Do you eat pizza every week?
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MontyMuttland wrote: »The pizza topic comes up on this forum pretty regularly and there's always a division of opinion about how good or otherwise pizza is for you, often with complaints about people demonising pizza as some kind of anti-food.
The point that nobody can dispute is that if you eat a quantity of pizza that is within your daily calorie allowance, then you won't gain weight from it, the same as any other food or drink you consume.
However, that doesn't change the fact that pizza isn't a great choice from a nutritional point of view, so not really an awesome choice for anyone who is struggling to control their weight.
Before jumping down my throat about the last statement, I would urge you to read this article:
http://physiqonomics.com/eating-too-much/
It's been linked in many topics and is an essential read for anyone looking to understand more about nutrition and being in control of what you're eating.
Those who cannot bear to read it all should at least scroll down to the section about Calorie Density to gain a better understanding of why pizza isn't such a great food choice.
It's calorie dense and often pretty high in fat too.
As someone living in the UK, I looked up several types of pizza available to buy here, to get an idea of the calorie density.
You can repeat the same exercise wherever you are in the world and find similar results.
In the UK, many pizzas are pretty small, the ones I looked at ranging from 345g to 450g for the entire pizza, though some 600g+ examples can be found here as well.
The pizzas contain between 220 calories and 300 calories per 100g (depending mostly on the toppings and type of base).
Now 100g of pizza is a tiny amount by anyone's standard, and I doubt there are many people who would only eat that amount in one meal.
I'm not here to argue how much people actually do eat, just to say that at that density of calories, you're soon racking up big numbers without actually eating a whole big amount of food.
For comparison I had a look at some pizzas available from Walmart in the USA and noted that a medium pizza over there was typically 700-750g and an extra large was anything 1275g+
If nothing else, that shows that a typical slice of pizza in the US is somewhat bigger than you'll typically get in the UK, so when people say they only have a couple of slices, you really can't tell too much from that. It could be just 200g of pizza, but it could also be 500g of pizza.
Of course it's possible to make pizzas that are far lower in calories, you'll see people giving details of their own creations all the time, so let's not be saying categorically that pizza is evil.
But on average it's just not great.
If you're on a reduced calorie diet to try and lose weight, there are far better food choices you can make to sustain your body and keep hunger at bay.
I somewhat disagree...I go to my local pizzeria and usually get either the Greg's or a veggie supreme...both are topped with a ton of veg and the Greg's also has added Canadian bacon and Italian sausage. We get their thin crust as my wife and I don't care for a big doughy crust and it also comes with 25% less toppings and costs 25% less as well...I think it's a fine choice.
Regardless, in the context of my overall diet, it's pretty immaterial as we usually get pizza 2-3 times per month...not really a big deal in context.0 -
honestly we did order pizza once per week until last week. we ate as usual, and i did a very intense cross fit routine and when i sweated, it smelled like pizza. i was so disgusted and i could smell it for two days even after bathing a million times. honestly i am not sure if i can ever eat pizza again.
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I can't have pizza. Because I won't be able to stop at 1 slice
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Curious: are pizza slices very big elsewhere? I see many people saying they can't stop at one slice. Here a slice of pizza is about 200 calories, of course one slice would not be enough. 200 calories of anything is usually not enough for a meal.0
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amusedmonkey wrote: »Curious: are pizza slices very big elsewhere? I see many people saying they can't stop at one slice. Here a slice of pizza is about 200 calories, of course one slice would not be enough. 200 calories of anything is usually not enough for a meal.
Depends on where you go. I only go to a local place down the road from my house...slice size depends on overall pie size. My wife and I usually split a small and the slices are relatively small.0 -
Eat anything you enjoy, just fit it into your calories/macros
Personally I don't get why people enjoy pizza so much, if I have a slice or two once every few months that's enough. But Indian food, well that's different
each to their own. 0 -
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Yes! Every Friday night, I always have a deficit that day but have lost 12kg nevertheless in 100 days ;-) I tend to eat light during the week, take my lunch to work, mostly lentil salads...0
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Can you manage your calorie intake when eating pizza?
If not then you need to learn to be more disciplined with your eating habits.
If you can then why are you asking us?
It is just protein, fat and carbs. Nothing magical or special about it if you are just worried about "losing weight."
I don't eat it often because my protein and carb intake could be written off with too much fat in my diet, but I am particular about my training goals. I eat to get bigger...
