Don’t cha just love it? The Tongue Patch

For a New Year’s chuckle you might want to bing “The Tongue Patch” — another “miracle” surgery being done by plastic surgeons, at least by one SoCal surgeon. What won’t folks do in our “quick fix” society in order to lose weight?

Tonight the ABC news had a brief item on Dr. Nikolas Chugay who sews in a patch on the tongue such that the person experiences pain when eating solid food but not liquid food — and therefor doesn’t eat. The patch is removed a month later or so. From the two ladies interviewed by ABC, it sounded a bit as if they were talking with a mouthful of marbles, certain to be noticed by others with whom they socialize.

I guess that’s one way to lose weight, up to 18-20 pounds in one month the surgeon reports.

You can visit Dr. Chugay’s website and read that costs for a lap band surgery  is around $14-15,000 and $18-35,000 for gastric bypass compared to the Tongue Patch at only $2000. http://www.drchugay.com/innovation/weight-loss-tongue-patch-surgery Apparently according to the news report, the technique comes from Latin America.

For $2000 ROMANTASY can custom fit a fashionable, fun, beautiful underbust corset in gorgeous silk brocade, including a personal consultation of three hours, for $500 tops. You can wear this comfy corset underneath your clothing, or even out over a glamorous Red Carpet ensemble to get twice your money’s worth. If you gain weight from bad habits re-established after corseting, you merely put that corset back on and enjoy the benefits of portion reduction and diminishment of hunger in a few short days or week, and down your waistline will go once more.

So … you can get four such corsets from ROMANTASY for the price of one tiny Tongue Patch — corsets that don’t cause pain and that will last you 10 to 20 years with proper wear and care. Corsets in the past have taken up to 50 pounds off of one of our clients in three months of proper waist training under our tutelage. More to the point, one client lost 6.5″ in his waistline in four months of training by simply reading our book on the topic and applying the techniques detailed therein.

Yes, we’re not talking one month. But in a general lifetime of 60 or so years, is three months that much more onerous than one month to dedicate to a chosen weight loss strategy? And how “rapid” a result do we really need, at what cost involving cutting and/or suturing?

The surgeon reports that he is “excited about bringing this procedure to Southern California and is thrilled to offer a solution to the eternal search for rapid weight loss techniques.” There is not much information in the news report (nor on the website) about side effects or long term results, leading one to need to conduct more research to get a full and fair idea about the process.

Leaving me to wonder at what other dubious quick fix may become the next latest craze in our rush for results?

(A final point for clarification,  since another plastic surgeon also from SoCal took exception to some questions I raised in another blog after hearing a very brief news report on a different technique he used for weight loss. I am NOT challenging this surgeon’s qualifications to do the procedure or any procedure, nor ‘besmirching’ his reputation as the former surgeon erroneously concluded. I am merely raising questions about the wisdom of folks wanting instantaneous results ,and choosing an option that involves sewing and surgery, versus choosing a time-honored fashionable approach to appetite and hunger control, leading to figure slimming thru corsetry)

“Custom” vs. “Readymade” corsets suitable for waist training

It’s important prior to ordering a corset for any serious student of waist training, to recognize  the difference between a “custom” and a “readymade” corset (which is sometimes also called a “standard-sized”) corset. The two are entirely different critters.

Why is it important to know the difference, and ask in advance of ordering a training corset, what the corsetiere means by either term?

Because we’ve found corsetieres on the web offering “custom” corsets, that are truly not that by any reasonable definition we know. The client merely sends in a snug natural waist measurement. Sometimes a person tell us the corset was marketed as “custom”, and the client is sorely disappointed at the upper or lower perimiter fit which was not made to their individual measurements. Or the so-called “custom” corset is too short or too tall for their height.

“Custom” to us, means fully custom, that is, that the pattern is drafted one-up for you according to your individual torso measurements and most likely, about 8 to 10 of those or more will be requested and used for your corset.

“Readymade” or “standard-sizing” means that the corset has certain pre-set measurements that go with different set waistlines, and normally the corset maker will ask for only a snug waist measurement. The upper and lower perimeters, and the vertical height of your corset will normally be set and not variable by you. Thus,  measurements may or may not accurately reflect your individual torso shape and  may or may not be comfy to wear for the long continuous hours you will need to eventually put in for effective waist training.

ROMANTASY offers only two standard-sized corsets viewed in our “Simple Pleasures” cincher and “Simple Pleasures” Victorian, found on this webpage:

http://romantasyweb.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=R&Category_Code=csp

The cinch was recently reviewed on December 6 by our corset enthusiast friend Lucy (bishonrancher) of lucycorsets.com. We highly recommend her YouTube videos which are generally spot on in terms of educational, fact-based corset information regarding product, service, and theory. However, we had not made our cincher facts clear in terms of information provided to her, and she thought they came from our fully-custom corset line, The Basic Line of corsets. They do not. They are presented on our navigation button as this line of corsets: “Corsets-Standard Patterns”. But both lines are about equivalently priced as Lucy correctly notes.

Because we chose to organize our business to offer real options and choices to clients (we never force a client to order a corset made by one maker or in one style/fabric only), it’s somewhat easy for a newcomer to the ROMANTASY website to get confused. Still, we prefer to offer corsets in that fashion, and work personally with our clients and email inquirants to focus in on what it is they precisely need so no mistakes are made in terms of definitions, options, and ultimate goals/budget needs. It’s our duty and pleasure to help you understand the options before you order.

