So I decided to give the ‘toning’ shoe craze a chance.  People have emailed me about if I have ever tried the shoes and I want to be completely honest in this post. I hope not to offend anyone, but I really did a LOT of work on this review throughout the month of November. I wanted to be able to come back with details results of how it worked out for me. Now granted this is going to be a huge post, so in order to get everything to load, give it a second.

I started off with taking my measurements of my hips, butt and thighs on November 1st. (AHHHHHHHHH scarrrrrrrrrry! ha ha)

I’m no scientist. I’m not a personal trainer, nor do I know anything really besides what I learned in High School through my cross country coach. But I really wanted to put a lot into this experiment, so I did what we did so often in Biology. Write down everything. Logs of everything. I tried to get as much information as I could for this post. I decided I would take measurements every week along with pictures of my legs and a side view as well as log my workouts and what I did when wearing the toning shoes. I made sure to track what I did every time I wore them and tried to wear them at least 5 times a week. I wanted to give it a fair shot as to what I was doing and what I thought would be helpful to see exactly what I did to get where I was and if I happened to get any results then I would know that they were working.

See the workout log HERE! (You’ll have to zoom in) Out of 30 days of November, I only didn’t wear the shoes at all 7 of those days. I made sure to wear the shoes every single time I went to the gym or walked. I also made sure to wear the shoes if I was just walking around the house whether cleaning or just doing things around the house. I made sure this was also done when doing the small things around the house. I feel like the shoes are made and marketed to be worn when working out or walking, so that’s what I made sure to do. I didn’t do anything out of the ordinary in the shoes that I wouldn’t normally do. I think the shoes are suppose to help tone during daily life and the main use of them is to tone as you walk and do daily chores, not going above and beyond to work out and get toned through going to the gym. I feel like they are marketed to users that if you wear these shoes instead of normal shoes you’ll be toned and ready to go. I wore them as much as I could during the month of November and to the gym as well. Here is my ‘data’ below that I took. I have never done this much work for a review, but I felt like these deserved a fair chance and there has been much controversy surrounding them.

So onto the measurements. For the hips, I measured at my natural hips. For the butt,  I measured at where my butt was the largest and all the way around to the front. For the thighs, I measured 5 inches down from the joint of my leg.

November 1-7

Hips: 36

Butt: 40

Thighs: 19

Side View Week 1

Front view week 1

I half expected to be sore after working out in the shoes. I don’t know why but I expected to feel a difference. There was nothing different about the first week working out in the shoes. I felt normal and took my measurements to start week 2.

Week 2: November 8-14

Hips: 36

Butt: 40

Thighs: 19

Side View Week 2

Front View Week 2.

Still didn’t feel any different from working out with the shoes. I felt like my legs, butt and thighs felt the same as they always did. I knew I wouldn’t drop numbers in the first week but I was kind of thinking maybe something would happening in the third week when I took my measurements again.

November 15-21

Hips: 36

Butt: 40

Thighs: 19

Front View Week 3

Side view week 3.

After this week and the measurements, I was a little bummed. I felt like I was doing a lot in the shoes. I even was wearing them a lot when doing chores around the house, which is what a lot of commercials state. I really wanted my final week to show SOMETHING! Just so that I could have some change.

November 22-30

Hips: 36

Butt: 40

Thighs: 19

So after a month, my measurements ended up being:

Hips: 36

Butt: 40

Thighs: 19

I’m not going to lie, this was a LOT of work to do and track everything. I was actually really bummed that nothing changed after all that. I never felt like any muscles were getting ‘more of a workout’ than others and I never felt any different throughout the whole month. I thought I might get sore the first few days but everything stayed pretty consistent.

I can see these as being a great motivator to get yourself out the door if you have NEVER exercised ever before, but I can’t really see them as being a great addition to anyone’s closet who already works out. I also can’t imagine how far you have to walk in them to see results. I know that I walked about 2-3 miles in them when I did walk in them or work out in them, and maybe they give you results if you walked a far distance in them, say 5-10 miles, but if you haven’t ever exercised before, and decided to walk any amount of distance or added a few weekly trips to the gym to your routine, don’t you think that would make you lose weight without the shoes? Just a though.If you’re already using the shoe and getting awesome results, keep up the awesome work! It might just work differently for different people, just like some people can take GUs and I…. can’t. :) If this is what it takes to get you moving and groovin’ then keep it up! If you are looking for something different, try them out for yourself! I am just questioning the idea since I didn’t get any results.

If a huge portion of American’s are overweight, and a shoe claims it can tone you, make you lose weight and get you fit, and a group of these overweight of people start walking in the shoe and see results, more power to them! I’m happy that it’s getting some people off the couch and onto the streets. Whatever it takes to make Americans more healthy.

