Kim and Khloe Kardashian,Beyoncé and Jessica Alba have something in common. They are all obsessed with shrinking their waists. Waist training has been around for centuries since before the time of Marie Antoinette when women's beauty was literally measured by the size of their waist and bust. The hourglass shape of a woman needed to be clearly accentuated in the nobility since that was the only "weapon" they had to gain a place in the court. Today's motivation is completely different and waist cinchers are the craze, but do they really work?
Read more ¿Qué más?: 6 Ways your faja can KILL you
A photo posted by Khloé (@khloekardashian) onNov 11, 2014 at 1:14pm PST
Celebrities swear by these fajas and often are posting selfies wearing the cinchers to the gym or wearing them as plain clothes. Because the fajas squeeze your gut, you instantly look taller and slimmer. Your waist looks tiny, your butt bigger and your breasts perkier. It's the dream shape and can be easily achieved by wearing one of those corsets. Well, it's not that simple. Yes, the effect is there while you are wearing the cincher but according to Dr. Stephen D. Ball, nutrition and exercise physiology expert, the faja doesn't shrink your waist because it doesn't burn fat.
Actually wearing a faja for a prolonged period of time could be damaging to your body and health. These are some of the misconceptions about waist training that you should know.
1. That it srinks your waist: Even if you wear the cincher 24/7 you are not going to shrink your waist. The only way to have a smaller waist is by losing weight and the cinchers don't eat for you.
2. That it helps you lose weight: The cinchers have nothing to do with weight loss because they don't eliminate fat. Instead the faja redistributes fat from your gut and places it in other parts of your torso. Don't be surprised if you end with a fat-roll under your breasts.
3. That you burn fat: That's what marketers and advertisers want you to believe and that's why they pay celebrities with curvy figures to sponsor their product. The corsets are made of Latex, which helps you sweat and lose water around the stomach area. Keep in mind, you are losing water not fat!
4. It helps you exercise better: Actually quite the opposite. They are tight and they keep your torso straight which could hurt you when you are lifting weights or doing certain moves that involve your core. You could hurt your back or crack some ribs if you are not careful.
Listen, wear them underneath your clothes during a hot date or a special event but don't expect magic beyond that. My guess is that those celebrities wear them all the time and that's why they look that good!
Image via Kriisi /Flickr
