A bit of a departure from our regular theme here:

236 years of defending our freedom.  Happy Birthday to the United States Marine Corps!

First of all, I wear shoes.  Let's face it, in our society, you really need to wear them sometimes.  I work in an environment where they are required.  OK, fine.  When I'm OUT of that environment, however, I'm either barefoot, or wearing something really minimalist.  I only run in huaraches that I got from Invisible Shoe (There's a photo and a link on the right side of the page if you want to take a look at them).  The shoes that I wear for work are wide, flat, as close to zero drop from heel to toe as I can get.  I notice what others are wearing, though.  In particular, what the womens' shoe industry does to feet is criminal.  You see women balancing on a 4" spike with their toes pointed down at a 45 degree angle, squeezed into a pointed toe!  They can barely walk in those, let alone run if the need arose.  Over time, such footwear takes its' toll on us.  I wore, in years past, and for quite some time, western style boots.  They were not much better than what I just described.  Same problem.  Raised heel, pointed toe.  I have a nice "bunion" to show for it.  Fortunately, I wised up before I had enough damage to cause it to hurt, but it's there, and it always will be, barring a surgical intervention.  Kids' feet are perfect.  They don't need any help from "engineers" at a shoe company, who claim to be coming up with "better" shoes all the time.  I looked at some "running shoes" from a major company the other day.  There must have bee a full 2" of rubber and gel under the heel.  Your feet have had a couple of million years of evolution and adaptation.  Nature got it right.  It doesn't need help from a "shoe engineer", and your feet don't need to be encased in a $150.00 box in order to perform.  Case in point. At the top of this post  is a picture of my 6 year old son's foot.  No bunions there, just a foot designed for performance.  (OK, it was a little dirty from running around with the dogs (who, amazingly,  also do just fine without shoes) If you are wearing those toe smashers, get out of them.  Go to something flat and wide when you have to wear them.  Let your feet be.................feet.  They don't need to be re-designed.

Christopher McDougall | Born to Run | National Bestseller:

'via Blog this'

Great video of Christopher McDougall talking about our running ancestry.

Holidays are upon us.  This is a traditional time of the year for yet ADDITIONAL weight gain.  Many homes, offices, clubs, etc. will have various holiday parties, and you might find yourself in a position of going to more than one.  Living a healthy lifestyle doesn't have to mean being a hermit.  You don't have to, as I've said in prior posts, live in a shack in the woods and eat turnips in order to avoid weight gain.  You just need to BUDGET those calories, and be aware of what you are really consuming.  If you have a party to go to, you need to start budgeting early.  Get some exercise during the day, (which, hopefully, you are doing anyway).  Get in your morning run, or walk, or bike ride, or swim.  Take an additional walk at lunchtime.  These things all burn some energy, and that's the name of the game.  Eat breakfast, but go a little lighter, and include plenty of protein.  It will stay with you longer.  Skip the caramel mocha frapawhatever on the way to work, that'll help you to bank  200-400 calories for consumption later.  When you are at the party, be aware of what you're doing.  It's so easy to eat mindlessly at one of those functions.  A handful of nacho chips, 140 calories.  Nibbling on nuts while you're talking, (2 oz., around 300 calories.  Veggie tray..........safe, right?  Nope.  Grab the piece of cauliflower, great.........dunk it in a big glob of ranch dressing, 50 calories.  Do that half a dozen times throughout the evening, and you've glommed down 300 calories worth of just ranch dressing!  Cheese cubes, the ever present tray at many parties.  A 1 oz cube, roughly 100 calories.  Now it's time for dinner!  Never a light calorie affair at such functions, but you may have gulped down 700-1000 calories just hanging around WAITING for dinner!  Just be aware.  It will sneak up on you.  After dinner, a piece of pumpkin pie- 300 calories.  A little scoop of ice cream, add another 100-150.  Budget your needed daily calories, figure out what you NEED that day, depending upon your level of physical activity, and STICK TO IT!  If you go over, you can plan on additional fat storage.  It's not really that simple, of course.  Your body doesn't work that way in a single day.  If you break over one day, you can go lighter the next day or two and even it out with little or no problem, but what I'm getting at is a mind set.  Make a calorie budget and stick to it.  Learn to say no thank you to the chips, the pie, the sweet drinks.  They don't give you much nutritionally, and they are calorie dense with sugar, flour, etc., not to mention the salt that you don't need.  I want you all to stay the course during this upcoming holiday season, and get through it still on track to a healthier life.  Go to the party, but remember that YOU are in control.  Eat some nuts, eat some cheese, eat the vegetables on the platter WITHOUT the big glob of dressing.  You can do it.

RESPONSIBILITY...................We have a very forgiving society.  Sometimes TOO forgiving for our own good.  In eons past, many of those who couldn't participate in the hunt died.  We have, as a general rule, adopted many "safety nets" to prevent this from happening.  This, however, shouldn't abrogate our personal responsibility to keep our bodies as strong as possible.

     We have very few physical demands to accomplish our basic survival in modern times.  Transportation, food, and shelter of some sort are available to most, and require little physical activity to obtain.  While our society, admirably, tries to ensure that all have basic survival needs, we have, if we choose, the luxury to neglect or abuse our bodies with inactivity, excessive food, and various natural and chemical substances in order to achieve a temporary, but false, sense of well-being.

     The pervasive use of alcohol and various drugs is a symptom of a larger problem.  I certainly won't solve it here, but at least we can try to put it in some perspective.  If we allow ourselves to fall into that trap, we are banking on the largess of others if those societal "safety nets" fail.     This surfaces most frequently, during natural or man-caused disasters. Earthquakes, fires, floods, tsunami, terrorist attacks.  The thin veil of safety in society is instantly stripped away, and we are, without notice nor consult, INSTANTLY slammed back to CAVEMAN status.  The survival instincts are hard-wired and still intact.  If you are, however, trapped inside a body rendered ineffective by decades of inactivity and self-abuse, the usefulness of your survival instincts is minimized.  You need to be able to run down 50 flights of stairs, climb a tree to avoid flood waters, fight off an attack, jump out of the way of a speeding car in an intersection, DRAG YOUR CHILDREN OUT OF A BURNING BUILDING,  ....................get my drift?  Fear and adrenaline will help you to do more than you can normally do regardless of your physical condition, but let's face it, if your lungs are destroyed by tobacco, and you are 50 lbs. overweight, your arteries are clogged , and your knees and ankles have succumbed to 20 years of bearing excessive weight, your response will be limited.

     Start TODAY.............take back that evolutionary body with which you were gifted at birth.  Fuel it properly, hone it, use it.  If you never need to run down 50 flights of stairs, GREAT!  You'll still live a better life.