Member since Nov 2007 ·
112 posts · Location: Montreal Canada
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That is an excellent benchmark, Tara. It is a very good average based on the collective experience of many people.
In my case, I started with 4 inches, and with a target of 4 hours a day, in the evening. It took a couple of weeks before I started going longer. I found that there was a "wall" around 4 hours where it got very difficult to bear. When I could do my 4 hours easily (breaking that "wall"), I evaluated my condition, and continued for another hour, at the end of which I either removed the corset or decided to go for another hour.
I started on January 9th, 2006. By mid-February, I was sleeping in my corset and by mid-March I had switched to a new corset that was three inches tighter than the first. That is three times faster than the benchmark but there is a major difference: I also was dieting. And the corset helped me in that!
To make a long story short, I lost 45 pounds (over 20 kg) in nine months, and tightlacing/corset-training has a lot to do with it. It takes a lot of will power and determination to lose that much weight, which is where corset-training comes in - it takes a lot of determination and commitment to do that too.
Since my weight has stabilized, my reduction rate has diminished somewhat and is close to the rate you mentioned, though there are some months where I shrink more. I am somewhat surprised at how compressible I am (preconceptions disappear even quicker than the inches!), even now after nearly two years.
Right now my corsets last between 4 and 12 months before I either tighten them or switch to a newer, tighter one. Three corsets have gone into retirement (the last one lasted a year) and have had some of their parts recycled for new ones. I have now two that I wear regularly (an underbust and a mid-bust) and another that is waiting for me to shrink into it.
I expect to stabilize around 20 inches (my thigh size) and see where I will go from there.
So your benchmark is just about spot on, but there will be variables around the average because of dieting, each person's ability to adapt, etc. And some very important psychological variables: determination, commitment, self-discipline, patience. Without those traits it is just not possible.
Jenny.
Self-discipline and patience are the keys to a tight waist...
The event horizon cannot be reached without some squeezing and pulling...
Tara
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I drink so much tea... except in warm weather.
I think I have heard of this book or a book like it, (I think it was Why Chinese Women didn't get fat). I will have to look into that book. It does seem useful.