But I will not turn up my nose at a piece or two for no reason.
My goals and lifestyle aren't necessarily yours. In fact, I doubt they are close.
But every week? No.0 -
Friday night is pizza night in this house.0
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MontyMuttland wrote: »The pizza topic comes up on this forum pretty regularly and there's always a division of opinion about how good or otherwise pizza is for you, often with complaints about people demonising pizza as some kind of anti-food.
The point that nobody can dispute is that if you eat a quantity of pizza that is within your daily calorie allowance, then you won't gain weight from it, the same as any other food or drink you consume.
However, that doesn't change the fact that pizza isn't a great choice from a nutritional point of view, so not really an awesome choice for anyone who is struggling to control their weight.
Depends on the pizza (how can you comment on the nutrition without knowing what's on it?), depends on the person's calorie goal, other choices, etc. Basically what people take issue with in pizza, I guess, is that it's usually made with white flour and cheese (and olive oil, vegetables, and maybe -- but often not -- processed meat, as well as mushrooms, olives, variety of other things -- I have posted a huge variety of different meat and seafood toppings, as well as vegetable ones from a local place, for example, and many of us make our own, including with whole wheat crusts, less or no cheese, so on).
So let's say it's a classic pizza with white flour, cheese, tomatoes, olive oil, spinach, mushrooms, green peppers, and olives (one of my favorite combinations, although I also like egg and artichoke hearts and arugula, among others). What's wrong with that? Low protein? But what if the rest of the day had more protein and less fat and carbs to prepare? White flour? But it's okay to have that occasionally and I rarely have it otherwise, why would it be bad or ruin a day nutritionally? Also, how different from pasta or a sandwich or, say, Ethiopian food, which many would agree can fit in a day without being nutritionally problematic? Olive oil? Heck, I have that with lots of meals. The vegetables? Surely not. The cheese? Again, I wouldn't have lots and lots of cheese with every meal, but having some (especially with one occasional meal here) seems weird to find problematic. I have cheese for dessert more often than I have pizza.
The pizzas I eat are quite filling for the calories and even if they were not, it's one meal, surely people occasionally have a calorie dense meal without that being a nutritional problem. For example, I quite like a sandwich from a local place involving madrange ham, gruyere, jalapenos, avocado, and mango chutney, comes with almonds on the side. More calorie dense and for some of the same reasons (bread, cheese) as the pizza, and yet no one claims that's not a real meal or is nutritionally terrible or pure junk food or any such thing.
I enjoy talking about nutrition and think I do know something about it, so if you have something that you think I'm misunderstanding, I'd love to know.0 -
amusedmonkey wrote: »Curious: are pizza slices very big elsewhere? I see many people saying they can't stop at one slice. Here a slice of pizza is about 200 calories, of course one slice would not be enough. 200 calories of anything is usually not enough for a meal.
I think a thin crust slice would be around 200-250 on average, depending where it's from, what's on it, and I'd assume 2-3 was reasonable, maybe more if a high cal day or saved up for a big pizza dinner. I enjoy pizza as a nice post long run meal, get it from a local Italian place (we eat in, as the atmosphere is nice) and have a salad with it. I usually don't log, but it's probably similar to any other restaurant evening.0 -
Had pizza today. Hit my macros almost perfectly, one of the best days I've had, actually. A day isn't about one meal on its own.1
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No I only have pizza once or maybe twice a year!!! Too many carbs/calories for me.0
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no it's too heavy and i like to weigh everyday0
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rikkejanell2014 wrote: »If you are able to fit it in your calories? I do once a week. 1 slice of fresh prepared cheese pizza at whole foods is 235 calories. I know I fit the calories into my deficit but I always feel like when eating things like pizza or a fried chicken sandwich from chick fila ( which is 440 calories) that I'm hauling my weight loss. Anyone else feel this way?
If you eat those high sodium and high carb foods on a regular basis then it can halt your weight loss. If you are doing it only occasionally then it won't. I can lose much better when not eating high sodium fast food but a sandwich from Chick-fil-a every weekend for instance wouldn't mess with my weight loss, but if I ate one a few times a week it would.
And of course you also have to factor in if it fits in your calories for the day but still the sodium would get me if I did it too many times throughout one week consistently.0 -
perkymommy wrote: »rikkejanell2014 wrote: »If you are able to fit it in your calories? I do once a week. 1 slice of fresh prepared cheese pizza at whole foods is 235 calories. I know I fit the calories into my deficit but I always feel like when eating things like pizza or a fried chicken sandwich from chick fila ( which is 440 calories) that I'm hauling my weight loss. Anyone else feel this way?