In summary, below is a guide to how ROMANTASY organizes our corset options and offerings.

We offer three major categories of corsets on our website. First, we have three lines of fully custom (8-10 or more measurements) corsets, motivated by our desire  to offer a variety of well-fitting fully custom styles and price points. They include:
The Basic Line  (an alternate to the standard patterned  Simple Pleasures cincher or Vic, and about the same price in a similar two-layer corset, also single boned like the Simple Pleasures, but fully custom using 8 measurements)
The Fundamental Line and
The Elegant Line.

Second, we offer two standard-sized corsets in eight sizes, the “Simple Pleasures” cinch which is pictured here, and the Victorian, under our Corsets-Standard Pattern button. They are made when ordered from a copyright pattern, and take the normal production time  as for a custom corset:   http://romantasyweb.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=R&Category_Code=csp

Third, we offer ready-to ship instock consignment/models’ samples corsets on our page, Corsets-In Stock. On this page we list  a few, brand new (not worn at all) Simple Pleasures cinchers  that are immediately ready to ship, but our supply is limited.

Thus, for the most part, in order to receive a Simple Pleasures standard-sized corset or cinch, they are technically not a “readymade” corset.

Can all three categories of ROMANTASY corsets serve for waist training? Most likely not. We recommend corsets from the Fundamental and Elegant Lines for training purposes because of the strength in boning, fabric and other components of construction and finish. If you have more questions, please let us know, as we want you to get the right corset for your primary wearing purposes, as well as one that fits into your budget.

“Right Corset Mind”

Although some would say that anyone loving corsets and corset waist training is not in his or her right mind, I think that is precisely what it takes to be successful:  a “right corset mind”! By that I mean holding your goals in the forefront of your mind no matter what, and not letting minor distractions become a grand excuse to fail.

The thought came to me after an e-conversation with our corset client/friend, Michie, who said: “I’ve been stressed lately. When I am stressed, I don’t lace up because I get these twinges.  I am trying to be better about the tie that I am giving my corset.  I will get back to wearing it everyday at the normal level if it kills me LOL.”

Her stress did not deal with a health emergency, job loss, death of a parent, loss of job, or impending move. It dealt with her son’s disrespectful and irresponsible behavior.

Of course we know that wearing a corset when stressed or not, will not “kill” Michie, but we do feel for her!  Beloved ABC-tv reporter Robin Roberts says: “Everyone has something,” and we say that most assuredly, everyone has stress of all kinds sooner or later.

Stress can waylay our progress in training –perhaps moreso than for any other reason or cause for taking your corset off, including illness, holidays, and seasonable allergies or colds. Stress serves as a distraction from your goals, causing you to focus on something else, rather than where you want to go and why you are wearing a corset to begin with. Similarly, stress, along with hunger, have been the two major things said by many doctors to defeat attempts to diet.

Going off one’s training program is never lethal, however. What concerns me, is if stress is not used for a temporary respite from corseting, but is used to provide an excuse to quit the program and practice altogether.

As for waist-training program elements, I request not perfection (impossible~), but that my coaching students strive to implement 95% of the elements and achieve 95% of their goals as well, each week. Going off the program for a few days is fine since you can (and should) renew your efforts the next day or two and do more than what is required for that day, to make up for the loss.

But sometimes students have used a setback or some stress to relieve themselves of their original commitment to follow all the way through a three-month program, or the program they have set for themselves. In Michie’s case, training involves a one- to two-year goal.

Frankly, I don’t have any worries about Michie, because I know she is in this for the “long run” as we’ve discussed many, many times. She is clear about her long term goals of permanent weight reduction, improvement in posture and health, and a slimmer figure. Going off her program for even a week or two is not going to wreak havoc with her regime.

Yes, it may be a tiny bit more difficult two weeks later when she puts her corset back on, so perhaps she should back off a bit in the amount she laces down, or wear it a shorter period of time than normal. If the delay amounts to a month and then three months, accordingly it will become more difficult the more time that passes without wearing her corset. (The same thing happens when after training some months or years later, we pursue regular  “maintenance corseting” or a periodic two-month “mini training program” to get back into good posture and appetite/portion control).

A fascinating fact is that at least two of my coaching students have faced major life stressors during a rigorous three-month training program, went hell-bent forward with their program concentrating hard on their end goal, and succeeded in reaching their goals. Both of them reported that they actually felt that keeping to the corset wearing and training program helped them survive the stress. According to them, the program provided continuing daily discipline and boundaries in their life when everything else seemed swirling out of control. One student lost her job midstream corset waist training, and the other was served with divorce papers (yes, due to her hubby’s distaste for her improving figure and distaste for her taking control of her life by corseting; sound like a poor ego and major control issues to you??).

So don’t assume that mid-stream stress you will inevitably encounter during waist training, inevitably means you have to quit your program or quit corseting all together. Quitting after minor or even a major stress most likely demonstrates that you really didn’t make a firm commitment to yourself and your health before you began. If that commitment has not been one of one or two top priorities in your life before you began, and for a specific period in your life, then corseting will go by the wayside no matter what distracts you.

While major illnesses or health emergencies may surely justify quitting because of physical danger in lacing down, stress is the least of the justifications to altogether quit corset waist training, to my mind.

What do you think?