I found that the problem with many wide toe boxed shoes is the tie box has limited height. So while my toes are nicely spread out, they still rub against the top of the shoe. I recommend going to a running store or REI and try on as many shoes as possible to find the one that has enough width and height.
There was a small group of young folks checking out “my” gym this evening. I mention this, because I witnessed a small petite young female today bench press 315 lbs today. I was told she is the current world record holder for her weight class. Simply amazing.
I then looked her up. Her name is Emily Hu. She weighs 123 lbs.
https://barbend.com/emily-hu-powerlifting-interview/
Now, from what heard, she (and the others) probably couldn’t run a mile, but hey, when you can lift like that at 123 lbs, who needs cardio. 
My workout was far more mundane. Some rope climbs, dumbbell snatches, bench press, air bike, weighted lunges and glute ham raises.
@abasket, I was hoping I could wear those shoes in Ukraine and Norway and that they’d be sturdy enough for both city and country walking (no mountain climbing, but lots of hiking). Really didn’t want to bring my big boots in August. After my toes got trashed, I wore Teva sandals the rest of the time!
I suspect my socks weren’t thick enough. Everyone else in Europe was walking around in white Keds, but I need ankle and knee support. I also have to be able to move my toes.
Been perusing the posts about sugar in its various forms, deserts, social situations with food that become awkward. Been thinking about the concept of “dieting” in our culture. The whole concept of dieting is about food deprivation. Eat this, don’t eat that. Mandated portions. Rigid rules and labelling foods “Good” or “Bad”. A lot of people fall into that paradigm, I know I have.
So I was mulling over whether this has led to a culture of disordered eating (different than an eating disorder but can lead to one). Eating is such a vital activity on so many levels. It’s more than just nutrients and energy. The smells, tastes and textures fire our senses. They give us pleasure. Sitting down to a meal with family or friends enables us to connect with those who are important to us. But constantly without exception and unrelentantly adhering to rigid rules blows all of this into the weeds. We deny ourselves the enjoyment we derived from some foods, we limit restaurants to which we will go with others, we don’t share in a communal desert “for the table”, sometimes we’re just not fun to be with, and we can create a lot of stress and anxiety for ourselves if we think we’ve fallen “off the wagon”.
So is all of this rigid adherence to “rules” really necessary to achieve our goals? Is it really good for our mental and emotional well being? And is it sustainable as a consistent long term lifestyle? In answering these questions for yourself, consider this… Unless you are a weight class competitive athlete preparing for a competition, unless you are a physique competitor, unless you have been medically diagnosed with certain diseases or medical conditions, constant adherence to rigid rules is not necessary to achieve the weight, body composition and health goals you have. Yes, we all know that as a general matter we should limit or avoid consumption of processed foods, refined grains and flours and added sugar. But is sharing that communal desert on a Saturday night or having a small piece of that birthday cake at the office birthday party going to irrevocably upset the applecart and derail us? I don’t think so, as long as we are mindful of what we are doing, act with moderation and don’t make these occasional indulgences a new constant. These occasional indulgences should be guiltless. And speaking of the applecart, who cares if that succulent piece of fruit is loaded with naturally occurring fructose. It’s also loaded with fiber and phytonutrients our bodies need. All sugars are not the enemy. If that were the case, then we couldn’t eat anything since almost everything we stick in our mouths at some point in the digestive process gets broken into glucose. I have yet to see anyone who has become overweight and fat from eating too much fruit.
So I pose the question: rigid adherence to “”rules” or sensible moderation and mindful eating. Which Is healthier for us physically, mentally and emotionally, which is more sustainable for the long haul. And isn’t it the long haul we should be shooting for to promote our health and well being over the decades. After a decade of adhering to rigid rules and entering everything I eat into My Fitness Pal, I’m beginning to suspect there is more to life than that which I can enjoy without compromising my long term health and fitness goals.
