Week Fifty-Nine: The Mission

Who keeps the budget? Some authorities say the man of the house should accept this responsibility. Other believe that the homemaker, who spends 85 cents out of every dollar, is the logical person to record expenditures. We believe that the choice should be made by the family, and that the one who takes most naturally to figures and records should keep the budget.

America's Housekeeping Book (1945)

I slept restlessly last night and woke early this morning wondering why my New Year was off to such a restless start. I've spent the last week recovering from a bad cold and - still feeling weak as a kitten - gave up my plans for a New Year's Eve out on the town with friends to spend the evening at home with a cup of herbal tea. I had a hard time falling asleep, though, and got up early this morning after tossing and turning all night long.

At first, I wondered if this was an ill omen for the year ahead, but now I think it's just a sign of a woman itching to get started. That's why I'm restless. It's been kind of a crummy autumn. Between changes at work, the lump in my breast, and my grandmother's death, it's been hard to get any real traction for awhile now. But they say bad things come in threes, right? Something about this new page on the calendar makes me feel like I've got a chance to gain some real momentum again in transforming my life.

After all, this is the first New Year in as long as I can remember that my resolutions do not involve radical new hoped-for changes in my lifestyle. This year, in 2010, my resolutions are continuations of progress I've already made in the last year: 1) I resolve to lose 26 more pounds - and continue making my body more strong and flexible. 2) I resolve to pay off my car, finish paying off the last of my credit cards - and continue paying down my student loans and building my savings. 3) I resolve to take better care of my skin, my hair, my nails, and my teeth - and continue taking better care of my insides, including regular self-breast exams! 4) I resolve to re-furnish and redecorate my apartment - and continue learning how to become a better housekeeper so that I can take care of my new things. 5) I resolve to date - and continue putting myself out there to make new friends and feel more settled here in this new city which has become my home.

Nope, nothing radically new this time 'round. I think it's a good sign that my New Year's resolutions for 2010 are all works in progress. And there's no time like this morning to get started. First order of business is a weigh-in. I've put off doing so for the last few days because my cold made me feel like I was retaining water, but that feeling has started to pass. My net damage for the holidays = 1 lb. I weighed in at 143 this morning. Well, I guess that's not too bad in the grand scheme of things --- but the season for indulging is over, so that's as far as I'm going to allow that damage to go. It's time to move that scale in the right direction again. And I know exactly what I need to do - and need not to do - in order to make that happen!

For centuries, a New Year's tradition for heads of families was to get the year off to a fresh start by settling accounts. Paying debts, entering new contracts with employees, and taking a hard look at the household's assets and liabilities. How better for me to begin my year than to do the same for my own small household... The authors of The Manual dedicated one of their earliest chapters to "Money Management." Before they even get started on housekeeping methods, laundering, or home decoration, they focus on one of the most important issues facing the 1940s housewife: how to make ends meet. That's no easy task during the Great Recession, but aren't we incredibly lucky we don't have rations, shortages, and skyrocketing postwar inflation to deal with? So many of our own financial troubles today are entirely under our own control - in our spending habits, our savings plans, and our lifestyles. Here's a rough "pattern" The Manual's authors set forth for the healthy household budget:

Rent (if heat is included) - *25 per cent of income

Rent (if heat must be supplied) - *20 per cent of income

(If you are buying your home, or already own it, the "rent" is the total of interest on mortgage, taxes, interest, upkeep and repairs which should not ordinarily exceed 1/8 to 1/10 of income. If payments on principal are included it may reach 1/4 to 1/5 of income.)

Clothes - 15 per cent of income

Operating expenses - 10-15 per cent of income

Food - 20-35 per cent of income (the smaller the income, the larger the percentage that must be spent for food)

Advancement - 15-20 per cent of income.

Savings (other than life insurance) - 10 per cent of income

Life insurance - the face of your policies should amount to 2 or more years' income

*Provided that in your community it is possible to provide safe shelter for your family for this amount.

If you're scratching your head about the category titled "Advancement," you're not alone! The Manual goes into further detail about each of these budget categories, and my mission for the week ahead is to share these details with you as I examine my own household budget. How does it compare to the pattern? How 'bout yours? Where can I make changes in my own spending habits to help speed my way toward the second of my New Year's resolutions?

A Happy New Year to you all! Wishing you each the greatest success with your own resolutions for 2010.

Jitterbug's Book of the Month Club

He is always saying apologetically:

"I just can't find any time to read books!"

Yet ... if he spent (on average) only 30 minutes a day - before bedtime, or while traveling to or from work, or in other leisure moments - he could easily read every best-seller during the year, and a great deal more!

The Book of the Month Club used these words in 1940 to try and recruit new members to the fold. In the 14 years since its inception in 1926, some 250,000 American homes had become members of this club designed to promote the production of inexpensive editions of bestselling fiction and nonfiction. Once a month, members received word of the latest club selection. If they didn't respond by returning the slip printed, "Don't want it," the book would be sent - and billed - to them. Members were required to purchase a minimum of four books per year and could choose a free "book dividend" for every two books purchased.

I'm making another venture into the world of 1940s culture this month with a special new mission: Jitterbug's Book of the Month Club. These dark winter evenings and chilly temperatures have me spending more time indoors than I have in months - and just itching to curl up with a good book. Even the busiest of housewives would have found time occasionally to enjoy reading or a hobby like needlepoint. (Well, probably except those with small children!) The Manual actually allots time each day in the late afternoon for "Rest, Relaxation, Correspondence, Reading, Personal care, etc."

Would you like to join me in catching up on some of the bestsellers of the 1940s? (I promise --- I won't send you any of those dreaded return-this-or-else-you'll-be-billed-for-it slips.) I always feel so out of the loop when vintage radio programs make a joking reference to a current book or character and the audience roars. I want to be in on the joke! And many of these bestsellers were adapted for films that became classics in their own right. It might be fun to get to know what the screenwriters didn't have time to include about the backstory for our favorite silver screen heroes and heroines. You may have to hunt to find some of these titles. Bestsellers don't always stand the test of time and some libraries are unfortunately quick to discard anything with an aging cover these days. You may have to scour used bookstores, eBay, or the stacks at Amazon to find some of these titles. If you don't have any success, don't worry. You can drop in and drop out of Jitterbug's Book of the Month Club any time you like!

