You might be familiar with We TV's "Secret Lives of Women." The show explores everything from women who lead double lives in adult entertainment to strange addictions to phobias, and this week's episode is focusing on extreme diets.

After watching the upcoming episode, I'm not going to lie -- my eyes were opened in a big way. The episode focuses on four women. Meredith Averill, along with her husband, follows the CR Way (or the Calorie Restriction Diet). Gwen Shamblin is the founder of Weigh Down Ministries, which helps people lose weight through religion. Gabrielle Brick is a raw foodist and Janet Kalish is a freegan, which means she eats mainly what she can find by dumpster diving rather than purchasing food from a store.

Averill, a youthful looking 62-year-old, has been living the CR Way for more than 15 years. She and her husband both attribute their good health to their diet, and fully expect it to add to their longevity. Generally, calorie restrictors reduce their caloric intake by 20 to 40 percent. While she doesn't say what their specific daily calorie limit is, Averill says, "At the end of lunch, we don't eat again until the next breakfast." Instead, the couple goes for a walk. (Sounds filling, right?)

Shamblin was overweight in her younger years, and her obsession with what she could and couldn't eat led her to a startling conclusion. "Dieting was the cause for overeating in this country," she says. Her Weigh Down Workshop isn't just about praying to be skinny. Rather, the idea is to give people something bigger than themselves to turn to when facing the temptation of overeating, to "transfer from bowing down to a pan of brownies" she says, "to turning to God."

The most extreme and unusual diet has to be Kalish's. I mean, the woman dumpster dives, not out of necessity, but out of a sense of responsibility to our planet. Freeganism is just as much a method of activism as eating -- Kalish says over and over how upsetting it is that so much good food is wasted. She also understands how people can be disgusted by her choice, and realizes that, as soon as she starts pawing through garbage, she "becomes invisible." But maybe not for long -- the freegan trash tour in New York City is gaining popularity!

Brick's story is one of the most surprising. She started out in the hotel and hospitality industry, where late nights and long hours led her down a path of booze and occasional cocaine use. Although she quit doing drugs and cut way back on the drinking, she continued to deal with issues like depression. Then, one night she happened to read a book on raw eating, and she went raw that night. Because the diet is so strict, Brick's mother feared she had joined a cult, but Brick insists she feels healthier and more alert now than ever, and no longer deals with issues like depression. In fact, she now teaches others the basics of raw eating and does raw food catering.

That's Fit spoke with the raw foodist, who cleared up a few misconceptions, one of which is the amount of time she spends preparing her meals.

"I don't spend that much time on food prep. My morning smoothie takes, maybe, 10 minutes. Prepping a salad, as you know, that's maybe 10 minutes. Altogether, I might spend an hour or two," she says.

While Brick admits that the hardest adjustment in going raw was the social aspect, she still has many of the same friends. "When I went raw eight years ago, it was just hard to find products I could eat, because 95 percent of restaurants were pretty traditional, and even in the grocery store, I'd walk in and find, like, salad greens, then have to make everything else myself."

Things have changed considerably, though. "There's been a shift in the movement, and now there are restaurants and products that make it much easier." In terms of friendships, she says it was all about being accepting. "I have some of the same friends I've had for 15 years, and if I'm going to their house to eat, they know to just make me a salad. I'll bring other items that I can share with everybody."

Planning ahead is a continual challenge with the diet, though. Brick says, "If I go on a road trip for four hours, I know I have to plan and pack myself some food, because there's not going to be some place I can stop and grab a bite to eat." And while that might sound extreme at first, if you think about it, anyone who's really cautious about what they eat has experienced the same planning challenges.

The biggest take-away of this episode, for me, was that although these diets aren't as well-known as, say, South Beach, they're not as extreme as they initially sound. If you're looking for a healthier way to live and regular diets haven't worked, who am I (or anyone else) to say these aren't valid options?

Looking to try a raw recipe? Click here for Gabrielle's La Creme du Chocolate.