Be Healthier, Wealthier, and Happier

Ever since I decided to start hiking again after many years of not hiking, I’ve seem to have a hard time finding a hiking boots that fits me.  I’ve tried every single possible pairs at local REI; I’ve consulted with endless “experts”.  Inevitably, the hiking boots I end up choosing would crunch my little toes and/or shaft the top of some of toes, or cause endless problems for me after a few miles of hiking.

Following are brands I have personally tried and failed:

1. Merrill
2. Keen
3. Montrail
4. Vasque
5. Garmont

 Thanks to REI’s generous return policy; I returned quite a few pairs until I felt so embarrassed and guilty that I decided to just stick with the last pair I got – a Vasque women’s 6 wide leather hiking boots. 

 I was very hopeful that this pair will work for me.  But as usual, after a while, it was causing me problems in different areas of my foot; most noticeably the skin around my little toes gets all rubbed, red and tear.   I cannot believe it. Are my feet really that wide?! In any case, I wore it to Mt. Whitney anyway; I had no choice.  But see the picture below on all the tapings I had to do on my feet before I can wear the boots.

 This year, I decide to give finding a perfect boots another try.  This time around, I decided to really learn and analyze my own feet first.  Following is what I discovered:

1. REI measured my feet as size 5.5, width: B (regular)  -  Humm I’m not a wide?
2. Oh, I’m mistaken my need for volume as I need wide shoes; big mistake. High volume feet DOES NOT EQUAL to a wide feet.
3. My feet might swell to close to a C after a lot of walking, so roomy toe box helps.
4. I have a narrow heel. (As most women’s feet do)

Now, knowing more about my own feet, it started to make sense why some of the shoes I tried before wouldn’t work for me.  For example, I mistake my needs for volume for needing a pair of wide shoes.  So, I bought Keen.  Yes, Keen shoes probably have the widest toe box I’ve experienced.  Yet, why do I still feel the rub?  After consulting with REI specialist, I realized, Keen shoes are actually considered a low volume shoes.  The Last is wide (fit size D) but low volume.

 I found, for the most part most of the women’s hiking boots at my local REI seems to leaning toward lower volume or having Last that don’t really suit women’s feet that well.

 Since I’m out of options, I ended up having to turn to online stores for possibilities.  The problem with online stores though is that it is a MUST that I try the boots on for fit; yet I would hate to have to pay for return shipping if a boots that doesn’t fit.

 Thanks to zappo.com, they have fairly big selections of hiking boots and they have the free, no hassle return policy.  After some research, I decided to order a pair of Garmont sitka XCR because from what I can tell, people are raving about Garmont’s roomy toe box.

 I was excited to try my Garmont on after it arrives.  Yack!  My little toes still feel “something”.  How can this be?  After some adjustment with the laces, it seems to feel better.  OK, I’ll give it a shot.  Humm, “something” is just off for me.  A little pinch on the toes; some pain on my sheen,…  After trying the shoes on for 3 consecutive days, I sadly had to declare that Garmont won’t fit me either.  Back to square 1.

 Half discouraged, I went back online and read some more on other options.  I stumble on some articles written about Salomon have shoes that is designed and made specifically for women.  Their Last is different than most other shoes because many hiking boots vendors’ Last are really design more for men? Can that be the issue?  I ended up ordered Salomon Mission GTX at zappo.com.  I figure why not?  I’m out of option.

 So, the shoes came.  Wow, this is different.  Immediately, I see the boots has a shape of fairly roomy toe box (not wide but higher in volume), yet has much narrower heel.  I put my feet in them.  I don’t feel pinched on my toes yet I feel my heels really stay in place.  Since the soles for these shoes are pretty stiff, I figure it will still need some break-in period for my feet to get use to the boots, but now I am hopeful again that I may finally found a pair of hiking boots that I can really love.

 Treading carefully this time, I made sure I wore my Salomon in the house for few days; then I took it to my brother’s house and try walking stairs with it before I took it to a local trail (Once I wore it on the trail, I can’t return it).  I started with just a couple miles, and then I went up to about 5 miles; so far so good.  I am really happy that I found my Salomon!  It’s the best fitting hiking boots for me so far!  I am totally ecstatic that my over 2 years of searching are over!

