"The Honest Truth: My Journey of Wearing a Waist Training Corset as a Plus-Size Woman"

I am pear shaped. I'm about 260 pounds at 5'4. Most of my weight is carried in my hips and rear end. I am probably a B cup at most, and I would say that, currently, my bra size is at a 40B. I have tried two different kinds of corsets. I probably have something close to an hourglass shape, except with extra minutes, of course. (Bad pun, guilty as charged). But I don't think I was born with a natural hour glass shape. In 2011, I had surgery to remove stomach fat and arm fat. I was 297 with my second child, and then lost weight and was at 211. I was getting divorced around that time, and wanted to go "Barbie" mode. Well, I had the surgery, therefore, my waist is smaller with less fat, but the fat that remained redistributed in a strange way where there is more of a fat bump underneath or near my left ribcage, under my actual "lady humps" (a la Black Eyed Peas - if you don't get this reference, it's okay. Google it.) I've been self-conscious about this strange bumps, as it seems to be as big as, or bigger, than my left "lady hump". My husband told me that in Panama, corsets are huge. We're both from there, so I thought, why not give it a try?

I have tried two different corsets. One corset is a black band/rubber type that I got from a large online retailer. It was called the Lady Slim Fajas Columbiana Latex Waist Trainer/Cincher/Trimmer Corset (Weight Loss Shaper). I got it I the size XXX-Large. (It definitely smelled like Latex! It reminded me of tires). It was a hook and eye closure corset that was 14 inches wide. This product mentioned that my waist will be reduced by up to three inches as soon as I put it on. It had flexible boning that was also supposed to help my posture, and it wasn't supposed to "roll up". Supposedly, the latex increases the sauna effect and increases the temperature of your abdominal area, which, in turn, supposedly reshapes/reduces your fat deposits. You probably see that I mention the word 'supposedly' because I'm a research girl, and I just can't believe everything I read. (Can you really reshape fat deposits? I need to research this.) For twenty seven dollars, I gave it a try. I noticed that I was glad I received the XXX-Large size. A smaller size would have been impossible to close. The corset smelled of tires. The corset sweated excessively, and I don't believe I lost any fat deposits. I feel that the corset's height was too much. Maybe my tummy area is just shorter, since I'm 5'4, or maybe my hips are too wide. Either way, the corset gapped in a weird way in front of my chest, between my lady humps. It did have a slimming effect, but the weird bump made it obvious, it did roll up in he back, and the hook closures were obvious even when wearing loose fitting shirts. I feel like it pushed my back fat way up, and made it look like I was trying out for Quasimodo's wife after Esmerelda left him for that other guy. (That was mean of me, sorry.) Anyway, that corset did not work out for me. It probably would have been okay, but the prongs attacked my lower back and pushed up my upper fat, so I was having issues, obviously.

So I thought I would give up, and then I ran into a little store near my home called Shapers. Shapers sells all kinds of corsets and anything for waist training. As soon as I walked in, the lady started complimenting me on my figure. I felt flattered, and beautiful! She said, "Your body is just the type that women are going for! What's your secret?" I didn't want to blurt out, "Surgery!" So I just smiled and I asked if there were any corsets that were kind of more than just the corset itself. She guided me to the Abdominal Girdle with front suspenders. I'm actually wearing it right now, as I create this article. I like it much better than that other corset I have, but it's mostly because it has flat stitching, soft clasps, and complete back covered. I even feel that it helps my posture. The only weird thing is that I have to put my bra on over this. This pushes up the 'lady humps' and extra weird fat upward. It has kind of a 'push-up' effect, but the bra has to be worn over or the corset will ride over the top of the bra. Again, maybe my torso is too small and maybe women with longer torsos (or bigger lady humps) won't have this problem. Supposedly this corset has Viveltex, which has sea algae and it's supposed to help tone up the skin, but I need to research this too because you can't believe everything you hear or read.

So, yes, I’m still wearing the corset. No, I don’t think it redistributes fat. I think it does make me not want to eat as much. Sitting down with it on, or driving, can be almost extremely uncomfortable. The long support bones in this corset that I’m wearing make it much more bearable than the metal ‘bones’ that completely tried to bury themselves into my lower back like my first corset. I feel like it does help my posture, but I am aware that I probably need to work out on my core strength. And actually, I probably just need to lose weight, and maybe exercise and maybe eat better. Keto or Vegan? That’s another topic for another time. For now, I will continue to wear this corset, for no more than 8 hours a day, and probably not on weekends.