“The best exercise to lose weight is to shake your head back and forth no (more food)”
People often ask about “the best exercise to lose weight.” There are at least two ways, and they both involve saying “no” to food.
“‘The best exercise I know of,’ Mary said, ‘is to put your hands firmly on the table and push yourself away from your plate’” was printed in The Salt Lake Tribune (Salt Lake City, UT) on September 28, 1948. “Which brings to mind the advice often given of the best exercise to lose weight. It is performed at the dinner table—place the palms of the hands firmly against the edge of the table, push, arise from the chair, and walk away” was printed in the Intelligencer Journal (Lancaster, PA) on August 14, 1958. “Keep in mind the old adage that the best exercise to lose weight is to push yourself away from the table” was printed in the Saskatoon (Saskatchewan) Sun on January 21, 1998.
“The best exercise for reducing is a rapid movement of the head from right to left when the mashed potatoes and gravy are passed” was printed in The Arizona Republic (Phoenix, AZ) on January 24, 1953. “The Best Exercise to Lose Weight? I found out that the one exercise that will help you lose weight is to shake the head back and forth from left to right so that you say ‘no’ anytime you feel like having a second helping or eating between meals” was printed in the book For Men Only, with a 30-day Guide to Looking Better and Feeling Younger (1973) by Jack La Lanne with Jim Allen. “The best exercise to lose weight is to shake your head back and forth no” was printed in the column “Strictly for Laughs” by Joey Adams in the New York (NY) Post on May 6, 1999.
Both methods were listed together by 1954. “The best exercise known for slimming the waistline is pushing back from the table when one still feels slightly hungry, Another exercise that proves successful is to shake one’s head from left to right quite vigorously when offered second helpings” was printed in the Neosho (MO) Daily News on May 14, 1954.
Newspapers.com
28 September 1948, The Salt Lake Tribune (Salt Lake City, UT), “Mary and Me,” pg. 9, col. 3 ad:
Mary and Bill were teasing him about his “bay window” last night when we had dinner at their place. “The best exercise I know of,” Mary said, “is to put your hands firmly on the table and push yourself away from your plate.”
(Morning Milk ad.—ed.)
Newspapers.com
7 April 1950, Pensacola (FL) Journal, pg. 12, col. 5:
Must Leave Table
To Lose Weight
Doctor Declares
MIAMI BEACH, April 6.—(AP)—The best treatment for overweight is less eating, Dr. Henry H. Turner, clinical professor of medicine at the University of Oklahoma, said today.
(...)
“The best exercise for reducing,” Dr. Turner said, “is to push yourself away from the dinner table when you feel you are only half way through the meal.”
Newspapers.com
9 May 1951, The Times Recorder (Zanesville, OH), “And Still His Tummy Grew” by Elmer Wheeler, pg. 4, col. 4:
Best exercise in the world, pushing yourself up from the table.
Newspapers.com
24 January 1953, The Arizona Republic (Phoenix, AZ), pg. 11, col. 6:
Movement Of The Head Can Cut Weight
CHICAGO (AP)—“The best exercise for reducing is a rapid movement of the head from right to left when the mashed potatoes and gravy are passed.”
(Dr. Frank R. Krusen, Rochester, MN.—ed.)
Newspapers.com
12 December 1953, Mason City (IA) Globe-Gazette, “Cub Quips” by Sandra Wood, pg. 8, col. 2:
LAUGHTER from H. H. Boyce’s fifth period physics class resulted from a discussion on how to lose weight. Boyce jokingly told the class, “The best exercise for losing weight is shaking your head, ‘No,’ when the potatoes are passed around the table a second time.
Newspapers.com
14 May 1954, Neosho (MO) Daily News, “What Shall We Call It?” by Mildred Timken, pg. 7, col. 3:
SLIMMING THE WAISTLINE—The best exercise known for slimming the waistline is pushing back from the table when one still feels slightly hungry, Another exercise that proves successful is to shake one’s head from left to right quite vigorously when offered second helpings.
Newspapers.com
14 August 1958, Intelligencer Journal (Lancaster, PA), “Exercise To Lose Weight” (editorial), pg. 14, col. 1:
Which brings to mind the advice often given of the best exercise to lose weight. It is performed at the dinner table—place the palms of the hands firmly against the edge of the table, push, arise from the chair, and walk away.