 The biggest lesson I learned from this experience is that in order to find a hiking boots that really fit us well; we must first understand the shapes of our feet.  Without knowing our own feet and the proper terminologies, we can be asking the wrong questions and therefore getting the wrong answers from the experts.

 Also, it’s important not to settle; there is a right pair of shoes for us, we just need to be patient and keep trying different pairs until we find it.   Online shopping is a great option because it would be difficult to find a store close by that carries all brands.

 Finally, do not buy shoes that are too big thinking that would solve your fit issue; it won’t because the arch won’t be in the right place to give you the right fit. Remember wide shoes doesn’t equal to high volume shoes, so watch out and keep looking.

Do you often wake up with stiff neck and shoulder, lower back pain, numbed arm and/or legs?  Lately, I have a few such episodes of discomfort.  It prompts me to do some research and revisit my sleeping and sitting postures.  I thought I share my findings with you.

It appears that most of us (at least me) are not using the pillow properly.  I thought the pillow was mainly to support my head; but in reality, it should be supporting my neck!  Also, to ensure my lower back gets proper rest, I am suppose to have a small pillow under my knees.  Wow, I had no idea!  I guess I really have been ignoring and not give proper support in maintaining the natural curvatures on my neck and my lower spine.  I’m really feeling it now.

Below are some links with pictures in it that I found that might give you a better sense of what I am talking about.

http://www.clevelandclinic.org/health/health-info/docs/0300/0359.asp?index=4485

http://www.riverside-online.com/health_reference/Brain-Spine-Stroke/LB00003_D.cfm

http://www.pthands-on.com/posture.html

Well, I am no doctor or anything; this is purely base on my own experience that I like to share with you. So, take it for whatever it is worth and definitely check with your doctor first.

Even though supposedly I lived in the “warmer” side of the country –California, I always dread the winter season because it seems that every season for one reason or another, I bound to get the cold or the flu of the season (last year, I decided to start taking flu shot, but this year they ran out in my area) .  The problem is while most people can seem to get over their cold or flu in a week or so, my symptoms would last at least 3 weeks to over 1 month!  I felt miserable the whole time.

In the past few years, I’ve been told that taking vitamin-C will really help.  So, I started my extra vitamin-C in the winter season; it helps, but on the occasion that I sill get the cold or flu, continue taking vitamin-C seems to have minimum effect in helping me shorten the cold or flu’s duration.

This year, I got a tip from a friend telling me that actually zinc is most needed and it will really help; so I decided to give it a try.  This time, I take both vitamin-C and Zinc.  Surprisingly, yes, I did feel much better and I got over my cold and flu much faster! (Yes, unfortunately, I got both the flu and the cold this year L).   It’s worth pointing out that I didn’t take any over the counter medicine at all; just vitamin c and Zinc!  I got over my last cold in less than a week!  Wow, this has never happen to me before; that why I recommend you to give zinc a shot. By the way, I took the time to read more upon zinc on the internet.  The consensus is that when we have a cold, our zinc level seems to get depleted quicker. Since zinc is really necessary to boost your immune system, taking zinc supplement is definitely recommended.  However, we do have to be careful on not having too much zinc in our body.  So, my strategy is taking 1 tablet a day only while I am sick, but never while I am health.  So far so good…

Lately I’ve been experience a lot of foot pain, knee pain and even lower back pain.  When I told my friend about it, he told me that he has the same problem; but his feet have gotten better now after his wife (who is a nurse practitioner) brought some insole at REI to put in his shoes.   So, I quickly went to REI and got myself these “magic” insoles that he was talking about.  Just as he said, my feet had gotten a lot better after wearing the shoes with these insoles in them. 

After some research, I found that all of my pain could be a result of long term improper support on my feet to start with.  It turn out the long walking and the poor support caused my arch to collapse (or inflames) and therefore causing my knee extra strains when I walk… 

Anyway, the insoles that he was referring to is Super Feet http://www.superfeet.com/products/ they have all kinds of insoles that help to provide a better support for our feet.  The one I got was the green one.  I’m also trying the blue one for my boots.  They both seem to be very comfortable; I can definitely feel the extra support on my feet.  I can image that my arch is saying “aha, finally I can rest” J  So if you feel pain on your heels and having knee pains too, you might want to try a pair of these insoles before consider paying big $$ for other solutions.