Without further ado, here's the selection for January 2010 --- The Family by Nina Fedorova (Boston: Little, Brown, 1940). The Family was the tenth bestselling piece of fiction in 1940 and won the Atlantic Fiction Contest that June. Here's a description from the publisher which sounds like it could've been plucked right from a dust jacket:

The Family is the story of a cheap boarding house in Tientsin, China. Granny, mother and the children are trying to make ends meet. They are White Russians. The olders remember days of wealth. The youngsters remember nothing but hand-to-mouth existence. The only assets are the family bonds of love and tradition. To this boarding house come an extraordinary assortment of mankind, a Bessarabian fortune teller, an English woman dipsomaniac, a Russian scientist with an urge to save the world, a Chinese scholar, Japanese spies, an American doughboy and his mistress, an abbess and two nuns and even - an English bulldog. There is much comedy in the story and its people but as it progresses, the family begin to show a depth of character and a resourcefulness which transfers the comedy into something deeper and more stirring. The laughter and oddities remain but under the surface one feels the pathos and the true tragedy of these wanderers. The story ends with the Japanese occupation of Tientsin.

Shall we convene the club by meeting one month from today to discuss the book? I'll call the meeting to order on Tuesday, January 5. Happy hunting!

Intervention

It's been a long time since I had to do one of these intervention posts!

Well, I suppose there's plenty in the way of stress I can chalk this week's scale reading up to. Hearing that I was going to need surgery was a tough pill to swallow. When I'm stressed, I snack. And two doctor's visits this week even cost me one of my walks. (I'm going to try and make that up this afternoon.) At any rate, I weighed in at 147 this morning --- 2 lbs. heavier than last Sunday. I've got no time to waste. I can see all those holiday goodies on the horizon. Doesn't it seem like there are good things to eat everywhere you go between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day? I may as well whittle away as much as I can before the holiday temptations begin...

Fitness
I purchased some a pair of 2-lb. wrist weights yesterday, so will be wearing those now as I do my morning and evening exercises everyday and when I walk on the weekends. They feel so heavy right now compared to the 1-lb. wrist weights I've been using, but I'm sure I'll get used to them! I'm starting to see some real muscle tone in my upper arms so the weights are making a difference. Several weeks ago, I added some butt squeezing exercises (how's that for vintage terminology!) to my evening routine - 20 reps. I'm also going to add some basic crunches --- nothing too strenuous to start with, just 5 reps per evening. If there's one thing that's really paid off when it comes to this diet, it's the muscle toning. It was only when I began adding these kinds of exercises to my daily routine that the weight really began falling off.

Boy, aren't you glad we don't have to work out in those bulky sweatsuits in the picture above? Exercising will probably never be my favorite thing in the world to do, but I'm grateful as can be that I can do it in fitted workout gear!

Reducing
I don't have any new missions along this line, but I do have some "housecleaning" to do. For instance, as the weather's gotten a little colder, I find myself slacking off on my water intake each day. That's obviously not paying off, so it's back to the 64 oz. per day - no ifs, ands, or buts. I'm also going to make an extra rigorous effort when it comes to snacking and portion control this week.

Week Forty-seven: The Mission

My sister is headed home to New England tomorrow with Kitten and Poppet. They're off to spend two weeks visiting family and friends - and enjoying some of that crisp autumn weather I'd love a taste of myself! (My babies will be so far away!!!) I've resolved to keep myself busy while they're gone with a whole new mission. It's time to take it back to basics and finally add that living room to my weekly housekeeping routine. The only real housework I've been doing in my living room since starting The Experiment has been to give that room a little daily tidying. It was ten months ago that I began giving the following treatment to my living room every evening before bed:

Put living room in order.

• Open windows top and bottom for free circulation of air.
  
• Pick up and replace small articles belonging in the room, such as books, magazines, music, games, victrola records, cards, etc.
  
• Gather up on tray to be taken out: used ash trays, articles belonging in other rooms, plants or flowers to be tended. Collect trash in waste basket.
  
• Carry out tray.

Remember those chores? They're super easy when you live in a small apartment and you're only home two days a week! It only takes me about five minutes each night and makes the living room a much nicer place to wake up to in the morning... Well, it's time to expand that routine a bit. Once each weekend - probably on Sunday afternoons - I'm going to give the living room some weekly attention.

Now, the authors of America's Housekeeping Book (1945) suggest that the housewife give each room in the house a daily cleaning shortly after breakfast. Once a week, she should return to each room and clean it more thoroughly. (The day of the week doesn't matter very much, but they do recommend once in passing that living rooms be cleaned on Fridays.) Since I work outside the home full time, I can't clean each room every day. Instead, I aim to give each room a weekly cleaning (with the chores recommended to the '40s housewife on a daily basis) and then - once a month - do the chores recommended to the '40s housewife on a weekly basis, rotating between the four rooms in my apartment so that each room gets the white glove treatment once a month. Without further ado, here's my new barebones once-a-week housekeeping routine for the living room:

1. Bring in cleaning equipment: hearthbroom (if not kept at fireplace), carpet sweeper or vacuum cleaner (according to need), dust mop, cleaning basket.

2. In season, clean out fireplace, lay fire, sweep hearth.

3. Dust high objects if necessary: mantels, high shelves, window frames and sills, tops of bookcases, secretary, highboys, etc.

4. Dust radiator covers if necessary.

5. Brush upholstery if necessary. Straighten covers. Plump up pillows.

6. Dust furniture and low objects if necessary. Treat stains or blemishes as they occur.

7. Dust exposed wood flooring with dust mop if necessary. Use carpet sweeper or vacuum cleaner on rugs or carpets.

8. Final touches: Straighten draperies, shades, curtains, etc. Take out cleaning equipment and waste basket. Return clean ash trays, accessories, flowers and waste basket. Close windows if desired.

Week Forty-three: The Mission

Time to step things up again... When the latest additions to my routine begin to seem super manageable, I know it's time to take on a new mission!

Fitness
You know I'm the first to give it up to vintage advice, but these limbering and stretching exercises are transforming my figure. I'm amazed at the changes I've seen in my waistline and my arms since adding these exercises to my almost-daily walks. Don't get me wrong. The walking has made a tremendous difference, especially in my legs, but - after about three months of these vintage exercises - I'm feeling leaner and lither and more flexible than I have in years. These may be some very basic movements, but when done slowly and regularly they seem to be making a real difference.

