March 28, 2024

I had not heard of this until today but a few years ago there was a diet created by General Motors called the GM Diet to get or at least keep the employees in shape (to bad it didn’t help the bottom line) and this diet was really popular even outside of General Motors.

The GM Diet is one of those older diets that seems to be based on heresay and fads more than anything and you can see this in the strange ideas about drinking certain alcohols and the idea of eating until you are “stuffed” can not be at all good over the long term. Also funny is an all meat day as opposed to the fat loss 4 idiots all fruit day.

The GM Diet was originally created by GM and only for the employees and families. Somehow GM (biggest company in the world at the time) got a grant from the FDA and the Department of Agriculture to create this. Johns Hopkins was involved and the diet was approved and launched in 1985.

This GM Diet program is designed for a target weight loss of 10-17 lbs per week. It will also improve your attitudes and emotions because of its cleansing systematic effects.

This can also be used over and over again although I am not to sure about the food balance as it seems to be extreme in a few ways. The GM Diet is designed to flush your system of impurities and give you a feeling of well being. The plan is designed to lose you 10 pounds or so in a week. Has anyone tried and found this?

GM Diet Plan

During the first seven days you must abstain from all alcohol. You must drink 10 glasses of water each day on the GM Diet

Day One All fruits except bananas. Your first day will consist of all the fruits you want. It is strongly suggested that you consume lots of melons the first day. Especially watermelon and a loupe. If you limit your fruit consumption to melons, your chances of losing three lbs. on first day are very good.


Day Two
All vegetables. You are encouraged to eat until you are stuffed with all the raw or cooked vegetables of your choice. There is no limit on the amount or type. For your complex carbohydrate, you will start day two with a large baked potato for breakfast. You may top the potato with one pat of butter.

Day Three A mixture of fruits and vegetables of your choice. Any amount, any quantity. No bananas yet. No potatoes today.

Day Four Bananas and milk. Today you will eat as many as eight bananas and drink three glasses of milk. This will be combined with the special soup which may be eaten in limited quantities.

Day Five Today is feast day. You will eat beef and tomatoes. Eat two 10 oz. portions of lean beef. Hamburger is OK. Combine this with six whole tomatoes. On day five you must increase your water intake by one quart. This is to cleanse your system of the uric acid you will be producing.

Day Six Beef and vegetables. Today you may eat an unlimited amount of beef and vegetables. Eat to your hearts content.

Day Seven Today your food intake will consist of brown rice, fruit juices and all the vegetables you care to consume.

Tomorrow morning from the GM Diet you will be 10-17 lbs. lighter than one week ago. If you desire further weight loss, repeat the program again. You may repeat this program as often as you like, however, it is suggested that you are allowed two glasses of white wine in addition to the instructions on the program. You may substitute champagne for white wine. Under no circumstances are you to drink any other alcoholic beverages with the exception of beer which is allowed. Any liquor (bourbon,vodka, rum) is forbidden.

Cream drinks are especially forbidden on the GM Diet. You may have an occasional cordial such as creme de menthe or schnapps, but you must always limit yourself to two drinks.

If you wine, drink only wine that day. If you have beer, drink only beer that day, etc. Alcohol adds empty calories to your diet. However, after the first week on the GM Diet it will help your digestion and settle your stomach.

GM Wonder Soup

The following soup is intended as a supplement to your GM Diet. It can be eaten any time of the day in virtually unlimited quantities. You are encouraged to consume large quantities of this soup.

28 oz, Water, 6 Large Onions, 2 Green Peppers, Whole Tomatoes (fresh or canned), 1 Head Cabbage, 1 Bunch Celery, 4 Envelopes Lipton Onion Soup Mix, Herbs and Flavoring as desired.

GM Diet Additional Notes

Vegetables as may be taken in the form of a salad if desired. No dressing except malt, white or wine vinegar, squeezed lemon, garlic, herbs. No more than one tea spoon of oil on the GM Diet.

You have above a recipe for the wonder soup which can be eaten in unlimited quantities. This soup is a supplement while you are on the program and it should be a pleasure to eat. Not everyone likes cabbage, green peppers, celery etc. This recipe is not inflexible. You may substitute vegetables according to your taste. You may add any vegetables you like: asparagus, peas, corn, turnips, green beans, cauliflower, etc. Try to stay away from beans (lima, pinto, kidney, etc.), however, because they tend to be high in calories even though they are very good for you.

