The Twinkie diet began with Kansas State University nutrition professor, Mark Haub. This diet consists of eating one packaged cakelet snack, such as Twinkies, Little Debbies, mini powdered dougnuts, or Oreos, every couple of hours. The cakelets are also supplemented with a serving of vegetables and a protein shake.

The Twinkie diet strictly counts calories; Haub consumed 1800 calories per day on this diet and lost 15 pounds in four weeks.