JayPEll's Shoe Blog

At the start of The MBT Project, I hypothesized that I could eat about the same as I always do, exercise about the same, and – simply by injecting regular MBT walks into my routine – my body would shed 5 pounds. Those extra pounds would just melt away, is what I hypothesized.

Now, three weeks into my experiment, the gods of weight loss have responded. “Hahahahahahahahahaha,” they said. “Only an ignorant fool would think it would be that easy.”

Well, color me ignorantly foolish because, despite my best efforts – in addition to regular workouts, I’ve been MBT-walking everywhere here in South Beach – I am not losing any weight. I think I’ve even gained a little, if you can believe that (I can’t).

How is this possible? Maybe it’s because MBTs aren’t miracle workers. Despite all their technology and loyal customers, they’re just heavy shoes with a fancy sole. It could also be that walking isn’t really effective exercise, at least not for us reasonably fit folks: At best, it’s a maintenance activity.

Or, perhaps it’s because the food and wine in Miami are just too good.

You can draw your own conclusions as to what’s really going on, but I will admit that I’m probably overindulging dietarily. Can you blame me? The restaurants in Miami are fabulous. I am married to a man from Italy who loves to cook. Special shoes or not, the deck is stacked against me.

So, I’m sticking with the MBT walks – if exercising more than usual is what I need to do just to maintain my weight here in Miami, then I’ll do it. It’s hardly a hardship tour, and at least it isn’t snowing.