An 18 inch waist isn’t a healthy waist size for women because you can’t make your waistline 18 inches without potentially harming the inner workings of your body (more on that later).
When you consider that most young children have a waist that’s considerably bigger than 18 inches, you begin to understand just how unnaturally small an 18″ waist is for an adult.
But this reality doesn’t stop people from trying to sculpt an 18 in waist. That’s the topic of this article, so keep reading to learn who has a genuine 18 inch waistline and why you might want to think twice about slimming your stomach any further.
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Does anyone have an 18 inch waist?
Although she had a small waist and a trim figure before getting into waist training, Diana Ringo has successfully shrank her waist down to a tiny 18 inches by wearing a corset for 23 hours per day. [1]
Former navy chef Diana, who lives in San Diego, California, reports that her self-confidence has improved since embarking on her waist-slimming journey. While she often gets attention when out in public, Diana is used to the stares and questions and doesn’t feel any debilitating effects from wearing her corset.
The mom of three does mention that she can’t perform a maximum deep breath while wearing her corset but also notes that her regular breathing doesn’t suffer.
Crucially, Diana has an 18 inch waist while wearing her corset, meaning that her waistline will be a bit bigger when she takes the waist trainer off. This just shows that much of the decrease that you can get with corsets is temporary. Indeed, it would be interesting to see how much of an increase in waist circumference people like Diana would experience if they were to stop wearing corsets for good.
Can you get an 18 inch waist without corset training?
No, it’s impossible for a girl or woman to get an 18 inch waist without corset training. This is especially true when you consider that the average woman has a waistline that’s more than twice the size of our 18-inch example.
The human waist houses the digestive organs—it’s not just made of muscle, bone, and fat like your limbs. [2] As such, you can’t get a natural 18 in waist without putting some kind of pressure on your internal organs.
Even if you got in model-tier shape and lost a lot of body fat, you still wouldn’t have an 18 inch stomach. Like many things in life, the human body has limits, so you can’t expect to endlessly slim your waist through natural means.
What are the consequences of having an 18 in waist?
Sculpting an 18 inch waist, which you can only achieve by wearing a corset, is unlikely to be a pain-free process.
Research shows that wearing a corset can lead to meralgia paresthetica, a condition that results in numbness and tingling when your nerves are compressed, but which can often be remedied by simply taking the corset off. [3]
Wearing a tightly laced corset for extended periods of time may also restrict your movement and breathing, which in turn could decrease your quality of life by making simple everyday tasks more challenging.
Some people also report digestion problems while waist training as well as weakening of the abdominal muscles.
Conclusion: Why you shouldn’t strive for an 18″ waist
We’ve seen how having and striving for an 18 inch waist can be damaging to your physical health. But what many people don’t realize is that being obsessed with the size of your waist can also wreak havoc on your mental health.
Many women, for example, believe that they’re fat even when, objectively, they’re actually very slim. This body dysmorphia can cause them to resort to dubious (at best) methods of slimming their waist, such as aggressive corset training, which, as we know, can negatively affect the internal workings of your body.
So while there are people who do have an 18 in waist, these women typically only have an 18″ waist while wearing their corset—hence why they wear them for so long.
References
- truly. (2018, February 6). Corseter Mum Shrinks Waist To 18 Inches | HOOKED ON THE LOOK [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0CqYAlieX8
- Hoffman, M. (2009, August 13). The Abdomen (Human Anatomy) – Picture, Function, Parts, Definition, and More. WebMD. https://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/picture-of-the-abdomen
- MILLER JL. MERALGIA PARESTHETICA DUE TO PRESSURE OF THE CORSET. Arch Intern Med (Chic).1911;VII(2):182–183. doi:10.1001/archinte.1911.00060020047003