Scarsdale Diet Menu
The Scarsdale Diet Menu: Background
The Scarsdale Diet was developed in the 1970s by Dr. Herman Tarnower. “The Complete Scarsdale Medical Diet: Plus Dr. Tarnower’s Lifetime Keep-Slim Program” (1982, Bantam, ISBN 0553268864, $7.99) is considered the “bible” of the Scarsdale Diet. The Scarsdale Diet is essentially a “rotation” diet in which you eat foods that are high-protein, low fat, and low-carb for two weeks, then cycle to a more liberal eating plan for two weeks, and repeat until you reach your goal weight.
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The Scarsdale Diet Menu: The Basics
There are three phases to the Scarsdale Diet: The Scarsdale Medical Diet phase, the Keep Trim Eating phase, and the Lifetime Keep-Slim phase. You begin with two weeks of the Scarsdale Medical Diet, and then spend two weeks on the Keep Trim Eating phase, and then go back to two weeks of the Scarsdale Medical Diet phase, two weeks on the Keep Trim Eating phase, and so forth, until you've reached your goal weight. The Lifetime Keep-Slim phase is the maintenance phase of the diet, and is followed once you reach your goal weight. The two-week Scarsdale Medical Diet phase has a strictly proscribed Scarsdale Diet menu; variations and substitutions are not allowed. In contrast, you should design your own menus during the Keep Trim Eating phase.
The Scarsdale Diet Menu for the first two weeks is as follows: Breakfast each day consists of 1/2 grapefruit or other seasonal fruit plus one slice of protein bread and decaf coffee or tea. (Protein bread is a homemade bread, but you can substitute dense whole-wheat bread.) Day 1 Lunch: cold cuts and sliced, broiled, or stewed tomatoes. Dinner: fish or shellfish, green salad with vegetables, 1 grapefruit or other seasonal fruit, and one piece of toasted protein bread. Day 2 Lunch: any combination of fruits in a fruit salad. Dinner: broiled lean hamburger, tomatoes, lettuce, celery, cucumbers, Brussels sprouts and 4 olives. Day 3 Lunch: canned tuna fish or salmon with vinegar dressing and grapefruit, melon, or seasonal fruit.
Day 3 Dinner: sliced lamb plus salad with lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, and celery. Day 4 Lunch: 2 eggs, 1 slice of toasted protein bread, low-fat cottage cheese, and zucchini, string beans, or sliced or stewed tomatoes. Dinner: skinless chicken, spinach, green peppers, and string beans. Day 5 Lunch: cheese slices, 1 slice toasted protein bread, and spinach.
Day 5 Dinner: fish or shellfish, 1 slice toasted protein bread, and vegetable salad. Day 6 Lunch: fruit salad. Dinner: turkey or chicken, lettuce and tomato salad, 1 grapefruit or other seasonal fruit. Day 7 Lunch: turkey or chicken, 1 grapefruit or seasonal fruit, and tomatoes, carrots, cooked cabbage, cauliflower, or broccoli. Dinner: Broiled steak, Brussels sprouts, and a salad made from lettuce, celery, tomatoes, and cucumbers. For the second week, repeat the menu from the first week.
Scarsdale Diet Menu Guidelines
Here are additional guidelines for the Scarsdale Medical Diet phase:
- No substitutions are allowed
- There are no set portions, but keep your total caloric intake per day between 850 and 1,000 calories
- Allowed beverages are decaf coffee, tea, water, and sugar-free sodas and drinks
- Remove all visible fat from meat and skin and fat from poultry before cooking and eating
- The only snacks allowed are carrots and celery, but these can be eaten without limit
- Alcoholic beverages are not allowed
- Eat fresh fruits and vegetables when possible; if they're not available, choose frozen over canned
- Corn, peas, lentils, beans, and potatoes are not allowed
Scarsdale Diet Menu: Keep-Trim Eating
After two weeks on the Scarsdale Medical Diet, switch to two weeks on the Keep-Trim Eating plan:
- Your daily calorie intake should be about 1,500 calories.
- You should develop your own menus in order to begin to develop the skills needed for a permanent lifestyle change. The Keep-Trim Eating plan is designed to give your body’s metabolism a chance to re-set itself to your new, lower rate. This will prevent the “yo-yo” effect found with most low calorie diets.
- You can add the following foods during the Keep-Trim Eating phase: low-calorie salad dressings, sugar-free preserves, fat-free milk, fat-free yogurt, 100% fruit juice (no added sugar), sugar-free vegetable juices, fat-free soups, nuts, sugar-free gelatin, 3 eggs per week, 1-1/2 ounce hard liquor (or equivalent) per day.
- Avoid using fats and oils, though you can use sugar-free condiments in moderation.
- You can use sugar substitutes, such as Splenda, Equal, and NutraSweet.
- Avoid eating more than two slices of protein bread per day. Also avoid avocados, potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams, rice, legumes (kidney beans, chickpeas, lentils, etc.), pasta, sausage or other high-fat meats, and peanut butter.
- Remember that celery and carrots are “free” foods and can be eaten as snacks anytime.
- If you are a vegetarian, you are allowed to substitute foods for both the Scarsdale Medical Diet and the Keep-Trip Eating phases. You cannot eat legumes, avocados, sweet potatoes, or yams. You may substitute a baked potato with salt and chives, one slice of protein bread, 1/2 cup rice, or 1/4 cup cooked soybeans for the meat.
- Here is a shopping list for the Keep-Trim Eating phase: grapefruit, seasonal fruit, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, celery, Brussels sprouts, cucumbers, zucchini, cauliflower, mushrooms, leaf lettuce, tomatoes, green peppers, string beans, spinach, onions, garlic, hamburger, fish, tuna, chicken, turkey, lamb, steak, eggs, low-fat cottage cheese, cheese slices, black olives, low-sodium broth and stock, sugar-free catsup, mustard, cooking spray, artificial sweetener, lemons, limes, decaf coffee, diet soda, tea, fresh herbs, low-calorie salad dressings, sugar-free preserves, fat-free milk, fat-free yogurt, 100% fruit juice (no added sugar), sugar-free vegetable juices, fat-free soups, nuts, and sugar-free gelatin.