(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
(1) Lie on your stomach on a strong chair, press your legs one against the other and stretch them out, letting the toes of your feet touch the floor, and leave your head and arms in a natural position. Then raise the legs to a horizontal level, and
(2) raise them one after the other, moving them in scissor movements. Five movements with each leg, increasing gradually to 15.