intended she should have can do so if she will, but her inclination to
indolence and indulgence must be overcome--by herself, not by anything
anyone else can do for her--and she must make up her mind that she has
a real task before her, and one that calls for all her will power and
stern determination. And she must be patient, for in her case results
are apt to be slow. But let her be encouraged: Some of the most
admired women of the stage have experienced her same difficulty with
too abundant flesh and have perfected themselves by this identical
plan set forth here. So it has been done, and can be done in your
case; but it all depends upon you, your zeal and your stick-to-it-iveness.
To see how your present weight conforms to the proper standard, I
present here a table of average weights based on heights and age. In
this table the weights are taken in scant costume, a single garment
and no shoes. Any table of this kind can be only approximate, however,
for the frame and general build vary in different people and the bone
structure must be considered in fixing the weight.
STANDARD TABLE OF AVERAGE HEIGHTS AND WEIGHTS OF MEN AND WOMEN OF
VARIOUS AGES
WOMEN
_Heights_ _Weights_
15-19 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 50-54 55-59
Ft. In. yrs. yrs. yrs. yrs. yrs. yrs. yrs. yrs. yrs.
4 11 110 113 116 119 122 126 129 131 132
5 0 112 115 118 121 124 128 131 133 134
5 1 114 117 120 123 126 130 133 135 137
5 2 117 120 122 125 129 133 136 138 140
5 3 120 123 125 128 132 136 139 141 143
5 4 123 126 129 132 136 139 142 144 146
5 5 126 129 132 136 140 143 146 148 150
5 6 130 133 136 140 144 147 151 152 153
5 7 134 137 140 144 148 151 155 157 158
5 8 138 141 144 148 152 155 159 162 163
5 9 141 145 148 152 156 159 163 166 167
5 10 145 149 152 155 159 162 166 170 173
5 11 150 153 155 158 162 166 170 174 177
6 0 155 157 159 162 165 169 173 177 182
MEN
_Heights_ _Weights_
15-19 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 50-54 55-59
Ft. In. yrs. yrs. yrs. yrs. yrs. yrs. yrs. yrs. yrs.
4 11 111 117 122 125 127 130 132 133 134
5 0 113 119 124 127 129 132 134 135 136
5 1 115 121 126 129 131 134 136 137 138
5 2 118 124 128 131 133 136 138 139 140
5 3 121 127 131 134 136 139 141 142 143
5 4 124 131 134 137 140 142 144 145 146
5 5 128 135 138 141 144 146 148 149 150
5 6 132 139 142 145 148 150 152 153 154
5 7 136 142 146 149 152 154 156 157 158
5 8 140 146 150 154 157 159 161 162 163
5 9 144 150 154 158 162 164 166 167 168
5 10 148 154 158 163 167 169 171 172 173
5 11 153 158 163 168 172 175 177 178 179
6 0 158 163 169 174 178 181 183 184 185
6 1 163 168 175 180 184 187 190 191 192
6 2 168 173 181 186 191 194 197 198 199
6 3 173 178 187 192 197 201 204 205 206
[Illustration: FRANCES WHITE]
Now first of all, weigh yourself and see how near you come to the
standard, and take note how many pounds you have to add or subtract to
reach the perfect mark. Weigh yourself at regular intervals, every
Sunday or Monday, but weekly, if possible, and keep a record of your
weights and the dates they are taken.
First I am going to direct the too thin as to the best method for them
to put on flesh, fill out hollows, become symmetrical and graceful and
pleasing to the eye.
HOW TO GAIN WEIGHT
1. If you are thin, have an examination by a competent physician to be
sure you have no organic trouble, before you try to put on flesh.
2. Calm yourself. "Learn to accept the trivial annoyances and the
small misfits of life as a matter of course. To give them attention
beyond their deserts is to wear the web of your life to the
warp."--Hubbard.
3. Exercise and air. Take at least 10 minutes of Ned Wayburn exercises
every morning as soon as you get up. Begin with a small number of
movements and increase gradually. Be in the open air as much as
possible.
