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(Originally posted in my tumblr)
I ran into this phenomenon called “waist training”, which apparently is some kind of fashion on the American side of the Atlantic. Not following Hollywood celebrities or reading fashion magazines I’ve totally not come across this before. Let me tell you: the idea behind “waist training” (the way it is advertised) is about as sensible as “sauna-belt” (which seriously made me laugh out loud when I first came across that idiocy).
I ran into this phenomenon called “waist training”, which apparently is some kind of fashion on the American side of the Atlantic. Not following Hollywood celebrities or reading fashion magazines I’ve totally not come across this before. Let me tell you: the idea behind “waist training” (the way it is advertised) is about as sensible as “sauna-belt” (which seriously made me laugh out loud when I first came across that idiocy).
See, I have a corset. A custom-made steel boned corset. So I know something about how they work (And I’m Finnish, which is basically equal to having a sauna. Which I use several times a week. If sauna was something that made you lose weight, boy would we Finnish people be thin. I’ll give you a hint: we aren’t. Not any more than an average European. Maybe even less.)
A corset (or a waist cincher which is what these companies really are marketing) is just a piece of clothing. Yes, while wearing it your waist is smaller. No, it doesn’t stay smaller when you take the garment off. You can’t “train” your waist, the only way to truly train your waist is to lose fat.
And the only way a corset helps you to lose fat is if it helps you eat less in quantity and more in quality foods than you would otherwise. To help with that, it means it has to be comfortable enough for you to wear it all day long. And with comfortable I mean that it doesn’t hurt and that you can eat enough to not feel like you are starving. Small steps, people. That’s the only way to lose weight permanently.
You don’t do exercise with it. Why would you? I don’t mean you can’t, but really, why? It only hinders your workout. It makes it difficult for you to make your exercises properly, which increases the risk of injury. You can’t really train your core muscles. It shallows your breathing, which means your body doesn’t get enough oxygen, which means your body is unable to burn you fuel for the exercise the way it should. Yes, it might make you sweat more, but sweat is just water and salts, that’s all. If you have a weight problem, water is not the one causing it.
Oh, why do I wear a corset? It’s comfortable. It makes me feel good. It helps me keep my back straight, so my neck muscles don’t tense as much and I don’t get as many headaches as I used to. I eat more healthily. And since I use overbust corset I don’t need bra, which means no bra-straps, oh joy!
Hmh. I’ll just go drink some water for now.
*end rant*
