Gossip Friday: Try Clark Gable’s Diet!

From October 1936:

Talk of Hollywood at the moment is the new “Four-Day Diet.” It’s supposed to shuck off six pounds in four days!

Remember the famous 18-day-diet of a few years ago? Well, that died out.

But now, all of a sudden, a lot of the stars—the male stars, particularly—have startled their acquaintances by dropping poundage over week-ends. And they all followed the same regimen—and now the 4-Day Diet is as famous in Hollywood as the 18-Day Diet was a couple years back. Clark Gable knocked off half a dozen pounds in four days via the new route. Here’s the program he followed:

FIRST DAY—

BREAKFAST : One large orange and one cup black coffee.

LUNCH: One large broiled lamb chop.

DINNER: Medium-sized broiled lean steak, salad of lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers with mineral oil dressing.

SECOND DAY—

BREAKFAST: Same as first day.

LUNCH: Two broiled lamb chops, two sliced tomatoes with only salt and pepper, a half grapefruit.

DINNER: Two broiled lambchops, one boiled egg, spinach, half grape-fruit, cup of black coffee.

THIRD DAY—

BREAKFAST: One large orange, no coffee.

LUNCH: Two scrambled eggs, spinach, three small saltines, small amount jam.

DINNER: Small tenderloin steak, broiled; two tomatoes with salt and pepper, half grapefruit, cup black coffee.

FOURTH DAY—

BREAKFAST:One large orange, no coffee.

LUNCH:Half broiled chicken, spinach, half grapefruit, two saltines.

DINNER: Two broiled lamb chops, two tomatoes with salt and pepper, half grape fruit.

Then, on the fifth day, there’s a sort of hangover treatment that consists of a dose of citrate-of-magnesia, and copious drinking of fruit juices, as you return to your regular meal routine. And that’s that.