WET FEET AND FALLS: You’re Old Enough Now to Buy Sensible Winter Boots

My feet are wet... Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash

Tis' the season for slips and falls for most of us in the Northern Hemisphere; the time when everything gets colder and rain turns to snow and ice.

I used to hate winter, but as I've gotten older, I actually prefer it to summer (I know this is blasphemy.)

For someone like me who is always TOO HOT, I love winter because I finally get to cool down to a comfortable temperature.

I love the feeling of cold air on my face and finally being able to take a deep breath. (Breathing in hot humid summer air takes my breath away and not in a good way.)

I'm finally at an age (44) when practicality has taken over the desire to look good; comfort over fashion is my motto now.

Which means I have sensible winter boots; although this wasn't always the case.

WATER RESISTANT vs WATER PROOF

I know I'm not the only one who's ever bought the "fashion" winter boots, which bear the tag "water-resistant" as opposed to "water-proof."

You look at the nice boots and think "Water-resistant is good enough, right?"

And then - during the first serious snowfall - you discover that no, it is not in fact, good enough.

Your feet are soaking wet by the time you get to wherever you're going.

Hopefully you were going to someone's house so that you can take those wet boots off.

But if you were on your way to meet friends in a restaurant, then it's a miserable night.

I've had many occasions (I can't believe I'm going to say this) when I had to stuff my feet into grocery bags because my boots were soaking wet and my feet were so cold.

I remember one evening in particular, my feet were beginning to go numb and I actually had to run them under hot water in the bathroom sink at the restaurant. (Thankfully it was a one-person washroom.)

Maybe, like me, you refused to face reality and continued to buy the "fashion boots" every winter, hoping that maybe this year water-resistant actually meant water-proof.

Because we have to look good right?

If your feet never touch the ground, you can wear any boots you like. Photo by Jp Valery on Unsplash

NO ONE CARES WHAT YOU LOOK LIKE

I don't know what it is about getting older, but there's a tipping point that many adults eventually reach where they just don't give a hot-damn what others think of them.

Or, they get to the point I'm finally at, where it goes beyond not caring what people think because you realize people aren't thinking about you at all; they're focused on themselves.

What this means for you is you can buy sensible winter boots; boots that maybe aren't attractive, but will keep your feet warm and dry.

Because no one is paying attention to your feet. No one.

CONFESSION: I have size 11 feet, so women's winter boots never fit me.

(I also find the colours offensive - for some reason women's winter boots always seem to be white and/or lilac, as though grown women want to strap puffy unicorns to their feet. Let me tell you, that unicorn is going to get very dirty once the first snowfall begins to thaw and the streets go from white to brownish-grey.)

My large feet and my aversion to pastels means I end up having to buy men's winter boots.

Did you know that men don't want their feet to look small? (There's an idea floating around that the size of a man's feet determines the size of his... hands...)

That means my boots are LARGE. (I like big boots and I cannot lie!)

They're tall, and wide, and black. The edges are deeply scalloped because they have treads to keep me upright.

Basically, if a snowshoe had a baby with a men's construction boot, they would create my boots.

There's no universe in which they would be considered "cute" or "sexy." (I had an ex who said to me "Man those boots are really f*cking with your game.")

Not cute, but practical. Photo by Aaron Huber on Unsplash

Now granted, I only wear those boots during or after snowfalls.

If it's been a while since the last snow, and the streets have been cleared and the sidewalks are nicely packed, I switch to Blundstone's. (BEST DISCOVERY EVERY.) Although they're not "fashion" boots, they are a happy medium.

STAYING UPRIGHT

The other reason to buy sensible winter boots - aside from keeping your feet cozy - is that "fashion boots" don't have soles with traction, so you'll land on your ass if you're lucky, or on your tailbone if you're not.

According to the World Health Organization: 

• Falls are the second leading cause of unintentional injury deaths worldwide.
• Each year an estimated 684 000 individuals die from falls globally
• 37.3 million falls that are severe enough to require medical attention occur each year

Falls are no joke.

Cold, wet feet are no joke.

No one cares what you look like in winter, because most people are so concerned with staying warm and dry themselves that they don’t have time to think about your footwear.

All that to say: buy sensible boots.

Make sure your tootsies are warm and dry this winter, and that you stay upright.

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We'll face unafraid

The plans that we've made

Walking in a winter wonderland...

(You know why they're walking unafraid? Because they have sensible winter boots, that’s why.)

Walking in a winter wonderland... Photo by freestocks on Unsplash

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You might be asking yourself "How does this topic relate to recovery from binge-eating?" What I found is that - for me - finding new ways of thinking about life and its challenges helped me to stop stress-eating, and has been a very big part of my ability to stop binge-eating.

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