About The Nine Day Wonder Diet

The 9 day wonder diet is an exceptionally simple diet. In many ways, it’s much like the eating habits that we’re all so familiar with from 1950′s sit-coms, minus the cake and baked potato. The idea behind the nine day wonder diet is that you eat sensibly, with a focus on meat, vegetables, and fruit. The key to the diet is the amounts that you eat, totaling between 1100 calories a day and 2100 calories a day. It is drastically different from other short term diets such as the 3 day diet because it does not encourage you to starve or dehydrate yourself for quick weight loss, and with a few minor changes can make for a fairly healthy lifestyle meal plan.

Origins Of The Nine Day Wonder Diets

There are at least two origins of the nine day wonder diet. The first widely known occurrence of this diet was printed in Harper’s Bazaar magazine, and was then reprinted in its July, 1953 issue. Following this was an article in the Milwaukee Sentinel about the diet in July, 1953.

The second known origin of the nine day diet is by a book of the same name, published in 1979 by L.M. Elting and Seymour Isenberg. The Nine Day Wonder Diet has been out of print for some time, but used copies can still be found here.

Nine Day Wonder Diet Menu

With the book out of print, and lacking access to the original nine day wonder diet article in Harper’s Bazaar, I can only suggest what the diet may be based off of a sample day’s meals from the Milwaukee Sentinel article.

According to the article, breakfast is merely black coffee and a grapefruit. Lunch is a chicken sandwich on dry rye toast and raw tomatoes (quantity was not given). Dinner allowed for a stalk of celery, a “good sized” serving of steak, tomato and endive salad with lemon juice or a low calorie salad dressing, and half a grapefruit.

Several other meats were mentioned in the article, including lamb and turkey. It’s assumed that most meats are considered allowable, but that condiments are not.

Nine Day Wonder Diet Protocol

The nine day wonder diet seems to be fairly easy to follow. It’s recommended that dieters drink 10 glasses of water a day, and the meal plan suggests that two meals with meat, one of just fruit and coffee (it seems likely that any 0 calorie drink would be allowed, but soda would be best avoided for the sodium levels), and plenty of vegetables is all the guidelines that are necessary. You may need a calculator and some calorie lists, however, as the daily calorie goal is between 1100 and 2100 calories.

It is suggested that if the guidelines are strictly followed, you will lose 1 pound a day for a diet total of 9 pounds weightloss. After the 9 day wonder diet is finished, you’re to eat naturally and intelligently, and it’s suggested that salads and meals can be spiced up with herbs, chicory, water cress, and radishes, and that skim milk be used for drinking and cooking.

Nine Day Wonder Diet Review

My opinion is that this is one of the healthiest short term diets that I have seen. The emphasis on vegetables and meat is a natural for weight loss as so much of our trouble comes from carbohydrates. But it also doesn’t fully limit your diet from carbs (remember the chicken sandwich on rye?). I would recommend eating more than just a grapefruit for breakfast, however, unless your lunch period is much earlier than the average person’s.

Have you tried this diet? Do you have questions? Please join in the conversation on our forums about the 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.