A Note for all my Pizza Peeps

First and foremost, do not label pizza as a “bad” food! The second we label anything as “bad” or “off-limits”, we crave it 10x more. It’s just human nature! Second off all, here are my rules of thumb when it comes to ENJOYING pizza:

1.      But first, SALAD! I highly recommend consuming a salad before starting in on your pizza. This will help curb your appetite a little so that you aren’t quite as starving when that pizza finally gets in front of you. This will also increase the nutrient content of the meal.

2.      Choose your toppings wisely. I recommend a lean protein (chicken, ham, turkey, turkey sausage) + as many veggies as you can tolerate. Avoid fatty meats (i.e., pepperoni, sausage, hamburger meat); not only are these unhealthy in and of themselves, they also cause more grease to pool on the pizza.

3.      If possible, have pizza for lunch or an early dinner. The earlier in the day you have it, the better since pizza is a relatively high carb food.

4.      Pizza and leg day go hand-in-hand. Plan pizza for a day on which you are burning a lot of calories, such as a leg day or high-intensity circuit training.

5.      Limit your crust consumption. If you like thin crust, that’s a great way to go about doing this. I don’t particularly care for thin crust, so I get regular pizza but try to only eat the crust off of 1 or 2 pieces.

As always, please DO NOT feel guilty after eating pizza- especially if you follow the above guidelines! Enjoy your treat, then move on. Pizza is a fairly well-balanced food (representing numerous food groups), so is a completely fine meal to have on occasion!