Sunday, September 21, 2008

“Week 1 of Waist Training” or "How to Successfully Add a week of Training to Your Schedule because of your Uncooperative Waistline!”

Welcome to the next installment of my waist training log. Week one started with a bump. My goal was to corset to a waist size of 27.5 inches / 69.8 cm for the week with mostly over-night corseting. Training started officially on Tuesday Sept 2nd.

Now I know some people might take the days before to eat a little extra & relax … but not this corset maker! I knew that the initial 27.5 measurement was what I would normally lace to after a few days of corseting. So I started with some pre-corseting on Sunday (3 hrs) and Monday (3hrs) at 28 inches/ 71 cm.

Sept Tuesday 2nd
So now it’s Day 1 of my waist training program!!! Yeah! Let’s go!
Corset schedule … a long 9 hrs at 27.25 inches / 69 cm with my full length corset as my under-bust corset is under construction.

Weigh-in in the morning – 162 lbs /73.4 kg
Have a breakfast of cereal & soymilk, blueberries & coffee.
Lunch of Kashi frozen dinner (300 cal) and 1 cup of low fat cottage cheese for a snack & herbal tea.
Get home from work & eagerly put on my corset and begin making dinner. But wait, there’s absolutely no way I can pull the laces to that measurement!! I try a couple times. Nope! It ain’t happening. I settle for 28 inches/71 cm
Another Kashi sweet & sour chicken frozen dinner & a tomato from my garden, but this time just a half serving. I couldn’t eat another bite! Hey this corset thing does work as far as making you eat less & feel full. Yes, your stomach is pushed up slightly by the lacing at the waist and so you feel full faster.

So before bed I attempt to lace down a bit more. No success. I do need to be able to sleep so I leave it at 28 inches and go to bed.

Corset wearing curiosity: Now sleeping in a corset, especially an overbust corset is an interesting experience. Your body naturally flattens out when you lay down. The corset keeps your ribs & organs from flattening out. You feel strangely conical! Also your breathing has to change. I normally breath from my abdomen when sleeping. The corset will now allow you to take a deep breath from below your waist. You can still take a full breath down to your abdomen but you must also breathe from the diaphragm.

Nice information but bad timing. I didn’t really want to find out that I’d be fighting the corset while sleeping when much of my wearing schedule is based on wearing the corset overnight! Solution – a dose of Advil PM comes to the rescue. I’m asleep in short order.

Wed Sept 3rd
Wake up at 5 AM and corset is still at 28 inches. Good – that means I tied my knots tight enough that it didn’t loosen over night.
Weight is the same as yesterday (expected) and my waist measurement after a few hours out of the corset is 29.5 inches. Do some morning yoga to wake up.
Breakfast – same as yesterday.
Lunch – small salad, salmon pattie and peach
Dinner is late 8pm because of a customer fitting appointment. I eat the other half of last night’s dinner! Felt very full on my small meal. However, I ate too close to bed time & tying to my weekly goal was AGAIN IMPOSSIBLE because I would be too uncomfortable to sleep. Advil PM again to help with sleeping.
Wore my corset a little more than the 9 hrs required – 5:30 PM to 4:30 AM at 28 inches.

Thursday Sept 4th
Morning – successfully corseted from 5pm – 5am at 27.75 inches/ 70.5 cm. The corset I’m wearing is closed at the back at this measurement so I’ll have to switch to another one to get any smaller measurements.
Breakfast – scrambled eggs w/ veggies, coffee
Lunch – snack of M&M’s, salad with salmon pattie, fruit
Dinner – Kefir. Not feeling hungry & have an SCA meeting to attend & some belly dancing to do.

This is my day off of corseting! A good night’s sleep is assured!

Friday Sept 5th
Aren’t you getting tired of reading my daily breakfast, lunch & dinner routine yet?
No? Darn! I was hoping not to reveal my digressions today. Okay then here’s the summary:

Breakfast – cereal, coffee, blueberries
Lunch – 3 slices of white pizza & diet pop (ooh the indulgence!)
Dinner – Kefir & black licorice. I’m not feeling hungry – have a sore stomach. Probably that pizza I ate for lunch.

