Vibram Five Fingers Review (KSO)

About a month ago, I bought some new shoes. These shoes are interesting to say the least. They're called Vibram Five Fingers, and if you love walking barefoot, and only put regular shoes on for protection, these shoes are for you. I have a couple of videos I found on YouTube that explain what these shoes are and how they work, but let me just say, I love them. I wanted to wait a while before I wrote a review, but I have found nothing at all to complain about.

As I've said, I've had these shoes (I have the KSO version) for about a month, and so far, I've worn them everywhere. I wore them on our trip to Las Vegas, I've worn them around town, and I've worn them while exercising. The only place I didn't wear them was to the Grand Canyon. Two reasons for that. One, my calves and lower legs were really sore, and two, the ground was very rocky and unstable. My husband has the same shoes, and he did wear them to the Grand Canyon. He said the ground didn't hurt at all. He felt some pressure from the rocky terrain, but it didn't hurt.

The company recommends that you wear these shoes for about an hour or two a day the first few weeks you have them. Well, I ignored that advice, and that's why my calves were sore after the first day or two of our Vegas trip. You need to ease into them and not go all out like I did. I'm all rested from the trip and am having no problems at all with soreness in my legs due to the shoes.

Now, growing up with cerebral palsy, I always figured I needed shoes with “extra support”. I thought that way up until a month ago. Think about this. Thousands of years ago, people walked around barefoot all the time. Shoes were made (even way back then) to protect the feet from harmful objects. As shoes developed over the years, they've been made to squish your toes at the very front of the shoe. Your toes are what stabilize you. They're what give you balance. When they're squished all together, they don't stabilize you as they should.

These shoes bring back the natural state that your feet should be in. As for me and my balance, I feel a huge difference. I'm much more stable in these shoes than I am when I wear “supportive” tennis shoes. I really don't think I'll go back to wearing normal shoes again. These Five Finger shoes have a sole that grips the ground so you have traction when you need it.

She mentions it being a bit difficult to get your toes into the right slots. I definitely agree with that statement. When I first got my shoes, I had a very difficult time getting them on. My pinky toes did not want to separate for the longest time. After a few weeks, they start to conform to your feet and toes. Now, they take me very little time to put on. They're machine washable, and washing them doesn't make them any harder to put on.

I'm not saying these shoes are for everyone, but I would definitely recommend them to people who prefer to be barefoot. Try them on and see what you think.

"Maté Lemon Blast Herbal Tea" Review

Back in June I bought more tea from Teavana. I bought a caffeinated tea called Maté Lemon Blast Herbal Tea. This tea was seen on The Today Show according to the Teavana site.

This tea includes the following ingredients:

Green maté leaves

Lemongrass

I love teas with a short ingredient list. No strange components to this tea at all. What is my opinion of this tea? This is by far, my favorite tea from Teavana. When you open the package, you're smacked in the face by the lemon scent. To paraphrase my husband, it smells like a lemon pie just out of the oven.

To prepare this tea, you use 1.5 teaspoons for every 8 ounces, and let it steep for 5 to 6 minutes. When the tea is brewing, it fills the whole room with a lemon scent that has you itching to taste it. And the taste? Yum! It tastes just like a warm lemon pie. I made this tea last (as long as possible, it was too darn tasty) by only using one teaspoon for my 16 ounce tea maker. Didn't lessen the taste at all!

I will most definitely be buying this tea again. I can't wait to make my next purchase.

Check out my other tea reviews.

"Maté Lemon Blast Herbal Tea" Review

Back in June I bought more tea from Teavana. I bought a caffeinated tea called Maté Lemon Blast Herbal Tea. This tea was seen on The Today Show according to the Teavana site.

This tea includes the following ingredients:

Green maté leaves

Lemongrass

I love teas with a short ingredient list. No strange components to this tea at all. What is my opinion of this tea? This is by far, my favorite tea from Teavana. When you open the package, you're smacked in the face by the lemon scent. To paraphrase my husband, it smells like a lemon pie just out of the oven.

To prepare this tea, you use 1.5 teaspoons for every 8 ounces, and let it steep for 5 to 6 minutes. When the tea is brewing, it fills the whole room with a lemon scent that has you itching to taste it. And the taste? Yum! It tastes just like a warm lemon pie. I made this tea last (as long as possible, it was too darn tasty) by only using one teaspoon for my 16 ounce tea maker. Didn't lessen the taste at all!