4. Sleep. Resistance is markedly lowered by a lack of sufficient
sleep. Have a rest period during the day if possible. Do not sleep
longer than eight hours. For every hour you are in bed over that time
the fat piles on or else you are losing flesh.
5. Avoid unnecessary exertion. Don't talk too much. Delete the
details. Never talk about your ailments except to your physician. You
pay him to listen (or should).
6. Avoid tea, coffee and nicotine and other stimulants.
7. Masticate your food thoroughly and leave your troubles behind when
you go to the table.
8. EAT. Stretch your stomach and train it to take care of more food.
You must eat three meals each day at regular intervals. They must
consist of what your system requires and not just what tastes good on
your palate. Never eat between meals. Give your digestive apparatus a
chance to function as it should, three times daily, at the same time
each day, always giving it an opportunity to rest as well.
9. EAT. Eat whether you enjoy it or not. You will enjoy it later.
Don't heed the advice that you should not eat as a matter of duty. You
should.
10. EAT. But no second helpings.
I have seen printed advice never to eat unless you enjoy your food and
to avoid eating as a mere duty. I tell you to discard that advice. Do
eat whether you enjoy it or not, and do eat as a matter of duty.
Once the food is in your system, whether you like it or not, a large
part of it will be assimilated. Perhaps not so well nor so readily,
for we know that the enjoyment of food adds to the efficiency of the
digestive juices.
There is a small bird called the ortolan, which is highly esteemed by
the Italian gourmands. When it is fat it is very delicious, but as it
feeds normally only once a day, when the sun rises, it naturally has
no fat on it. So the Italians confine these birds in a darkened room
and succeed in getting them to eat four or five times a day in the
following manner:
They put a lantern at a little window in the room. The ortolans,
thinking the sun has risen, hop around and eat. The lantern is
withdrawn and they are left in darkness four or five hours. Now the
lantern is again put in place. The ortolans, evidently an
unsuspicious, guileless type of bird, thinking the sun has risen again
to perform its duty by telling them it is time to eat, hop down from
their perches and busy themselves very seriously and dutifully with
their breakfast.
Apparently they do not keep track of time and do not suspect that only
four hours of the 24 have elapsed. This same sun rises for them four
or five times during the day and each time they obey its summons and
gallantly eat. The result is that they are converted into little balls
of delicious fat.
You can get a lesson from these birds.
DIET TO INCREASE WEIGHT
Thick soups. Thick gravies. Plenty of butter and sugar.
_Fruits._ The best fruit to fatten is bananas, eaten slowly with cream
and sugar. Any kind of stewed fruits, cooked with sugar. Orange juice,
with plenty of sugar. Grapefruit, with plenty of sugar. Any kinds of
berries, with plenty of cream and sugar.
_Cereals._ Oatmeal, Cream of Wheat, Corn Flakes. Avoid bran foods.
_Meats._ Anything fried is good. Roast beef, roast veal, roast pork,
roast ham, veal chops, pork chops. No lamb. Must have steaks rare. Ham
and eggs.
_Vegetables._ White potatoes, creamed, hashed, any kind of fried
potatoes, sweet potatoes fried, mashed potatoes with butter. Beets are
fattening boiled--not pickled. Spaghetti, macaroni, boiled onions,
spinach, creamed, creamed carrots, lima beans, peas.
_Bread._ White bread, fresh bread, hot tea biscuits, plenty of butter.
_Pastries._ Pies, cakes, puddings, bread puddings, any sort of French
pastry, and candy (in moderation).
_Beverages._ Sweet milk, cocoa, chocolate, malted milk. Perhaps one
cup of coffee a day, not too strong, with plenty of cream. Weak tea
with cream and sugar.
Keep your system well flushed. Drink plenty of water, about 45 ounces
a day, say nine tumblerfuls. A glass of water before and after each
meal, one in the middle of the morning, one in the afternoon, and
another just before going to bed, are essential. This induces
perspiration, which opens the pores and lets out the impurities, the
worn out tissues, and keeps the system healthy, incidentally relieving
the kidneys. Never take any liquids during a meal. This interferes
with the work of the digestive juices and prevents the proper
assimilation of the food.
There is no hardship involved in selecting one's meals from this
extensive and comprehensive menu, and if proper eating were all that
is necessary to perfect your figure the process would be a joy indeed.
