WHILE THE KETTLE BOILS

New Zealand Listener, Volume 1, Issue 21, 17 November 1939, Page 43

WHILE THE KETTLE BOILS

Dear Friends, This week I want to talk to you about " fitness." To a lot of people that sounds a very abused term, but in reality it is a matter of plain common sense. Fitness is just another word for good health, and health is merely the result of four simple but Golden Rules — Fresh Air and Sunlight — Proper Food and Eating Habits — Regular Exercise — Adequate Rest. If you observe all these rules faithfully, you must attain fitness. Fresh Air and Sunlight? You can manage that all right. Proper Food and Eating Habits? Yes, with a little extra thought and trouble. Adequate Rest? Yes, it could be done. But at the sound of Regular Exercise, most of us shy away in alarm. All the exercises we have ever read or heard’ of straightway begin a crazy callisthenics in our mind. Well, here is a reassuring word. Most of those complicated exercises you read about are unnecessary. A few simple daily exercises are all we need to keep our figures trim and supple. Don’t be like the woman who said: " When I feel like exercising, I just lie down till the feeling goes away!" As soon as you spring out of bed devote eight minutes only to this simple practice. First, bend and touch toes a dozen times. Next, stand with feet apart and, bending over, touch right foot with left hand and repeat with right hand to the left foot-six times each. This is a most valuable exercise, as it brings into play every muscle in your body. Four minutes gone! Now, rise on toes and descend to a squatting position. Spring back briskly to original position, repeating six times. Next stand with feet apart, hands on hips, and rotate your body; five times to right and five to left. Finally, swing your arms out in wide sweeping circles, remembering to keep your elbows stiff. If you find you’ve got a minute left, don’t hedge! There is one other exercise that will help to keep down those hips. Grip the end of the bed-post, and swing first the right and then the left leg out in a wide circling movement, keeping the knees stiff. Eight minutes! Run to the window, and for two minutes draw in deep lungfuls of air. Now, if you don’t feel like skipping to your bath, if the whole day does not seem crisper and brighter, there is something wrong with you. Try this for just a few mornings and see how well you feel. Walking, as we all know, is another most valuable exercise, and none of us do quite as much as we might-or should. Adequate Rest is of course just as vital to our bodies as sufficient exercise. The secret of rest is complete relaxation. A few minutes stolen during the day at varied intervals is of untold value to us. Anything to reduce that nervous tension-fatal both to health and to beauty. A few minutes’ rest in your office before lunch-five minutes during the afternoon. A complete relaxing in the train or bus on your homeward journey. For nervous or run-down people here is an excellent home-made tonic that will work wonders for you even if you are a teetotaller. Put the contents of a bottle of invalid port into a larger bottle. Add ilb. tin of Malt Extract, and 2 ounce bottles of Meat Extract. Mix well and leave 24 hours before using. Take a wine-glass full after meals. Good health! Yours cordially,

Cynthia