“Diet: a brief period of starvation followed by a gain of five pounds”

“A diet is usually a period of starvation that precedes a rapid gain of 10 pounds” is a jocular definition of a diet that has been cited in print from at least 1967. “A diet is a brief period of starvation followed by a gain of five pounds”—five pounds less—was printed in a 2001 book.
 
   
3 March 1967, Record American (Boston, MA), “Audrey Cinderellgant” by Walter Winchell, pg. 38, col. 1:
NEW YORK—The book “It’s Square To Be Round” reminds the plump: “A diet is usually a period of starvation that precedes a rapid gain of 10 pounds.”
       
6 February 1986, Houston (MO) Herald, pg. A5, col. 1 ad:
Jay’s quip: A diet is a brief period of starvation followed by a gain of 10 pounds.
(Jay’s Automotive Service.—ed.)
 
Google Books
The Complete Book of Zingers
By Croft M. Pentz
Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers
1990
Pg. 63:
For most of us a diet is a brief period of starvation followed by immediate gain in weight.
 
Google Books
The Ultimate Cheesecake Cookbook
By Joey Reynolds with Myra Chanin
New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press
2001
Pg. ?:
“A diet is a brief period of starvation followed by a gain of five pounds.”
 
Google Groups: alt.wisdom
Daffynitions
Kaelwyn
1/15/02
(...)
Diet - A brief period of starvation usually followed by the gaining of five pounds.
 
Twitter
Joe Heuer‏
@Daffynitions
Diet: a brief period of starvation followed by a gain of five pounds. #diet
6:07 PM - 15 Nov 2009
   
Twitter
rt ur favorite food‏
@ModernFoodie15
diet: a brief period of starvation followed by a gain of five pounds.
3:48 PM - 5 Sep 2015