240 pounds lost 90 pounds
since the war began; how a corpulent professor at Breslau lost greatly
in weight, but during the second summer of the war regained his former
corpulence during a sojourn in the Bavarian Tyrol, a joy not now
tolerated; and how an American woman lost 40 pounds in weight last
winter in Dresden. There is every reason why a man who is overweight at
the age of fifty should reduce his weight until he reaches the weight he
was when he was thirty-five. According to Dr. Fisk he is a better
insurance risk if after thirty-five he is under the weight which is the
average for those of his years. Reduction in weight reduces the basal
requirement for food, and reduces the amount of fuel needed for moving
the body in walking. The most extreme illustration of the effect of
emaciation upon the food requirement is afforded by a woman who after
losing nearly half of her body weight was found to need only 40 per
cent. of the food-fuel formerly required. This represented a state not
far from the border line of death from starvation, but it indicates how
a community may long support itself on restricted rations. It must be
strictly borne in mind, however, that if any external muscular work is
to be accomplished it can only be effected at the expense of a given
added quantity of food-fuel, whether the person be fat or thin.

It is not at all difficult to reduce the body weight. Suppose a
clergyman or a physician requires 2500 calories daily in the
accomplishment of his work and takes 2580 calories per day instead. The
additional 80 calories is the equivalent of a butter ball weighing a
third of an ounce, or an ounce of bread or half a glass of milk. It
would seem to be the height of absurdity to object to such a trifle. But
if this excess in food intake be continued for a year, the person will
gain nine pounds and at the end of ten years ninety pounds. Such a
person would find that he required a constantly increasing amount of
food in order to transport his constantly increasing weight. In
instances of this sort a motto may be applied which I heard the last
time I was in Washington: "Do not stuff your husband, husband your
stuff."

Now it is evident that, if instead of taking more than the required
amount of food a little less be taken than is needed, the balance of
food-fuel must be obtained from the reserves of the body's own supply of
fat. By cutting down the quantity of fat taken, or by eliminating a
glass of bee