I really wanted results since I felt like I put so much effort into testing them. Maybe it takes longer than a month. Maybe it takes three months. I still wear them on occasion to the gym, but the fact that I never feel sore after I do workouts or walk in them, and I might be a masochistic, but I like the sore feeling, just a little bit, then I know what I’m doing is working. I guess I like the burn. When I put on my night cream and I feel it burning, I think it’s working. When I get a peel at the spa, and it burns, I feel like it’s getting rid of dead skin, so when my legs burn at the gym, I guess I think that I’m doing something right. I’ve always been that way.

So I guess I’m going to stick to running the stairs when I want to tone my butt, legs and thighs. I’ll keep doing my stair stepper routines at the gym and I’ll enjoy the burning feeling I get and the salty sweat dripping into my face. I’ll keep doing my donkey kicks to get my rear in gear and I’m glad that I gave them a fair chance.

I am really grateful for New Balance and letting me test these shoes for free. They were pretty comfortable, but I just wouldn’t say they ‘worked’ for what they claim to do.

xoxo

Yesterday was my last race of the year, and the first race I ran in quite a while. It was the Operation Jack Half Marathon. It was pouring Christmas night and I was rather nervous that I would be running in rain the next morning. I am like a cat when it comes to water, and I knew I wouldn’t fare well in the rain. I woke up to a bright pink sunrise and a perfect day! I was so excited to head out to Manhattan Beach and even donned my new Nike long sleeve for the chilly weather. I parked and headed down the start. Being a smaller race, checking in was super quick! I tried to get Claude to pick up satellite, but was having a little problem with him and realized that his batteries were dead. :( Oh well. I wasn’t running for time and was already excited seeing so many people I knew. It was different being at a race where I wasn’t sitting down behind a table trying to answer trouble shooting questions!

A picture my friend Mitch took. Who is an extreme manic and always a friendly face, but what in the WORLD am I doing?! Here’s a picture of Mitch and I as well!

And I realized, though I wasn’t sporting my Maniac attire, my visor is maniacish! I should puffy paint maniac number 2034 on int!

Emil and I at the start of the race, which was BEAUTIFUL!

We were off and without Claude, I was a little lost. I knew I wouldn’t be close at all to my PR or even really around two hours and told myself to just enjoy the race and seeing so many of my friends that I haven’t gotten the chance to run with lately! I’ve also have recently gotten back into the swing of things so I knew that putting in this many miles after not running consistently for about 2 months would be tough.

I turned around and kept looking at the sky, it was SO beautiful out and though there was a chill in the air, it was awesome! I kept running into more people I knew and it was awesome to slow down or speed up to run with them and catch up, I enjoyed chatting with everyone! Great seeing everyone out there supporting Sam, who completed his 61st marathon this year at this race!

There were constantly planes taking off as they take off from Los Angeles and fly right over this path. It was so exciting since I had just got a 17 DAY TRIP TO EUROPE FOR CHRISTMAS! Envisioning myself on a plane in August off to Europe made me SO excited.

We ran along this river run-off and it was just so nice to see the snow on the mountains in the distance and have a great run. The sky was reflecting perfectly in the water and before I knew it I was turning around and heading back towards the finish line.

The last two miles were a little tough for me as I was tired and ill-prepared, but I was excited to finish and support all that Sam worked for this past year. I was glad it wasn’t my 61st marathon of the year! It was a relief to reach the finish line and I’m glad I ran that far and picked a fun race to see so many people!

Here’s my friends Lori and Eric and I after the race, with our medals.

Emil and I had to take a new picture after the race too! Here we are with our medals! I loved my new Nike hoodie too!

Hooray for the last race of the year! I’m pretty sure I finished around 2:2x. It wasn’t chip timed, but I surely had a great time and it was seriously awesome to see so many people of the running community stay committed to Sam’s cause and what he was working towards all year. I got the chance to talk to many friends and that is what running is all about. As I was rounding the corner to the finish I was reminded what a great community runners are (when they aren’t flooding my email inbox at work with weird questions). Thanks to all those who came out and who were there to see Sam cross the finish line this year!

xoxo

The lucky Zensah Winners were comments number:

Running Nicki won the sports bra

and

comment number 41 – Kim won the $50 gift card!

Congrats guys! If you email me at [email protected], I will get you in touch with the right person for your prize.

I am so excited for the last giveaway, and so thankful that Nana Smith Designs offered to give away one of my FAVORITE necklaces. I have mine and wear it daily, and love it! I get a lot of compliments on it too!

Mine is the 26.2 on a heart and I am showcasing it in this horrible picture I took of myself after the gym! Sick! Oh well, sorry I wasn’t going to shower just for the picture! :)

Nana Smith Designs is giving away this one!

