Today my eldest passed the physical aspect of her fire fighting test. I am so happy! The rest this week is studying and testing and she said that they really, really want you to pass, so with her background in forestry and her college classes, she isn't too worried. She'll probably stay up here in Alaska once she passes.
On the exact opposite, a "frilly" aspect of my day, my corset from Romantasy came in. It was several months in the making and is a true work of art. I had it made at 25"-- I am really 26 inches but I started out at 30" (maybe a tiny bit bigger, cough, cough, OK, I lied to my maker, I was 32") with my "old" corset. I only wear the thing once or twice a week so that I am down where I am is pretty decent. I am going to start doing the exercises now and doing this seriously since I have a place to go once I am 25" out of the corset. My very buff, not an once of fat on her firefighter daughter is like, "Why do you have to be this way?"
My daughter and I are very different, but it's OK. I am so proud of her doing as she does.
Showing posts with label corset. Show all posts
Showing posts with label corset. Show all posts
Monday, April 06, 2009
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Stylin' in my Corset
(This may be TMI for some of my guy readers. It is, however, informative.)
When most people hear the word corset, they think of feminine bondage and uncomfortable dressing. After I had my ninth baby, my abdomen was loose and t seemed as if my insides were pouring themselves out of my body, over my pelvic bone. It wasn't that I was in bad shape; the muscles were like a deflated balloon and just tired!
I surfed the internet and not knowing what to buy, I found Ann at Romantasy to be the best and most informative seller. When I told her what I needed to do, she suggested a few custom designs. Being very budget conscious, I chose a basic model in black cotton duck. Romantic? Yes, it is actually! Even in duck, but my husband says it's the woman in the duck, not the duck on the woman! It was an investment of several hundred dollars and I wondered about my sanity in buying the contraption while I waited several months for it to be made.
I have been doing yoga for years, but my muscles were just flabby. Shortly before my corset was done, I bought one off of Ebay for $60 that they said was worth $300. I felt stupid for having ordered the custom one, but the Ebay one was worn out in five wearings. When the custom one arrived, it was stiff, and I don't know if I'd have appreciated it or even worn it had I not bought my inferior one first.
I lied about my actual measurements because I wasn't able to admit how flabby my waist was and I was glad that I didn't live in California to have it measured. I don't advocate lying, especially because you are taking the several hundred dollars you are investing into your own hands, but my 32" waist was able to be compacted into the 28" corset. Since it was spring, I walked as much as I could, and I only wore the thing a few times a week for an hour or two. (Lacing it is another story-- I am glad that I do yoga!) I am now down to a laced down 25" waist. My body is slimming down quickly with it and it seems like the corset has reminded my body what it is supposed to feel like and where things are supposed to be. I took off my corset yesterday and my husband came home and ran his hand over my waist and was surprised that I didn't have it on. My "tummy pooch" is now almost eliminated, and my waist on the sides is now an hourglass. It's been less than 4 months that I've been wearing it and I still don't wear it more than a few times a week due to the heat. I am VERY lucky that my body has done as I thought it would with slimming down as fast as it did. I'm at 28" now sans the corset and I am very, very close to closing it. I'd like to get a 20" waist. My organs are in great shape and what people don't realize is that if these things harmed people, the corset makers wouldn't stay in business!
One of the unexpected bonuses of this is that I had needed surgery to correct a sagging bladder but don't now. This comes fromthe corset only allowing me to stoop, just as I was taught in finishing school, as opposed to simply bending over. Over the years I quit stooping and got sloppy and started bending because it was just easier on my legs. Because I stoop many times a day picking up children, toys and putting things away while I tightlace, it's tightened those muscles up. Forget the 200 kegals the OB/Gyn tells you to do-- they are pointless when you are not strengthening other muscles that support them.
For wearing and holding up nice stockings, I advocate getting at least four garters on each side of the corset. The garter belts with only two belts on each side are no good as they don't hold seamed stockings in the right places.
My husband works with diseases and he hates the thing. He does not find it romantic in any way, shape or form, which is really a drag but since he also doesn't object, I won't complain. He is one of those awesome guys who'd really still genuinely love me if I didn't stay slender.
I do not advocate dieting when you tightlace. I used to model and I had an agent who said you don't diet, you develop habits. You don't start developing habits, once you feel "fat" you cut back on the extras. Have a piece of chocolate every day if you think you need it, but limit how much you have. If you know you are going to a birthday party that night or planning to have a few drinks, don't eat the chocolate. It's about balance. You need to get your heart rate up a few times per week, too. I think the best advice that she gave me was when I told her that I would start "tomorrow," she said that "good habits start today, this very moment." She also told me to never discuss dieting socially which I did at the age of 18, because the purpose of a good party is to indulge a bit, "to eat, drink and be merry." The advice has never failed me.
