You know how they say if you do something for 21 days, it becomes a habit. Yeah, you can train your mind to adjust to new things in your routine. You can also train your dog- teach him behaviours and how to play so that when you say ‘Fetch,’ he doesn’t just sit there and stare at you like you are a spectacle as you desperately flail your arms about. And it turns out, you can also do waist training. Contrary to popular understanding, you cannot, actually teach your waist to play fetch but you can goad it to look fetch. You see what I did there?
So What Exactly Is Waist Training?
Waist training is a concept where you constantly lock your mid section in something that could be called a jail hoping it will comply and never confess your french fry sins. I am talking about this today because period dramas on OTT platforms have brought regency core fashion to the forefront, making us wish our waist would look that cinched and our breasts could be brought up so high up that a bunch of all well-endowed ladies might accidentally choke on their own breasts. Of course, Kim Kardashian time and again waltzes on the red carpets in clothes not meant for her shape or size and then makes it sound like it’s normal to lose crazy amounts of weight or to dehydrate because your dress won’t allow you to sit. When this is what people are looking at and possibly aspiring to (oh god!), waist training is seemingly acceptable. WebMD explains that, ‘Waist trainers are popular products that promise to shrink your waist and even help you lose weight.’ Waist trainers are much like corsets and waist training involves caging your waist in one of these every day to get your desired shape.
Why Would Anyone Be Into Waist Training?
There could be many reasons someone would think waist training sounds like a great idea. I think each one of them should be recommended therapy. However, largely, celebrities flaunting wash board abs, the crazy beauty standards propagated by media and social media as ideal and the nonsense spouted by the weight loss industry is to blame. Women are told that a tiny waist is ideal and if you can’t get it by spending hours at the gym, get into waist training. The promise of the sexy, hourglass waist is alluring, I imagine.
Most waist trainers are like corsets- they have cloth, fasteners and/or velcro so you can really cinch in your midriff. Then you leave it for as long as you can- discomfort and living be damned- and when done for long enough, you shall have the waist you so aspire to have. You’ve to do it constantly for weeks. Maybe when you’re at the peak, pull out a rib or something. Honestly, it sounds stupid and exhausting.
The Benefits ( Are There Any?)
Despite what waist training companies trying to peddle their wares to you tell you, this is a temporary fix and one that comes recommended by no one. Once you take the pesky waist training product off, your body, finally able to breathe freely, will go back to its original shape. Some trainers recommend sleeping with them to hasten the process of making your waist do what it doesn’t want to, but most say 8 hours is enough. Listen, there are no benefits and it sounds like hog wash to me.
For some, waist training products suffocating their waist might be the reason they eat less and it might serve as motivation but for the most part, these suck. Waist trainers seem like a con job and no woman in her sane mind- wedding, special occasion or otherwise- should be engaged in ensuring that her waist is covered in angry red marks.
Plus and here’s where it goes into the territory of dangerous, WebMD tells you that you could lose core strength and your internal organs might suffer from long term damage if you do indulge in waist training for too long. It also greatly affects your ability to breathe so my recommendation would be to choose to staying alive over staying hourglass.
I wrote about friendships in your 30s also. You could read about that too!
