If you're anything like me, you're highly skeptical of those shoes, Skechers Tone-Ups...the shoes that are supposed to make you more toned and what-not simply by walking...
Well, I got myself a new pair today. Let's face it, I love my New Balance sneakers, and considering that I've had them since I was 15, they've served me well. But the padding is worn out and it was high time I got a new pair of shoes. Working retail, I am on my feet all day long, and apart from that 30 minute lunch break I occasionally get (you know, when we're not so busy we can't see straight), I am continually walking, rounding the store over and over...and over...and over.
A girlfriend of mine got a pair of Skechers Tone-Ups for Mother's Day, and has since, simply by daily walking (for maybe an hour or two), lost 25 lbs. Apart from cutting soda 95% out of her diet (which, I'm sure, actually REALLY helped), she has not changed her habits AT ALL. So there may actually be something to these shoes...
This morning, while on the phone with a friend back on the east coast, we were discussing whether these shoes work or not, and she told me that she saw on some talk show with "experts" that the shoes absolutely do NOT work. Tried and tested by my other girlfriend (and her mother...and my co-worker's mother), there is evidence to the contrary, and they all swear the shoes have worked wonders for them.
Ever since I saw my girlfriend's on Mother's Day, I thought "Egads, those are horrific to look at! If only the soles were a bit thinner." Well, our store recently got in a new pair with thinner soles (and in black, which is a great color for our uniform) and I have been eyeballing them for, oh, a month now. After thinking about it more and more and talking to several people who swear they work, I went ahead and broke and bought my pair of shoes. I have been informed that they are not as "intensive" as the shoes my girlfriend has, as I bought the kind that you are supposed to be able to wear all day.
I'm wearing them right now, but seeing as I've got laundry to do, I'm sort of just sitting here, not doing a whole lot of walking. Their first test is going to be tonight, as I've got a few errands to run (and Wal-Mart is HUGE...don't hate, I need hangers), and I'll see how I fare.
The REAL test will be tomorrow morning, when I show up at work bright and early at 6 a.m. in my new shoes.
I will be monitoring via this blog, for the next 8 weeks, my progress. I will be measuring myself, weighing myself and generally testing how my clothes fit, my body looks and how I feel. Today, I am 135 lbs and wear a size 10 jean and Medium top. I'm very pear-shaped and have way more thigh (and rear) than I would like, although I do not have a measuring tape to give you exact measurements.
So I guess we'll see how this goes, eh? Commence Day 1.