But we are seeking to make you not only pleasant to look upon, but
also physically adapted to a stage career, which means that vigor,
strength, endurance, "wind" and flexibility are demanded as well, so,
in order to accomplish both, we unite exercise to diet, and the
combination of the right food and habits and the Ned Wayburn
Foundation Technique brings about the direct result; you become
shapely, graceful, strong, and accomplished in a great art, all as the
result of the same instruction, and simultaneously.
* * * * *
NED WAYBURN'S DAILY MENUS FOR THE UNDERWEIGHT
MONDAY
BREAKFAST
Shredded wheat with sliced banana, 1/2 cup thin cream or top milk and
1 rounding teaspoon sugar; poached egg; 2 slices toast, 2 squares
butter; coffee with 1/2 cup hot milk or cream and sugar as desired.
LUNCHEON
Cream of tomato soup; 3 saltines; Swiss cheese and rye bread sandwich;
1 square butter; prune whip, soft custard sauce; 1 glass milk.
DINNER
Vegetable soup; roast beef with gravy; baked potato; lima beans;
French roll; 2 squares butter; hearts of lettuce, French dressing; ice
cream, chocolate sauce; coffee if desired.
TUESDAY
BREAKFAST
Baked apple (large) with 1 tablespoon cream; scrambled eggs with 2
slices bacon; 1 cornmeal or graham muffin; 1 square butter; coffee as
above.
LUNCHEON
Club sandwich with mayonnaise; lemon meringue pie; coffee with half
cup hot milk.
DINNER
Fillet of sole, Tartar sauce; boiled potato; lettuce and tomato salad,
French dressing; 2 slices bread; 2 squares butter; ice cream; glass of
milk.
WEDNESDAY
BREAKFAST
Grapefruit with sugar; 1/2 cup oatmeal with 1/4 cup cream and 1
rounding teaspoon sugar; 2 boiled eggs; 1 slice toast; 1 square
butter; cocoa.
LUNCHEON
Lamb chops (2); creamed asparagus on toast; tomato and lettuce salad,
mayonnaise; 2 rolls; 2 squares butter; 1/2 cantaloupe.
DINNER
Broiled steak with gravy; scalloped or mashed potatoes; buttered
beets; 2 slices whole wheat bread; 2 squares butter; ice cream; glass
of milk.
THURSDAY
BREAKFAST
1 orange; 3 griddle cakes with 2 squares butter and 3 tablespoons
syrup; coffee as in breakfast (1).
LUNCHEON
Fruit salad, mayonnaise; raisin bread and cream cheese sandwich;
doughnut; glass of milk.
DINNER
Substantial soup such as minestrone, chowder, petite marmite or pot au
feu; roast chicken or duck with stuffing and gravy; candied sweet
potatoes; green peas; 2 rolls or bread; 1 square butter; raw fruit,
honey-dew melon or 1/2 cantaloupe; coffee.
FRIDAY
BREAKFAST
6 stewed prunes and juice; cornflakes with 1/2 cup top milk or cream
and 1 teaspoon sugar; 2 slices hot buttered toast and marmalade or
jam; 1 glass milk.
LUNCHEON
Cream of pea soup; ham omelette; French fried potatoes; 2 slices
buttered toast or bread; strawberry ice cream; tea as desired.
DINNER
Breaded veal cutlet or roast leg of veal; spaghetti with tomato sauce;
string beans; celery; French roll; 1 square butter; apple brown Betty,
hard sauce; glass milk or coffee with hot milk.
SATURDAY
BREAKFAST
1 serving strawberries, raspberries or sliced peaches with 2
tablespoons cream and 1 teaspoon sugar; 1/2 cup wheatena with 4
tablespoons cream and 1 teaspoon sugar; 3 slices bacon; 1 French roll;
1 square butter; cocoa.
LUNCHEON
Chicken or egg salad with mayonnaise; 2 rolls; 2 squares butter; baked
apple with cream; glass of milk.
DINNER
Cream of asparagus soup; baked ham; potato salad; mayonnaise; fresh
green or red cabbage, cooked; 2 slices rye bread; 1 square butter;
raspberry sherbet or peach ice cream. Coffee.