I LOVE this necklace and it retails for $65! Her stuff is so cute and dainty but still shows that you kick some serious butt, which I love. So many necklaces that are running related seem to be so bulky or masculine and these are girly and can be worn every day without being overwhelming or drawing too much attention. I wear mine to all the events I work and every now and then I think about how I have run marathons too. Sentimental and weird, I know. So there are two ways to enter.

One way to enter is to leave a comment saying how running makes you courageous! Here’s what I would comment

“Running makes me feel courageous because after a run I feel like I can take on the world and it makes me feel really strong!”

The other way to enter is to tweet about the giveaway including @chicrunner and @nsdesigns.

You can also find her on facebook if you want to know more about her jewelry. Also make sure to stop by her website! Great gift ideas for Valentines Day (yes, I saw some valentines decorations yesterday at the store), Birthdays, First Marathons, anything! She’s so sweet and I’m so happy that she ends the giveaways of December off on a great note!

I got in a GREAT gym session this morning with 7 miles on the bike, a quick mile on the treadmill and about 30 minutes of weight training. I am really getting back into the swing of things and finally am feeling awesome about working out again. On the other hand, I can’t believe I’m running a half in three days!

Good luck to everyone and I hope you all have enjoyed the December giveaways!!

xoxo

You may remember when I posted about Sam and his quest to run 60 marathons in 2010 to raise awareness for Train for Autism and his son, Jack, who has Autism. He formed Operation Jack and has traveled all over the country completing this goal this year. He will complete his goal this weekend and finish off the year with 61 marathons!

The above picture is Sam and his family. I am excited to let everyone know that I will be running in the Operation Jack Half Marathon here in California the day after Christmas! I am really excited to run this last half marathon of the year and in honor of Sam and all his efforts! It will be a great day out there and great to catch up with Sam after all his travels this year.

All proceeds from the Operation Jack Marathon will go to Train 4 Autism and the best part is that YOU can run remotely for Operation Jack whether it’s 6.1 miles, a half or a full you can participate too! You can learn all about it here and I know Sam is trying to get all 50 states represented! If you are in the LA area, come out to Dockweiler State Beach and run a half or full with us!

It will be a lot of fun and though I’ve basically only ran as far as 6 miles recently, I know it will be a great day and I will enjoy myself because I haven’t raced in forever!

Tomorrow I will post the Zensah winners and also put up the final giveaway of December!

xoxo

I have really been working hard to get back into the fitness swing of things. Being a lucky bird and having three weeks off from work, I know I can get back in the groove and I’m really excited about it. I ran Friday and Saturday morning, IN THE RAIN. Big step for me. I also went to the gym both those days. The good soreness is back and I’ve officially kicked off training for the LA Marathon! I will go over my plan and schedule in an upcoming post and will post tomorrow about my upcoming race, the day after Christmas.

This morning I had another encouraging run as well, and beat the rain and only ran in the drizzle. With 4.5 miles under my belt and another great workout session, I know this time off will really allow me to start training right and I’m really excited about it. Back to the grindstone and it feels great!

The other day I was tweeting a picture of my tree with all the pretty presents underneath. There’s one for my friend Tara under there so I text it to her so she could see it before I mailed it to her.

I told her to look under the dangly legs of the Flamingo and it was right there. I didn’t realize it but I have been collecting flamingos/flamingo themed things for a while. It was something that my mom and I liked because they were pink and we made them kind of represent Breast Cancer Awareness. So we liked them a lot and somehow this transformed into getting flamingo ornaments after she passed away from a few people, mostly my aunt. After Tara saw one, I told her I would take her on a Flamingo Tour of my tree! I had NO idea I had so many Flamingo Ornaments, but I LOVE them! So I thought I would share them with everyone!

First off, we have present flamingo with the Santa Hat. I don’t know why but the eye kind of creeps me out on this one.

Next is a little flamingo with a wreath around it’s neck, how festive and fitting on the tree!

Then we have a little flamingo who is out fishing and even has a fish and little flip flops.

Then we have his match carrying his fish and dressed in a bikini, with flip flops and a little grass skirt.

Another swimming flamingo in an inner tube and little goggles and flippers!

Santa is getting in the flamingo mood with a flamingo inner tube and some flippers!

Another innertubed flipper clad flamingo, this one has a little lei and a bikini too.

The ballerina flamingo! I love how sparkly this one is and I love the little crown. It’s even got little ballerina shoes!

A little fluffy flamingo with feathers!

Then we have dangly legs! This one is SO heavy that it looks like he’s hanging himself :(

Lastly, I have just a regular flamingo!

I love all the ornaments and really realized that this is a tradition that I have and I gladly am going to be looking for more flamingos to add to my flock!

Merry Christmas from my flock to yours!

xoxo