Google Books
For Men Only, with a 30-day Guide to Looking Better and Feeling Younger
By Jack La Lanne with Jim Allen
Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall
1973
Pg. 93:
The Best Exercise to Lose Weight?
I found out that the one exercise that will help you lose weight is to shake the head back and forth from left to right so that you say “no” anytime you feel like having a second helping or eating between meals.
Newspapers.com
21 January 1998, Saskatoon (Saskatchewan) Sun, “Senior Adventure” by Tom Blakely, pg. 13, col. 5:
Keep in mind the old adage that the best exercise to lose weight is to push yourself away from the table.
6 May 1999, New York (NY) Post, “Strictly for Laughs” by Joey Adams, pg. 96:
The best exercise to lose weight is to shake your head back and forth no.
Twitter
Bashierah Arnold
@bash7012
My grandfather used to say, “the best exercise to lose weight is to push yourself away from the table.” Lol, don’t go starve urself though.
2:19 PM · May 14, 2011·Twitter for BlackBerry®
Twitter
Ryan Oberholzer
@ryan_za
OH: “best exercise to lose weight is to shake your head left to right when someone asks you if u want any food” luulz
6:51 AM · Nov 2, 2011·Twitter for iPhone
Twitter
Llamsa Hussain
@llamsah
Best exercise to lose weight fastest: shake ur head from side to side. Best time to do this: whenever ur offered food! No brekky 4 me pls!
7:39 PM · Mar 25, 2012·Twitter for iPhone
Twitter
Laddie Schnaiberg
@LaddieSchnaiber
Replying to @cptime
@cptime The best exercise to lose weight is to push yourself away from the table.
1:54 AM · Dec 27, 2013 from Middlesex, Ontario·Twitter Web Client
Diets Are Fattening
February 18, 2014
Best Exercise To Lose Weight? Push Away From The Table When Hunger Is Gone
Twitter
andrew perendes
@Giddy1113
I went to the Doctors and asked ?’’ whats the best exercise to lose weight’’ ,He said ‘‘just shake your head ‘’!! .I said ,’‘How often’‘.He replied,’‘Whenever someone offers you food you fat cunt !’‘
5:46 AM · Oct 4, 2019·Twitter Web App
Twitter
Jokerswild
@JokersWildUK
I went to the doctors and asked him what was the best exercise to lose weight, he told me just to shake my head, I asked him, “How often?”
He said, “Whenever someone offers you some food you fat sod.”
4:47 AM · Oct 9, 2019·Twitter for Android
Twitter
Jokes UK
@jokesuk
I went to the doctors and asked what was the best exercise to lose weight.
The doctor said, “Just shake your head.”
I asked him, “How often?”
He said, “Whenever someone offers you some food you fat cunt!”
3:35 PM · Oct 10, 2019·Twitter for iPhone
Twitter
David Bradford
@DeeBeeCW
“The best exercise to lose weight? A two-handed push away from the table” - Eddy Merckx
More top-notch retro nutrition tips (courtesy of @ChrisSidwells) coming up in 23rd April issue of
@cyclingweekly
10:00 AM · Apr 14, 2020·TweetDeck
Twitter
Stuart Tevendale
@tevendale
Replying to @willnewton
Wasn’t it Eddy Merckx who said something like the best exercise to lose weight was a two-hand push - away from the dining table.
2:15 PM · Apr 30, 2020·Twitter Web App
Twitter
Ladislav Stejskal
@ladislavtweet
“The best exercise to lose weight was a two-handed push away from the table.”
(Italian’s cyclist advice on how to lose weight) Winking face
‘I liked to smoke a cigarette during the Tour de France, it calmed my nerves’: Cycling nutrition…
Early bike racers shunned bread and water in favour of steak and booze. Chris Sidwells pulls up a seat at the retro banquet
cyclingweekly.com
4:24 PM · May 18, 2020·Twitter for Android
Reddit—Jokes
Posted by u/Buddy2269 October 2, 2020
Went to the doctors and asked, “What’s the best exercise to lose weight?”
He said, “just shake your head”
I said, “How often?”
He replied, “whenever someone offers you food you fat cunt!”