Today I came across the term “corset waist training”, which of course led me to wonder “What is corset waist training??” If you, like me, are wondering just what is corset waist training (also known as “tightlacing”), well you’re in luck, because I’ve figured (no pun intended) it out for you.

Corset waist training is pretty much exactly how it sounds: you “train” your waist, by wearing a corset.

Now at this point you may be thinking “train my waist to do what, exactly? To roll over? Shake? Speak?” (Actually my waist already does two out of three of those, with no training at all, thank you very much.)

Corset waist training is the practice of lacing (also known as “tightlacing”) yourself into a corset, on a regular basis, to ‘train’ your waist (your waistline) to become, well, smaller. And by ‘a regular basis’ what is meant is anywhere from 8 or more hours a day to 23 hours a day, all in name of trying to acheive an hourglass figure that your body, having been punished into, will retain for increasingly extended periods of time.

There are different methods of corset waist training out there, including the Cycle method of corset waist training (where you wear the corset as tightly as you can stand it for as much of the day as you can, then ‘listen to your body’ and let it out when you must), and the Roller Coaster method of corset waist training (different durations of corset wearing on alternating days).

According to some, one of the most important things in corset waist training is the material from which the corset is made. It turns out, I have learned in my research, that you can’t go for a cheap knock-off waist training corset, oh no. Those cheap knockoffs use plastic bones, and what you need to lace your waist into submission is a corset made with steel bones. (The cheap knockoffs sell for a fraction of the ‘real thing’, the latter of which can run from $400 to $1000, according to this article on corset waist training.)

Also, according to Lucy’s Corsetry there are several other factors, along with corset quality, that go into how effective your waist training will be. These include body type (including your internal organs and whether or not you’ve had a baby), and your lifestyle and exercise habits.

Apparently women are also squishing and reshaping their ribcage, as, for example, Lucy’s Corsetry advises that another factor is “Are your ribs flexible and are you able to accommodate corsets with a conical ribcage easily, or is your ribcage very inflexible and difficult to move? Those who are easily able to train their ribs are likely to see faster waist training results than those whose ribs are very rigid,” and “If you want to train your ribcage, you might need a corset with a conical ribcage, which gradually tapers down and increases the pressure on the lower ribcage.”

Recently Kardashian sisters Kim and Khloe have shared selfies of themselves wearing their waist training corsets.

Kim Kardashian (left) and Khloe Kardashian (right)
show off their waist training corsets

 

Personally, I don’t think it makes their waists look smaller as much as it makes their hips and backsides look a lot bigger. But seeing as that’s Kim’s signature big body part, I guess that’s not surprising.

If you are thinking that all of this sounds questionable when it comes to health and safety, well, you’re not alone.

Says nutritionist and fitness expert to the stars, J.J. Virgin, in an interview with Fox News, “People should know better. This is so ridiculous. You are blocking oxygen, reducing flow to your lungs, heart and other organs which in turn slows metabolism as your cells become deprived of oxygen.”

“Organ failure can also occur. In a word: don’t,” added Virgin.

Words to live by, quite literally.

During the winter months, especially for those of us with very fine hair, getting rid of static electricity in our hair can be a real problem. Off comes the hat, and out come the flyaways – enough static in your hair to make it look like you’ve got your hand on an invisible Van De Graaff generator. Here’s how to remedy staticy hair in 3 easy steps.

Step 1

Use a really decent amount of a good quality conditioner on your hair in the shower. Especially along the length of your hair and on the ends. I keep a wide-toothed comb in the shower and comb it through, to make sure that my hair is evenly coated. I also wash my hair first when in the shower, and pile my conditioner-saturated hair on top of my head with a wide-toothed hair clip, so that it really soaks in while I am in the shower.

Step 2

When you get out of the shower, if at all possible, don’t brush or comb your hair (which you shouldn’t do while it’s wet anyways – except of course when you are running conditioner through it in the shower). Instead, use your fingers as combs to detangle your hair and arrange it as you want it. Then let it air dry!

Step 3

Get rid of your plastic (usually nylon) bristled brushes and plastic toothed combs, at least for the winter. Instead, use metal (hair metal, it’s not just for glam bands any more!), preferably stainless steel.

But here’s the thing: stainless steel combs made for people are very expensive!

Don’t believe me? Check out this $39.00 stainless steel comb!

Now check out this stainless steel dog comb:

Now, if you want to spend $39.00 on a comb, that’s your business. But I’d rather have the dog comb (and I do!) and take myself to dinner and a movie with the $31.50 I saved. And really, who’s going to know it’s a dog comb?

Hair brushes with metal bristles (technically called “pins”) are more reasonably priced for people:

These three easy steps should help get you all the way there – or at least nearly all the way there (they have certainly helped me). For extra dry staticy days, spray a little leave-in conditioner on your hands (not your hair), or on your (metal!) brush, and then apply it with your hands or brush down the length of your hair. I use ACURE Organic Argan Oil leave-in conditioner, because I love it, and it makes my hair soft but not flat or weighed down, and it does take care of that last little bit of static.