If you eat those high sodium and high carb foods on a regular basis then it can halt your weight loss. If you are doing it only occasionally then it won't. I can lose much better when not eating high sodium fast food but a sandwich from Chick-fil-a every weekend for instance wouldn't mess with my weight loss, but if I ate one a few times a week it would.
And of course you also have to factor in if it fits in your calories for the day but still the sodium would get me if I did it too many times throughout one week consistently.
Even if someone eats high sodium and/or high carbohdyrate foods regularly, they'll still lose weight as long as they are in a calorie deficit. Having a day that is higher in sodium or carbohydrates can lead to temporary water weight gain, but one will still see a weight loss over time even if one is sometimes retaining water. You just have to pay attention to the long term trend and ignore the "noise" of temporary water retention.
The only way someone wouldn't lose weight while regularly eating Chic-Fil-A is if it kept them from meeting their calorie goals.0 -
cheriej2042 wrote: »No I only have pizza once or maybe twice a year!!! Too many carbs/calories for me.
I really can't speak to the carb piece, although I know some people make cauliflower crust (shudder) to address this, but I'm curious about the "too many calories" comment. People have posted dozens of different pizza ideas which should fit in pretty much any calorie allotment. It just doesn't seem like that should be the reason to avoid eating pizza, if one enjoys it. I ate one of the most notoriously unhealthy pizza options last week - 1/4 of a large pepperoni pizza from Domino's, and it was still only 600 calories. Even if a person is on a 1200 cal goal, that could fit in, especially if a person is doing any exercise at all.0 -
WinoGelato wrote: »cheriej2042 wrote: »No I only have pizza once or maybe twice a year!!! Too many carbs/calories for me.
I really can't speak to the carb piece, although I know some people make cauliflower crust (shudder) to address this, but I'm curious about the "too many calories" comment. People have posted dozens of different pizza ideas which should fit in pretty much any calorie allotment. It just doesn't seem like that should be the reason to avoid eating pizza, if one enjoys it. I ate one of the most notoriously unhealthy pizza options last week - 1/4 of a large pepperoni pizza from Domino's, and it was still only 600 calories. Even if a person is on a 1200 cal goal, that could fit in, especially if a person is doing any exercise at all.
I feel like this gets discussed all the time (not criticizing you for writing this, I think it's a very valid point). It seems like whenever people say it has too many calories and then someone points out that there is a pizza choice for just about any calorie goal, it always then turns into "Well, I don't believe most people can eat the amount of pizza that fits their goals."
The goalposts are always moving on this.1 -
janejellyroll wrote: »WinoGelato wrote: »cheriej2042 wrote: »No I only have pizza once or maybe twice a year!!! Too many carbs/calories for me.
I really can't speak to the carb piece, although I know some people make cauliflower crust (shudder) to address this, but I'm curious about the "too many calories" comment. People have posted dozens of different pizza ideas which should fit in pretty much any calorie allotment. It just doesn't seem like that should be the reason to avoid eating pizza, if one enjoys it. I ate one of the most notoriously unhealthy pizza options last week - 1/4 of a large pepperoni pizza from Domino's, and it was still only 600 calories. Even if a person is on a 1200 cal goal, that could fit in, especially if a person is doing any exercise at all.
I feel like this gets discussed all the time (not criticizing you for writing this, I think it's a very valid point). It seems like whenever people say it has too many calories and then someone points out that there is a pizza choice for just about any calorie goal, it always then turns into "Well, I don't believe most people can eat the amount of pizza that fits their goals."
The goalposts are always moving on this.
If I have 1200 calories a day to eat, I'm not going to waste it on 2 measly pieces of pizza at 600 calories. I'd be hungry 2 hours later, and would then probably go over my calories for the day. Yeah I could make my own from a really thin wrap, but if I eat pizza, I like a thick crust, and lots of toppings. My favorite pizza is 450 calories a piece. So, yeah, I choose to not eat it because I don't have that many calories to waste on something not very filling.1 -
musicfan68 wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »WinoGelato wrote: »cheriej2042 wrote: »No I only have pizza once or maybe twice a year!!! Too many carbs/calories for me.