Beverages you may consume while on the GM Diet program :

1. Water (flavored with lemon/lime if desired).
2. Club Soda is OK.
3. Black Coffee. No cream or cream substitute. No sugar or sweetness.
4. Black Tea = Herb or Leaf.
5. Absolutely nothing else except the fruit juices which are part of day seven. No fruit juices before day seven.

How and Why the GM Diet Works

Day One – You are preparing your system for the upcoming program. Your only source of nutrition is fresh or canned fruits. Fruits are nature’s perfect food. They provide everything you could possibly want to sustain life except total balance and variety.

Day Two – Starts with a fix of complex carbohydrates coupled with an oil dose. This is taken in the morning for energy and balance. The rest of day two consists of vegetables which are virtually calorie free and provide essential nutrients and fibre.

Day Three – Eliminates the potato because you get your carbohydrates from the fruits. You system is now prepared to start burning excess pounds. You will still have cravings which should start to diminish by day four.

Day Four – Bananas, milk and soup sound the strangest and least desirable. You’re in for a surprise. You probably will not eat all the bananas allowed. But they are there for the potassium you have lost and the sodium you may have missed the past three days. You will notice a definite weight loss of desire for sweets. You will be surprised how easy this day will go.

Day Five – Beef and tomatoes. The beef is for iron and proteins, the tomatoes are for digestion and fibre. Lots and lots of water purifies your system. You should notice colorless urine today. Your allowance calls for the equivalent of five “quarter ponders”. Do not feel you have to eat all this beef. You must eat the six tomatoes.

Day Six – Similar to day five, Iron and proteins from beef, Vitamins and fibre from vegetables. By now your system is in a total weight loss inclination. There should be a noticeable difference in the way you look today, compared to day one.

Day Seven – Finished off the program like a good cigar used to finish off Victorian meals, except much healthier. You have your system under control and it should thank you for the flushing and cleaning you just gave it.

I am not sure of the value of the GM Diet but go ahead and try this and see if you are pleasantly surprised. Make sure that if you try this that you also let us all know of the results good or bad in the comments below. Maybe GM Diet will me the legacy that General Motors will be remembered for instead?

877 thoughts on “GM Diet

  1. hey just wondering wat is the 4 envelopes soup mix? where can i buy this? i am on my 3rd day ….started at 121 hoping to have half a stone off xxxx

    1. I made my soup without the onion soup mix envelopes because the ingredients include sugar, corn syrup and hydrogenated oil. I used seasonings and a couple of cans of organic no salt added diced tomatoes for flavoring. Plus, a boat load of veggies for flavor–carrots, celery, cabbage, kale, squash, zucchini, onions, garlic. It tastes great. My 23 year old daughter was visiting and asked if she could take a bowl home. Hope this helps.

      1. i agree. I am not to the soup yet, but am trying to cut out processed foods, so the soup mix makes no sense to me! thanks for the tip. I think i will try free range chicken instead of beef too. did you gain back after? i’ve had a hard time being good…i cheated a tiny bit…drat!

  2. Today is day 6, I started the program at 200pounds. I’ve already lost 12 lbs, this diet works, but you must keep with it and fight off your cravings.

  3. Hi guys!

    Came across this diet by accident, but am going to try it starting tomorrow. Should be interesting! I’m not sure if it was asked before, but is there anything we can substitute for tomatoes? I sincerely hate tomatoes, and can’t imagine eating a single bite, nevermind four whole ones.
    I’m starting at 266lbs, hoping to get to 220 as fast as possible.
    Best of luck to all!

    1. I think I did a similar diet to this one many years ago, called Cabbage diet. But it did work, so now I’m going to try again. Starting today. Weight 147 lbs, need to lose 10 lbs over next two weeks. Let keep in touch if you want, since we started a day apart.

      1. How’s yours going? I ended up having to go to a business dinner halfway thru the week, one of those where it’s very frowned upon to say ‘no thanks, not hungry’. Restarting tomorrow though!

  4. hi all,
    hwr u?
    on my analog weighing machine it is showing that i lost 3 kg but on electric machine it is showing that i lost only 1kg? bt i think i will knw my actual only after completion of 7 day. till then i will follow the diet.

