The basic purpose of the Scarsdale diet is rapid weight loss. It is not intended as a lifetime regimen of sensible weight control; one of its distinctive features, in fact, is that the dieter is supposed to alternate one or two weeks on the diet with two weeks off.
Day 1
Breakfast:
coffee or tea with sugar substitute plus 1/2 grapefruit (the breakfast menu is the same for all 7 or 14 days of the diet)
Lunch:
any amount of lean beef, chicken, or fish plus tomato salad plus coffee or tea
Dinner:
broiled fish plus tomato and lettuce salad plus 1/2 grapefruit
Day 3
Breakfast:
coffee or tea with sugar substitute plus 1/2 grapefruit
Lunch:
tuna salad plus 1/2 grapefruit
Dinner:
2 lean pork chops plus mixed green salad plus coffee
Day 5
Breakfast:
coffee or tea with sugar substitute plus 1/2 grapefruit
Lunch:
all the dry cheese you want plus raw or cooked spinach plus 1 slice of dry toast
Dinner:
broiled fish plus green salad plus 1 slice dry toast
Variations on the basic diet
As was noted earlier, Dr. Tarnower’s co-author was instrumental in expanding the basic diet into four additional options that offered the dieter a bit more variety. For purposes of comparison, here are the Day 5 menus from three of these 1978 additions:
Day 5, Gourmet Diet for Epicurean Tastes
Breakfast:
coffee or tea with sugar substitute plus 1/2 grapefruit or 1/2 cup diced fresh pineapple, 1/2 fresh mango, 1/2 papaya, 1/2 canteloupe, or ‘‘a generous slice of honeydew, casaba, or other available melon.’’
Lunch:
eggs and chicken livers, farm style; plus tomatoes, lettuce, celery, olives, or endives; plus 1 slice of protein toast; plus coffee, tea, or demitasse
Dinner:
consomme´ madrile` ne; plus baked chicken breasts; plus spinach delight; plus a fresh peach with raspberries; plus coffee or tea
Day 5, International Diet
Breakfast:
coffee or tea with sugar substitute plus 1/2 grapefruit or 1/2 cup diced fresh pineapple, 1/2 fresh mango, 1/2 papaya, 1/2 canteloupe, or ‘‘a generous slice of honeydew, casaba, or other available melon.’’
Lunch:
pickled eggplant and cheese sticks; plus salad greens, ‘‘all you want,’’ with vinegar and lemon dressing; plus a fresh peach with raspberry sauce; plus coffee, tea, or espresso
Dinner:
baked stuffed mushrooms; plus veal Napolitaine; plus 1/4 cup boiled white rice; plus zucchni stew; plus coffee, tea, or espresso
Day 5, Money-Saver Diet
Breakfast:
1/2 grapefruit or canteloupe, plus coffee or tea with artificial sweetener
Lunch:
2 eggs, any style, but prepared without fat; zucchni; 1 slice dry protein bread, no spread;
Dinner:
broiled, boiled, roasted, or barbecued chicken, ‘‘all you want,’’ with skin and visible fat removed before cooking; plus ‘‘plenty of spinach’’ plus coffee or tea.