SUNDAY
BREAKFAST
1 glass orange juice; 3 tablespoons grapenuts with 4 tablespoons
cream; cocoa; creamed eggs on toast.
[Illustration: NED WAYBURN SHOW GIRLS, FOLLIES OF 1922.]
LUNCHEON
Macaroni and cheese; spinach with oil and vinegar; 2 slices whole
wheat bread; 2 squares butter; chocolate cornstarch pudding with
cream.
DINNER
Beef stew with vegetables; red beet or cabbage salad, French dressing;
2 rolls; 2 squares butter; strawberry short cake; glass of milk or
coffee with hot milk.
Note: If underweight is marked, it may be advantageous to take
additional nourishment at 10 A.M. and 4 P.M., such as a glass of milk
or cocoa with 2 graham crackers and a glass of hot milk and crackers
at bedtime. This will add 750 to 1000 calories to the day's total.
Any one of the above breakfasts contains 800 calories. Any one of the
above luncheons contains 1000 calories. Any one of the above dinners
contains 1200 calories. This gives a day's total of approximately 3000
calories of heat or energy.
* * * * *
HOW TO LOSE WEIGHT
To get rid of superfluous avoirdupois is one of the necessary steps to
beauty. A ponderous actress has a limited field. Certain character
parts, a few vaudeville acts, a singing turn, or a burlesquing of her
own abnormality (if she has the personality to carry it off with), and
there her availability for stage purposes ends. But you cannot dance
and waddle at the same time. "It isn't done." If you aspire to be the
kind of stage dancer that the public demands and that we produce in
our courses, you will have to submit to diet and exercise, the only
coin of the realm that will buy physical beauty and perfect
development. There is no other way. Medicines for this purpose are
dangerous, because they contain poisons, like arsenic and mercury.
Make up your mind to either abandon all hope of a dancing career, or
to faithfully follow the prescribed routine of proper exercise and
non-fattening foods. If you continue to take into your body the foods
that build fatty tissue, no exercise alone will dispose of the excess
fat that is sure to result. While our exercises in the studio do help
greatly, they cannot entirely correct a basically wrong condition
unless supplemented by proper diet. And diet alone is not sufficient,
either; you must have the exercises along with it.
DIET TO DECREASE WEIGHT
You must partake of no soups, nothing that is fried, no gravies. The
only meats that you will be permitted to eat are roast lamb, lamb
chops, broiled or boiled white fish, or white meat of chicken or
turkey; no other meats of any kind, no other fish of any kind.
_Vegetables._ You may have any green vegetables, especially plain
spinach, carrots, string beans, lettuce, celery, onions, sliced
tomatoes, never any stewed tomatoes or beets. But you can have beet
tops. Radishes are hard to digest.
You are not permitted to have any pastry, and by that is meant pie,
cakes or cookies; no candies of any kind; no ice cream or ice cream
sodas, no sarsaparilla or ginger ale, no liquor, no smoking, no
cigarettes. _You are not to take any liquids while having your meals._
You are not to partake of whole milk, cream, or white bread. Use
_little_ or _no_ sugar or butter. The only kind of bread that you are
permitted to eat is the whole-wheat bread, gluten bread, or whole rye
bread. You may take stale bread toasted. Gluten bread is good when
toasted.
You are prohibited from taking coffee. You may take very weak
tea--very weak--but there should be no sugar in the tea, nor should
there be any cream in it. You may have a slice of lemon in your tea.
Lemon juice can be squeezed on the lettuce instead of using sugar or
rich dressing. Vinegar on the lettuce or spinach, and plenty of it, is
permissible.
Buttermilk is excellent, and so is postum, but the postum should be
taken without sugar and used with hot skimmed milk, not cream.
For fruits: take baked apple, applesauce, grapefruit, orange juice,
raspberries, blueberries, huckleberries, a few strawberries--not
many--occasionally.
About potatoes: no potatoes except a baked white potato,
occasionally--no sweet potatoes, no French fried, home fried, hashed
or creamed potatoes--no mashed potatoes; the only kind you are
permitted to partake of being the _well-baked_ white potato, and you
may eat the skins if you like, but do not butter the potato.
