Not skinniness! It’s no light matter, Hortense, this question of figures. You can figure on that. Even the new styles won’t hide the awful fact that you bulge where you shouldn’t, OR that you own no curves where you should.

Yes, it’s a tough racket melting the too, too solid flesh. Figure how much you have crept up on the scale, let your doctor figure how fast you dare go down without landing—flop—farther than you ever intended. This little book? It’s encouragement, blandishment, a little judicious enragement—but it isn’t medicament.

How about reducing tricks? Well, Dumpling, let’s take a look. Glands? A slick trick for a few, probably not you. Bath salts? They dissolve the budget, nothing more. Laxatives? Money in the promoter’s pocket. Thyroid and other drugs? No, no, NO!

Suppose you want to go up the scale? Put some curves in place of angles? Improve the pep and disposition? Reverse what the fat gal does. Where she envies, you eat. Where she hustles, you rest. When she refuses a snack, you snatch it.

Either way you go on the scale—up or down—it comes back largely to how much you eat, when, and most important, what. Either way you go, don’t neglect—milk, cheese, eggs, meat, and fish—fruits, vegetables, and whole-grain cereals. Emphasize salt and water to gain, cut down on both to lose.

Cheerio, whichever way you’re bound. The diet does it. You can figure on that, lady!