Photoplay (Jul-Dec 1951)

k Continued from page 71) time you’ll find omething with which to disagree — or igree. Never fear, your conversation will ie animated and he’ll find you interesting lecause you’re truly interested. Does Baby Leave You Bulging? Recently, I received an all too typical omplaint from a young mother who says laving her second baby left her figure permanently” impaired. She says that hough she dieted and lost all the weight he had gained during pregnancy, her ummy bulges hopelessly and her bust — veil, in her words, “I just look matronly, hat’s all.” I may not be an authority on this subect but I’ve lived in Hollywood too long nd know too many young mothers who ave had their babies and kept their figures, o accept any such lament. Esther Williams and Jeanne Crain are he two recent screen mothers who came iack to work after their babies, more adiant and figure-beautiful than ever. “Diet alone won’t do it,” Esther says. Those post-maternity bulges are the reult of lack of muscle tone and nothing but xercises — the right exercises, done faithally every day — can faze them. Nearly very obstetrician recommends this simple outine which helped me back into shape, 'here are three basic steps and the trick 5 to do them every day, just a few mintes at first, and for longer times as your trength returns.” 1. Lie flat on your back on the floor and aise the right foot a few inches off the oor, keeping the leg stiff; lower it slowly. >o the same with the left leg. Repeat ight times. Each day or two endeavor to aise the leg higher and higher until it is If You Want to be Charming possible, without tiring, to raise each leg eight times to a perpendicular position. When this can be accomplished with ease, raise legs several inches off the floor, keeping them stiff and together, increasing each day until you can touch your toes to the floor directly over your head. 2. Lie flat on your back with arms folded across the chest. Raise your head off the pillow a few inches. Repeat eight times. Gradually increase the height to which the head is raised until you are able to rise to a sitting position with arms still folded. 3. Lie flat on your back and raise the "The reason so many engagements are broken is because most girls want to get married." . . . June Havoc hips off the floor a few inches; with the hips thus elevated contract the muscles across the lower abdomen. Now return to the lying posture. As time goes on, increase the height to which the hips are raised and the force with which the abdominal muscles are contracted. There is nothing better for toning and restoring the muscles which control the contour of the breasts (or for developing a beautiful bust in the first place) than swimming, particularly the breast stroke. For those of you who are more comfortable on dry land, however, there is an exercise which John Robert Powers recommends to his models which, if you remember that “every day, no matter what” rule, is said to work wonders: Cross your wrists and grasp the upper side of your forearms midway between the elbows and the wrists. Now, raise your arms to the shoulder level. Grip hard and push your hands toward your elbows. (Don’t let your hands slide upward!) Hold for a count of five, release and repeat. Jeanne Crain, too, warns that you have to do your exercises every day if you want to have your baby and beauty too. “There’s nothing more dull or boring than calisthenics, but — after a baby— nothing more essential. When you have to go back to work before a camera, as we do, you have a deadline and that helps.” Another thing that helped, for Jeanne, was combining the basic exercises with a physical workout every day. “I have loved ballet since I studied it when I was in high school,” she says. On the set of “Take Care of My Little Girl,” the first picture Jeanne made after the birth of her new baby, she and Jean Peters and Betty Lynn persuaded Mitzi Gaynor, who is a professional ballet dancer, to put them through a fifteen-minute “warm up” at the bar every morning. “Steam baths and massages are fun, too,” she added, “but, unfortunately, useless if you skip your exercises. And Paul and I love to take long walks after the children are bedded down in the evening. There is nothing like walking to melt away any ugly bulges which pile up during pregnancy on your hips and thighs.” It occurs to me, as I pass on all this good advice, that the mothers with new babies aren't the only ones who could profitably take a leaf from the exercise book of these two lovely stars. Bulging — but too tired? Sagging — but too lazy? Well, bulge ahead then, girls. But don’t say I didn’t tell you. The End *80% of NewYorfc Model? WHO WERE INTERVIEWED SAID: “CAVALIERS are MILDER than the brand I had been smoking!” ^Hundreds of New York models tried king-size Cavaliers— compared them for mildness with the cigarettes they had been smoking. The results . . . 80 %— that’s right— 80% of these models said Cavaliers are milder than the cigarettes they had been smoking! And they’d been smoking all the leading brands! Models aren’t the only ones who agreed on Cavalier’s mildness! Nurses, tele lots—in each and every group of smokers interviewed . . . 80% or more said Cavaliers are milder than the cigarette they had been smoking! Try Cavaliers yourself— for mildness, for natural flavor. They’re priced no higher phone operators, airline pi than other leading brands. Cavalier KING-SIZE CIGARETTES EXTREMELY MILD P R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., Winston-Salem, N. C. ' 87