7 Steps Toward a Slimmer Figure

(1) Consult the doctor about all the exercises you are going to perform, and do not begin exercising before he has approved them.

(2) Do not strain yourself while exercising by doing too many of the exercises. You are training your muscles, stretching them and slackening them with the aim of destroying the surplus cells that tend to make your body flabby. If the muscles tire, they lose their power to rid themselves of those cells. Make certain that you exercise until you feel tiredness and stiffness — and stop there. Exercise 10 minutes each day at first, and increase the time gradually until it reaches half an hour.

(3) Keep to the instructions given you. If the exercise says: raise your leg to the level of the hip, do not raise it to the level of the waist in the hope of obtaining the desired results faster than is proper. Muscles that are stretched more than is necessary for them tear the cells and become incapable of performing their task.

(4) Persevere in exercising. Do the exercises at the same time every day. Choose a time when you are not worn out by your other household cares, so that you do not feel that by exercising you are sacrificing other work you ought to have done.

(5) Do not grow weary or lose heart. Remember that the stoutness you have come to acquired you only gradually and over a long time, so its removal likewise requires some time. Within three weeks you will begin to notice that the flabby muscles are beginning to firm.

(6) Prepare for your exercising its proper atmosphere. Do plenty of deep breathing and of walking outside the house. And after the exercises are finished, taper off, so that the muscles may relax gradually. Begin with the easy exercises, work up from them to the hard ones, then return again to the easy ones before resting.

(7) Pay attention to the kind of food you take. Ask the doctor to recommend to you foods low in calories, to take while you are carrying out the exercises.

Practice the following four exercises, for they work to beautify the legs, narrow the waist, and remove the excess fat from the abdomen, and thereby give you a slimmer figure:

Stand erect, set your feet apart, and raise your arms above your head, pressing the palms of your hands one against the other (as in the picture). Bend to the left side as far as you can, return to your first position, then bend to the right side. Repeat this 10 times, increasing gradually to twenty.

Lie on your back, and stretch your arms out at your sides, leaving the palms on the floor. Stretch out your legs, and press your feet one against the other. (1) Bend your knees and draw them back toward your chest. (2) Continue this movement until your hips rise off the floor and your knees touch the chin. Return the hips and legs to the first position, slowly. Repeat this five times, increasing gradually to 15.

(1) Lie on your back, bend your knees, press your feet together, raise your arms and stretch them out.

(2) Raise yourself slowly until

(3) you reach an upright sitting position. Bend your body toward the floor.

Repeat this five times, increasing gradually to 15.

(Put your feet at first under the edge of the bed or the table, or let someone hold them so that they remain pressed to the floor.)