To prove that you can diet and like it, here is a sample of a delicious—but discreet—menu. Be guided in quantities by _your_ calorie needs. See page 20. (For the not-very-active, reducing diets average 1,400 to 1,500 calories a day.) Breakfast Sliced Orange Poached Egg Buttered Toast Milk Coffee or Tea Luncheon Open-face Grilled Cheese Sandwich Tomato Cabbage Slaw Fruit Cup Milk Dinner Broiled Fish or Steak Green Beans Combination Salad, Lemon Juice Bread and Butter Ice Cream Average servings. See pages 30 to 35. Calories for the day—1,450 to 1,500. CONCERNING CALORIES You probably know about calories. There’s been a lot of talk about them. In case, however, you still confuse them with vitamins, we point out that a calorie is simply a rather nice word for a measurement of energy. If you weigh too much, you aren’t using up calories as fast as you are taking them in. In case you have vowed to carry this booklet around with you until you have lost such and such a number of pounds—and it might be a good idea—we have gone to considerable pains to make lists of foods with the number of calories in each. We have not counted these calories personally, but somebody with better eyes than ours has, and you may rely on his count. (See pages 30 to 35.) WORDS TO LADIES OF WILL POWER If you need to reduce, take your excess weight off gradually (no more than 1 to 2 pounds weekly) by cutting your calories every day. Try eating 500 to 1,000 calories less daily until you discover what it takes to lose the desired amount. Pick your calories to reduce your weight, not your disposition. When you reach the weight at which you _feel_ best and _look_ best, don’t get wobbly in will power or careless in eating. This may take some figuring, but remember, this booklet is all about figures anyhow. THANK YOU for going all this way with us. We hope that you’ll find it was well worth the time. If we ever meet you face to face we’ll probably exclaim, “Darling, how WELL you look! Haven’t you lost some weight?” UP THE SCALE [Illustration: uncaptioned] The next few pages are written on an ascending scale for those who want to go up, up, UP to Par: Par in vitality Par in energy Par in good looks We spoke pretty sternly to a certain Mrs. Plenteous. Now let us give thought to Mrs. Plenteous’ sister-under-the-skin-and-bones, Miss Gaunt. For months Miss Gaunt’s overstuffed friends may have fawned on her figure: “You’re so _slender_, my dear!” Now “slender” is indeed a flattering word. But any good dictionary will list some sinister synonyms: spare, lank, skinny, scrawny, scraggly, and spindly, to name a few. Some day the remark will be: “You’re so skin—er—slender, my dear!”—and Miss Gaunt will feel flattened—not flattered.