I’ve come to the conclusion that many will do just about anything to gain the body of their dreams — except exercise. From diet programs to unregulated diet pills, the options on how to lose weight are endless and the dangerous consequences are limitless.

Of all the trends, waist training has recently become quite popular. However, like many of these shortcuts to a dream body, waist training comes with repercussions.

Waist training is a process in which a woman wears an hourglass corset to achieve a similar figure. Beginners start by wearing it two to four hours per day. Then the user will gradually add an hour or two to the waist training regimen. The goal is to be able to wear the corset throughout the entire day. Eventually, the hopeful result is an hourglass figure without the mess of sweat.

In order to fit into the mold of these devices, corsets have the potential to move and compress the user’s organs, which could lead to potential gastrointestinal problems, such as irregular bowel movements. This movement of organs also hinders nutrient absorption of the small and large intestine. It compresses your lungs and can crush your rib cage. Furthermore, many users have claimed to pass out from lack of oxygen.

Alex Kassan, an American Council on Exercise (ACE) personal trainer and nutritionist, said that even if waist trainers work in the short-term, the results go away as quickly as they come.

“Think of all the times you put a hair band on your wrist, when you take it off it leaves the same compression and over time it quickly goes away,” Kassan said. “Similar to a waist trainer, it’s not going to have lasting results. The moment you take off the corset, your body will immediately go back to it’s original shape.”

Kassan makes an excellent point as the contraption merely moves the fat around and doesn’t actually eliminate it from the body.

Waist training may cause fainting by preventing the wearer from taking full, deep breaths and can crush the ribs due to the immense amounts of pressure that builds up in the abdomen. Such common and dangerous side effects all for results that aren’t even guaranteed to each person and won’t improve one’s health. This just doesn’t seem worthwhile to me.

I understand the struggle to lose weight. For me, it’s an ongoing battle between staying in my toasty bed, scrolling through Instagram fitness guru’s pages, and getting out of bed to get on that treadmill.

While scrolling through Instagram, I’ll see all these celebrities endorsing this product. The Kardashian clan swear by the waist trainers and have heavily promoted it through their social media pages. It was always such a wonder how Kim Kardashian was able to keep an almost-too-perfect, curvaceous figure. While I agree they have powerful voices in the entertainment industry, I don’t think they’re the best people to listen to for health advice.

Kassan said that the only real way to go is, as I’m sure you are aware, eating healthy and committing to exercise.

“If you’re trying to lose weight, one of the best regimen is actually eating breakfast,” Kassan said. “When you wake up, your body is hungry and deprived of nutrients. If you don’t eat breakfast your body will slow down your metabolism, which means you’ll burn less calories throughout the day, which means you’ll lose less fat.”

As far as exercise, Kassan suggests interval training and the use of planks. It’s not easy to dedicate yourself to exercising, but if you really want a better body, it is the way to go. The commitment with some sweat — and maybe even tears — is one of the best ways to gain the perfect body for you, and it’ll be a lot healthier than using a waist trainer.

Published on February 3, 2016 at 7:42 pm