Here are a few more I'm going to add to my evening exercise routine beginning tomorrow night. These hip-busters were written up during the early 1940s by Betty Clarke, a syndicated woman's page columnist:

20. Stand with feet apart, arms out at side, bend body, touching left arm to right foot, then right arm to left foot. (20 reps)

21. Put feet flat on floor, raising arms overhead. Bend forward, touching floor with palms of hands. Raise arms over head, bend body back from waist. Relax. (20 reps)

22. You’ll need a three-foot rope, but your lounging robe belt will do if you can make a secure loop at each end of it. Lie on your back and put a foot in each loop. Lift your right foot as far from the floor as the rope permits. Alternate lifting right and left. (5 reps)

Reducing
My weekday lunches are still a challenge. Particularly because I get tired of eating the same thing more than once or twice in a row. The hot dishes called for on these menus, even the coleslaw on my most recent menu, are hard to prepare in just one or two servings --- and there's only so much room in my freezer for storing additional servings! I'm going to continue plugging away at this mission, though. It's made me truly appreciate the convenience in convenience foods, but my figure and my health are going to benefit immeasurably in the long run from moving towards whole foods at lunchtime.

Grooming
Here's the next step in the 1946 grooming routine. After taking my evening bath (a morning shower on the weekends), drying briskly with a towel, applying deodorant, and brushing and flossing my teeth:

Down with a nice, long glass of water - and so to bed.

I can do that. I've usually reached my water quota by the time I head in for my bath, but it can't hurt to save that one last glass for a little bit longer. Plus it keeps me from trying to down too much water too quickly in the evening. The more I spread this water out throughout the day, the easier it is on my bladder!

Nine More Minutes

I've never backtracked on a new mission before, but I've got to make some adjustments to this one. With four new exercises and an increase in each of my exercises to 20 reps apiece, I totally overdid it yesterday. I couldn't even do a single leg lift this morning. My abdomen felt so weak. And it feels like I might have a kink or something in my small intestine, so I'm taking it very easy today. Lots of warm fluids and nothing but my walk this morning... What I'd like to do - starting tomorrow morning at the earliest - is to go ahead and do the four new exercises, but shift all the exercises back to their original number of reps. I guess I bit off more than I can chew! I need to remember that my surgically renovated abdomen is still a fragile area and needs to be improved very, very slowly.

Speaking of broken things, my ancient alarm clock-radio stopped functioning on Friday night. You know the type. Great big digital numbers and push button controls. There's no time to waste when an alarm clock has bitten the dust, so it was off to Target - and I soon found myself coveting this lovely little double-bell alarm clock with a vintage feel to it. Why not add a timepiece with some '40s flair to my bedroom? Without another thought, I popped it in my cart and smiled like the Cheshire Cat at home last night as I carefully set the time and wound the alarm hand to a position shortly after 5:00. (That walk takes place pretty early on the weekends!)

So it seems I forgot something.

Not only is a double-bell alarm clock loud enough to jar you into consciousness in one second flat, but there is no snooze button!!! Egad. Imagine living in a world where you didn't have the luxury of nine more minutes of sleep. Without a snooze button, you don't have the option of nestling back into your pillow "for just a few more minutes." The day has begun, like it or not. Turn the alarm off to get that terrible jangling bell out of your ears --- and relax at your peril.

On the other hand, not having a snooze button for a crutch might have some real benefits. I could put that extra nine minutes - or 18, 27, or, well, 36 minutes on truly desperate mornings - to some very good use with all these exercises and chores and vintage grooming habits in the a.m. Isn't it funny how a simple little thing like an alarm clock can remind us of something in the past so fundamental to daily life?

Week Forty-one: The Mission

It's that time again... I was planning to launch a new housekeeping mission this week, but I'm itching to kick things up another notch with my vintage beauty missions instead. I've got some serious momentum goin' on and don't want to lose it!

Fitness
An article in the October 1945 issue of Good Housekeeping includes a series of exercises designed just for the "tubby teen." (They didn't pull any p.c. punches in the '40s!) Luckily, they're accompanied by little drawings, because the written descriptions are very spare. I think these would make a nice addition to my morning exercise routine:

16. Waistline. [Lying on your back,] touch right foot to left hand, then left foot to right hand.

17. Hips. Lie on back, bicycle with legs in air. Repeat, lying on side.

18. Thighs. Hold on chair to balance yourself and swing leg back and forth.

19. Ankle. Roll each ankle 20 times, making a big circle with your toes.

I think I'll do 20 reps of each. Speaking of which, for the sake of consistency, I think I'll increase the reps of each of my other "limbering and stretching exercises" to 20 apiece.

Reducing
My weekday lunches are still a work in progress. I haven't by any means mastered this mission yet. Just yesterday, I left all my plastic containers sitting in the dish drainer in the kitchen at work. Again! Which means I had to pack a leftover frozen lunch today. I'm going to continue chipping away at this goal during the week ahead. Today is payday, and y'all have given me some great ideas about lunchware - so I'm hitting the stores this weekend!

Grooming
And here's the next step in the 1946 grooming routine. After taking my evening bath (or morning shower on the weekends), drying briskly with a towel, and applying deodorant:

Give your crowning glory a good swishing with the brush, dampen ends and pin up curls.

Hmmm... Well I certainly brush my hair after my evening bath-and-brief-shower, but I can't sleep in the curlers I bought. I've been rolling my hair in the mornings after re-wetting it under the shower for a minute. This step was definitely designed for the woman who only washed her hair once a week - and needed just to wet the ends on a daily basis in order to put it up in pin curls. The next step in the routine is one I could truly benefit from in the evenings:

Brush teeth carefully.

I always brush my teeth in the mornings - sometimes twice --- but I don't always remember to brush them in the evenings. And my dentist has been after me forever to floss regularly. I think I'll make brushing and flossing my teeth each evening my new mission.

