Pizza, often believed to be a dieter’s worst nightmare is now getting some credence thanks to pizza shop owner, Matt McClellan, who invented the Pizza Diet.
He was tired of getting hassled at his gym for giving out pizza coupons so he decided to prove that pizza could be a healthy way to lose weight and improve overall health.
He consulted a nutritionist at the beginning of his 30 day pizza diet and visited his doctor throughout the diet to document his progress.
In just thirty days here were Matt’s results;
- Weight- 203 pounds to 179 pounds
- Bloood Pressure- 140/90 to 118/80
- Cholesterol- 243 to 157
- Biceps- 15 inches to 14 inches
- Chest- 42 inches to 43 inches
- Waist- 38 inches to 33 1?2 inches
- Hips- 42 inches to 39 inches
- Body Fat -19 percent to 9 percent
- BMI- 26.9 percent to 23.6 percent
Pizza Diet Essentials
Matt ate nothing but pizza for 30 days which consisted of 8 slices consumed over a 12 hour period. His first slice was at 9am and his last slice was at 9pm for a total of 2500 Calories from the pizza.
The pizza that he ate was made with skim milk cheese and included healthy toppings such as chicken, broccoli, avocado, pineapple, onions, peppers, and mushrooms. Sorry, meat lovers wasn’t on the menu.
Matt also increased his exercise level to 60 minutes a day alternating between cardio and weight training. Also, Matt didn’t change his habit of having some soda, energy drinks, or alcohol each day because he wanted to prove that pizza alone could be the healthy factor not cutting out unhealthy beverages.
Was Pizza the Magic Bullet?
With the pizza diet Matt proved that pizza can be part of a healthy diet if moderation and wise topping choices are selected. He believes that the key to any diet is portion control and that’s basically what his pizza diet is, a way to enjoy a great food, but not eat the whole pie in one go.
I suspect even greater health benefits could be achieved by cutting out the soda or energy drinks and making the pizza with whole wheat crust.
Have you lost weight while eating a pizza diet?
maybe its all lies about this diet , you should atleast put a vid up , its kinda hard to believe cuz that guy on the mcdonalds diet gained over 40 POUNDS , its hard to believe he lost weight , its fastfood , u obviously have to gain weight ,
Two centuries people on earth never-failing development and demand have both changed their own survival also changed the natural environment, most people’s life more and more from the nature, outdoor brands and people it rains more hope approached nature. mbt shoes clearance At the beginning of last century Europe and America economically developed countries within the rise of various mbt shoesoutdoor sports shoes and became a kind of fashion. In recent years, through reform and open policy also put these mbt outdoor sports shoes, was introduced into China, with the improvement of people’s living standard, people also put these slow running shoes pay into his own life, outdoor umbrella. Whilembt outdoor sports shoes as in recent years many new things in a new term is gradually for the general accepted by people.
Hi Jody,
I am the doctor who worked with Matt to develop the pizza diet and I noted your comment about calories. Here’s the thing: it is not about calories. The concept I conveyed to Matt is that proper choice of food componenets on each slice helps to meter insulin production (as well as glucagon) to provide a consistent stream of energy and a release of stored fat simultaneously, without spiking insulin. Spikes in insulin creste damaging effects to the body and storage of residual sugars converted to fat. This is the problem with diabetics who just eat whatever they want and shoot up more insulin. It is a rapidly aging cycle.
Hope that makes sense.
Regards,
Dr. Christopher Jackson, PhD, DOM
hi
Really,
Do you believe this? This guy Matt trained with a 16 yr old Nationally rank triathlete for 1.5 hrs a day, then went to another trainer after that for another 1.5 hrs the same day for 30 days. You can eat anything if you train that hard. His blood work was also LOADED with sodium “OFF THE CHARTS” Everything in moderation. This guy Matt is just wanting his piece of the “PIE”by trying to convince people to eat pizza and be healthy.
I think this is a great way to show that no foods should ever be avoided or feared. This is just proving that pizza and other foods deemed “unhealthy” can be incorporated into a healthy diet when enjoyed in moderation. This experiment shows that moderation is key; not deprivation. I applaud Matt for stepping out of the box and standing behind his beliefs. And anyway, who DOESN’T love a good slice of pizza once in a while?
Met Matt and his buddies in front of Border’s in DC, while he was on his bike trip from Florida to NY City. He said he was promoting pizza as a “healthy” food and trying to change its poor image. He seemed like a nice guy,(even if Bill did all of the talking!)and he looked great!
your a phd, not a medical doctor, correct?
How wonderful it seems! It is valuable for us to read.
People, he’s a businessman. Think Subway…
i think your pizza looks great, what is the name of your business and where is it?
I mean 1 piece every 3 hours with in that 12 hour time period which would be 4 slices a day. I just wanted to clear my error.
I believe this works I wouldn’t see why not? The only problem is that as soon as he goes off this “pizza diet” he might gain the weight back but I see his point though. I wouldn’t recommend this diet but I think eating a healthier pizza would be good for a balanced diet, not eating four pieces every three hours.
and also, why not 1 slice every 3 hours for 24 hours, instead of 12 hours?
Large or medium size pizza?