My corset hurt to put on so I just laced it to 28 inches/71 cm. I wore it for 3 hours & then it became uncomfortable. I loosened it to 29 inches/ 73.6 cm and wore it for 9 hrs overnight.

Corseting Curiosity: Is this taking a day off of corseting really a good idea? Today’s been so difficult getting back into the routine.

Saturday Sept 6th
Up at 4:30 AM. Weight 162 / 73.4 kg, Waist in corset at 29 inches /73.6 Cm
Breakfast – shredded wheat & peaches, coffee.

Wait, its Saturday and I’m up at 4:30am!! What’s going on? Oh yeah, my company is moving a computer system move today & I have to be at work to test. Lucky me!
So uncorsetted and in a comfortable pair of track pants & a t-shirt I’m off for a Saturday at work. Let the junk food begin!!
Snacks – cherry Danish, peach, cookies, and small brownie – ooh I feel my waist inflating already!
Lunch – Chicken salad sandwich, small salad
Dinner – half a sandwich, grapes

Today’s schedule is 12 hrs at 27.25. Well we all know I haven’t made that measurement so far this week. So I’ve resolved to just continue with 28 inches / 71 cm for the first round of corseting & then progress down half an inch in each rotation from there. Realistically, I have to work the corset into my life & gradual is the way to go on any long term life style changes. Just like dieting, you do what you can & adjust along the way.

Sunday Sept 7th
Corseted over night at 28 inches / 71 cm from 5pm to 4am – stomach was too full to go any smaller. (No surprise there eh?). Loosed the corset at 4am & removed it at 6am.
Breakfast – eggs, kefir, coffee.
Lunch – half a sub sandwich, peach.
Dinner – at home after leaving the office. Yogurt & blackberries.

Today is another 12 hour day of corseting. This so far is the most difficult to work into an active day. I put the corset back on from 9am – 1pm at 28/71 Having some issues with lower back spasms with the corset off but I think that has more to do with sewing & my posture than with the corset. Noting it in case it appears again later.
Exercise: yoga & short walk & some yard work.
Then went into my nightly session from 9pm – 4:30am. So sort of 12 hrs broken up.

Monday Sept 8th – moving down a half inch
Weight: 160, Corset 28.5 inches/ 72 cm upon waking. My waist line is sneaking out during the night when I tie in back. I have better results if I tie off in front of the corset. Not the best long term solution, but it will do until I have my underbust corset.

Today’s goal is 4 hours at 27.5 inches / 69 cm – a half inch reduction from last week’s measurement. Now this is more like it! I should be able to get back on schedule.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner – the usual. Low fat, complex carbs, lean meats, fruit & veggies.
Exercise – 30 min on the stair master & some sit ups.
Decided to corset in the afternoon at work, so I put my corset on after I finished my lunch hour at the gym. However due to shoulder issues, I could not lace tighter than 28 inches without assistance. I’m sure my co-workers would have found it bizarre if I asked them to lace me down in the bathroom!

There was laundry to do after work so I didn’t get home until 7pm. The corset came off at that time.

Yes, you can do your laundry while in a full length corset!

Next installment - will include some photos!

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

What's it Like to Waist Train with corsets?

Hello corseting fans and the corseting curious! My name is Mair and I’m the corsetiere for Blue Rose Corsetry - a small business specializing in custom made corsets. I’ve been a fan of corsetry for more than 20 years now and am embarking on a waist training regime for a 13 week period.

What’s involved with waist training?


Here’s a quick run-down. I’ll elaborate more as I post updates to this blog.

  • Wearing an underbust corset for extended periods of time
  • Reducing the waist measurement on the corset gradually week to week
  • Some dietary guidelines to help differences in digestion that often occur when corseted
  • Some recommended exercises to keep muscles toned, keep other muscles from bulking up too much (i.e. sit-up variations)

What’s the payback?