Week Forty: The Mission

Fitness
As I continue getting used to the extra resistance those 1-lb. wrist weights add to my arms, I'm going to add a few more limbering and stretching exercises to my evening routine. These exercises targeting "heavy hips" and a "thick waistline" were featured in the March 27, 1947 edition of Salt Lake City's Deseret News:

13. Get on your knees, keeping your back straight and arms stretched overhead. Bend your body sharply to the right side, and lower the hips as far as possible toward the floor. Then raise your body up straight, bend to the left side, and lower hips. Repeat 4 times; rest. 8 to 12 times altogether.

14. Stand with arms out to the sides, and kick your right leg across your body, trying to touch the left hand. Feel that stretch? Return leg to position, and kick the left leg. Do 12 times, alternating legs.

15. Now get down on the floor, flat on your back, with legs straight and arms out to the sides. Keep shoulders flat on the floor. Pull both knees up to your chest and roll them over to left side, then to right. Swing from side to side 6 times; rest. 12 to 18 times altogether.

Reducing
My weekday lunches have gone almost untouched thus far by the changes I've made to my diet. The only thing I've been doing differently at lunchtime is to opt for fruit when it comes to dessert. I guess I've been holding out on this meal because it's the high point of a working day which can sometimes seem like a long slog! Unfortunately, my lunch choices are often quite high in sodium - and probably in calories - and filled with additives and preservatives... So I've been collecting vintage menus for the lunchbox and am planning on trying some of these out. I'll have to make some adaptations, of course. Cut down on the carbs and eliminate the desserts. Stick to vintage portion sizes. Make open-faced sandwiches. And I'll keep an eye on the calorie content of these meals to make sure I'm not exceeding what I've been accustomed to eating for lunch on weekdays. Here's the original menu that I'll be adapting for tomorrow's lunch. It's included in a chapter on "The Lunch Box" in The American Woman's Cook Book (1945):

Cream of Spinach Soup
Crackers
Egg Salad Sandwiches with Lettuce
Raw Vegetable Strips
Apple
Cup Cake

Grooming
And here's the next step in the 1946 grooming routine. After taking my evening bath (or morning shower on the weekends) and a brisk dry with the towel:

Don't forget the deodorant under your arms.

Deodorant at night? Won't I be all sweaty by the time I head to work in the morning???

Week Thirty-seven: The Mission

As those of you who read my blog last Sunday learned, I've now lost enough weight that my blood pressure has begun to fall naturally. This is great news! For the last two years, my blood pressure has been so high that I had to take both a medication and a diuretic to treat the condition. When I saw my doctor a few weeks ago, she told me that I didn't need to take the diuretic any longer and - if I continue losing weight - I should be able to slowly reduce the medication dosage over time. I held off as long as I could, because I knew that I would gain some water weight when I stopped taking the diuretic. As my body adjusted to carrying around a normal amount of water in the tissues, I'd see that reflected on the scale.

Sure enough, I have. Sunday was my lost dose of the diuretic. Since that time, I've gained 4 lbs. --- presumably in water weight. I've gone from a fantastic 174 to a dreary 178. I'm trying not to panic. This is a good thing. It needed to happen. I'm thrilled to see my blood pressure responding so nicely to my weight loss. But, boy, are those numbers hard to swallow. All my instincts are screaming at me, "Just stop eating entirely!" "Work out five hours a day!" "Stop drinking water!" And I'm trying desperately to talk myself down and stick with the hard work I've been doing all the while. It's working. I know it's working. I've just got to keep slogging away. My body is loving the added water weight. It's better for my skin, better for my hair, better for my organs. My kidneys alone have got to be singing "Hallelujah!" that they're no longer pulling overtime.

So here I am. 4 lbs. heavier than last Saturday, but with a decidedly healthier anatomy. Maybe the distraction of a new vintage beauty mission is just what I need...

Fitness
It's time to add some strength training to my fitness routine. I've been giving so much attention to my legs that my arms could really use some work. Rather than use the dumb bells and barbells that might have been found in a '40s reducing salon, I'm going to start with a very modern pair of 1-lb. wrist weights. I found a set made by Reebok last night and strapped 'em on before my walk this morning. They're just heavy enough to make my arms work a little harder. I'm also planning to use them while I do my limbering and stretching exercises in the mornings and evenings.



Reducing
1940s nutritionists were acutely aware that women following a reducing plan might not be getting all the minerals and nutrients needed for optimum health, so they frequently recommended some sort of "vitamin concentrate" or "multiple-vitamin preparation" to supplement the diet. This was an era of steadfast faith in science, so the idea of vitamins was hot, hot, hot. People figured if they could formulate precisely what the body needed to function then it was simply a matter of taking a scientific approach to things in order to supply those needs. I've always believed I could do that just as easily by eating a varied diet (and my bloodwork has usually agreed), but I'm not perfect. I've still got plenty of work to do in building a better diet --- so in the meantime I'm going to begin taking a multivitamin. It took some time to pick out a vegetarian-friendly formula, but I purchased one a few days ago. It needs to be taken three times a day with meals.

Grooming
Here's the next step in the 1946 grooming routine. After taking my evening bath (or morning shower on the weekends), I'm to put that bath towel to work:

Rub yourself dry, so that you tingle all over and chest and back turn a healthy pink.

Week Thirty-six: The Mission

Eeesh! How did it already get to be Wednesday? I'm sorry for the delay in new posts. Kitten was suffering from a virus and I've been pulling some Auntie overtime. But I'm back in my own little nest this evening and looking forward to some quality time with my iron. So how about a new vintage beauty mission? It's been a few weeks and I'm itching to add something new to my routine...

Fitness
I'm going to add a few more "limbering and stretching exercises" to my pre-bed fitness routine. The first is from a July 1940 edition of the St. Petersburg [Florida] Times and is especially designed for reducing fatty tissue in the hip area:

10. If you are bothered by this special beauty sorrow stand erect, steady yourself by holding to the back of a chair, swing the leg in wide circles. Lift the foot as high as you can. You will be aware of a strong muscle pull from knees to hips…

Two more exercises are from a charming article in a February 1940 edition of The Evening Independent. The author, a syndicated woman's page columnist, suggests that women living in a cold climate go in for skiing or skating to attain the new "stretched look." Tennis and swimming were suggested for women living in a warm climate. If money is tight or time is short, not to fear! Here are some exercises designed to mimic these sports. Anybody up for a game of imaginary tennis?