For cereals: take bran, bran flakes or hominy--but the hominy must be
cooked for one hour and a half. That is the best cereal for your diet.
The hominy should be flavored with about one-half teaspoonful of
currant jelly, put into the hominy and stirred up, just to give it a
little taste. Do not use any cream, milk or sugar on your hominy,
which is really the most nutritious cereal when cooked this length of
time.
I am reproducing here the Ned Wayburn daily menu for a reducing diet.
It is one I have worked out carefully and studiously and used
successfully on many of my pupils and myself. By means of this diet
and my studio exercise I reduced myself from 262 pounds to 207 pounds
in twelve weeks--a loss of 55 pounds, and felt better when I got
through than I did when I began, but, I do not advise anyone taking
off weight too fast. With my method of reducing all of the unhealthy
fatty tissue will be gotten rid of before the remaining firm muscular
tissue will be distributed about the body. You may get thinner in the
face first, and about the thighs last. Be patient; it may take you six
months or longer. Unless you have gland trouble or some other serious
disorder it will go in time, provided you will work to get rid of it
and stick to the diet for not less than three months. Those taking the
conditioning work lose an average of about one pound per week, while
those who are trying to build up gain about one-half pound each week
after they have gotten rid of all the unhealthy unnecessary tissue,
those underweight frequently losing five pounds before they begin to
show any gain. It will surely bring back youthful buoyancy and insure
your health and figure for the future. After you have succeeded in
getting down to the right poundage you can go on my balanced diet for
those who have reduced, but you will still have to do about ten
minutes of my exercises every morning, and you must never over-eat
again.
* * * * *
NED WAYBURN'S DAILY REDUCING MENUS
MONDAY
BREAKFAST
Orange (without sugar) 1 medium; 1 poached egg on thin slice toast; 1
small pat butter; coffee with 1 teaspoon sugar and 1/2 tablespoon
cream or coffee with 1/4 cup hot skimmed milk.
LUNCHEON
Lettuce, tomato and cream cheese salad, with 1/2 tablespoon French
dressing; 2 thin slices whole wheat bread; 1 small pat butter; 1 glass
skimmed milk.
DINNER
Bouillon, clear; lean roast beef; 1 medium baked potato; spinach; 1
small pat butter; pear or apple.
TUESDAY
BREAKFAST
1/2 grapefruit (without sugar); 1 egg and 1 thin slice crisp bacon; 1
thin slice toast; 1 small pat butter; coffee with hot skimmed milk.
LUNCHEON
Cheese sandwich; asparagus salad with 1/2 tablespoon mayonnaise; tea
with lemon.
DINNER
Roast or broiled chicken (no stuffing or gravy); green peas; lettuce
and cucumber salad with 1/2 tablespoon French dressing; baked apple
(no cream).
WEDNESDAY
BREAKFAST
3/4 cup strawberries with rounding teaspoon powdered sugar; 1/2 cup
oatmeal with 1/4 cup skimmed milk and 1 level teaspoon sugar; glass of
skimmed milk.
LUNCHEON
Cream of tomato soup; medium serving cold meat; 2 thin slices rye
bread; 1 small pat butter; 1/2 small cantaloupe.
DINNER
Broiled sirloin steak, moderate serving; 1 ear corn on cob; tomato and
lettuce salad, with 1/2 tablespoon French dressing; 1 small pat
butter; cup custard (small).
THURSDAY
BREAKFAST
1 apple; 1 egg omelet; 1 bran muffin; small pat butter; coffee with
hot skimmed milk.
LUNCHEON
Macaroni and cheese; lettuce with French dressing; fruit gelatine
pudding (clear).
DINNER
Beef or lamb stew with vegetables; 2 thin slices whole wheat bread;
small pat butter; tapioca cream pudding; black coffee.
FRIDAY
BREAKFAST
1 peach, with 1 rounding teaspoon powdered sugar; shredded wheat with
1/2 cup milk; 2 thin crisp slices bacon; thin slice dry toast.
