Whittling those waistlines

I just love watching old movies and TV programs.  One of my all time favorites is Leave it to Beaver.  I try to share this love with my boys, but they don’t quite see the humor.  If you watch these older shows from the 1950’s, have you ever noticed how tiny the waists are on these women?  Of course, they are always immaculately dressed in heels and pearls to do their housework, too, which always gets me.  But I digress.  These women were not getting up for an early morning run before frying the bacon for their family breakfast.  They were not scheduleing a pilates or yoga class.  They didn’t have to!  Their day was filled with on-your-feet, physical activity in the name of housework.  I bring this up because I was recently reading about a new British study that revealed that in the 1950’s a woman’s average waist size was 28 inches.  Today that average waist size is 36 inches.  The study concludes that a large part of that increase is due to the amount of work perfomed in the 1950’s and the lack of such work today.  Back then there was no Roomba vacuuming the living room.  There was only the 25 pound push vacuum cleaner.  The study pointed out the difference in the amount of energy it took to prepare a meal – there were microwaves, drive thrus, and going out to eat was not a weekly affair.  There were no dishwashers afterwards for clean up.  It is definitely called housework for a reason.  These women were moving and working all throughout the day.

Another point is that most families relied on one car that the husband used for work.  Therefore, dear ol’ Mom relied on her own two feet to get herself to the bus stop or to the store for the shopping.  There was no computer to occupy hours of sitting time and no online shopping or email.

The study found that the normal, everyday chores burned at least 1000 calories a day.  Today, the energy expenditure has seriously declined and we are obviously eating more.  Back then the average caloric intake was around 1818 and today is 2,178.  Today the food may not be prepared with whole mile and high calorie butter, but there is still  more of it!

What’s the point in bringing all this up?  I’m not quite sure.  I guess just to point out the difference in the times, how it affects our health, how being active (no matter the type of activity) really counts AND to say that new is not always better.  

In looking into the 1950’s I ran across the following article.  On this point, I will definitely say that new IS better: 

The Good Wife’s Guide.

Extract from Housekeeping Monthly, 1955.

• Have dinner ready. Plan ahead, even the night before to have a delicious meal ready, on time for his return. This is a way of letting him know that you have been thinking about him and are concerned about his needs. Most men are hungry when they come home and the prospect of a good meal (especially his favourite dish) is part of the warm welcome needed.
• Prepare yourself. Take 15 minutes to rest so you’ll be refreshed when he arrives. Touch up your make-up, put a ribbon in your hair and be fresh-looking. He has just been with a lot of work-weary people.
• Listen to him. You may have a dozen important things to tell him, but the moment of his arrival is not the time. Let him talk first – remember his topics of conversation are more important that yours.
• Make the evening his. Never complain if he comes home late or goes out to dinner, or other places of entertainment without you.  Instead, try to understand his world of strain and pressure and his very real need to be at home and relax.
  Don’t complain if he’s late home for dinner or even if he stays out all night. count this as minor compared to what he might have gone through that day.
• Arrange his pillow and offer to take off his shoes. Speak in a low, soothing and pleasant voice.
• Don’t ask him questions about his actions or question his judgment or integrity. Remember he is the master of the house and as such will always excercise his will with fairness and truthfulness. You have no right to question him.
• A good wife always knows her place.