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So, one of the things I got for Christmas in 2017 was a Fitbit Charge 2. My aunt has one; her two daughters both have one; some of their BFFs have one; my BFF has one; my mom bought one a couple months later. Natch, this results in my being challenged all the time.

NGL, that contributed on more than one occasion to last year's general exhaustion. OTOH, sometimes it was a boost to feel like I'd at least accomplished something in any given week? Anyway, I just got my Year in Review email for 2018:

Snapshot of Fitbit Stats for 2018

No wonder I've been destroying athletic shoes to the tune of three pair in the last year and a half. My arches are high enough I pretty much have to spend at least $70 to get a pair that don't kill my feet; but it still seemed a little excessive. But they do say you're supposed to get a new pair every five hundred miles or so.....

Crossposts: https://jedibuttercup.livejournal.com/622506.html

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

cornerofmadness

Wow good for you (but yeah as a former podiatrist with high arches, I feel your athletic shoe pain)

From:

jedibuttercup

I tried buying a cheaper brand once. But by the time they were starting to get worn down, I was in serious pain every time I went on a long walk - I was afraid I was starting to develop something like plantar fasciitis. I ditched those shoes, replaced them with the same expensive brand and style I'd been wearing previously - and voila, no more foot pain. Last time I'll ever try to save money that way. :)

From:

cornerofmadness

Places to save money is not on shoes if you can help it. And yes you were probably getting plantar fascitis or tendonitis which can be shockingly easy to trigger.

Right now I'm glaring at my new Clark's which seemed good but aren't quite what I had hoped for (My feet are the only narrow part of me these days so it's HARD to find dress shoes even if they're flat oxford styles

From:

jedibuttercup

I actually have an easier time with heels, for whatever reason ... I have a pair of Clark's with big square 2-1/2" heels that are amazing. But I also have medium size feet. :)

A friend of mine developed plantar fasciitis last year, and kept going without doing anything about it until it was bad enough the doctors told her it would take months to recover ... I really, really did not want that to happen to me.

From:

cornerofmadness

Unfortunately with the amount of arthritis I have heels are mostly out unless they are those big square ones you're talking about which I can tolerate.

One thing to help prevent facitis, calf stretches. One of the things that contributes to it is tight calf muscles

From:

sulien

Impressive, go you! Regarding arch support and durability, I had great luck with Teva hiking boots, which have decent arch support and also have a removable foot bed so that you can put whatever customizations in to give individualized support. I've found that the standard Teva insole supplemented with a thin foam Foot Petals arch cookie from Amazon does the trick for my very high but now falling arches. I stick the Foot Petals on the underside of the insole so they don't work loose and that works wonders!

If you don't mind 'last year's model', you can often find several high quality brands of hiking boots at sierratradingpost.com for around half price or less. A lot less if you can find a coupon code.

From:

jedibuttercup

I might have to look into those for outdoor walking - I especially need something like that for hiking, because I always get the breathable athletic shoes for use on the elliptical, and walking dirt paths with those means my socks end up full of dust and grit. Thanks for the rec. :)

From:

pronker

That looks most impressive, go you. The totals amaze! Obsessively track I don't really get - is the FitBit a daily worn thing?

From:

jedibuttercup

Yep. There's a newer version now, so that's what their website shows, but it's very, very similar:

https://www.fitbit.com/charge3

You basically wear it all the time except when it's charging or you're in the shower or somewhere else you don't want it wet; it functions as a watch, as well as counting steps, stairs climbed and minutes of activity, and tracking heartrate. It syncs with an app on a smartphone, in order to keep track; and there are associated communities in the app as well as the ability to 'friend' other people with Fitbits so they can challenge you (to see who gets more steps in a workweek, or whatever.)

It also gives out badges when you reach certain milestones. But while you can see in the app how you're doing in any given week or challenge period, and it did email me at the end of the year, it doesn't show current progress toward the next milestones within the app. Natch, this means I had to create a spreadsheet to do it myself.....