I will most definitely be buying this tea again. I can't wait to make my next purchase.

Check out my other tea reviews:

"My Morning Maté"

"Maté Vana"

"Weight To Go Pu-erh Tea"

"Toasted Nut Brulee"

"Roobios Peach Bloom Tea"

"Roobios Peach Bloom Tea" Review

Back in June, I ordered another tea from Teavana. The Roobios Peach Bloom Tea. The website states: “Perfect for hot tea or iced tea” which was what I was looking for. This tea had high ratings so I went for it.

This tea contains the following ingredients:

*Green and red Roobios tea

*Dried peach pieces

*Yellow safflower petals

Simple ingredients, not a lot to it. I tried this tea the first time as a hot drink. First of all, when you open the package, it most definitely smells like peaches. Good sign. To brew this tea, you need to put in 1.5 teaspoons for every 8 ounces, and let it steep for 5 to 6 minutes. After I brewed it and poured it into my cup, I smelled it again. Something seemed off to me. It didn't really smell like peaches. The best way to describe the smell, in my opinion, is that it smelled like Play-Doh. Yeah, not very appealing. But I drank it anyway.

It was OK, nothing more than that. It didn't really taste all that much like peaches. Maybe just a hint. I did try the tea again, only I poured it over ice. It tasted a bit better, but still had the odd smell. I much prefer this tea as an iced tea. I've had it for over one month and I still have a lot of tea leaves left to brew. That says a lot for how much I like it. I'll most likely be drinking this tea over the next few months. I don't hate it, but I have to be in the right mood for it.

I think this is the first tea from Teavana that I have to give a thumbs down to. Maybe my sniffer and taster are off or something, but I don't see how this tea got a 4.5 rating. I'm sort of bummed by it.

Check out my other Teavana tea reviews.

"Roobios Peach Bloom Tea" Review

Back in June, I ordered another tea from Teavana. The Roobios Peach Bloom Tea. The website states: “Perfect for hot tea or iced tea” which was what I was looking for. This tea had high ratings so I went for it.

This tea contains the following ingredients:

*Green and red Roobios tea

*Dried peach pieces

*Yellow safflower petals

Simple ingredients, not a lot to it. I tried this tea the first time as a hot drink. First of all, when you open the package, it most definitely smells like peaches. Good sign. To brew this tea, you need to put in 1.5 teaspoons for every 8 ounces, and let it steep for 5 to 6 minutes. After I brewed it and poured it into my cup, I smelled it again. Something seemed off to me. It didn't really smell like peaches. The best way to describe the smell, in my opinion, is that it smelled like Play-Doh. Yeah, not very appealing. But I drank it anyway.

It was OK, nothing more than that. It didn't really taste all that much like peaches. Maybe just a hint. I did try the tea again, only I poured it over ice. It tasted a bit better, but still had the odd smell. I much prefer this tea as an iced tea. I've had it for over one month and I still have a lot of tea leaves left to brew. That says a lot for how much I like it. I'll most likely be drinking this tea over the next few months. I don't hate it, but I have to be in the right mood for it.

I think this is the first tea from Teavana that I have to give a thumbs down to. Maybe my sniffer and taster are off or something, but I don't see how this tea got a 4.5 rating. I'm sort of bummed by it.

Check out my other Teavana tea reviews.

"My Morning Maté"
"Maté Vana"
"Weight To Go Pu-erh Tea"
"Toasted Nut Brulee"
"Maté Lemon Blast Herbal Tea"

Exercise Progress...And My "Problem"

It has been way too long since my last update here. It seems like that's how I've started the last few entries. Been a long time, but things are still improving and moving in the right direction (well, other than the scale). Exercise? Awesome. Writing? Still going well. Food? Meh. Scale movement? Wrong way.

First off, exercise. I'm making quite a lot of progress with my routines. My strength training is still the same, but it is getting a tiny bit easier. I'm still using the 10 pound weights and doing one set of 15 for each exercise. The lying triceps extensions are getting a bit easier, as long as I remember to do them first, instead of last. I'm not to the point yet where I feel comfortable doing more than one set. It is getting easier though. I don't feel like my arms are going to fall off after I'm done anymore.

