Wearing a waist trainer provides firm compression around your torso. Since it compresses your stomach, you may wonder, can you eat while wearing a waist trainer?

And the short answer is … Yes, you can certainly eat while wearing a waist training garment!

However, you may not feel comfortable with large meals since your stomach can’t expand the way it would otherwise. With this in mind, we have a few tips for comfortable, healthy eating during waist training.

Keep Your Meals Small and Frequent

If you’re in the habit of eating three large meals a day, break up your routine a bit. While wearing a waist trainer all day, you’ll be much more comfortable eating 5–6 small meals a day. This is better for your metabolism and overall health.

However, this isn’t a license to snack whatever you want, whenever you want. For the best results, eat balanced, proportioned meals and snacks at regular intervals.

Avoid Processed Foods

Whenever your abdomen is crowded (whether due to a growing baby or because of a compression garment), you may be more likely to experience digestive discomfort like heartburn. That’s because when your midsection is constricted, there is less space for stomach acid, which can travel up your esophagus if you don’t watch what you eat.

Eating in smaller portions should help divert heartburn and other digestive issues, but you should also be aware of the types of foods that can cause a problem. Very fatty, sugary or acidic foods and drinks are often the culprits.

When you avoid processed foods and choose whole foods instead, your digestive tract will function better and you’ll have a more comfortable waist training experience.

Be Mindful of Not Just What, but When You Eat

Pay attention to when you eat. Don’t eat a heavy snack or meal right before bed, even if you take your waist trainer off. This isn’t helpful for your metabolism or your digestive tract.

It may be helpful to keep a food journal to track not only your portions and nutrients, but also what times of day you need energy. Do you do better at your workouts if you eat before or after? What types of foods make you feel full and energized for a longer period of time? Watch for patterns and adjust accordingly.

Plan Healthy Meals Ahead of Time

Meal planning can be one of your best friends during waist training. You’ll be much more comfortable and see better results if you take some time at the beginning of each week to plan out your meals.

In general, you can’t wrong with eating lots of vegetables and fruits as the staple of your diet, along with whole grains and lean proteins.

Chop your veggies, cook your meats and pack meals in advance to make it easy and convenient on yourself throughout your week.

Healthy breakfast ideas:

• Plain yogurt with berries and nuts
• Overnight oats with almond milk
• Whole grain toast with nut butter and fruit
• Cooked egg with sautéed veggies
• Banana and berry smoothies (unsweetened), add raw leafy greens if desired
• Breakfast burrito bowls with brown rice, eggs, veggies

Healthy lunch ideas:

• Bean burritos with corn tortillas, side of fruit
• Leafy green salads with chopped veggies, nuts, crumbled cheese olive oil dressing and protein of choice
• “Bento” box with raw veggies, whole grain crackers, hummus, cheeses, cooked meat, fruit, etc.
• Leftovers from other meals

Healthy snack ideas (mix and match):

• Nuts
• Popcorn
• Smoothies
• Hard boiled eggs
• Protein muffins
• Nut butter
• Fruit
• Plain yogurt
• Hummus
• Raw veggies

Healthy dinner ideas:

• Homemade, low sodium soups
• Taco bar (go easy on the chips!)
• Spiralized veggie pasta with your favorite sauce
• Stuffed bell peppers
• Chop salad with lean proteins, seeds and light dressing
• Baked chicken or fish
• Roasted veggies
• Veggie frittata

Drink Lots of Water

When waist training, you’ll be sweating more around your midsection and will need to replenish your body with water. What’s more, adequate hydration helps ensure that you don’t get hunger pangs. Sometimes you may think you need food, when you really need water!

You should get at least half an ounce to an ounce of water per day, per pound of body weight. So if you weigh 120 pounds, aim to drink 60–120 ounces per day. If you are very active or sweat a lot, try to get more.

It helps to pre-measure your water in the morning or the night before, and keep a water bottle on hand throughout the day. If you have anything caffeinated, be sure to make up for what you drink in an equal amount of water.

Can a Waist Trainer Help You Lose Weight?

This question is asked frequently because people assume that with less room for your stomach to expand, you can control your appetite and lose weight.

Hopefully you’ll see from this article that a waist trainer is just one piece in a larger picture. When you’re using it in conjunction with healthy eating habits—including portion control—you’re likely to have some weight loss success.

What About When Your Waist Trainer Is Off?

These guidelines work well when you’re wearing a waist trainer, but what about when you take it off? Can you bend any of the rules?

Since these are just general healthy eating tips, we recommend staying with them around the clock. If you decide to have a large meal with a lot of excess sugar and fat after you take of your waist trainer for the day, you will probably regret it later when you feel bloated the next day. You might even have a hard time putting your waist trainer back on!

That isn’t to say that you can’t indulge a little bit every now and then. But in general, try to stay consistent with healthy eating habits, whether your waist trainer is on or off. This will give you better results overall, and set you up with healthy lifestyle habits for a lifetime.