11. Simply hold a pie pan or other round, shallow pan in your right hand high above your head and look toward the ceiling as if you were watching for a high ball to come across an imaginary net. As the imaginary ball comes closer, jump a foot off the floor and hit it with the pan, driving it back across the imaginary net to an imaginary opponent. Drop arm to side, count to four slowly, then raise arm, jump and strike at the ball again. Repeat 10 times.

Reverse, holding pan in left hand and make believe that you are a left-handed tennis player. Incidentally, since jumping up and down is a simple exercise which reduces the thighs and hips, an imaginary tennis game a day may serve a double purpose.

12. The breast stroke exercise is also recommended. Lie across a single bed so that arms and legs are not supported by the bed. Keeping head up with neck straight, stretch arms forward with palms facing each other. Now fling arms wide apart, turning palms in the opposite direction. Do this slowly and deliberately. Repeat 20 times.

Reducing
In an effort to rev up the protein content in my dinners - and eliminate those late night temptations! - I'm going to continue limiting the portion size of the prepared, pre-packaged foods and add a serving of a bean dish of one sort or another. My dinner plate (and lunch on the weekends) will now look something like this: 1/3 my once-typical serving of prepared foods + 1 serving of vegetables + 1 serving of beans. And since it's summer, I'm all about cold bean dishes. There's a Moroccan lentil salad I used to be nuts about and haven't made in forever. A restaurant here in the city makes a chickpea/tomato/parsley salad that I've been dying to replicate. I think I've found a recipe online that should be close. I'm going to give it a try tonight after my ironing is finished. The flavors should be perfectly meshed by suppertime tomorrow night. I ought to be able to whip up a big dish of one of these salads once a week and having a serving from it every day!

Grooming
Well, this reforming frump has finished the 1946 morning grooming routine and lived to tell the tale... so this week I'm tackling the evening grooming routine:

Out of your clothes and into the tub -

1. Coat yourself thoroughly with a susdy lather, and don't spare the elbow grease. Rinse well, doing face separately with water from the faucet.

It's a good thing I've been cleaning my bathroom on a weekly basis --- my tub is ready for a good, hot bath. Every night, no less! Can I survive the shift from Shower Land?

Jitterbug 1:1

I've tried to approach The Experiment as an attempt to understand the 1940s housewife as a whole woman. Not just the nitty gritty like housework, beauty rituals, vintage cookery, and not just the fun stuff like hairstyling, clothes, and movies --- but the rhythm of life and ways of relating to others which made up the context for all that. Things like etiquette, arts, and social activities - they can be so deeply engrained in the background of life that my '40s counterpart may not even have noticed them herself. Mind you, there's plenty of things about the 1940s cultural mindset that I'm perfectly happy to leave in the past, but there's much of value, I think, that could enrich our modern lives.

And if I'm ever going to truly understand the world to which my grandmothers belonged, I must hie myself to church.

Now if I can just get across the threshhold without being struck down by a thunderbolt, I wonder how my life might be shaped by going to Mass every week. (I'm being a little over-dramatic with the thunderbolts stuff. I was just in church last Sunday with my parents. Nothing happened.) I hope those of you who are deeply serious and devoted to your faith will not feel that I'm being flippant or proposing this in jest. I'm not. (Likewise, I hope those readers who might feel impelled to proselytize will step away from the comments button.) I've come to appreciate more with the years just how important and meaningful my parents' faith has been to them. My own relationship with God has been a long and stormy one, but there have been many occasions when going to church has been a comforting experience to me. I have theological differences with every religion out there, but despite all the churches I've "sampled" over the years, none has ever felt quite as much like home as the Catholic church in which I was raised.

My grandmothers had very different religious experiences. My paternal grandmother was raised in the Methodist church and married into the Catholic church. Her faith must have been deeply shaken when she was widowed at 36 (my age!) with four small children. But it also must have reminded her of her late husband and helped her in keeping his memory alive in her children's hearts. My maternal grandmother was raised in the Baptist church and married a Catholic man, much to the consternation of both their families. "Mixed marriage" was a big deal in rural America in the 1930s. (Her mother-in-law never accepted the marriage.) She and my grandfather set religion aside and raised their daughter outside either church.

This must have been fairly unusual in the small town in which they lived... Agnostics, atheists, working folks who were just too plain tired on their one day off in a six-day-working-week world - these good folks have existed in every time and place, but they were still a very small minority in 1940s America. If you were a member of the business class, you could lose clients and social standing if you weren't a member of some faith. For many people, the church to which they belonged was the center of their social activities. The vast majority of Americans were Christians and so on Sunday mornings the world came to a virtual pause for church. Stores and restaurants were closed. Social activities were taboo on Sunday mornings. Church services and religious music could be found across the radio dial. Things certainly picked up on Sunday afternoons, but even then most folks shared in experiences like hearty noon-day meals, visits with family, drives in the country, leisurely activities at the park or at home.

It's hard for me to imagine in 2009 how hushed and still Sunday mornings must once have seemed. Today, Sundays are like every other day of the week for almost all of the people I know. And yet, I think there's something of great value in taking regular time out every week to stop and reflect on your place in this world and feel gratitude for blessings. I may have mentioned this before, but I'd really like to bring back that kind of rest and ritual to my own life. So will I chafe at attending Mass so regularly in my Sunday best? Will I listen to the service with a new ear? Will I find myself joining the choir and crocheting doilies for the Christmas crafts fair with the other church ladies? Hmmm... I hope my red lipstick isn't too flashy for church!

Intervention

You know, I'm really proud of the progress I've made over the last few months in cleaning up my diet. Because of the amount of water I'm drinking, I've been able to go from drinking 10-11 Vitamin Waters per week to 3-4. I've even had a seven-day run without any missteps on the snacking front. When I start to feel those terrible late-night cravings these days, I try to head 'em off by eating a piece of fruit or a dish of berries. Even if I'm not particularly interested in fruit at the moment. It seems to do the trick --- gives my stomach something to work on and I forget about the food I was craving. I can see myself buying less and less of things like cheese and Quaker rice crisp snacks. And I've never once in all these weeks cheated on my workout.

