The real mode of life and diet should be changed if the fat would be reduced. If necessary, procure a pair of scales and weigh the different foods that are taken into the system. Reduce the diet then to about four ounces of starch or sugar material per day, one and a half ounces of fat, taken chiefly in the form of butter, and about six or seven ounces of albuminous food, such as lean meat or fish. This is the minimum that should be resorted to, and the patient can take more of each at first and reduce the diet gradually to this point. The proportion of the different food compounds, however, with the exception of figs, dates, grapes and nuts, should also be eaten daily, and one-third of a pound of some of the following vegetables: asparagus, turnips, cucumbers, parsley, watercress, celery, kale or cabbage. Fluids have a fattening tendency, and they must be taken in small quantities.
The drinking should be confined to tea, coffee or water, and never should be taken at mealtime, nor within one hour of a meal. This is peremptory, for food will produce fat much quicker and surer when watered by some good beverage.
Refreshing Sleep.
What is the correct method to pursue in preparing for a trip into dreamland, for there is a right as well as a wrong way? The business of disrobing should be so systematized that attending to all the little niceties included in the process will become, after a while, second nature. There is something more to be done, let us assure you, in addition to putting your hair up in curl-papers and dabbing a bit of cold cream on your face, if you would wake up in the morning looking as fresh as a rose. In the first place, do not put off these important preparations until you are so heavy-lidded that you are ready to give everything belonging to the toilet the go by. And now for the first step. Early in the evening your sleeping apartments should be thoroughly aired by dropping the window from the top and raising it at the bottom.
The current of fresh air is especially important when the room has been, as so many sleeping apartments are, in constant use all day. Ten minutes will be quite sufficient for toning up the atmosphere. Now close the window and allow the room to become thoroughly warmed, that you may not experience a chill while taking a rub down. Prepare a big bowl of tepid water, into which you sprinkle a small quantity of ammonia or borax. Take a Turkish towel, which is much better than a sponge, wring it out as dry as possible, and, grasping a corner in each hand, give the spine a vigorous rubbing. Have at hand another Turkish towel, and as you bathe the body in sections, dry as quickly as possible.
From the points of your rosy toes to the curve of your soft throat you are a blushing model of the charming effects of the bath. When finished, slip over your head a soft little shirt, high neck and short sleeves (a white silk or lisle thread is the best), the rosy skin beneath giving it the appearance of being lined with pink silk. Then comes the nightrobe, and next the pajama or lounging robe, which may be of anything, from flannel to eider down.
Tuck your feet into a pair of bedroom slippers, and your are ready to attend to minor details. Never think of retiring in any article of clothing which you have worn during the day. Such a barbarous custom has nothing whatever in common with health and refinement. Neither is it well to discard everything but your nightgown, for it is exceedingly dangerous to chill the system by night draughts.
How to Take Care of the Eyes.
Avoid sudden changes from darkness to brilliant light.
Avoid the use of stimulants and drugs which affect the nervous system.