A couple of weeks ago my husband brought up flip-flops again. It’s summer, and today at 11 a.m. the thermometer read 98 degrees, but I’m pretty sure it was hotter. I wished I was wearing flip-flops, the shoes that are like a fresh breeze of coolness for the sizzling feet of summer.
But I can’t wear them, for a lot of reasons. The latest reason is a study my husband claims he read a year or so ago. Even though I searched online for half an hour yesterday to verify this, I cannot find it, so it’s possible he made this up. (Not that he’s some chronic stats-maker-upper, I promise.) The study went something like this.
A group of women in an women’s prison were studied, and their weight gain/loss was documented. One group gained significantly more weight than the other. According to my husband’s report, the only difference between the two groups (for their diet was identical, and their exercise time comparable) was that the group that wore flip-flops gained weight, and the other group did not.
My husband said it’s because when a person wears flip-flop sandals, they tend to walk more slowly and more in a shuffle to keep the shoes on than if a person is wearing sneakers or shoes with regular construction.
I don’t know if this is true. Like I say, I can’t find any reference to it online. Instead, what I found were a bunch of sites that claimed wearing flip-flops actually helps someone lose weight. I also found articles that said flip-flop wearing is dangerous because people who have bad balance are more likely to trip wearing just a thin slab of rubber and having to grip it on with the toes.
Meanwhile, my feet are baking, and it’s spreading heat up my legs and through the rest of my body until it’s cooking my brain and making me less effective as I edit my current WIP. This bad editing depresses me, which makes me eat twice as much cold cereal as comfort food, which, I fear, could make me gain weight at an alarming rate. Does my husband realize what danger this poses?
I’d better just wear the flip-flops.
So glad to discover it’s my slippahs and not the 10 gallons of chocolate peanut-butter ice cream I ate last night! But I’m with you–it’s really editing stress that causes weight gain!
Couldn’t agree more, Lehua! Do you know I’ve cut 74 pages of dialogue from my WIP in a month. That’s SEVENTY FOUR PAGES. Talk about a need for comfort food. It’s like killing my darlings!
Uh oh, I might accidentally agree with Gary here.
But only briefly.
A few weeks ago I hurt my knee and the only shoes I could wear were my extra supportive running shoes. All other shoes gave me pain. And by all other shoes, I mostly mean my flip flops or ballet flats.
What I discovered was that I hopped up off the couch and moved around my house a lot more with the shoes on. And for no other discernible reason there was a spring to my step. Since I work from home I tend to be barefoot most of the day. I never put shoes on to start with. But since noticing this about the shoes I’ve made an effort to put on my running shoes in the house more often, just to see if it gets me up and moving more.
Sigh.
It does.
Dang it.
Dangit, Erin! But I do the same thing. Running shoes all day. Hot feet. Boo. (BTW, I never get upset when someone agrees with Gary! He’s just awesome.)
Holy moly! That is a lot of science to deal with. But which is worse, slunching and traipsing around in flip flops, or baking your brain and killing cells? It’s your call, Jen. I trust you’ll make the right one. 😉
Slunching and traipsing around fat… or brain dead. I guess that IS what it boils down to, Lisa. What to do…
All I know is that my flip-flops are soft and comforting when life is otherwise one big hard tile floor!
We all need our comfort, Marcy! I would never deny you yours! (I’ll keep eating cold cereal over here.)