When most people hear the word corset, they think of feminine bondage and uncomfortable dressing. After I had my ninth baby, my abdomen was loose and t seemed as if my insides were pouring themselves out of my body, over my pelvic bone. It wasn't that I was in bad shape; the muscles were like a deflated balloon and just tired!
I surfed the internet and not knowing what to buy, I found Ann at Romantasy to be the best and most informative seller. When I told her what I needed to do, she suggested a few custom designs. Being very budget conscious, I chose a basic model in black cotton duck. Romantic? Yes, it is actually! Even in duck, but my husband says it's the woman in the duck, not the duck on the woman! It was an investment of several hundred dollars and I wondered about my sanity in buying the contraption while I waited several months for it to be made.
I have been doing yoga for years, but my muscles were just flabby. Shortly before my corset was done, I bought one off of Ebay for $60 that they said was worth $300. I felt stupid for having ordered the custom one, but the Ebay one was worn out in five wearings. When the custom one arrived, it was stiff, and I don't know if I'd have appreciated it or even worn it had I not bought my inferior one first.
I lied about my actual measurements because I wasn't able to admit how flabby my waist was and I was glad that I didn't live in California to have it measured. I don't advocate lying, especially because you are taking the several hundred dollars you are investing into your own hands, but my 32" waist was able to be compacted into the 28" corset. Since it was spring, I walked as much as I could, and I only wore the thing a few times a week for an hour or two. (Lacing it is another story-- I am glad that I do yoga!) I am now down to a laced down 25" waist. My body is slimming down quickly with it and it seems like the corset has reminded my body what it is supposed to feel like and where things are supposed to be. I took off my corset yesterday and my husband came home and ran his hand over my waist and was surprised that I didn't have it on. My "tummy pooch" is now almost eliminated, and my waist on the sides is now an hourglass. It's been less than 4 months that I've been wearing it and I still don't wear it more than a few times a week due to the heat. I am VERY lucky that my body has done as I thought it would with slimming down as fast as it did. I'm at 28" now sans the corset and I am very, very close to closing it. I'd like to get a 20" waist. My organs are in great shape and what people don't realize is that if these things harmed people, the corset makers wouldn't stay in business!
One of the unexpected bonuses of this is that I had needed surgery to correct a sagging bladder but don't now. This comes fromthe corset only allowing me to stoop, just as I was taught in finishing school, as opposed to simply bending over. Over the years I quit stooping and got sloppy and started bending because it was just easier on my legs. Because I stoop many times a day picking up children, toys and putting things away while I tightlace, it's tightened those muscles up. Forget the 200 kegals the OB/Gyn tells you to do-- they are pointless when you are not strengthening other muscles that support them.
For wearing and holding up nice stockings, I advocate getting at least four garters on each side of the corset. The garter belts with only two belts on each side are no good as they don't hold seamed stockings in the right places.
My husband works with diseases and he hates the thing. He does not find it romantic in any way, shape or form, which is really a drag but since he also doesn't object, I won't complain. He is one of those awesome guys who'd really still genuinely love me if I didn't stay slender.
I do not advocate dieting when you tightlace. I used to model and I had an agent who said you don't diet, you develop habits. You don't start developing habits, once you feel "fat" you cut back on the extras. Have a piece of chocolate every day if you think you need it, but limit how much you have. If you know you are going to a birthday party that night or planning to have a few drinks, don't eat the chocolate. It's about balance. You need to get your heart rate up a few times per week, too. I think the best advice that she gave me was when I told her that I would start "tomorrow," she said that "good habits start today, this very moment." She also told me to never discuss dieting socially which I did at the age of 18, because the purpose of a good party is to indulge a bit, "to eat, drink and be merry." The advice has never failed me.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Waist Training-- I'm Down to 25" and Up to 4 Hours Per Day!
I have started waist training. When I was in high school, I had an amazing figure of 36-20-38. The hips were a little large, but they were womanly. Now having conceived 12 and birthed 9 children (I lost three to thankfully early miscarriages and an ectopic) my waist has been around 28 inches. I wanted to make it smaller and when looking for a corset last year, went to Fredrick's of Hollywood. they had one that looked nice but said it wsn't for waist training. I wondered what waist training was and discovered Romantasy. Initially scoffing at the price but writing to tell the owner how pretty the work was, I was sending her a down payment within a couple of months!
