By Aubrie Smith, Copy Editor.
Most of us have heard of the Kardashians. If you haven’t, I’m a little jealous of the life you surround yourself with. But, because I’m a typical millennial female, I spend a lot of time ‘Keeping up with the Kardashians.’ So, when they all started endorsing something called a ‘waist trainer’, I noticed.
The waist trainer quickly found its way into the homes of many young adults. Who doesn’t want to eat that extra piece of pizza and still lose five pounds? I can relate. Doritos are my life, and I haven’t been to the gym in weeks. If you tell me I can trim my waist and still sit on the couch and watch “Friends”, you bet your bottom that I’m going to do that. So, with a little ambition, I hit some buttons and ordered the Kardashian-esq garment. But, with skepticism on the brain, I set a small goal of only wearing the waist trainer for five days. Ambitious, I know.
My first pinch of sadness came right from Amazon. Shopping smart, I made sure to look at the sizing chart. A regular women’s size large was a waist trainer size 5 XL. This was baffling. And, because that just couldn’t be right, I put a 3XL in my cart. That was only the beginning of my body shaming journey.
Seeing this made me discouraged and ashamed of my own body. Nonetheless, I became determined to wear it day in and day out, regardless of the health risks.
Day 1
Receiving my waist trainer in the mail was an experience in itself. To be completely honest, I had forgotten about my planned waist training adventure in the three days it took to arrive, so it was a total surprise to me when it came in the mail. That being said, excitement rushed through me when I got the envelope. I mean, who wouldn’t want to be Kim Kardashian for a day? Actually, probably a lot of people.
Putting on the waist trainer was a completely different experience. Out of curiosity, my 110 pound, size extra-small coworker decided to try on the corset first. The scary reality was that it fit her almost perfectly. This was bad news for my size 13 body.
So, scared shitless, I retreated to the closest Delta bathroom to shove myself into the size 3x waist trainer. Clasping everything together took about 10 minutes and a lot of swearing, but I felt accomplished.
My initial thought after squeezing into the trainer was that I could not breath. Short breaths were okay, but trying to take a deep breath was nearly impossible. After going back to my desk, and googling actual safety instructions about the trainer, I learned that an individual is only supposed to wear the device for two hours on the first day.
During that time span, here are some things I experienced: Pain, sweating, irritation, and thirst. At the end of the two hours, I couldn’t wait to rip out of the horrendous trainer. So much so, I took it off during the three minute walk to my car in Delta’s parking lot. I apologize to any possible witnesses.
Day 2
My second day encountering the trainer went surprisingly better. For whatever reason, I again felt the rush of excitement while on my way to clasp up (this time in the comfort of my own home, thankfully).
Per my online instructions, I was to wear the waist trainer for four hours this time around. This turned out perfect, seeing that I had a four hour meeting to attend. The downside to this perfect timing was that there was pizza at this meeting. I happen to be a fan of pizza, and the death contraption around my waist made enjoying it a tad difficult.
Again, after two hours, I began to feel closed in and panicky. I’m not one who struggles with anxiety, so this was alarming, confusing and concerning in a lot of ways.
When hour four finally hit, I publicly removed my corset once again. And, because I’m full of remorse for what I assume to be an awful view, I apologize to each one of my coworkers who witnessed it.
This day brought more of what was previewed in day one. Lots of sweating (who knew compacting your organs and squeezing your fat into something too small for you would cause perspiration), more discomfort, and a bit more anxiety.
Day 3
I woke up on this day in fear of the waist trainer. According to the online instructions, I was to wear the squeeze-machine for six entire hours. Being dumb, I decided that the best time to do this was at my customer-service job. This was an awful idea seeing as I had to run around with my organs squeezing together, and work even harder than normal to be nice to annoying customers.
A few hours in, I noticed that I was losing energy faster than I normally would have. Sure, the first week of classes had my schedule a little off. Sure, I’m a 20 year old who stays up too late before an early shift. But normally I can hack it until I get home. I felt drained.
Because the waist trainer makes you sweat, your body is overworking itself. Add that to being semi-active by running around work restocking, and I was practically exercising. Practically.. I tried my best to stay on top of my fluids, but somewhere I must have missed something.
That night, around 2:30 a.m., a good 11 hours after the removal of the waist trainer, I woke up feeling ill. However, this is not a sick I had ever experienced before. I was dizzy, light headed, nauseous and began experiencing the worst migraine of my life causing me to lose my vision. After several hours, over-the-counter medications and some tears, a friend was nice enough to take me to the hospital. There, I was told that I was severely dehydrated.
I have absolutely no proof that the waste trainer caused my dehydration. However, I have always been someone who asks for two waters at a time at restaurants. Never in my life have I had a problem with the amount of fluids in my system.
Because of these health issues, I decided to stop wearing the waist trainer. Well, that and because all I did for the next two days was sleep and drink water.
Overall, wearing the waist trainer did nothing but lower my self-confidence. Sure, I felt slightly skinnier while wearing it. I felt slimmer and smoother. However, the same type of result can come from Spanx; a much healthier alternative with stretchy material, rather than the tight death trap that I wore.
Any product that makes you feel bad just by ordering it is not worth it. My size 13 body should never feel like a 5 XL. This trainer did nothing for me. I lost no weight. I lost no inches. I did not gain an hourglass figure.
Sure, I didn’t wear the waist trainer as long as I was supposed to. And sure, Jessica Alba didn’t take hers off for two months, but I will not dehydrate myself or crush my organs for beauty, and neither should you. Buying the waist trainer is a waist of your time.
