Cosplayer Health Guide

[angelmage99]

Cosplayer Health Guide

As cosplayers we need to treat our bodies as our art work. This thread it about ways to promote health not only within ourselves, but as a community and facing the unique health challenges that our community faces.

Topic in his thread will cover food, exercise, general health directions, and the use of tight clothing as topics that we will talk about.

If you have any topic that you'd like me to type up or want to contribute yourself, please PM me and we can chat about it.  

[angelmage99]

Be Healthy At Conventions

Everyone knows about the health issues at the con. Here are some general rules that most cons promote, as well as, some other general rules.

1-2-6 Rule

One of the concerns at cons is the health and hygiene of con goers. The 1-2-6 rules refers to baths, meals, and hours of sleep a person should have within a 24/hr period.

1 Bath
2 Meals
and
6 Hours of sleep

This is the basic needs of every person. Please remember that you eat the proper amount of calories during this time. A person needs a minimum of 500 calories to function, however try to maintain somewhere between 1200-2000 calories depending on what you're doing in a given day.

If you're walking around a lot or maybe doing an exercise course (at the con) all the time then you're going to need more calories. Most con goers will find that between 1200 and 1500 calories should do just fine.

Bring snacks

Most con goers only get two meals a day. One in the morning and one in the evening. This may leave room for mid-day munchies. Most con veterans will agree to bring snacks and a bottle of water for mid-day needs.

Popular snacks include gummies, granola bars, fruit, veggies, chips, crackers, and candy.

Bringing a reusable water bottle is also preferred, it's better for the environment, usually holds more water than a normal water bottle, and is safe to refill without harmful chemicals (unlike disposable water bottles).

Con Diet

Another habit within the con community is the Con Diet and there is several habits within it.

1. Not eating while at con.

Don't do this. It's unhealthy and no one wants to hear about the idiot who fainted because they starved/dehydrated themselves. Make sure to get proper meals outside of con and bring snacks and water.

2. Microwavable Ramen

Ramen is great for those once in a while meals and they can be cheap, however normal ramen is filled with tons of salt and can be unhealthy if you eat it for ever meal. Young cosplayers are known for the habit of saving money by eating ramen for every meal.

The rule of thumb is mix it up. Yes it may be for only one weekend every month, but don't have ramen for all the meals, maybe one meal a day, and the meals that you do have ramen, spice it up with some fresh veggies and fruit.

Don't forget the DO for the BO

No one needs to smell you. What do you think is going to happen when you're walking around everywhere and your in rooms with hundreds of other people. You're going to sweat. Make sure to use deodorant. This will help you avoid being the stinky thing in the room and it'll help you not get kicked out of the con.  

[angelmage99]

Clothing and Health

It's important to bring in your costume choices into your health routine. Maybe people are willing to lengths just to create that right look for themselves, but without proper research or training, your cosplays can cause some major health issues.

Weather Appropriate Cosplays

It's important to think about the weather in the location and time that a con takes place. This will allow you to stay safe in various activities.

It's it's winter, early spring, or late fall you may want to think of wearing a costume that will keep you warm. In order from freezing in the cold.

If it's late spring, summer, or early fall then something that will keep you cool is needed. In order to prevent overheating.

Binding and Corsets

Binding is used to flatten chest while Corsets to puff them up, but without proper care either can ruin your figure.

Binding is the process of wrapping and using a special brace on your chest. The purpose is to normally hide or minimize the breast. When binding it's important not to wrap your wrapping too tight and make sure to use a brace to your size. This helps to avoid malformation in the chest while wearing it.

Corsets are more for the stomach region and has it's own share of issues. It's important to get a corset professionally sized to you. Which means going to a corset specialist to size it and buy for the first one. Your first corset can cost anywhere from $100 to $300 on average. Once you know your size you can buy a cheaper one. Corsets shouldn't be worn more than 8 hours at a time, but there is some good news as you wear corsets more a more you can start to use smaller sizing. Be careful when wearing corsets as they can leave to malformation in the ribs and back.

Shoes

Another horrifying thing that I see cosplayers do is wearing new shoes, heels and boots. Which isn't bad all the time, but it's important to prepare your feet do wear them.

With new shoes you want to make sure to break the in before you have to spend all day or all weekend in them. This will help avoid getting blisters around your toes, ankles, and heel.

Heels are another issue. It's fine to wear heels, but make sure they are padded (padded heels are gold), well worn, and give yourself plenty of chances to sit down and take them off for a bit (Maybe while eating lunch at a restaurant.

Boots are similar to heels in the fact that many do have a heel. Please follow the advice that I suggested with the heel section.

Belt and Tight Clothes

This one more applies to girls then guys. Tight clothing of any kind on a girl can cause stomach pain. It's important to not wear them all day and let your body rest for a little bit. Maybe when you sit down to lunch you can loosen that belt for a bit. Not only is it the cause of some stomach pains, but it can cut off blood flow. Be careful how tight your clothing is.