I really can't speak to the carb piece, although I know some people make cauliflower crust (shudder) to address this, but I'm curious about the "too many calories" comment. People have posted dozens of different pizza ideas which should fit in pretty much any calorie allotment. It just doesn't seem like that should be the reason to avoid eating pizza, if one enjoys it. I ate one of the most notoriously unhealthy pizza options last week - 1/4 of a large pepperoni pizza from Domino's, and it was still only 600 calories. Even if a person is on a 1200 cal goal, that could fit in, especially if a person is doing any exercise at all.
I feel like this gets discussed all the time (not criticizing you for writing this, I think it's a very valid point). It seems like whenever people say it has too many calories and then someone points out that there is a pizza choice for just about any calorie goal, it always then turns into "Well, I don't believe most people can eat the amount of pizza that fits their goals."
The goalposts are always moving on this.
If I have 1200 calories a day to eat, I'm not going to waste it on 2 measly pieces of pizza at 600 calories. I'd be hungry 2 hours later, and would then probably go over my calories for the day. Yeah I could make my own from a really thin wrap, but if I eat pizza, I like a thick crust, and lots of toppings. My favorite pizza is 450 calories a piece. So, yeah, I choose to not eat it because I don't have that many calories to waste on something not very filling.
It's fine if someone chooses not to eat something because they don't think it's worth the calories or because they know the portion size they can fit it won't keep them full. But those are different things than pizza -- all pizza everywhere -- having "too many calories." Your personal favorite version of pizza having too many calories for you to comfortably fit into a 1,200 calorie plan says more about your favorite version of pizza than it does about all pizzas on earth.
I don't think two pieces of pizza are a "waste," even when I am eating fewer calories. Other people disagree, that's what personal preferences are all about.
My favorite version of chocolate cake is a huge piece covered with tons of frosting and lots of toasted pecans mixed in. It would be virtually impossible to fit the type of cake I like in the portion size I prefer on a 1,200 calorie plan. This doesn't mean that chocolate cake has too many calories. There are tons of tweaks I could make in order for it to fit better or I could adjust the serving size. It's my choice if I want to or not. Regardless of my choice, it doesn't mean people can't eat chocolate cake each week and lose weight.
This is what I'm talking about with goalpost moving. When someone challenges that pizza has "too many calories," suddenly it turns into "Well, I want to eat 1,000 calories worth of pizza and I can't" or "But my absolute favorite pizza is [X} and it's hard to fit in."1 -
musicfan68 wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »WinoGelato wrote: »cheriej2042 wrote: »No I only have pizza once or maybe twice a year!!! Too many carbs/calories for me.
I really can't speak to the carb piece, although I know some people make cauliflower crust (shudder) to address this, but I'm curious about the "too many calories" comment. People have posted dozens of different pizza ideas which should fit in pretty much any calorie allotment. It just doesn't seem like that should be the reason to avoid eating pizza, if one enjoys it. I ate one of the most notoriously unhealthy pizza options last week - 1/4 of a large pepperoni pizza from Domino's, and it was still only 600 calories. Even if a person is on a 1200 cal goal, that could fit in, especially if a person is doing any exercise at all.
I feel like this gets discussed all the time (not criticizing you for writing this, I think it's a very valid point). It seems like whenever people say it has too many calories and then someone points out that there is a pizza choice for just about any calorie goal, it always then turns into "Well, I don't believe most people can eat the amount of pizza that fits their goals."
The goalposts are always moving on this.
If I have 1200 calories a day to eat, I'm not going to waste it on 2 measly pieces of pizza at 600 calories. I'd be hungry 2 hours later, and would then probably go over my calories for the day. Yeah I could make my own from a really thin wrap, but if I eat pizza, I like a thick crust, and lots of toppings. My favorite pizza is 450 calories a piece. So, yeah, I choose to not eat it because I don't have that many calories to waste on something not very filling.
600 calories of pizza can be quite substantial, depending on the pizza.
When I had 1250 calories, I occasionally had pizza, although usually it was on a weekend when I had exercise calories. However, I occasionally have 2 pieces of pizza at lunch (my office does Friday lunches and pizza is one of the only vegetarian things they can think of during Lent so we get it a lot then and occasionally at other times). Anyway, it's pretty filling (and more like 450-500 calories, maybe 600 if I have salad too, which I may well). Occasionally I have one deep dish piece and salad, which is about the same, and also plenty filling. But for me I could skip lunch and not be starving as it's not like I'm not having another meal soon enough -- no one is saying just have pizza that day.
