Waist Reduction Progress Report
After beginning a waist training program in earnest a couple of months ago, I reached a waist measurement of 33-inches for my last summer session with SheDaddy. That's a reduction of 7-inches and more than halfway towards my goal of a 28-inch waist! If I had continued my trajectory, I would be at 31.5-inches today. But instead, I am at 33.5-inches. Yes, such bad news!
But I'm happy to report that I believe I have solved the problems that caused this reversal. As of a couple of weeks ago, I am back on track to reach the promised land of the 28-inch waist in a few months. At that point, I may be able to dispense with the hip pads and only use the corset for shaping. I may still require some assistance in the derrière department, however.
What happened?
At the beginning of my training, things were going swimmingly. I was down by 1/2 inch every 10-days. I was a human waist-training machine! For those who haven't tried it yet, it's an interesting experience. When you are at 37-inches (for example), you may find it impossible to believe that in 10-days, you will be able to go down to 36.5-inches because it's such an effort to get the corset to close at 37-inches. But like magic, your body adjusts, and the impossible becomes possible. And I loved the transformation it gave to my figure!
There is some discomfort associated with waist training, and now might be a good time to discuss what you should watch out for when doing it. When you wear a corset for many hours at an intense waist reduction, you will start to feel discomfort. It's similar to the discomfort you get if you sit in the same position for too long (as might happen when you travel on an airplane or bus). I notice it is worse when I sit for long periods and easier when standing up or lying down. It's normal and nothing to worry about. However, if you feel numb or experience sharp pains or "shooting" pains, loosen that corset and try again later!
Pain and Suffering at 33-inches.
When I reached 33-inches, I began to experience these sharp and shooting pains after wearing the corset for an hour or so. I was very disappointed, but I hoped it would disappear after a few days of training at this waist-reduction. It didn't.
I used a webcam to analyze what was happening. For some strange reason, as I pulled on the bunny ears, the corset would tighten at the extreme top and bottom of the gap. (This is the "()" shape that I described in Check the Fit! ). It was obvious that the corset was over-tightened at the ribcage and hips, which were the areas where I was experiencing the pain. Nothing I tried fixed this problem, so I decided I needed to consult an expert.
Lucy to the Rescue!
As you know from my earlier articles, I am a huge fan of Lucy and have learned most of what I know about corsets from her. I am such a fan that I decided to become one of her producers on Patreon. You can see my name listed on her recent videos. Isn't that dope? She's swamped making videos and writing another book on corsets, but I was desperate, so I wrote her. Lucy was kind enough to respond quickly and suggested that I might need a lacing style with more friction. She referred me to one of her videos where she talked about different types of lacing:
After watching the video, I tried the "tennis shoe" lacing, where you go over and under on each grommet (see the video if that isn't clear). This type of lacing creates more friction at each grommet which causes wear and tear on the corset but also prevents the corset from closing mostly at the extreme ends. Another advantage of this type of lacing is that it can support a more flexible busk. I had noticed that the busk on my corset tended to flex outward (away from my body), which is not the best thing in the world.
Switching to the "tennis shoe" lacing corrected the outward flexing of the busk and helped to even out the lacing gap at the top. For reasons that remain mysterious to me, the bottom of the corset still closed first and much more than it should. Instead of a "()" shape in the gap, I now had a "V" shape and still experienced substantial discomfort around my hips. Progress, but not a solution.
We Try Yet Another Lacing Method.
Another suggestion from the video was to use two laces, one for the bottom half of the corset and one for the top. I tried this (still using the tennis shoe style of lacing for each separate lace). The new lacing improved the situation considerably, but not enough to declare victory. The bottom of the corset, while it didn't close as much, still closed too much, and at 33-inches, I still found it impossible to wear the corset for extended periods.
Carrying the double lace idea to its logical conclusion, I decided to use the bottom lacing only for the bottom quarter of the corset and the upper lacing for the remaining three-fourths. Doing this allowed me to control the amount that the corset closed at the bottom much better, and I believe it solved my problem.
Using two laces is not as easy as the bunny ears. It's a lot less convenient and takes me much longer to put on the corset. But practice makes perfect, and this is the only way I have found to allow me to continue my training! Unfortunately, during the period I was experimenting with lacing, I was not training and lost an inch of progress. So when I started again, the best I could do was 34-inches. But it's not the end of the world, and I am a much happier corset wearer. I am much more comfortable wearing my corset, and I love having discovered the use of the webcam to help me get the corset on properly. I am very hopeful that with this new lacing method, I will be able to get down to 30-inches, after which I think I will have to invest in a new corset to go the rest of the way!
That's it for today. Thanks for reading and if you have something nice to say or a good idea or suggestion, you can always write me.