I'm still not doing push ups. I nixed those from my routine a while back because they put way too much pressure on my wrists. My left wrist specifically. Right now I don't have any aches and pains in my left wrist anymore, but I don't want to do push up quite yet. I don't know if I'll add them back in at all or not. I hate push ups. They're my least favorite exercise. I'd rather do more chest press exercises with my weights than do push ups. Push ups are evil.

Speaking of aches and pains. I am now pain free as far as my left ankle goes. It was weird. A few weeks ago I was still having twinges here and there. About two or three weeks ago, I actually took a full week off from my elliptical because it hurt so bad. Got back on and it was OK. Had a twinge here and there, but it was mostly fine. Now? I don't feel any discomfort at all. It was there one day, and gone the next. I'm not even using my ice pack or heating pad anymore. No more Icy Hot either. I think what helped it to get better was lots and lots of stretching. Stretching my heel cord and hamstring in particular.






I bought a handy dandy gizmo a few months ago which I give all the credit to. I used to see this thing every time I was on an airplane looking through the Sky Mall magazine. I always thought about getting one. Well, I finally did. And I'm glad. I've always had a hard time stretching my heel cords. But this gizmo makes it a lot easier. Just put your foot on it with your heel against the back support and lean into it. I think a “normal” person can flex their foot to make their heel go down naturally, and I can sort of do it with my right foot. But with my left, I need to bend at the waist to get the stretch I need. My left heel cord is so tight, that foot is hard to move without help.

Seeing as I have no more pain in my left ankle, I'm stepping up my elliptical routine. I'm up to doing one mile three days a week, and a half mile three days a week. On the half mile days, I'm increasing the resistance to level 2. And my one mile days are getting easier and a little bit faster. I have had to make a few changes though.

The display screen on my elliptical is acting up a bit. I'm having to change the batteries every other week. Last time I changed them, it didn't seem to help, the screen was still flickering. It's very strange. Might be a loose connection or something. The “poles” that you hang on to as you're moving have a tendency to bang from side to side every now and then. Hard. And if the batteries are almost dead, one good whack can reset it. It's now starting to do that even with fresh batteries. So, I've gotten into the habit of setting a timer as a backup. Plus, I pretty much listen to the same CD every time I'm on it, so I know which song is playing when I normally finish my mile.

I hate to say it, but I think I've got a little bit of an obsessive compulsive problem in terms of mileage. When my screen resets I flip out if I don't know how far I've gone. I can take a guess, but I know it's not exactly right. So, I'm not focusing on mileage anymore, at least not as strictly as I was. I'm going for time. I normally do one mile in 37 to 38 minutes. I'm now going for 40 minutes. Yesterday I did 1.1 mile in 40.5. See? I couldn't stop at 40 because I was SO close to the next .1 mile. I had to continue. Need to work on that little “problem”. I have a little dialogue in my head that goes like this:

Sane Tee: OK, 40 minutes is up. You can stop now.
Insane Tee: I have 40 more revolutions until the next .1 mile. I can make it.
Sane Tee: Just stop and say you did 1.1 mile. It's close enough.
Insane Tee: But it's NOT exact.

And if I go one or two revolutions passed the mark? I always say “Oops”. So, I've got a bit of a problem. I'm dealing with it though. So, focusing on time will make me stop obsessing, especially if my screen resets. I'll be forced to estimate my distance at the point.

This entry is getting a bit long, so I'll stop for now. I'll cover the food and writing topics at another time. I've also got two new types of tea from Teavana I need to review. I've already had one of them, and all I can say is yum!

Stay cool everyone. Today is the first day of summer, so drink plenty of water. So far the temperatures here in the desert haven't been too horrible. We reached 109 a few weeks ago, but it's been just over 100 the rest of the time. High is usually 102 to 105. We had a week where we had a high of 109 to a high of 85. It was crazy.

Keep moving!

Exercise Progress...And My "Problem"

It has been way too long since my last update here. It seems like that's how I've started the last few entries. Been a long time, but things are still improving and moving in the right direction (well, other than the scale). Exercise? Awesome. Writing? Still going well. Food? Meh. Scale movement? Wrong way.

