Nine Day Wonder Diet
About the 9 Day Wonder Diet
The 9 day wonder diet is a fairly simple diet, that isn’t likely to leave you yearning for more. In fact, as far as diets go, it’s a fairly sensible eating plan, though breakfast is a bit wanting. There are a few variations here, so read on to learn more about the nine day wonder diet.
Origins of the 9 Day Wonder Diet
The origins of the 9 day wonder diet are a bit confusing. Unlike several other diets which have no attributable author, the 9 day wonder diet has two, or possibly more. In July of 1953, an article about the Nine Day Wonder Diet was published in the Milwaukee Sentinel. This was after it was reprinted in the July issue of Harper’s Bazaar, which indicates that the meal plan may be considerably older even than 1953.
In addition to the Harper’s Bazaar reprint, and the Milwaukee Sentinel article, L.M. Elting, and Seymour Isenberg published the Nine Day Wonder Diet in book form in March of 1979.This book has long been out of print, but can still be purchased used online. (Click here to buy it.)
9 Day Wonder Diet Menu
As I don’t have access to the Nine Day Wonder Diet book, I can’t say what the menu looks like in there, but I do have access to the 1953 Milwaukee Sentinel article. The article contains only one sample day’s meals, but they seem quite tasty to me!
Breakfast: Black coffee and a grapefruit. Lunch: Chicken sandwich on rye toast (no butter), raw tomatoes. Dinner: Stalk of celery, a good sized helping of steak, tomato and endive salad (lemon juice or low calorie dressing) and half a grapefruit.
9 Day Wonder Diet Protocol
According to the article, the daily calorie goal is between 1100 and 2100, and they recommend drinking 10 glasses of water a day. Also, they suggest that this diet will help you to lose 1 lb a day, totaling 9 lbs by the end of the 9 day diet.
As the basic guidelines for the meal plans are that you focus your meal planning on meats, non-starchy vegetables, and non starchy fruits, this diet seems to be the precursor to the Atkins diet, though perhaps a bit healthier, as it does not encourage you to engorge on as much fatty meat as possible, but simply to eat whatever amount is filling, and also to fill up on healthy fruits and vegetables. This may have been easier to accomplish in the 50′s, however, when starchy, sugary processed foods weren’t the norm.
After the 9 days are over, it’s recommended that you eat “naturally and intelligently”. Chicory, water cress, and radishes are recommended to spice up your salads, adding herbs to dishes, and using skim milk to drink and cook with are all encouraged.
9 Day Wonder Diet Reviews
While I can’t speak for the diet that is suggested in the book, the meal planning that is suggested by the Milwaukee Sentinel article sounds quite reasonable to me. It limits your daily intake, but not by too much. It allows a lot of leeway in choosing your foods and the quantities that you choose to eat.
As with any diet, it’s recommended that you talk to your doctor or nutritionist before making a major change. Obtaining a copy of the book is the best way to get the full menu and instructions on how to follow the diet.
If you have any questions, or have tried the 9 Day Wonder Diet, we encourage you to join in the conversation in our forums.
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