I live in bone-dry, cold Colorado, and these steps have helped me immensely. I hope that they help you as much as they have helped me!

Go to any high end department or lingerie store and you will get the same advice: don’t fold your padded, formed, or fitted bras with the cups nesting in each other! By turning one cup inside-out, you will damage and ultimately break down that cup. So just how are you supposed to pack your padded or fitted bras in your luggage?

Well, you could buy one of these molded travel cases made for padded bras, but they are bulky, taking up way too much space in your suitcase, and adding too much weight.

So here’s what I do. For this you will need:

2 quart-size plastic food storage bowls
1 medium packing cube (I like this set)
Your padded bras

 

Arrange the two bowls in your packing cube like this:

 

Place your first padded bra cup-down into the bowls (one cup in each bowl):

 

Nest your other padded bras, one at a time, on top:

 

One at a time, starting with the top-most bra (the one you put in last) and working your way down to the bottom-most bra (the one you put in first), fold the straps into the cups:

 

At this point you can either flip the whole thing over and zip up your packing cube, or just zip up your packing cube without flipping the bras and bowls over – whichever works best for you. Be sure that the rims of the bowls aren’t pinching your padding, and if you need to, put a rolled up pair of socks or something else inside the cups (depending on your bra cup size, the straps may not sufficiently fill the cups to give them the support that they need):

 

 

As you can see, this is way less bulky than a special case!

Conscientious vegetarians and vegans who are having problems with hemorrhoids have for years had nowhere to turn for hemorrhoid relief. Most if not all hemorrhoid ointments and hemorrhoid creams (in fact, generally all hemorrhoid products) contained, among other things, shark oil (technically shark liver oil). The best known hemorrhoid ointment, Preparation H, was infamous for its use of shark’s liver oil. Now, however, we are happy to report, there are several hemorrhoid treatments from Preparation H that not only do not contain shark oil, but are completely vegan, and all of them are vegetarian.

I know this because this week I spoke with Emily, a customer service representative with the Preparation H brand (their parent company is Pfizer). Please note that I do not know about Pfizer’s animal testing policies, and so that is a separate question. What I know is about the ingredients in their hemorrhoid products.

No Preparation H product sold within the United States contains shark liver oil

As of the writing of this article (August 13, 2013) all of their products are vegetarian (meaning that they contain no ingredients for which an animal had to die), and in fact only two of their products contain any animal products at all – and those products are bees wax and lanolin.

The following Preparation H products contain no animal ingredients:

Preparation H Cooling Gel
Preparation H Cream
Preparation H Suppositories

The following Preparation H products contain either lanolin or beeswax:

Preparation H Ointment (beeswax)
Preparation H Wipes (lanolin)

There is also a homeopathic hemorrhoid cream out there, that is vegan, called Nelsons H Plus Care Hemorrhoid Cream. It is available from Amazon here.

Searches that led to this article: http://www mangemerde com/vegetarian-and-vegan-hemorrhoid-treatment/,  

It’s like the unholy love child of Brooke Shields and Erica Jong: postpartum fear of flying. It turns out that while nobody talks about postpartum fear of flying, and while postpartum fear of flying does not even seem to be a recognized “diagnosis”, lots of people – mothers in particular, but also fathers, experience a new and sudden fear of flying once they become parents. It starts post partum, but it lasts for years.

If you suffer or have suffered from postpartum fear of flying, read on, and share your story!

For myself, I used to be a very frequent flyer. In fact, I was flying on my own from a very young age, and never had a problem with flying – at all.

That all changed when I had my first child, at age 20 (planned, thank you very much!) Suddenly I was gripped by an icy cold fear around my heart at the very thought of getting on an airplane. In fact, the thought of flying filled me not just with dread, but with outright terror.

Interestingly, at around the time that my daughter hit her mid teens, my fear of flying eased up, and I even willingly boarded planes again.

It was then that I started to connect the dots, and theorized that perhaps the sudden onset of my fear of flying was related to the overwhelming responsibility of being responsible for the safety and well-being of my child. And that, as she reached an age where, sure, she might miss me if I perished, she would be ok without me.

I really didn’t think a whole lot more about it until I had my son, several years later. Instantly that fear of flying returned. I would do – and have done – anything to avoid getting on an airplane. Fortunately I adore travelling by train, and so many trips between California and Colorado have been enjoyed on Amtrak’s California Zephyr.

But now, as my son hits his mid-teens, and I have some travelling to do this year, I find myself actually contemplating flying again, and without being seized with terror. In fact, I’m contemplating not just a flight for a conference from state-to-state, but a 15-hour flight to another country.

“Hmmm,” I thought to myself, “that’s interesting. This is the identical experience I had with my daughter.”

I mentioned this to a friend of mine – a very hands-on single father, and it turns out that he too has had the same experience. No problem flying at all, until he became a parent, and then – boom – fear of flying.

I’ve had other friends mention that they have experienced this as well.

So, to all of you people out there who have experienced postpartum fear of flying – you are not alone. And it does get better.