And perhaps she’ll take a good long look at herself, noting certain
hollows in the cheek, certain knobs in the elbows, a certain chronic
weariness, (not to mention crossness) and she’ll think: “Maybe I
_should_ try to build up a little.” When that time comes, we do hope
that Mrs. Plenteous lends her this booklet.
FIGURE IT OUT
Many over or underweight people love to blame their figures on their
ancestors. (If they’re perfect 36’s, of course, they take all the credit
themselves.) “My dear grandmother weighed 200 pounds, so there’s not a
thing I can do about it,” beams Mrs. Plenteous, splashing the third lump
of sugar in her coffee. “_My_ family tree was a beanpole,” sighs Miss
Gaunt. “No thanks—no sugar or cream.”
The truth is that, according to anthropologists, there are in general
three types of body build: the stout, the medium, and the lean. You may
possibly have inherited your grandmother’s type of figure, just as you
may also have inherited her house. But there’s no law against remodeling
the house—or the figure. Surely the smart thing is to make the house the
best possible house of its type, one which you’ll enjoy living in; and
the figure the best possible figure of _its_ type—one you’ll enjoy
living _with_.
[Illustration: uncaptioned]
IT SHOULD BE DONE
Perhaps we’ve dwelt overmuch on the good looks angle. But surely the
right angle on good looks is good health. To be under par is to be
caught short on the reserves which, if you have them, do so much to
cushion the bumps of hectic modern living, and ward off the illnesses
that pounce so gleefully on the tired, the rundown, the undernourished
human frame.
IT CAN BE DONE
A wise nutritionist has said, “There are two ways of building up, just
as there are two ways of getting rich. One is to cut down on your
expenses, the other is to increase your income.”
The “expenses” are energy, and you can decrease them by taking more
rest, less violent exercise, more sleep, and by keeping calm. The
“income” is food. And the thing to do with it is to eat _more_ of it—and
_more choosily_ of it! For though music may be the food of love, the
food of growth is groceries!
Too often have we heard languid creatures wail, “But I’m not hungry—I
can’t swallow a _thing_!” To them from us goes a simple but hearty
“Nonsense!”
[Illustration: uncaptioned]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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