So I was a little disappointed to see 184 on the scale during this morning's weigh-in. That's 1 lb. higher than last Sunday's 183. My total weight loss in the 12 weeks since April 9 = 10 lbs. No time to fret, though. Onward and upward! I've got lots more work left to do --- and the monumental challenge of a week's vacation in front of me. It's going to be a battle just to keep up my walking and exercises and to stick to my new and improved eating habits. Especially while I'm traveling. (I usually relieve airport stress by eating!) This morning's results on the scale call for an intervention, but I'm going to make it a minor one. Just a few small changes...

Fitness
Did I mention that I've gone back to walking at lunch on weekdays? I didn't mind going to the rec center, but - between the workout and recovering from a stomachache from trying to eat anything beforehand - I was pretty much losing Monday and Wednesday evenings entirely. For now, I think I'd rather lose half my lunch hour. I'm going to kick things up a notch for this next mission by adding an additional five minutes to both my weekend workouts:

Walk 30 minutes a day, four times during the week.
Walk 65 minutes a day, both days during the weekend.

Reducing
I think my dessert mission is on the right track, but my dear readers have reminded me of some modern twists that might be a slight improvement on the vintage suggestions. I'm going to substitute sorbet for the sherbet. And when I need a chocolate fix, I'll make that pudding up with skim milk instead of 1%.

1/2 cup fat-free rainbow sherbet = 120 calories
vs.
1/2 cup raspberry sorbet = 80 calories

1/2 cup chocolate pudding (1% organic milk) = 140 calories
vs.
1/2 cup chocolate pudding (organic skim milk) = 130 calories

Having some skim milk around the house means I'll be able to use it in all sorts of things - from my morning coffee to scrambled eggs and mashed potatoes! I'll be back later today with a housekeeping post...

Week Thirty-three: The Mission

Fitness
This week, I'm going to add another few "limbering and stretching exercises" to my day. These exercises were included in an article by beauty expert Antoinette Donnelly in an article titled "Daily Exercise Aids Feeling of Fatigue" (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, February 13, 1940). Donnelly recommended that her readers begin by doing each exercise 20 times. The first will be added to my morning routine:

7. Rise up on the balls of your feet, bring your arms up overhead, stretching, stretching, stretching everything from toes up, keeping chest high, abdomen in.

The next two will be the nucleus of an evening exercise routine:

8. Take your old friend the floor-touching one, but we prefer the floor-touching one in which you turn on the waist and attempt to touch the floor back of your heels.

9. Lie on your back on the floor with your arms stretched wide at shoulders. Keep head and shoulders on the floor while you raise your right foot over and cross the left, aiming to reach with a long stretch a meeting between your right-foot toes and your left-hand fingers. Then reverse, bringing your left foot and right hand into contact. At first the meeting will be very, very formal, the pair not getting together at all. But that’s all right. You’re doing something fine for yourself, your waistline, hipline, thighs, lower back and, indeed, the upper torso comes in for benefit, too.

Reducing
I'm transforming my desserts this week. I've long since made over my lunchtime desserts on weekdays. They're almost always some sort of decadent dish of fruit - berries, usually. Now it's time to do something about the desserts I eat after dinner and at lunchtime on the weekends. Ice cream was banished from my household several weeks ago, but it's been replaced with something possibly even worse --- peanut butter cups. I winced when I turned the container over the other day and faced the fact that three of these babies equal 180 calories. Yikes! I could easily eat six to nine of them in a sitting.

An article on reducing in the October 1945 issue of Good Housekeeping has three great dessert suggestions: baked custard, lemon sherbet, and pudding. Sadly, the recipe for each of these dishes includes saccharin as the sweetener. I'm not fond of artificial sweeteners. (Splenda, in particular, rips through me like a house afire.) What I figure, though, is that - even sweetened with sugar - if I stick to the recommended serving size, I'll be making a ginormous step in the right direction if I trade one of these dessert suggestions for my peanut butter cups:

1/2 cup fat-free rainbow sherbet = 120 calories
1/2 cup chocolate pudding made with 1% organic milk = 140 calories

Either one is a heck of a lot better than 360-540 calories' worth of peanut butter and chocolate! There are lots of flavors to keep me interested and they'll be sinchy to make.

Grooming
My face is powdered, my lips have been painted --- my hair may not be in vintage order, but it's been brushed 'til it shines and parted with precision. Here's the last step in the 1946 morning grooming routine for young women:

Take a last look, to be sure you are impeccable from top to toe.

I'm going to dust off that looking glass and take a good long look at myself in the morning before I leave the house. Wrinkles in my clothing? Lint? How does my hair look from the back? It's high time I take some responsibility for what I look like below the neck!

Intervention

Well, 187 sucks. Especially after having seen and tasted 186. And because I did make it through four out of seven nights last week without snacking! I can't say the other three nights really earned me any weight loss, though, so those are the breaks. My immediate goal is to make it down to 185 before heading home to Maine on vacation in two weeks. I haven't seen my parents or older sister since New Year's Day (when I weighed 195). These are some changes I'll be making, effective right away:

Fitness
As I continue adjusting to using the indoor walking track for my weekday workouts, I'm going to add a few more "limbering and stretching exercises" to my routine. Here are some morning exercises recommended specifically for "business women" by beauty expert Helen Follett (St. Petersburg [Florida] Times, June 11, 1940). "Busy women, you who work… we ask for five minutes of your time between the leap out of bed in the morning and the leap into the bathtub."

4. The first exercise is for the purpose of air washing the lungs and keeping the chest in form: Stand erect, feet fairly far apart; clasp your hands behind your neck. Force the head and elbows back, inhale through the nostrils, expel the air through the lips. Breathe in as the head goes back; exhale as you return to first position.

5. This for keeping waist, thighs and hips slender. Stand tall, hands on hips. Lift on your toes, let the knees spread, lower your body until you are in a squatting position, buttocks resting on the heels. Rise slowly.

6. Wig-wagging exercise for keeping bust and arms normal: Stand tall, lift the hands high and far back. Swing the hips from one side to the other, stretching the arms full length, keeping fingers and thumbs spread. Use your muscles. Be conscious of them. Mere movements don’t mean a thing. It must be a real workout.