First off, exercise. I'm making quite a lot of progress with my routines. My strength training is still the same, but it is getting a tiny bit easier. I'm still using the 10 pound weights and doing one set of 15 for each exercise. The lying triceps extensions are getting a bit easier, as long as I remember to do them first, instead of last. I'm not to the point yet where I feel comfortable doing more than one set. It is getting easier though. I don't feel like my arms are going to fall off after I'm done anymore.

I'm still not doing push ups. I nixed those from my routine a while back because they put way too much pressure on my wrists. My left wrist specifically. Right now I don't have any aches and pains in my left wrist anymore, but I don't want to do push up quite yet. I don't know if I'll add them back in at all or not. I hate push ups. They're my least favorite exercise. I'd rather do more chest press exercises with my weights than do push ups. Push ups are evil.

Speaking of aches and pains. I am now pain free as far as my left ankle goes. It was weird. A few weeks ago I was still having twinges here and there. About two or three weeks ago, I actually took a full week off from my elliptical because it hurt so bad. Got back on and it was OK. Had a twinge here and there, but it was mostly fine. Now? I don't feel any discomfort at all. It was there one day, and gone the next. I'm not even using my ice pack or heating pad anymore. No more Icy Hot either. I think what helped it to get better was lots and lots of stretching. Stretching my heel cord and hamstring in particular.



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I bought a handy dandy gizmo a few months ago which I give all the credit to. I used to see this thing every time I was on an airplane looking through the Sky Mall magazine. I always thought about getting one. Well, I finally did. And I'm glad. I've always had a hard time stretching my heel cords. But this gizmo makes it a lot easier. Just put your foot on it with your heel against the back support and lean into it. I think a “normal” person can flex their foot to make their heel go down naturally, and I can sort of do it with my right foot. But with my left, I need to bend at the waist to get the stretch I need. My left heel cord is so tight, that foot is hard to move without help.

Seeing as I have no more pain in my left ankle, I'm stepping up my elliptical routine. I'm up to doing one mile three days a week, and a half mile three days a week. On the half mile days, I'm increasing the resistance to level 2. And my one mile days are getting easier and a little bit faster. I have had to make a few changes though.

The display screen on my elliptical is acting up a bit. I'm having to change the batteries every other week. Last time I changed them, it didn't seem to help, the screen was still flickering. It's very strange. Might be a loose connection or something. The “poles” that you hang on to as you're moving have a tendency to bang from side to side every now and then. Hard. And if the batteries are almost dead, one good whack can reset it. It's now starting to do that even with fresh batteries. So, I've gotten into the habit of setting a timer as a backup. Plus, I pretty much listen to the same CD every time I'm on it, so I know which song is playing when I normally finish my mile.

I hate to say it, but I think I've got a little bit of an obsessive compulsive problem in terms of mileage. When my screen resets I flip out if I don't know how far I've gone. I can take a guess, but I know it's not exactly right. So, I'm not focusing on mileage anymore, at least not as strictly as I was. I'm going for time. I normally do one mile in 37 to 38 minutes. I'm now going for 40 minutes. Yesterday I did 1.1 mile in 40.5. See? I couldn't stop at 40 because I was SO close to the next .1 mile. I had to continue. Need to work on that little “problem”. I have a little dialogue in my head that goes like this:

Sane Tee: OK, 40 minutes is up. You can stop now.
Insane Tee: I have 40 more revolutions until the next .1 mile. I can make it.
Sane Tee: Just stop and say you did 1.1 mile. It's close enough.
Insane Tee: But it's NOT exact.

And if I go one or two revolutions passed the mark? I always say “Oops”. So, I've got a bit of a problem. I'm dealing with it though. So, focusing on time will make me stop obsessing, especially if my screen resets. I'll be forced to estimate my distance at the point.

This entry is getting a bit long, so I'll stop for now. I'll cover the food and writing topics at another time. I've also got two new types of tea from Teavana I need to review. I've already had one of them, and all I can say is yum!

Stay cool everyone. Today is the first day of summer, so drink plenty of water. So far the temperatures here in the desert haven't been too horrible. We reached 109 a few weeks ago, but it's been just over 100 the rest of the time. High is usually 102 to 105. We had a week where we had a high of 109 to a high of 85. It was crazy.

Keep moving!