Anyone else have their gym and work lives intermingle unexpectedly? I like to have my gym peeps separate from work peeps. There are some work peeps at my gym, but they are ok for the most part. But there’s this one gym dude who pays more attention to me than I’d prefer. After 30+ years, such things don’t tend to bother me. But yesterday, I got called into a big meeting and was seated at the head of the table, looked up, and guess who was staring right at me (and continued to do so for the entire time). Ugh.
Today was 4 miles outside and 4.25 miles on the treadmill averaging what used to be my MP. Then a 60 min video working pretty much everything and kicked my tail.
@MichaelNKat I’ve decided that what I think of as “stunt eating” can be useful in getting someone back on track and breaking some patterns. It’s new and different, whether it’s eliminating whole categories of food, only eating 5 days a week or during a certain time window- whatever. It’s not for me, but I can see the value in “resetting”. I don’t think most of these plans are sustainable, and I’ve seen most people put the weight right back on. There are absolutely exceptions. I think it can be hard to eat moderately and cut back enough for weight loss. It’s too easy to cheat- at least that’s what I find. One little piece of candy won’t hurt. Sharing the dessert is OK. Those are the things I do…
@ClassicMom98 I haven’t had too many surprises like you are describing but my work and running life has always intersected (less so in the last decade) since I was part of company running teams. There was something pretty cool about how employees of all job levels, from CEO down to assembly line worker could come together, cheer for each other and be equals. I have run into people at social events who recognized me from seeing me running through the neighborhood.
3.2 gloomy outside miles this morning.
I just realized that two days ago, my husband and I ran on the treadmill and my two sons ran outside (one in Maine and one in Texas). My older son was the excellent distance runner in high school who got sick - that was his first run in probably 8 or 9 years! My middle son didn’t start running until a couple of years ago. So Tuesday was probably the first time ever that all four of us ran the same day. 
Preach @MichaelNKat! Good reminder to do things in moderation and not to excess. Either being too rigid in diet or to swing in the other direction of too much.
I’d like to say though that it’s not ok to be bullied in any direction. That means to eat that dessert or decline that dessert also. I think so much of what we do is because of peer pressure. And we can be ok with saying no. Or not.
My MIL loves to be a food pusher. Because she doesn’t want leftovers and in her frugal mind food shouldn’t be wasted. For instance, at thanksgiving she dished up and served everyone the dessert she brought. I was full but it felt like I had to be very forceful to decline.
And if you think you don’t know anyone who has disordered eating patterns, I’ll say that you are wrong. It’s all around you, people who have an unhealthy relationship with food.
I don’t disagree with you @MichaelNKat and your words are literally “food for thought”. I do enjoy eating, cooking etc. too much to be too rigid.
But as @MomofWildChild said, there are also times where I just need to “reset” a bit. Be more mindful. Make myself think twice about empty, grabbing on the run snacks. Oh, I’m going to have the dessert! But I would like it to be at my discretion - when and what. Not because someone else things I need to indulge.
@ClassicMom98 that’s pretty creepy and not ok. He probably is just in awe of what a rock star you are.
I second the suggestion for Merrells. I pretty much live in the. The mocs for every day and I like the hiking boot I have as well. I’ve got fat feet.
I started tracking food again in January and have lost four pounds. I don’t feel like I’m eating any differently, but I’m probably being a little more careful. My routine is to eat less during the week, so that I can have a dessert or more wine on the weekend without feeling guilty. I also partake of the snacks and wine at monthly neighborhood meetings.
I’ve also been better about getting down to the basement gym - even 5 minutes on the bike or one set on the dumbells is better than zero. And usually as long as I am down there, I just do more.
That is INSANE. Benching 2.5x bodyweight! O.O
Absolutely! We must control our own lives based on our own standards.
I LOVE the wide toe box in the Altra Lone Peak trail runners. As I mentioned upthread, these are the shoes I hike in, unless it’s cold & snowy.
One of our hiking club members did the entire length of the AT in Altra Lone Peaks.
There is a low version and high (above ankle) version. I’ve never tried on the high version.
The Altras are zero drop, which if one is not accustomed to a zero or very low drop, may irritate at first.