I have a few goals for this training period.

  • Product quality & design for my underbust corsets. Happy corseting customers make my day! I normally wear my corsets around events and not continuously. I want to ensure comfort and excellent fit and features for those that like to figure shape full-time.
  • To sculpt my natural uncorsetted waist down a few inches
  • To bring my corseted waist down to an exciting 24-25” range that complements my hip size well
  • To loose a bit of weight along the way!

So what’s my plan?

I have a plan for a 12 week corseting program provided for me by Romantasy.com's Ann Grogan. Ann is a long-time corseting enthusiast and she provides consultations for corset training. Please check out her book “Corset Magic” for wonderful information about corsets and corseting.

So, I get this 12 week plan and begin my corset experience on Tuesday Sept 2nd.

Look at your calendar – what day is that? Why the day after Labor day here in the States! Hmm…. Maybe that wasn’t the best choice of a starting date as I did what most people do & ate well that weekend. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

The reason this is a 13 week plan and not a 12 week plan as originally “scheduled” is that my well fed waist didn’t want to be corseted down to the required measurement the first week. Yeah, too much corn on the cob & burgers!

Eek!!! What to do!!!

Naw, I don’t panic like that. Corseting is like dieting and other life style changes. You do what you can and adjust to get back on track. It’s the journey and the end result. No one’s giving me points for doing the program exactly as specified. Anne provides this as a guideline based on her knowledge & experience. I get to adjust it to work for me.

So my solution is to add a week to my training schedule. I followed the first week as prescribed but increased my measurement one half an inch to match what I was able to achieve that week. Then week 2 I should be able to corset to the originally prescribed measurement. Genius eh?

Some statistics for this journey:

Starting weight: 162 lbs / 73.5 kg / 12 stone
Height: 5 foot 5 inches / 165 cm
Starting Natural waist measurement: 30.5 inches / 77.5 cm
Starting average corseted waist measurement: 27 ½ inches – 69.8 cm

Goals for my program:

Ending weight: 138 – 140 lbs / 62.5 – 63.5 kg / 9.8 stone
Height --- well I would just like to keep my height thank you very much!
Ending Natural waist measurement: 26.5 inches / 67.3 cm
Ending corseted waist measurement: 24 inches / 61 cm

Hmm…. Are you like me? When you read that did you think ….. wow that’s a lot of change in 12 weeks! This will be cool if it works!

My “toolkit” for my waist training journey:

  • An first over-bust corset that’s good for wearing for extended periods of time, but is a little too big me to use for more than a week.
  • A silk brocade over-bust corset that is a smaller size and will work for a week or 2
  • A new under-bust design corset that is sized for wearing in the 28 – 26 inches / 71 – 66cm lacing range and will close at 25 inches / 63.5 cm
  • A second under-bust corset for use later in the program that is for the 26 – 24 inches / 66 – 61 cm waist range. This corset closes at 22 inches / 56 cm
  • Some clothing to wear underneath the corsets to keep them clean
  • A dietary plan based loosely based on a South Beach or Perricone Prescription diet base
  • An exercise program
  • Some Advil PM (more on that later!)
  • A paper journal & blog space
  • Some rewards planned for milestones
  • Some punishments for when I’m not keeping with my plan
  • A camera, a tape measure
  • A positive and exploration minded attitude

What you can do for me

I’m blogging this process because I find it fascinating and I have had lots of questions from customers who want to know more about full time corseting, figure training, body sculpting and waist training. So I hope to provide you with some “hands-on” information on how corsets work in real life.

I’m hoping that you will ask me questions via the blog. Cheer me on when I need some encouragement and pass on any experiences or information you have to offer.

Tell me what issues you’ve had with your corsets or what revelations you found in wearing them. How have they effected your life? What sites or books have you read that you would like to tell me about?

Stay tuned for my next update:

“Week 1 of Waist Training” or “How to Successfully Add a week of Training to Your Schedule because of your Uncooperative Waistline!”


Cheers –


Mair
Blue Rose Corsetry’s Corsetiere