Habit 1: High Heels

I was really about to go with Self Doubt today, but, am still working on that post, based on some comments I received yesterday… So, today we will talk about high heels…. how I love them, yet my feet now hate them.  Is this a part of that growing up thing I keep hearing about?  Anyway…. here are my thoughts on needing to give up high heels:

Okay, I am by no means girly.  Ask J.  I think it irritates her how ungirly I am.  I don’t like pink (oddly, I volunteer for a breast cancer agency), in really dressy outfits I fidget (couldn’t wait to get out of my wedding dress, and it wasn’t even fancy and fluffy), sparkles make me hurl… I am not girly.  I am friends with J, she is girly enough for both of us, and has enough pink for 10 of us.  So, it’s good.  Anyway… the heels.  That is the one girly thing about me.  I LOVE shoes… love them.  I actually think some of it is from when I was heavier.  I could never find clothes that I loved on my body or that fit comfortably, but shoes, always looked good, and, that made me happy.  I remember one day years ago I was traveling between two offices, it was a long morning filled with unnecessary travel due to miscommunication.  I stopped at Kohl’s on my lunch break on the drive, and found the cutest pair of 4” heels that were red plaid, with a satin bow.  I called them my happy shoes.  Thankfully I had a black dress on… I bought them, went to the car, and put them on.  Instantly my mood changed.  When I moved here, my husband took spare wood and made me shoe racks (I love that man).  I find the smell of leather intoxicating when I walk into a shoe store.  DSW is heaven on earth to me.  I really do love shoes…. and don’t even care that most think it’s odd how happy a cute pair can make me, or how intoxicating the smell of a shoe store is to me.  I am a little weird, that was established years ago.  So why am I discussing this habit??

Well, I am noticing, the more I run, the less comfortable the 4” heels are.  Yes, there is tons of science and research about the bio-mechanics of the body and that they literally AREN’T good for you… but that never stopped me (bah with logic).  I actually work in a health and nutrition department with an exercise physiologist, who has informed me and forwarded several studies that anything over 2 1/2″ is bad. I am not discussing the need to quit heels because of research and others regularly telling me they are bad.  Not even because in 4″ heels I am taller than my husband.  Nope, finally, I am listening to my body.  Apparently my body has a lot to say to me after many years of me ignoring it.  My legs and feet don’t love being in them all day, despite their cuteness and that my brain loves the happy feeling I get looking at them.  As a friend stated Saturday when we were shoe shopping (I bought a cute pair of black patent 2” heels) there are shoes you will spend the day in and shoes that you sit and look good in.  So, the 4” heels are the shoes you wear somewhere you can sit and look good in them, not need to actually walk around all day in them.  So very true.  Will I be donating my heels to Good Will?  Sorry, but no.  I have ended relationships easier than I have parted with shoes, it really hurts to let a pair go.  Will I still buy them, perhaps, but not nearly as often… some outfits call for killer heels that I can look great in. But, I will stop wearing them every day.  I will go with the reasonable 2” heel or flats.  They make adorable flats (I know this, because I have numerous pairs)!  Oddly, my sneakers are becoming my favorite pair of shoes, well, those and flip flops (we are not discussing how they are not good for my feet).  So, less high heels… I can do this.  
 
I am actually very interested in trying out the TOMS (www.toms.com or @toms).  One, it is a great cause, and two those I know that have them rave about the absolute comfort of them.  Well, that, and they have cute styles…. Hey, I want comfort and CUTE.  I am not wearing grandparent looking orthopedic shoes… I will find the best of both worlds.  
So… what are your favorite comfortable shoes (other than your running/workout shoes)?  
Have you given up high heels?  How did your body thank you?