Now, before we get into this, it’s important to note that weight is not the only indicator of health. Yes, you can eat nothing but 1,500 calories’ worth of pizza every day and probably lose weight, but that doesn’t mean it’s good for you.
Not only is that a high salt and carb intake, but it will deprive you of many important nutrients that can only be sourced from a varied, nutritious diet.
Just because eating nothing but pizza saw this man drop some pounds, he carefully structured the plan to help ensure he met his protein, vitamins and minerals needs.
Without that kind of precaution, in the short-term this kind of diet will probably make you feel short on energy and could precipitate uncomfortable conditions like acid reflux. Over the long term it could create nutritional deficiencies that make you feel rough all the time, hurt your immune system, and increase your risk of chronic illness.
Now we’ve got that out of the way, here’s the story: a man lost weight despite eating nothing but pizza for 30 days.
Personal trainer Ryan Mercer underwent a 30-day pizza challenge that saw him eat 10 slices of pizza every day for the duration.
Mercer didn’t go for a daily Papa John’s or Domino’s, however, and instead opted to make the pizzas himself.
"January is a tough month for people when it comes to fitness goals," he explained.
"I aimed to highlight not only fat loss about calories in and calories out but that it's also not about restriction.”
In other words, he was trying to make a point about how a healthy, balanced diet can incorporate junk foods.
"We don't have to restrict our favourite foods to get results and I also wanted to encourage more people to prepare their own food."
Mercer, then based in Bangor, said his typical diet is flexible but generally involves a tonne of protein along with seven to 10 portions of fruit and vegetables each day.
Through January 2023, however, every meal consisted of homemade pizza.
"I had two pitta pizzas and one larger dough-based pizza per day, this equated to roughly 10 slices per day," he said.
"The hardest part of the entire diet was the preparation.
"Pizza is one of my all-time favourite foods, so I enjoyed eating it all month, although I did ensure I had a large variety of different pizzas to give myself some variance."
The pizzas cost him around £10 per day, plus around £3 each day for snacks.
Despite wolfing down pizza after pizza, the carefully-managed diet saw him lose weight during the challenge. Again, this is because he was consuming fewer calories than he was burning, and this applies to all food intake. Also again, this isn’t the same as a healthy diet, even if weight loss was achieved.
"This was a carefully planned dietary strategy. I designed a system, and this is what got me to my goal,” he said.
"Daily calorie intake was set at 1,800 to 2,100 Monday to Friday, 2,700k calories Saturday and Sunday, daily protein target 140g per day, daily fruit and vegetable portion goal, seven portions minimum per day."
Featured Image Credit: Oleg Breslavtsev/Getty ImagesTopics: Health, Diet, Social Media
Rachael Davis