Can I have a takeaway pizza and still lose weight?

Slimmer_Amy

Hi, I have been using mfp for a year and a half and got from 13.5 stone to 9.5 . However so have recently gone off the rails food wise so to speak trying to maintain with out mfp... Big mistake. So now I am back on it.

I have a takeaway ten inch pizza and chips from my fave takeaway place every Saturday which I am sure is waaaaaay over my calorie allowance! Will this stop me from losing weight?? Should I change my takeaway year days to once fortnightly or monthly or just get rid all together?? I go to the gym five day a week too (but don't log it in mfp)

wgn4166

I have pizza about once a month. I make sure I have the calories to cover it tho.

PennStateChick

When I previously lost 67 pounds, I had pizza once a week. I gained weight back, and am back to losing. This time around, I'm down 11 pounds in just over a month and still eat pizza once a week. Personally, I eat veggies with my pizza so I'm not tempted to fill up on half a pizza. I have tried thin crust, but I don't like that as much so I just eat 2 slices of the pizza I do like. The benefit is that my boyfriend and 4 yr old help me finish it off so I don't eat the whole thing.

shmo1969

I is okay to have a cheat day, if it keeps you on track the rest of the week and you are still losing. Look up the calories for the pizza and see how many calories you have left over from exercise the entire week. And I would ditch the chips. Good luck!!

Heather_Rider

iave a cheat day every week where i drink beer and eat whatever i want & i still lose weight.

You didnt gain weight overnight.. so i dont see where one night will make you gain, as long as you do well the rest of the week!

ianh5979

The pizza will be at least 700 calories and the chips another 400

umachanxo

Just try and work it into your calories. But having a guilt free day once in a while is fine, in my opinion. It's worked for me - but just be careful not to let one guilt free derail you from your routine.

Bob314159

I have a single slice of pizza once a month and zero takeaway chips (only a small number of low fat frozen chips). A whole pizza and chips would set me back two weeks. Its ok to eat some "junk" food and still lose weight, but you have to limit the serving size.

LorinaLynn

I've had pizza once or twice a week, every week since I joined almost two years ago. Got to my goal weight in 6 months and have been maintaining since. All of my dinners any night of the week are between 800-1200 calories, so half a pizza fits in my goals nicely.

athryn

I save my guilt-free days for special occasions (holidays and birthdays) or a day when I've hit a milestone. Pizza is a pretty delicious (but evil) thing to be eating, so I would try to limit my intake of it, but at the very least I would log the calories so I would know what I was getting into. There's a lot of salt in cheese and restaurant food, which is going to make you retain water weight as well.

Logging everything that passes your lips (for me) is the only way to keep successful, because it keeps me responsible to myself.

fletchleg

I wouldn't have it once a week (it completely derails me for a few days when I do have a takeaway)...but I'm averaging one (and a splurge night) every 4-6 weeks. I suppose you could try it and just fit it in your calories or do an extra workout that day so you're not gonna be way over.

tomusiakl

No doubt. As long as you don't do this everyday. Eat everything in moderation.

JesterMFP

Yes you can, but from what you've said, you might do better at maintaining if you log everything... at least for the time being.

FLCullen

I cut out takeaways for a month and it made no impact on my loss (I didn't try to replace it either- e.g. with frozen pizzas- though I do eat frozen chips on a weekly basis). But different strokes for different folks and all that, so you could try it for a month and see how it goes. Alternatively, you could try eating a plate of steamed veggies while waiting for your pizza to arrive, and see if that makes you fuller sooner, cutting down on your pizza intake. Or you could try making a pizza from naan bread (these are so yum, but not exactly wholesome) or a tortilla wrap (my sister swears by this, and it is quite small) so you can at least measure your calories on MFP.

For me, life is a little bit better (or a little bit fatter) with the occasional bit of batter in it. I'm just going to live with it.

lsiberian

I eat all the types of food I ate before I started losing weight. I just eat smaller portions. 2 slices is typically a meal unless its a big pizza and then it's 1 slice.

SaundraM2009

For a while, I was eating pizza twice a week and definitely losing weight. I just didn't eat the WHOLE pizza. Stop when you're full. Don't get the meatiest greasiest pizza you can find.

chooriyah

I have 1/2 a thin crust veggie pizza about once a week and it doesn't seem to be hurting my progress too much.

I don't eat fried french fries at all though. If I want them I cut up a potato into chip shapes, toss in 1T olive oil, cover with salt, pepper and paprika and bake for an an hour. Delicious.

