MBTs Masai Barefoot Technology Shoes

MBTs

What are MBTs? MBT stands for Masai Barefoot Technology. Yeah. I don’t know what that means either. The company says these shoes have all sorts of benefits ranging from improved posture to toning and shaping. Really, the only thing I care about among the seven benefits MBT delivers is the “tones and shapes the body” benefit. My first encounter with MBTs was about seven years ago. I was at the office and the delivery guy walked in. I never paid any attention to him, but apparently, everyone else in the office did because they always snickered when he walked in. They were laughing at his shoes. The next time he came in, I thought I would see what was so funny. He had on these thick, black shoes. They looked stupid. They looked like they were for some weird walking issue or something. I guess he saw me looking at them, so he stopped by my desk and asked if he could talk to me about something. Uh-oh. Did I make some weird facial expression when I looked at his shoes (I’m good for that) and now he is here to tell me that he has some sort of rare disorder and I should be ashamed for making fun of him? Nope, not at all. Worse. He wanted to tell me about his shoes and how he lost 67 pounds with them and that I should try them too so I can lose weight. Huh? Did he just tell me I am fat? The guy wearing Frankenstein shoes is criticizing me? WTF? Well, it couldn’t have offended me that much because three years later, in yet another attempt to shortcut achieving killer legs, I’m in the Bliss catalog ordering MBTs. My main reason for ordering MBTs wasn’t for weight loss, nor was it for improved posture. It was for toning my legs. Bliss really pumped these shoes up. After reading the reviews, I thought I was on my way to thighs of steel. At the time, MBTs came in white, black, gray and (NEW!) blue. Like a dumbass, I ordered (NEW!) blue. I’m such a sucker for marketing. My MBTs arrive! They even came with a video. Instructions for shoes? Eh- I think I can wing it. I am supposed to wear them everyday, all day. This gives me flashbacks to delivery man. Uh- not happening. I decided I would wear them all the time around the house, walking, select trips to Target and the grocery store, and on the way to drop my daughter off to school (we walk). The next evening, I decide to take my MBTs for a walk. I get dressed in my workout clothes and realize how wrong (NEW!) blue MBTs look with my workout clothes (and everything else for that matter). Oh well. I go for a walk around a trail near the house. I don’t notice anything while I am walking. The rocking action of the shoe isn’t that noticeable to me and I definitely don’t feel any toning going on. When I get home, I need to run to Target. I wear my MBTs there too. My husband came along with me. Halfway through the shopping trip he turns to me and asks me, “did you have to wear those? They look stupid.” I really can’t argue with him. They do look stupid. Especially in (NEW!) blue, but I was on a mission to achieve toned legs. I tried my MBTs out for about 3 months. I didn’t notice that my legs looked anymore toned. Then again, I didn’t really wear them all day everyday as instructed. They are comfortable shoes, but they just don’t go with my wardrobe. I went running in them one day, but I ended up looking like Forest Gump. I put the $180 MBTs away in the box. It just isn’t practical to use them the way they are intended to be used to achieve results, at least not for me. I see many women walking around in MBTs (less obvious black MBTs). I even see this one guy wearing the sandals. This makes no sense to me, but it makes even less sense that he wears the sandals with slacks. What makes the least amount of sense is that he also wears them with socks. I know he is trying to follow the directions and wear them everyday, but how about the regular black shoes? Why sandals? Anyway, my advice is if you don’t plan to wear your MBTs everyday all the time, don’t waste the money, but if you do, get a neutral color. Don’t buy (NEW!) blue.

xoxo

din