Gorham, Melinda E.

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Lights and Shadows 
Volume 23 Lights and Shadows Volume 23 Article 9 
1979 
How to Lose Eighty-Four Pounds 
Melinda E. Gorham 
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Recommended Citation 
Gorham, M. E. (1979). How to Lose Eighty-Four Pounds. Lights and Shadows, 23 (1). Retrieved from 
https://ir.una.edu/lightsandshadows/vol23/iss1/9 
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would inevitably shrink to a yet smaller size. My alarmed family hauled me to our stunned 
doctor. Remembering my chubby stature, he ordered me to eat more. 
I obediently followed his instructions by adding another broccoli spear or tablespoon of 
English peas to dinner, which consisted of only lean meat and vegetables. I continued to 
measure bird-sized scoops of cottage cheese and experience masochistic highs when 
people told me, "You are so thin; you look perfectly awful!" 
I maintained enough sanity to realize my weight reduction would have to end some­
where. I decided that weighing ninety-nine pounds would be utter ecstasy. My weight had 
not been measured in two-digit numbers since third grade, and I could imagine nothing 
more glorious. I popped another can of Tab and posted on the refrigerator door a repug­
nant picture of five pounds of fat which I had salvaged from a physical fitness advertisement. 
After another month of rigid dieting, I awoke one Monday morning and stumbled to the 
bathroom for my weekly weigh-in. As I stepped gingerly on the faithful scales, I held my 
breath. I clenched my bony fists, contracted my twitching muscles, and painfully opened my 
hollow eyes. The quivering needle read ninety-eight pounds. I had faced the enemy head-on 
and I had won. 
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How to Lose Eighty-Four Pounds

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How to Lose Eighty-Four Pounds

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