Barefoot shoes

I’m not overweight but I have a pair of vivo barefoot walking boots. They are comfortable. I can do 20k steps with no issue. I’m

Not sure they would be comfortable for hill trekking though

I'd also note that there are factors completely independent of weight: One of my friends must wear foods with solid arch support the overwhelming majority of the time, no matter what she's doing, or foot pain results. At roughly the same age, I go literally barefoot/sock-foot every moment I can, which is nearly all day every day as a retired person who's often in my house, and have no foot pain.

Personally, I think I would've been fine with barefoot shoes when I was obese, indoors or when mostly on more forgiving outdoor surfaces like grass, and doing low/moderate impact activities. In practice, I wore soft-soled moccasins a lot in those years, but not barefoot shoes. I found that I needed shoes with cushioning if I was doing lots of walking - let alone running - on hard surfaces like concrete. Barefoot, socks or soft moccasins were fine indoors at home back then, since walking is more intermittent in that situation.

barefoot shoes aren’t for everyone. Start with one pair and you’ll know pretty quick if you like them. You either love them, or hate them.

I’ve worn a German brand called Leguano for going on ten years, and probably have ten pair in daily use right now (plus backups, they’re almost impossible to get in the USA) in every color.

I was obese when I started wearing them. I don’t feel like my weight even came in to it

I find them extremely comfortable, and have done long walks in them. They are machine washable, last forever, are unique, attractive (I have unusual taste and they suit what I wear) and fold up to nothing for travel.

However, I just got back from towns in Europe and Central America that had cobbled streets. They are OK on some cobbles, utter misery on other types, and flat out painful and irritating on sharp gravel. I’ve also worn them to events in open fields where the bottoms and sides were painfully pierced by sharply mown reedy grasses, and briars. Oh, the briars…..

If you’re planning to wear barefoot shoes for hiking or trail running, carry backup shoes til you know you can cope.

It depends on where you plan to wear them.

For the grocery store, errands, the mile walk round trip to yoga, walking the dog, no problem, they are my first choice.

For anything over a mile, mile and a half, I’m probably going to reach for my Sauconys.

I’ve also tried the Vibram five-fingers years ago, and disliked them. They felt novelty attention seeking, they didn’t breath, and as a result they stank to high heaven after a few wears. They also didn’t last nearly as long as my Leguanos , some of which have had daily use for five or six years.

I did have to give up barefoot shoes during a recent bout of plantar fasciitis. They weren’t the cause, but walking flat footed seemed to exascerbate it. I’m back wearing them again.

Like I said, if you love them, you love them. I made a special trip to a town fifty miles from where I was staying to visit a dealer and stock up. Every trip over I make darn sure to pack my “frequent buyers” card in the same place as my passport. That’s how big a fan I am. 😬