Category Archives: Healthy living

Review: Skechers Memory Foam walking shoes

NOTE: Please read the comments below this blog before using this review to make decisions on your purchase. Turns out these shoes are hit and miss. If they fit, they feel like God is tickling your tootsies and you’ll float like a dream. Or, you could end up with a pair that feels like your foot is stuck in a bear trap. This review was written after I bought my first pair, and before I bought the second–same size and style–which hurt like crazy.


The original blog post, published in 2014:

One word: YES!!!

You may recall that I recently posted a blog, looking for experts on walking shoes. I’m relatively new to this form of exercise (I’ve been walking since last summer) so when I started looking for a pair of good quality shoes, I needed help. I didn’t know what to look for.

After a lot of consideration and shopping around, I finally settled on a pair of Skechers Sport Active shoes with memory foam, style #11798.

The price was in my range–I’m not a fan of paying high dollar for shoes (I know I just lost some of you, but I prefer to be barefoot on a beach). Comparatively, this is a low priced walking shoe.

I wore them for a test spin this morning. I power walked almost four miles over pavement, dirt road, grass and gravel, uphill and down. About a third of the way into my walk, where my old shoes would have started pinching and the ball of my left foot would have begun to hurt, I felt no discomfort at all. In fact, these shoes are pretty doggone comfy.

I made it all the way home and up a flight of stairs before taking them off and discovered, once I sat down, that I didn’t want to take them off. I’m a barefoot kind of person, but they felt really good.

My concern was that the memory foam wouldn’t spring back. I assumed that, after wearing them a while, the foam would become compacted, as regular soles eventually do. (I have no experience with memory foam, so I don’t know what to expect.) But for now, for today, it popped right back into shape.

I’ll keep you posted and let you know if they stand the test of time. If you don’t hear from me, it’s a safe bet that they’re still doing the job.

 

Shape Shifting is back!

btr player buttonAs promised in recent blogs, after an extremely long hiatus, I finally brought back my BlogTalkRadio show today, with a whole new version of the show. If you were a listener, back in the old days, you’ll recall that I used to feature some pretty cool guests, all of whom were booked to share their expertise in this whole “create your own reality” thing that we’re trying to figure out.

The shows and guests were great, and I really enjoyed doing them, but they gradually drifted away from the topic of Shape Shifting–which I define as the conscious, deliberate release of old thought patterns, to create healthy changes in your body. This usually results in weight balancing–loss or gain–depending on your body’s needs.

But, at the time, when I was doing the old show, no one else knew enough about Shape Shifting to talk about it with me, so I stopped doing the show and moved on to other things.

Well, in December 2012, I started up a Shape Shifting group on Facebook—mostly because I needed it, just like I wrote Shape Shifting to begin with, mostly because I needed it. I had started smoking again, I had gained some weight when my parents both ended up with cancer and my dad even died. I sort of stopped taking care of myself because I just didn’t have time or, quite frankly, the interest.

But once life settled back down again, I realized that if I didn’t start taking better care of my body, I was going to end up sick, too. I’ve already written, in recent blogs, about the big changes I’ve made, so I won’t go into that again.

This time, on the show, I’ll be joined by other Shape Shifters—people who have been in the group with me and who have used the same format to create changes in their own lives. We’ll be demonstrating how to run an in-person Shape Shifters group and how to use the Diary format. We’ll be talking about our own journeys, complete with triumphs, makeovers, challenges and intentions-for-positive-change … and our hope is, in that sharing, that you’ll become excited about your own Shape Shifting journey, and join us regularly.

Even better, you can join the new Facebook group that has been created specifically to go with this show. You can interact with me and each other, and really start digging into whatever it is that’s keeping you from doing this for yourself. It’s my hope that, this time next year, you’ll be able to say Shape Shifting has changed your life.

Now let me say, upfront, that I’m not trying to sell you anything, but I strongly recommend that you read my book, Shape Shifting. It’s going to help you so much in understanding what we’re talking about. Notice that I didn’t say “buy” my book, I said read it. While I’d love it if you’d buy a copy—because, after all, I have to make a living, too—if you can’t afford it, I offer free downloads of the .pdf version. Just so you know, Shape Shifting never has to cost you a dime, except for the money you spend on yourself when buying healthier foods, or fitness equipment, or whatever it is that you need to do. If you want to read the book, visit my website at http://www.shapeshiftingonline.com and you’ll find it there.

Meantime, be sure to listen to today’s show (it’s been archived and is also available on iTunes) and tune in every week to learn how to Shift your Thoughts to Shift your Shape!

 

New Year’s “Intentions”, instead of “Resolutions”

As mentioned in my previous blog, I’m not a fan of New Year’s Resolutions. They don’t last, at least not for me. But I do have a great deal of success with what I call Shape Shifting. Last year, I lost 35 pounds, quit smoking, went from sedentary to walking over 20 miles a week, and a lot of other goals were achieved.

This is the top that prompted me to take my weight more seriously in 2013. I wanted to wear it to a Solstice celebration in 2012 and couldn't even button it! This year I wore it on Christmas Day, after losing 35 pounds.

This is the top that prompted me to take my weight more seriously in 2013. I wanted to wear it to a Solstice celebration in 2012 and couldn’t even button it! This year I wore it on Christmas Day, after losing 35 pounds.

I have a whole new set of Intentions I’ll be working on this year, which I’ll be talking about on my radio show, when it begins airing again–after a long hiatus–on January 8.

After last year’s collective Triumphs, I’m optimistic that I will have achieved these goals–and then some–by next year at this time!

First, the trip to the UK that I’ve been blogging about is a “must-do”. I know that we’re not supposed to get attached to outcomes when manifesting, and that’s what is making this so hard for me. I don’t know how to do that, when the stakes are as high as they seem to be. I know I can manifest, but can I create something so complex and mysterious in such a short period of time?

Next, I want to reach whatever my body’s ideal goal weight is. I’m not looking for a number on the scale, because I honestly don’t know what that number is. I am, however, intending to keep honing my physical self and allowing my proper weight to reveal itself.

Also, Jeff and I need to move to a new home, and soon. His commute is brutal, so we are moving closer to the city. That’s probably my most immediate goal but, as you can see by the order I’ve listed them, the one I’m least interested in.

I’m sure I can come up with others, but I think that three big goals for the year is enough. The rest is just fill-in material.

Anyone else want to post their Intentions for the year, considering it’s New Year’s Day, with a New Moon? And be sure to join me every Wednesday AM (or listen later in the archives) on BlogTalkRadio. I’d be happy to help you to figure out how to make your own goals happen!

Looking for experts: healthy birthday cake recipes!

I’m sending out the call for experts again. This time, I’m looking for recipes for the best tasting healthy birthday cake!

Yellow Sheet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting & Berries

My birthday is Saturday. I would love to celebrate with a cake and candles, but I’ve  lost 35 pounds and cleaned up my dietary habits to the point where the kind of cake I used to eat would probably make me ill. It may taste exquisite, but I know the aftereffects of eating that kind of thing all too well.

So if I’m gonna have a birthday cake, it’s gonna have to be really healthy, with a minimum of fat, sugar and processed ingredients. (This means no Splenda or aspartame.)

This may sound impossible, but I know there are recipes out there and I’m asking for the experts on this subject to chime in.

If you eat mostly clean, what is your favorite cake recipe?