My corset arrived a few months ago. Before it arrived, I bought a less costly one off E-Bay. I'd been warned about buying them off E-Bay because they allegedly just fell apart after a month or less of wearing, and mine did fall apart after two weeks. I was glad that I'd bought it. When the Romantasy corset came, it was stiff-- painfully so, but instead of whining and just casting the $350 model aside, I tried it on a few times and kept at it, wearing it at first for a few hours on the weekends, until now, donning it every day and wearing it for two hours at a time and now in it for four hours. I like what it does to my silhouette and the looks that I get when I wear it under my clothes and simply belt a dress and my already nice waist is pronounced. Modern corsets do not dangerously squish organs-- they are set up to push them upwards instead of mashing them under the corset.
When I am not wearing my corset I do a lot of excercises to get my waist down. It's happening however gradually and I would like to see 20" again.
My corset arrived a few months ago. Before it arrived, I bought a less costly one off E-Bay. I'd been warned about buying them off E-Bay because they allegedly just fell apart after a month or less of wearing, and mine did fall apart after two weeks. I was glad that I'd bought it. When the Romantasy corset came, it was stiff-- painfully so, but instead of whining and just casting the $350 model aside, I tried it on a few times and kept at it, wearing it at first for a few hours on the weekends, until now, donning it every day and wearing it for two hours at a time and now in it for four hours. I like what it does to my silhouette and the looks that I get when I wear it under my clothes and simply belt a dress and my already nice waist is pronounced. Modern corsets do not dangerously squish organs-- they are set up to push them upwards instead of mashing them under the corset.
When I am not wearing my corset I do a lot of excercises to get my waist down. It's happening however gradually and I would like to see 20" again.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Curves
I have been putting on weight. I used to do yoga three or four times a week, but now I have three classes on line. My butt is getting big and I have probably gained 20 pounds since August.
I like what I am getting. I had been long and lean, but as I have always felt, beauty moves in curves. I have gone up a cup size with my bra (the breasts are the first to gain and the first to lose weight) and my hips are filling out. Am I wrong to be loving this? When I draw from live models, there is no doubt that the curvaceous ones are the best to put on paper. Light reflects beautifully off them and there is a sense of "abundance" to their bodies that I find undeniably sensual. Men need to be on the leaner side-- I just think that's how men are supposed to look, like they can go out and fight a battle or something. Women? We bear children. We no doubt need the curves. I will probably have no more children, but I still like the curves.
I let my corsets out a bit and am enjoying my body. It's amusing because while In The Act when I am slender, I obsess over the tiniest bulge, worrying that my husband sees it and dislikes it. He doesn't care, but I do and I obsess. We have been to busy for Romance (note my references to sex! LOL) but last night I made the time. He'd not noticed what my body has done in the last few weeks and he noticed last night. He didn't say anything until after I mentioned that it's been a long time since I really got into it and why. He of course noticed it said that the waist to hip ratio that I have now is sexier than when I had a small waist AND a small posterior. I don't know if he likes the curves or the confidence, but he probably enjoys the combination.
Now I am trying to decide if I am going to work in a couple of dance classes into my schedule next semester. Of course I will, but them I will loose the weight right away like I always do, and I don't know if I want to.
I like what I am getting. I had been long and lean, but as I have always felt, beauty moves in curves. I have gone up a cup size with my bra (the breasts are the first to gain and the first to lose weight) and my hips are filling out. Am I wrong to be loving this? When I draw from live models, there is no doubt that the curvaceous ones are the best to put on paper. Light reflects beautifully off them and there is a sense of "abundance" to their bodies that I find undeniably sensual. Men need to be on the leaner side-- I just think that's how men are supposed to look, like they can go out and fight a battle or something. Women? We bear children. We no doubt need the curves. I will probably have no more children, but I still like the curves.
I let my corsets out a bit and am enjoying my body. It's amusing because while In The Act when I am slender, I obsess over the tiniest bulge, worrying that my husband sees it and dislikes it. He doesn't care, but I do and I obsess. We have been to busy for Romance (note my references to sex! LOL) but last night I made the time. He'd not noticed what my body has done in the last few weeks and he noticed last night. He didn't say anything until after I mentioned that it's been a long time since I really got into it and why. He of course noticed it said that the waist to hip ratio that I have now is sexier than when I had a small waist AND a small posterior. I don't know if he likes the curves or the confidence, but he probably enjoys the combination.
Now I am trying to decide if I am going to work in a couple of dance classes into my schedule next semester. Of course I will, but them I will loose the weight right away like I always do, and I don't know if I want to.
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