Can you Eat Pizza when trying to Lose Weight?

Every time I would eat Pizza on my cheat day I’d ask myself if there wasn’t a way to lose weight eating Pizza.

Believe it or not, there is actually such a thing as a Pizza Diet and if you love Pizza, you’re in for a treat.
So yes, you can lose weight by eating Pizza…

However, I’m not talking about your standard pizza night pies, full of meat, sugar, grease, and tons of calories.
Taking it back to the late 1800s after the pizza was considered “poor people food” the dish started to grow more and more popular in Italy, the pizza maker Raffaele Esposito created the “Pizza Margherita” representing the colors of the Italian flag and presented it to Queen Margherita on her visit to Naples Italy.
This variety is the key component of the pizza diet.

How is this possible?

Basically, it’s all quite simple. The Pizza Margherita, when properly prepared, is actually healthy, has less than 600 calories, and is a part of the Mediterranean diet.

What is the Mediterranean Diet?

It’s a diet inspired by the foods eaten in the countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea, for instance, Italy, Greece, France, and Spain. This diet does not consist of a strict eating plan. It does, however, mainly complement plant-based foods with a moderate amount of fish, seafood, poultry, and dairy. It also does occasionally allow red meat and sweets.
It’s truly a lifestyle you have to get used to if you have been eating lots of junk food, pork, and beef for a while, but it is totally worth it if you succeed in the eating transition.

What’s the secret

There are many ways to make a healthy Pizza Margherita by using various healthy ingredients, but one excellent trick is to let the dough ferment for about 36 hours. During this time, the fermentation process will break down the gluten and the yeast will eat some of the sugar, making it easy to digest and a lot healthier.

You can occasionally throw some chicken or some kind of low fat meat on your pizza but for most of the time, I would stick to the original recipe.

Bonus Tip: If you like it spicy, you might want to toss some jalapenos on your pizza. Not only do they give it a nice fresh-spicy taste, but they also boost your metabolism, increase fat burn and reduce your appetite. Now that’s what I call a win-win situation.

How to make this Italian delicious diet pie

First of all, you can get Pasquale Cozzolino’s book “The Pizza Diet”. It’s not free and you’ll have to get it over amazon. Here’s a link to Pasquale Cozzolino’s website. (This is not an Affiliate link and I’m not making any money off of this link)

If you just want a healthy pizza recipe based on the long fermenting time, I believe this could be what you’re looking for:

Pizza Crust Recipe for 11 Pies

You will need:

• 35 oz cold water (1035 ml)
• 1 tsp dry yeast (3 g)
• 3.65 lb Italian stone-ground flour (1,655 g)
• 3 Tbsp sea salt (45 g)

1. In a large mixing bowl, pour in the water and add the yeast. Make sure you break up all clumps and let it rest for 5 minutes until the yeast has dissolved.
2. Add about 1/2 cup of the flour (68 g) and mix to a creamy slurry using your hands.
3. Add salt and the remaining flour and mix by hand or with a stand mixer until the dough is soft and elastic
4. Knead and fold the dough on a floured work surface. Add some flour if your dough is too wet.
5. Cover the dough and let it rest for 20 minutes at room temperature
6. Divide dough into 8-ounce balls (225 g) and let it rest in air-tight containers for 4 or 5 hours at room temperature.
7. Place containers into the refrigerator and let the dough rise for at least another 20 hours, but no more than 48 hours, as the dough will begin to sour.

Now you don’t necessarily have to make all the pies at once. You also have the option to freeze them for up to 6 months, so whenever you feel like having some pizza, you have fresh dough ready to make it.

Here’s where I found the recipe.

How to freeze the dough

Simply place the air-tight sealed dough in the freezer and let it freeze for at least 24 hours. Now you can either leave the dough in the container or transfer the solidly frozen dough to a freezer bag and keep it frozen for up to 6 months.

The day before you want to make a pizza, you’ll have to take the dough out of the freezer, place it on a floured pan or in a bowl, and dust some flour on top so it doesn’t stick to the lid or plastic wrap. Seal off the container with a lid or plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator overnight.

Once your dough is thawed completely you want to toss some flour or semolina on it, place the dough on a lightly floured surface and stretch it to the desired size. From here on it’s no different from a freshly made dough.

What else to eat

For being a part of the Mediterranean diet, I personally stick to the foods that are recommended for this particular diet.

For Breakfast:

• Whole grain bread
• Whole grain cereal
• Vegetables
• Fruit

I don’t think you really want to eat a pizza every single day of your life so you can eat some of the following foods on the days you’re fed up with pizza…

For Lunch:

• Pizza 😉
• Fish
• Cheese
• Vegetables
• Fruit
• Beans
• Hummus
• Chicken
• Shrimp
• Falafel
• Turkey

I usually try to keep my carbohydrate intake as low as possible in the evenings to keep my insulin levels down, which is beneficial for weight loss and maintaining weight

For Dinner:

• Fish
• Cheese
• Vegetables
• Fruit
• Beans
• Hummus
• Chicken
• Shrimp
• Falafel
• Turkey

How it works

By cutting sugar and processed food out of your diet, you will automatically lose weight if you take your time eating, drink enough, and don’t overeat. Just eat healthy portions and enjoy the taste of the Mediterranean.

Get your Ovens started

If you love pizza like crazy, why are you still reading this? Go and get your oven started and begin the craziest weight loss ever.