LUNCHEON
1 French lamb chop; 1 medium baked potato; lettuce with 1/2 tablespoon
French dressing; lemon ice.
DINNER
Vegetable soup; broiled halibut or other white fish with lemon; 1
medium baked potato; 1 slice bread; 1 small pat butter; French ice
cream (small serving).
SATURDAY
BREAKFAST
1/2 orange; 1 French roll; small pat butter; glass of skimmed milk.
LUNCHEON
Clam or corn chowder; 3 saltines; moderate serving peach or strawberry
ice cream, or apple, cream, or custard pie.
DINNER
2 small lamb chops or 1 large one; tomato salad with French dressing;
mashed turnips; 1 thin slice whole wheat bread; 1 small pat butter;
raw peach.
SUNDAY
BREAKFAST
1 banana; 3/4 cup cornflakes; 1/2 cup skimmed milk; 1 slice toast; 1
small pat butter.
LUNCHEON
Egg or chicken salad; 1 slice bread; 1 small pat butter; 1 small piece
loaf cake, or 2 plain cookies; tea with lemon, no sugar.
DINNER
Hamburger steak with tomato sauce (2 cakes); string beans or
asparagus; 1 thin slice rye bread; 1 small pat butter; glass of
skimmed milk or coffee with skimmed milk; raw apple, orange or pear.
Note: If overweight is _excessive_ omit all desserts given in menus
except raw unsweetened fruits.
Any one of the above breakfasts contains 350 calories of heat or
energy. Any one of the above luncheons contains 500 calories. Any one
of the above dinners contains 650 calories. The day's total will be
1500 calories.
* * * * *
You will no doubt be interested in hearing the story of a young lady,
Miss Ann Constance, who came to me a little over a year ago to be
reduced. She was sixteen years old, was five feet five inches in
height and weighed one hundred and seventy-nine pounds. At the end of
nine months, under the treatment I am recommending for those who are
overweight, she tipped the scales at one hundred and nineteen pounds.
Her photographs, in this book, taken "before and after," will tell the
story better than I can in words. Miss Constance is in better health
today than she has ever been before in her life; and she has become
an exceedingly good dancer--recently with the Greenwich Village
Follies and at this writing just beginning a career in the movies with
the Famous Players at their Long Island Studios. She is, however, only
one of many girls whom my diets and exercises have helped.
[Illustration: ANN CONSTANCE.
(Before she entered the Ned Wayburn Studios.)]
[Illustration: ANN CONSTANCE.
(After she entered the Ned Wayburn Studios.)]
We have never failed in reducing any of our pupils who came to us for
that purpose, but we have to have their cooperation, of course. Quite
recently we had a very puzzling case that challenged the Sherlock
Holmes in us, and I think it will interest you to know how we solved
it.
A young lady of really huge proportions, resident of another city,
called on me at the studio accompanied by her mother, and placed
herself in my charge for reducing. I studied her, arranged a special
diet for her and she entered the class in limbering and stretching. I
watch the progress of all my pupils, and expect them to record the
change in their weights every week. I watched this young lady with
especial care, and was dumbfounded to notice that she was steadily
gaining in weight. She never lost a pound but kept on adding fat to
more fat all the time, notwithstanding that she was working her head
off in the classroom--when she came to class. She skipped seven
lessons of the twenty in the first month's course, reporting for only
thirteen, finally insisting that the lessons were not doing her any
good.
I felt that there must be something wrong and wrote the mother of the
girl about it, as she had requested me to do. She told me that the
girl had a charge account at a certain hotel where she took her meals.
I asked the mother if it would be possible for me to get the meal
checks signed by her daughter, which would show just what she had
eaten. The meal checks were turned over to me. I found that the girl
had been eating the prohibited things; that about once in two weeks
she had followed my diet, and at every other time she had eaten
everything she liked--enormous meals, consisting of starchy foods and
all sorts of desserts--mostly sweets. I also found out that she had
been taking some of the other girls at the studio along with her,
fattening them up. The mother was inclined to be easy with the girl. I
called her father's attention to the matter, because the girl paid no
attention at all to me, and as far as I could see was hurting the
school. Of course she was only fooling herself.