    1. hey guys, I am planning to take this diet so will try to follow from tmrw onwards…just have 1 question. What can turkey be substitied with? I dont eat turkey 🙁

  5. Is the soup to be eaten through out or only on the day specified? I am on day one and had a plum, kiwi, and about to have an apple but really would like to know if the soup is allowed for today as well.
    Thanks!

  6. today is day 3 and i cheated it by having 2 cups of tea and 1 cup coffee with sugar and milk,
    I am having tea everyday.
    Let me c how much i can reduce.

  7. Started off today (10th Apr). My – 61 kg.
    Found it tough to survive on just fruits.
    Let’s see how the remaining days go.
    Will post my final after I’m done 🙂
    Wish me luck!

    1. Good Luck! I started it on the 9th and i’m on day 3 now. Its hard work, especially when u get those cravings! but i’ve noticed that i’m losing 🙂 best of luck

      1. Does anyone know whether we can substitute the beef for something else like chicken or Fish?

      2. Dear Marie,
        i also lost 1 kg. so hows was ur 3 days dear? I will be continuing it till 7th day. what abt u?

    2. Starting the diet today! I year or so ago I lost 30 pounds but recently, the has been creeping back up. I found the GM diet and decided to give it a try. Today- watermelons and cantaloupe. Good luck to everyone else out there also giving it a try.

  8. It’s been exactly a week since I completd the GM cleanse, I just wanted to do a little follow up because I know a lot of people are curious whether or not the stays off. At the end of the GM Cleanse I lost 6.5 pounds (my beginning was 141) . I weighed in this morning and I have only gained one pound! I do go to the gym 6 days a week and have been getting back into running and been much more mindful of what I’m eating. I also have starting using myfitnesspal.com to track my food and excercise (It’s a great tool, I highly recommend it!). I’m very happy that I’ve managed to keep the off! The cleanse was a great way to jumpstart my loss. Good luck to all who give it a try!!

      1. Congrats on losing, yes i’m planning to carry out til the 7th day too!! Tough work though!! todays it’ day four for me! 🙂

  9. yes vegetables can be boiled and cooked. Cooking means u can add spices but just a single drop of oil required otherwise not. And a big NO to chapati and ghee bcoz it will increase ur .

  10. Just starting today. Are you allowed to add flavors to your water? The packets that have to calories? I noticed there is not calories, only sodium.

    1. ya u can have cooked beetroot but the quantity should be very limited. jst 1 beetroot or few piece for taste change.

      1. Weight on day one was 59.4KGs. Weight on day 3 – 57.1KGs. I was at a dinner yesterday and had to eat about 4 mouthfuls of rice with turkey before i could get out of it. But didn’t feel like stopping as I’ve passed the tough 3 days. so continuing with day 4.
        How about your progress?

  11. So no loss again today! But I will keep going and hopefully will see some more results tomo 🙂 Day 6 today…total loss so far 2.9 kg/6.4 lbs.

    1. Hi Dhara,

      I think you can but it would be best to stick to watermelon or rock melons!

      All the best!
      Tanya

      1. thanks dear. I could not had watermelon. But in the eve i had two bowls of tomato and bottle guard soup. it was amazing and i had filled up my stomach with it,

  12. 700 gms/1.5 lbs down today 😀 Day 5 today…looking forward to it! Total loss so far 2.9 kg/6.4 lbs!! am so happy!!!

  13. I started the GM Diet on March 30th and on the first day it was really hard. I had to keep myself busy to not want food. But i made it, I have a wonderful supporter in my life. On day 5 I have lost a total of 8 lbs. I am repeating this diet over cause my loss is not over and I am so thankful that I finally found a diet that works and is healthy.

  14. No loss today, instead I am 400 gms up!! Well will continue on and hopefully will see better results tomorrow 🙂

  15. Hi all,
    I would also like to join u. I am starting the GM diet from Monday i.e. 9th April. I had done this last year and had lost 3 kgs i.e. 6.6 lbs. I am planning to do it again as i have put on much , I have to loose almost 21 pounds to get fit. But still i m keeping my goal of loosing 10 pounds first. I would be happy if anyone can join me. My current is 71 kg i.e. 156 lbs and i need to loose it.

    1. i am starting today 9th april 2012.i am 70 kg today,let us see what happens.i would like to loose 8 kg in total but will stick on to a lesser goal at first.

      1. hey thanks Saria & olivia,

        nice to hear from u. Hows u and how was ur first day? Mine was good. i even went for 20 min walk in the eve.

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