THE FAST DIET: Get Thin Quick By Starving Yourself Two Days A Week

Photo courtesy of Atria BooksA typical FastDiet meal. The FastDiet, also known as the 5:2 diet, is based on something called intermittent fasting. This involves eating normally for five days a week and "fasting" for two. On those two fasting days, you eat about a quarter of your typical calorie intake — 500 calories for women and 600 calories for men. The rest of the time you can eat whatever you want.

The book, only recently released in the U.S., was written by Dr. Michael Mosley and Mimi Spencer, both of the U.K. They claim this diet will make you lose weight faster than other standard diets — Mosley says he lost 20 pounds within a few weeks of starting the diet.

Although the extreme eating regime has been met with criticism in the health community, Mosley says the evidence to support intermittent fasting is there. The entire first chapter is even devoted to the "science of fasting."

Still not sure about the craze?

Here we break down how and why the 5:2 diet works, according to its authors.