetime reward, Sims can choose to instantly become fitter, thinner, or fatter, though the machine might malfunction.

CAS Sims have a slider to change their fitness. Unlike The Sims 2, players can create fit Sims in CAS. In Late Night, a new body slider is added: Muscle Definition. This slider enables the player to change a Sim's muscles. Muscle definition cannot be gained through working out, and is genetic.