Hello, everyone. I have been reading the comments and I would like to backup what Matt has stated. As his physician, I have discussed with Matt the concept of metering the level of insulin being produced by using portion control and balancing the food groups of protein, fat and carbs. This is a fundamental part of the pizza diet we developed and I am quite sure that this has contributed significantly to its success. His progress physically was tracked using bloodwork testing which I ordered for him at the very beginning of the diet and at the end of the 30 days. Testing was also done intermittently during the 30 days. The testing verified his health improvements and helped me keep him on the right track to ensure that we did not have anything near the horrendous results seen by Morgan Spurlock with McDonalds. This said, we did not anticipate such a result because pizza is a healthier food without the trans-fats and MSG found in fast food. As Matt stated, this was one of the main points we were making with the diet. I am open to any questions or constructive discussion.
Cheers!
Matt-
Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment and addressing some of the negativity. I think it’s great that you were able to prove that eating pizza can be a healthy way to lose weight. Besides pizza is one of the greatest foods ever invented!
I agree that pizza is a lot healthier for you than most other fast food. I could eat it for most meals, although probably the worst part of the pizza is the crust (yes, I have been known to make (and eat) only the pie filling and not the crust).
If you swapped out the crust with a portobello mushroom, or use one of the high fiber breads (for a quick toaster pizza if the bread taste is what you like), it would be even healthier, and faster to make, since you don’t have to wait for dough to rise.
WOW…So negative….Why can’t people understand that this was not a publicity stunt? It was simple nutrition: 1 slice every three hours, each slice had different nutritional value, and I execised 1 hour 5 days a week. The whole concept was to prove that pizza is healthier than all the other “Fast Food”. We are trained to eat pizza wrong….consume a whole pizza with a 2 liter of soda or 6 pack of beer and fall asleep watching tv.(you wouldn’t do the same with a salad even though some salads are more than 2500 calories) I had professionals monitoring me and eye witnesses at every turn so if you have any doubt or questions please respond…I have nothing to hide.
JC…9% is real brother…the key was 1 slice every 3 hours so my insulin did not spike then crash. Kept burning fat all day
Thanks for your time,
Matt
I must agree w Matt that this works if u do it right. I was laid off and on a budget so i at a large Lil Ceasars pizza for 28 days and lost body fat gained mass and lots of muscle. Being a soccer player, cage fighter, construction worker and hyper-glycemic this diet kept kept me full of energy and always ready to go. What people dont understand is u can have the best diet in the world but you have to get off yur ass and raise yur heart rate to loose weight. Also one thing dieters never take into consideration is genetics. Genetics plays a huge part on yur body and the way it reacts to foods. Just for the record im a 30 yr old male.
Does anyone else not think it’s ridiculous that he supposedly dropped from 19% to 9% body fat in 30 days? heh
I think pizza, hamburgers or whatever can be part of a healthy diet from a total calorie standpoint. Not sure why some foods are deemed unhealthy unless it is overeaten.
I read an article that said having the freedom to eat what you want – but controlling the calories was and is the most successful way that people lose weight.
I think that’s a great test even though you didn’t eat a meat lover pizza. But that’s OK with me because there are many different styles of pizza. I always thought that if you top a pizza is a healthy way it really couldn’t be that bad.
I like to put chicken, sliced tomatoes, broccoli,onions,zucchini, with 2% mozzarella and that’s yummy.
I did not say that. I am not a low low fat person.. I eat about 30% but not everyone wants to eat 40%+++ of their calories from fat & for some, that leads to obesity & illness. Everyone is different & you ought to understand that. It is not your way or the highway. We all have the right to follow a plan that is best for us & that we like & we can live with long term & still feel good.
I am with you FJ!
I am not even sure if you are responding to me BUT I was talking about the pizza hut type pizzas that most people buy here in the US…. they are loaded with plenty of calories. He was not eating what a typical person here in the US would buy for pizza. He also did not hold everything else constant.
Meh, it’s the same principle as the guy that lost weight eating nothing but McDonald’s for 30 days. You can lose weight eating anything you want…SlimFast shakes, pizza, burgers, Subway sandwiches, bacon, whatever. As long as you’re burning more calories than you’re taking in, you’ll lose weight.
It’s only gonna work for him for as long as he can maintain that all-pizza diet. God knows I’d get sick of it in 3 days. I’d rather go all-protein than to go on a pure pizza diet.. eww.
Why can’t people just accept that the only reasonable way to maintain a healthy weight is to exercise and move more and eat a proper amount of calories for an individual activity level?? It’s so stupid that people would buy these lame books to lose weight…
Ohh big whoop… his total daily caloric expenditure was greater than his intake and he managed to drop weight. ALL HAIL THE PIZZA DIET! YES!
This is so lame.
I never agree with fast food like pizza and burgers. Whatever the new technique they bring to attain the interest of common people that much harm it does to common people. They might use alternatives for particular product but it appears to be a nightmare.
What’s wrong with eating fat?
Traditional? First pizza dough is usually made with olive oil and even the greatest of fat fear-mongers acknowledge that, Second the most traditional pizza is cheese from grass fed cows in Italy, TOMATO sauces and olive oil dough/crust. Third, there have been many types of toppings over the years, not just a meat lovers type of pizza. You have dropped weight, and found a way to keep it off but in the process have closed your mind off completely. I’m so sick of the “higher fat” or high fat nonsense my head is going to explode. FAT ISN’T bad, even saturated fat. Transfats are bad..why bother? This is site is the lowfat gateway! I commend your consistency.
Well, he was NOT eating a traditional pizza with higher fat ingredients & it sounded like he changed his workout program in terms of exercise so… he actually went on a sort of diet since he did not keep all the factors the same when he did this PLUS he choose a lower fat version of pizza. I also wonder if he cut calories since we do not know what his calorie count was before he started this. His good results may be just that he cut calories, exercised more & changed things up.