Peters, Lulu Hunt

Lulu Hunt Peters (1873–1930) was America’s first weight loss guru. Born in Milford, Maine, in 1873, as a child she was an overweight outsider; while her late-Victorian era classmates were learning to embroider and cook, she was catching frogs to “find out what makes ‘em move.” She earned a medical degree from the University of California in 1909, marrying Louis H. Peters shortly after graduation. At 5 ’7  ” and 165 pounds, she was a stout bride, and in the next few years her weight would increase to the point of obesity. Miserable, she researched the best way to reduce.