Worth trying on a pair! I have the Merrell Moab hiking boots in wide and even their version of wide is nothing like the toe box roominess in the Altras.
@abasket, @MomofWildChild, I agree. There are times we need to do a “reset”, usually of our heads, to get back in the game. Break a cycle, start over. And no succumbing to peer and social pressures. Always make our own decisions for our own well thought out reasons.
Yep. No matter what, I’m out walking our little dog! Dogs are the best.
@sushiritto If I were you, I would be VERY nice to that young woman! That’s amazing.
I have family members who push food, too. My mother (deceased) did that. I guess it was a show of love to make too much food and keep insisting that everyone needed to eat more of it. My sister (just visited her) does that, too.
I’ll play Devil’s Advocate. I think it’s not so much that people have an unhealthy relationship with food, but that the modern food environment is stacked against us.
We are surrounded by food and drink choices designed to hit our reward centers, and just like the lab rats that will crawl over an electric mat to get to the junk food, we are driven by our hungry-for-reward brains.
So, in the modern food environment, we are being asked to make decisions about food and drink almost non-stop. Yes, no, maybe just a little.
Many find the work place is now full of food & drink choices for the entire span of the work day — not just at lunch. We celebrate and treat ourselves with food and drink. Bad day? Have a treat. Good day? Have a treat. It’s acceptable to eat in our cars now, to have snacks on hand to give our restless kids or to soothe our own restless minds.
Delicious yummy food & drink is available almost everywhere, for very little money, and almost no effort (drive thru!) — packed with calories. and food so rewarding that there is almost no satiety point. Who hasn’t experienced polishing off an astonishing amount of pizza? If the food were much more boring and less rewarding, it would never happen.
Walking and talking with a friend at the dying Mall the other night, I marveled at all the food and drink places. Warm pretzels. Gelato. Pizza. Cheese fries. Nachos. Cinnamon Rolls. Flavored coffees. Smoothies. We were being assaulted by pictures & displays of the food and drink and the smells (did I say cinnamon rolls?).
It’s sooo much easier for me to have some rules and rigidity. This is what works best for me and my brain. Better to look at those food and drink choices and know I will have none of it – to think of this kind of food as the enemy – rather than making a decision on a case by case basis or deciding to have “just a little”.
I’ve read this kind of rigidly or rules does not always work for everyone, and that some people with a history of disordered eating might be triggered (to binge, for example).
Someone mentioned upthread that many people love company in their alcohol consumption and unhealthy food consumption. I’ve never been teased to eat more carrots, that’s for sure! But, I’ve been teased plenty of times for not having another drink, or not digging in and eating some (caloric) communal food.
I’ve had a streak of recent years where I have not had to be concerned about my clothes size. The only change was needing to size up in pants due to squats and deadlifts. That I can deal with! But I had many many previous years of feeling, quite frankly, somewhat mystified and frustrated that I was unable to maintain a steady weight.
Once I got woke to calories and portion size and rid my environment of foods I tend to overeat, all was good. Again, easier with the kids out of the house! I, for one, do better with some rules or guardrails.
Oh boy! That was longer than I expected! Preaching to the choir. 
Those are excellent points and I agree that it is almost impossible to avoid challenging food situations, especially if you are out and about and/or in the workforce.
Listened to this podcast today. Very topical to our recent discussions
https://www.iheart.com/podcast/302-katie-couric-28008908/
It’s next question with Katie Couric
“I’ll play Devil’s Advocate. I think it’s not so much that people have an unhealthy relationship with food, but that the modern food environment is stacked against us.”
I think it’s both and the latter is a major contributor to the former as people try to get themselves healthy by making smart food choices. I think the former pushes many people into having rigid rules because they may otherwise feel overwhelmed by the modern food environment. That’s why in the nutrition coaching I do with clients, only about 20-30% of the work is geared towards the “science” of understanding healthy nutrition and the bulk of the time is spent working on behavior changes, replacing counter-productive habits with constructive ones, identifying and learning to deal with triggers etc.