Who doesn’t love pizza?
Thick or thin, hot or cold, endless possibilities of toppings and of course the simultaneous explosion of multiple flavors and textures in your mouth…what’s not to love?!?!
Well, how about a big side dish of G-U-I-L-T! Or maybe even a weight problem?
The Dark Side
We all know that pretty much any pizza is a nutritional no-no. Heck, the average slice of pizza these days is about 425 calories! Eat two slices and you’re talkin’ just about ½ your recommended total daily caloric intake, and who the heck has just one slice?!?!
Then there’s the sodium. The average slice of pizza contains almost 2/3 of your recommended sodium intake for the whole day and that doesn’t include the sodium from the additional toppings and any other sources of sodium consumed from other food eaten at that meal.
So is it any wonder that you’re bloated, retaining water and maybe even have circulatory or blood pressure problems?
You Can Have Your Pizza and Eat It Too!
Well, the good news is here!
I’d like to share with you some of my easy tricks that can help you enjoy eating pizza that not only tastes good but best of all won’t sabotage your weight loss goals.
The first thing that you have to do before you eat pizza is to ask yourself these two questions:
- “Am I going to throw caution to the wind and indulge? (Or)
- “Am I going eat a healthier, more diet-friendly pizza?”
Obviously the choice is yours, and I’m a believer that it’s good at times to do both, but ultimately, the choice you make will determine whether you have what I call, a “What the Heck Pizza!” or “Amy’s Healthy But Yummy Pizza!”
Let’s now clarify the difference between the two so you can identify which type of pizza you are actually having so you can then make an accurate, informed choice in the future.
These are the Basic Components of a typical, “What the Heck Pizza”:
- Large amounts of cheese (loads of calories, sodium and fat)
- Regular, full-fat cheese (see above!)
- Thick and doughy crust (extra empty calories, gluten, high glycemic effect, high sodium)
- Regular (non-100% whole-grain) crust (i.e. refined white flour which is the nutritional equivalent of the cardboard box it came in!)
- Made with rancid, refined vegetable oils (Canola, soybean, blends)
- Cold-cut type meats: pepperoni, bacon, salami, sausage etc. (low quality protein, high in sodium, gluten, sugar, additives, preservatives, nitrates, nitrites, high saturated fat, sodium calories, not from free-range animals)
- Large slices/portion sizes
- Low quality ingredients (canned, packaged, instant, processed, artificial…basically “dead”/void of any life-force energy)
- Overcooked veggies (if any are on there!)
As you can see, the main issues with a What the Heck Pizza are the high calories, high fat, high sodium, low quality proteins and very low overall nutritional value. Sure it fills you up, and you better believe the taste is amazing, but if you eat foods like this more than once in a while, your body will most certainly show it and feel it!
Bummer.
So what do we do?
Answer: My Healthy But Yummy Pizza:
- Grilled meats or fresh seafood (steak, hamburger chicken or turkey (ground or slices)…be creative!
- Free-range, high quality meats
- Fresh Veggies (any and all types, go for lots and lots with a rainbow of colors and while you’re at it, throw some different ones on there, especially the ones you don’t normally have)
- Fresh, no-sugar or corn syrup added and low sodium, real tomato sauce
- Organic cheese
- A reduced amount of cheese
- Low fat or “hard” cheeses like Parmesan or “Part-Skim” or “Reduced Fat Mozzarella”
- Organic, unrefined extra virgin olive oil
- Fresh or at least organic herbs like garlic, oregano and basil (high in antioxidants and flavor)
- Thin Crust (less bulk, less calories see above)
- “100% sprouted whole grain“ crust (preferably gluten-free, higher fiber, minerals and vitamins, lower glycemic)
Two more tips: watch the portion size of the slice and before you go for seconds, fill up a bit by eating some lighter foods like a nice big fresh salad, cut up veggies or big, juicy Buffalo-style tomatoes with herbs and a drizzle of fresh olive oil.
Yummy!
You can see that My Healthy But Yummy Pizza includes several of the basic principles of The Ripple Effect Diet including eating lots of fresh organic veggies, meats from free-range animals, controlling the amount of cheese and sodium you consume and avoiding or at least minimizing any high-sugar, empty calorie grains and starches. Who knew that you can actually enjoy pizza without
guilt or regret?! Yippee!
So folks, the choice is yours: What the Heck Pizza or My Healthy But Yummy Pizza. At least now you know you have a choice: you can stay on track with your weight loss goals and you can still enjoy PIZZA!
I hope you’ve enjoyed my Top Tips for Eating Healthy Pizza! Let me know how they work for you.