Reducing
The real change this week is that I'm doing away with the 7:30 cut-off. From here on out, should I feel driven to snack late at night, I'm going to allow myself to eat fruits or vegetables. I'd rather be coping with the effects of having snacked on a banana late at night than having eaten half a bag of ranch-flavored rice cakes! I'm also going to continue reducing the portion of the packaged, pre-processed foods I typically eat for dinner, cutting down to half the serving I would've helped myself to just a couple weeks ago. Now my dinner plate should be half prepared foods/half veggies.

Week Thirty-one: The Mission

Fitness
As I continue my transition to using the indoor walking track for my weekday workouts, I'm going to begin adding some muscle toning exercises to my daily routine. In the 1940s, they were called "limbering and stretching exercises" and recommended by beauty experts as an ideal supplement to a brisk daily walk. I've found a ton of these in vintage newspapers and magazines, but here are a few from a 1940 edition of the St. Maurice Valley [Quebec] Chronicle for use before and immediately after getting out of bed in the morning. I'll start with these:

1. Before you get out of bed in the morning, do this routine five times: stretch body out with arms out at sides. Lift both legs simultaneously as high as you can, even, if you can, over your head; then down again, slowly.

2. Here is a good stretching exercise that helps to develop the bust and improves the posture and figure generally: Stand with feet slightly apart, arms down at sides. Stretch arms in front up and over the head slowly as far as you can, without straining, then slowly return to original position. Repeat this several times.

3. To improve hips and waist and improve general line of figure: (A) Stand with feet slightly apart, abdomen in, seat well down, fingers interlaced and raised high over head, arms making a frame for the face. Keep face framed by arms throughout exercise, and body absolutely steady from waist down. (B) Swing forward till body and arms are horizontal. Swing body round to right side and travel upwards till arms are over head once more. (C) Turn to the left and swing the body round and down till body and arms are once again horizontal, as in B.

Reducing
In the spirit of reducing my calorie intake, I'm going to begin limiting the portion size of the prepared, pre-packaged foods I typically eat at dinner and for lunch on the weekends. One of these kinds of foods would usually make up my entire meal. Now, I know perfectly well that I can't go from 0 to 60 overnight, so I'm going to do this in steps. This week, I'll try to cut the portion size by a third --- where I would normally eat three pieces of frozen tomato/pesto/mozzarella pizza, I'm going to eat two. If I would normally have 3/4 of a bag of frozen mushroom fettucine, I'll make it 1/2 a bag. What I'm going to do at the same time - and this is equally important - is to fill up the rest of the plate with veggies. They don't have to be anything fancy or anything that requires much time or energy in the kitchen. Frozen or canned vegetables will do just fine for now. Something to try and trick my body into feeling just as full as it would have with that larger portion of the pre-packaged foods. If I can make a go of this, I'll cut the portion size of the pre-packaged foods by another third next week.

Grooming
My face has been powdered, my lips are painted... it's time to attend to my hair! Here's the next step in the 1946 morning grooming routine for young women:

Brush all the nighttime tangles from hair, and comb carefully into place, pinning securely.

In honor of the occasion, I betook myself to the salon this weekend. A rare event indeed for this reforming frump! I'm launching the mission with a new haircut and some freshly manicured eyebrows.

Intervention

*sigh*

I might as well have done nothing for the last two weeks. No exercise, no deprivation. I weighed in at 187 this morning, which means that I've lost 0 lbs. in the last two weeks. Heck, I was losing 0 lbs. per week while I was living a completely sedentary lifestyle and eating whatever I liked! Why not just do that again? It was a lot easier...

This is really starting to piss me off. Of course, I've had a bad attitude about everything for the last few days, including the housework. I didn't get finished cleaning the bathroom 'til late last night and then I had to get up at the crack of dawn this morning to start all over again with the wash. What am I doing it all for if there's no time when it's finished just to relax and enjoy my clean house?

Maybe it's just the heat that's really getting to me. In any event, it's time to stage another mid-mission intervention. Two weeks of hard work for 0 lbs. just doesn't feel like a good trade for me.

Fitness
Walk 60 minutes a day, four days a week. I'm going to make the transition to using the indoor track this week. One more lunchtime workout today to make up for last Friday (long story) and then I'll plan on using the indoor track Monday and Wednesday evenings and Saturdays and Sundays.

Diet
I think it's clear I'm going to have to dramatically reduce my caloric intake if I'm going to begin losing any real weight. All the modern authorities tell us that healthy snacks and small meals spread throughout the day is the best way for people to eat, but I'm going to trust my instincts here: When I lost 40 lbs. in my early twenties, I didn't do it by continuously eating. Instead, I chose not to snack at all between meals. As much as I've enjoyed my little power snacks for the last week, I think they leave me more susceptible to late night temptation. It's as if they're keeping me from getting used to the feeling of hunger - and waiting it out. I think I'll see if I can't find some middle ground here. I'm going to allow myself to snack as often as I like between breakfast and 7:30 p.m. as long as I'm snacking only on fruits or vegetables.

Intervention

I shouldn't have done it. I shouldn't have stepped on the scale yesterday morning. I knew I was retaining water - as I always do when Aunt Flo's visit is pending. I knew it'd probably be useless to weigh in for the next three or four days... But I was greedy for another drop on the scale after last week's victory. So I did it. And, wouldn't you know it, I'm up two pounds to 189.

All day long, I tried to talk myself off the ledge, so to speak. "Stay calm. Keep up the work you've been doing. Weigh in again in a few days and you'll probably be right back down to 187. If that!" Well, that worked for awhile. By bedtime, the cramps were taking hold of whatever resistance I had left and I cheated. I wasn't even that hungry. I just started craving a pickle, then began building the perfect Triscuit snack in my mind. A Rosemary and Olive Oil Triscuit with cream cheese and a slice of a kosher dill on top. So I made myself a plate of them (they were good) --- followed shortly by a handful or so of Ranch-flavored Quakes Rice Snacks. I had a fitful night's sleep and, when the Wash Day alarm went off at 4:45, I shut it down. This is the first Monday since January that I haven't done my laundry at its appointed time!

Clearly, this snowball of disappointment over yesterday's fruitless weigh-in is rolling downhill - and quickly gathering speed. I refuse to let it roll another inch, so I'm staging a mid-mission intervention. Effectively immediately!

Fitness
Walk 30 minutes a day, four times during the week. Walk 55 minutes a day, both days during the weekend.

