Simple diet rule backed by late Dr Michael Mosley saw Martin Clunes lose three stone in three months

Martin Clunes shed an impressive three stone in just three months, and his success is down to one specific yet simple dieting trick. The 63-year-old actor previously discussed his dramatic weight loss in an interview with MailOnline, crediting the '5:2 diet' for his transformation.

"I was fat – and while I was getting heavy, I had tired knees and stuff," the Doc Martin star confessed. "So I thought I'd try that diet and the weight came off."

The 5:2 diet, also known as The Fast Diet, is an intermittent fasting plan popularised by the late TV doctor Michael Mosley, who tragically died on a Greek island in June 2024.

The plan involves consuming a regular amount of calories for five days of the week, then significantly reducing intake for the other two. These days are referred to as 'fasting' days, where dieters typically limit calorie intake to 500 for women and 600 for men per day.

Healthline experts explain: "You can choose whichever two days of the week you prefer, as long as there is at least one non-fasting day in between them," reports the Mirror.

"One common way of planning the week is to fast on Mondays and Thursdays, with two or three small meals, then eat normally for the rest of the week."

Martin also praised the diet for its cholesterol benefits, but noted that he later adjusted the routine to 6:1 fasting days. BirminghamLive has reported that celebrities such as Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch and Jennifer Aniston have also previously endorsed similar fasting diets.

"It's easy and seems to keep the weight off me," Martin commented in a 2017 conversation. Beyond celebrities, inhabitants of the world's rare 'Blue Zones' - where people reportedly often live to be 100 years old - limit their calorie intake as