Nerdybreisawesome

I eat pizza once a week and still lose.

DopeItUp

Nope. Pizza has magic fat-adding properties. Sorry

hpsnickers1

Of course you can. I'm 111lbs - maintaining easily with high-fat eating - and will sit down and eat half a thin crust (with bacon, more bacon and black olives!! YUM! - and the alfredo sauce rather than tomato sauce - even better!) for dinner. I will also eat the entire thing depending on how hungry I am or how active I have been.

The majority of my food is real, whole food. It's not often I eat industrial commodities (what I call 90% of what you find in a grocery store). But I deprive myself of nothing (except candy)

I don't count calories anymore. I found out that eating moderate protein and high fat keeps me lean and healthy. Sometimes when I'm busy at work I'll down a can of full fat coconut milk (Thai Kitchen is my fave!). Within an hour I'm bouncing off the walls and have to get up and move or else I'm fidgeting at my desk.

Let's say I burn 2000 calories a day (this is my average). Conventional wisdom says I need to eat 2000 calories per day to maintain my weight. A calorie is a unit of energy only.

Our body takes a good chunk of the protein (amino acids) and fat (fatty acids - it prefers saturated fat and MUFAs by the way - it will keep PUFAs at only 4% in our body - more is toxic. Even the majority of the carbs we eat are converted into saturated fatty acids) we eat and uses it towards cellular (and body) repair and maintenance and not as energy intake. How can we apply these amino acids and fatty acids toward energy intake if the body doesn't use them as energy?

tinak33

I eat a slice of pizza for lunch 1-2 times a week. And I still lose weight.
Make sure you track everything you eat though. It helps to see how much you are putting in your body. After a while we start estimating and our estimated numbers get lower and lower little by little, and then when we start logging in our food we are amazed at how off we were.

Log all your food and exercise. But I see no problem with occasionally having pizza. It's my #1 weakness. haha
I can pass every fast food spot there is, unless its good pizza.

Lyssa62

we make our own here at home..that way we know EXACTLY what is going into it and on it!

RobinvdM

I have 2 slices of pizza once a week - with pizza it isn't the calories that mess ya up its the high sodium/water retention. I refuse to give up foods that I LOVE, like pizza. I've no idea if an entire "personal" size pizza is a good idea - youll have to figure that out for yourself. Perhaps half for supper on one night, and the other half for lunch the next day? I think it's great to figure out how to incorporate "real" food into your weight loss plan because sooner or later you're going to be faced with things outside of your control and you need to already comfortably know that having pizza one night isn't going to kill you.

You can eat pretty much anything you want to and lose weight. It's about calories in vs calories out. Plus, with high sodium days, lots of water

kkclif

Everyone deserves a treat every once in a while. It's what helps you stay on track As others have mentioned i would ditch the chips, go for veggies on your pizza instead of sausage or pepperoni, and opt for thin crust instead of deep dish. Some places even have gluten free/whole wheat crusts to cut some of the calories. If this is your only splurge the entire week, you will still lose the weight.

daisiemae123

Friday night is pizza night in my house. I changed to thin crust and eat either a salad or carrots and celery with a little light ranch dressing to keep myself from overeating the pizza.

Slimmer_Amy

I am a vegetarian so I only eat margerrita. It's only the one place a go to and it doesn't do thin crust etc. should I Jura like eat half a ten inch or just go to once a month and eat a full one?? Like if a saved calories each day I how long can I save them for? Each week ?

marnaER

I'm having my cheat night tonight and pizza is high on the menu. Lets talk next week about the effect it had.

rduhlir

If I do pizza, I usually get thin crust (it looks like you are getting more but in reality you are getting about the same serving as a pan or hand tossed crust). I pick ONE meat, ask for half cheese and pile as many veggies on as I can possibly afford for that night. Then I do one serving (for a Papa John's Thin crust one serving is 1/4 of a medium thin crust which turns out to be 4 slices) and pair it with a side salad and fruit (usually berries).

HollieDollieeeex

Why don't you try making your own 'skinny tortilla pizza' and load it with your choice of toppings and low fat cheese!

If you wanted chips - sweet potato fries are amazing & they're crisped up in the oven, rather than a deep fat fryer!

ejha77

Do some exercise on the same day, and reduce your portions slightly maybe.

NoeHead

I find that I am most successful in my journey now than in the past because I'm not cutting anything out completely, just cutting down proportions. I have splurge meals and even though I try and save my cals for the splurge I sometimes end up over.

sweat before the splurge sweat after