Food writer -- and friend of Gwyneth Paltrow -- Mark Bitman appeared on HuffPost Live on Friday to promote his new book VB6: Eat Vegan Before 6:00 To Lose Weight and Restore Your Health...For Good . Host Abby Huntsman pressed him on the specifics of the diet, which is to -- you guessed it! -- eat like a vegan before 6:00.

Bittman described it as "a strategy to get to a plant-based diet. It's not the only strategy, but it's one that's worked for me."

Does he cheat? "Yes, I put milk in my coffee in the morning," he confessed. "Real vegans don't, but I'm not a real vegan....On strict days, no dairy, no animal products at all, no processed food, no white food like white rice, pasta, bread, etc.."

"What about Sunday brunch?" Huntsman asked.

"I mean, cheat. There's a certain amount of cheating that's built in and acceptable. But it depends how seriously you want to take it: do you want to lose weight or do you want to have a generally healthier lifestyle? If you want to lose weight, stricter is better."

Watch the segment above or the full segment on HuffPost Live .