Like I often tell my husband as he looks toward me horrified, my face covered in a caking green slime mask, hair dripping with oils and heating towels and hands in heating mitts: "Beauty isn't pretty hon"
Case in point: I am test driving a pair of shoes that have intrigued me since I first saw a person wearing them in Asia last summer.
Called MBT (Masai Barefoot Technology) these shoes shift the balance of the body from 
Because the balance of these shoes is out of the norm and imitates an "uneven" walking plain, wearing these shoes forces you to work harder, using muscles that are not ordinarily engaged when walking or running with normal footwear. Not only are your core muscles now engaged but MBT is reported to tighten and tone the feet, ankles, calves, hamstrings, upper and inner thigh, buttocks, stomach and back. It's as if you've got a gym - all in a shoe! Can it be this easy? Can a shoe multi-purpose so exquisitely?
The shoe takes its name from the Masai tribe of Eastern Africa who are known for their elegant and upright posture. This stance is a result of walking barefoot on irregular natural surfaces and working not only the various muscles in legs, stomach and buttocks but standing erect to preserve the skeletal system. These ungainly and clunky shoes come with an instructional dvd and even some starter exercises to get your balance intact before hitting the road.
I took my bright red "Lifestyle" MB T's out for their first test drive this morning and I can report that my calves, buttocks and that oh -so tough to reach part of the very upper thigh are all tingling with fresh blood flow. I did feel my core engage in order to help me stand upright on the pivot point in the centre of the shoe. Worried about the unappealing look? I got so many questions and comments on these unusual looking shoes during my usual morning walk, I'd cooled down long before I was finished the walk. In fact,paired with the right outfit....you can actually make these rather orthopedic looking shoes seem rather "of the moment".
