These are not the old girdles of long ago - they are more comfortable, but they don't exactly hold you in like a heavy duty girdle, either. They do make me feel more smoothed out though and for that they are quite good. Hey, I wish there was a product out there that would make be thin, but since that's not reality, I must say that the Spanx power panty does what it's supposed to do. It smooths out my tummy and isn't uncomfortable.