Reducing
All snacks (consumed prior to 7:30, of course!) must consist of the following: fresh fruits or vegetables plus either one serving of almonds, one serving low-fat cottage cheese, or one serving hummus. (Note to self: Must investigate these serving sizes. And other nuts would probably be okay. I'll check this out.)

Week Twenty-eight: The Mission

It's time to face the music. Or, rather, the bathroom.

There are two areas in my home that I absolutely dread(ed) cleaning: the kitchen and the bathroom. I have to add that little (ed) in there because my kitchen and I are slowly mending fences. The bathroom and I are still on the outs. In fact, I can't honestly remember when I did anything more in there than to clean the toilet. So, while my scale appears to be headed in the right direction again, I'm going to squeeze in a new housekeeping mission.

The Manual lays out both a set of daily chores and a set of weekly chores for the bathroom. Knowing the trouble I had with the kitchen, I'm going to approach this new room the same way. I'll plan on covering all of the daily chores once a week (probably on Saturdays --- moving the kitchen back to Friday nights now that it's a bit more manageable) and splitting the list of weekly bathroom chores between alternating weeks.

Weekly Chores (These were recommended for housewives on a daily basis in 1945!)

1. Open windows top and bottom for free circulation of air.

2. Pick up and replace small articles belonging in bathroom.

3. Gather up to take out soiled linen (to hamper, if dry), and articles belonging in other rooms. Collect trash in waste basket. Roll up bath mat or rug.

4. Wipe mirror.

5. Wipe tile behind washbowl and tub.

6. Clean bathtub and metal fixtures (be sure to wipe shower fixtures and clean soap holder).

7. Clean toilet bowl with brush. Wipe outside of bowl and closet with cloth used for that purpose only.

8. Clean washbowl (be sure to wipe base as well as top; also clean soap holder).

9. Straighten towels and wash cloths. Put out clean linen when needed (fresh linen for all on Wednesdays and Saturdays).

10. Sweep floor. Gather up dust in pan. Floor should be washed.

11. Replace bath mat or rug. Close windows in cold or damp weather.

Week A

1. Rug should be cleaned and bathmat changed.

2. Duck shower curtain should be hung out in the sun if weather permits. (Clean curtain should be put up when needed.)

3. Walls should be wiped down with clean cloth or wall brush, washed when necessary.

4. Light fixtures, bulbs and globes should be dusted every week, washed when necessary.

5. Medicine cabinet should be dusted and straightened, washed when necessary.

Week B

1. Mirror should be dusted, washed when necessary.

2. Windows should be dusted inside, washed on both sides when necessary.

3. Curtains should be laundered when necessary.

4. Use special cleanser on toilet bowl.

5. Clothes hamper should be emptied, dried and aired each week, scrubbed and sunned occasionally when weather permits.

Cutting the Cord

I'm venturing into the world of 1940s culture this week with a special seven-week mission. For quite some time, I've been thinking about diving into a vintage cultural mission here and there, but - between mastering the weekly kitchen cleaning and making a success of this diet and exercise thing - well, let's just say I haven't been lacking for mission material!

It's time to cut the cord to television. TV plays an outsized, overblown role in my life. And maybe this has a lot to do with living alone... In any event, I've gotten used to turning on the television when I get home from work - and it stays on until bedtime. It's comforting background noise. Especially during the long, long summers here when all my windows are closed tight for the air conditioning and I can't hear a peep from the outer world. Sometimes I see something really exciting that I hadn't planned on watching. But most of the time, I just end up listening to or watching a bunch of tired schlock I didn't get anything out of and don't remember 15 minutes later. Not a wise use of electricity, nor of my time.

What would my world be like if I didn't have that shiny little box to rely on for half-minded entertainment? Would I pick up new hobbies? Would I be a little less interested in celebrities? Would I feel deprived of anything? Would it force me to find some live entertainment instead?

Mind you, I don't think television is the devil incarnate or anything. I just want to put TV back into its proper place. So it's something I turn on specifically to watch a single program - and then turn off when that program is over... The timing isn't any accident. I had to wait until the finale of American Idol aired last night! (Had to see me Krissy boy take that title home like he deserved!!!) My other favorite reality show is Big Brother. (Yes, I'm hanging my head in embarrassment at this one.) Anyway, Big Brother doesn't get underway until July. So there's going to be a seven-week moratorium on TV here at the Jitterbug household. In fact, I think I probably ought to just unplug the thing so I don't turn it on absentmindedly! I'm curious to see what a post-television world holds for me...

Week Twenty-seven: The Mission

It's not entirely a mystery why I lost two lbs. a couple of weeks ago and promptly gained it back. It did take me a few days to sort out what must've happened, but I think I've narrowed things down. The week before last, my freezer was stocked with Drumsticks. You know the kind I'm talking about - those tasty, nutty morsels of chocolatey-caramelly goodness. The week before that, nary a Drumstick in sight. I was trying to be "good" that particular week by buying Fudgsicles instead. The one-stick kind. Could this minor change in frozen dairy treats be the reason my workouts actually had a chance at doing their job? I think so. I can easily eat two or three Drumsticks in a sitting, whereas the Fudgsicles weren't as satisfying so the box was around for awhile.

This is one of the not-so-pretty realities of life 50 lbs. past a healthy body weight. When no holds are barred when it comes to cravings. I've had a Drumstick habit off and on for about two years. Well, no more! NO MORE!!! I declare my independence from ice cream this very day! The ice cream is gone, the Drumsticks are gone, the Fudgsicles are gone, the Blue Bell Chocolate Cherry Bars are gone... This is my July 4, 1776!

Fitness
Walk 30 minutes a day, four times during the week.
Walk 50 minutes a day, both days during the weekend.

Reducing
Ice cream: I love you, but you done me wrong. Ice cream and frozen dairy treats of any kind are herewith banished from the Jitterbug household.

Grooming
Here's the next step in the 1946 morning grooming routine. After drinking a glass of water, brushing your teeth, washing your face, and powdering your nose, you're to dress up your lips with a coat of lipstick.

Put on some bright, pretty lipstick, making the edges neat and blotting away the excess.

The ice cream thing is going to be excruciating, but I'm a bit nervous about the lipstick, too. Can I pull it off without looking like a clown? We'll see...