I guess I don't see how pizza is inherently less filling than many other things -- if you choose it has protein (my issue is I usually don't get much protein with pizza so have to plan around it, but that's because of my preferences), it certainly has lots of fat, and you can have a piece with lots of veg or have salad with it -- vegetables are filling for me. I mean, I guess if someone thinks their meals can only be meat and veg or are not filling then pizza would be tough to fit in (I tend to get filled up easily on that kind of diet so could easily add in pizza for one meal if doing 1200 and not exercising), but most of the time the other meals don't strike me as any more filling.
But sure, people find different things filling. I just don't get declaring that pizza can't be satisfying or must be too many calories and leave you starving as if this were the case for all and were inherent in pizza.1 -
janejellyroll wrote: »musicfan68 wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »WinoGelato wrote: »cheriej2042 wrote: »No I only have pizza once or maybe twice a year!!! Too many carbs/calories for me.
I really can't speak to the carb piece, although I know some people make cauliflower crust (shudder) to address this, but I'm curious about the "too many calories" comment. People have posted dozens of different pizza ideas which should fit in pretty much any calorie allotment. It just doesn't seem like that should be the reason to avoid eating pizza, if one enjoys it. I ate one of the most notoriously unhealthy pizza options last week - 1/4 of a large pepperoni pizza from Domino's, and it was still only 600 calories. Even if a person is on a 1200 cal goal, that could fit in, especially if a person is doing any exercise at all.
I feel like this gets discussed all the time (not criticizing you for writing this, I think it's a very valid point). It seems like whenever people say it has too many calories and then someone points out that there is a pizza choice for just about any calorie goal, it always then turns into "Well, I don't believe most people can eat the amount of pizza that fits their goals."
The goalposts are always moving on this.
If I have 1200 calories a day to eat, I'm not going to waste it on 2 measly pieces of pizza at 600 calories. I'd be hungry 2 hours later, and would then probably go over my calories for the day. Yeah I could make my own from a really thin wrap, but if I eat pizza, I like a thick crust, and lots of toppings. My favorite pizza is 450 calories a piece. So, yeah, I choose to not eat it because I don't have that many calories to waste on something not very filling.
It's fine if someone chooses not to eat something because they don't think it's worth the calories or because they know the portion size they can fit it won't keep them full. But those are different things than pizza -- all pizza everywhere -- having "too many calories." Your personal favorite version of pizza having too many calories for you to comfortably fit into a 1,200 calorie plan says more about your favorite version of pizza than it does about all pizzas on earth.
I don't think two pieces of pizza are a "waste," even when I am eating fewer calories. Other people disagree, that's what personal preferences are all about.
My favorite version of chocolate cake is a huge piece covered with tons of frosting and lots of toasted pecans mixed in. It would be virtually impossible to fit the type of cake I like in the portion size I prefer on a 1,200 calorie plan. This doesn't mean that chocolate cake has too many calories. There are tons of tweaks I could make in order for it to fit better or I could adjust the serving size. It's my choice if I want to or not. Regardless of my choice, it doesn't mean people can't eat chocolate cake each week and lose weight.
This is what I'm talking about with goalpost moving. When someone challenges that pizza has "too many calories," suddenly it turns into "Well, I want to eat 1,000 calories worth of pizza and I can't" or "But my absolute favorite pizza is [X} and it's hard to fit in."
Couldn't have said it better myself. It says nothing about pizza as an item, it says everything about one person's preferences. If that's a valid criticism for pizza, then me being completely satisfied with 600 calories worth of pizza is valid "proof" that pizza, as a general term, is something everyone can eat every day. Some foods just have this "fattening" halo unfairly attached to them. Why would anyone want to be on a 1200 calorie diet if they are capable of losing on a higher calorie allowance is a whole other story.1 -
I think last week I had it on 3 different nights. I try to limit myself to one slice and a big salad on the side.
On Wed we went to Blaze and I had an entire Vine pizza that clocked in around 650 calories, but I made it work under my 1400 calorie limit. The crust is very thin on that pizza....god, it's so good!!0 -
I order dominos most weeks. It will be my downfall0
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Why would anyone want to be on a 1200 calorie diet if they are capable of losing on a higher calorie allowance is a whole other story.
Well, that sounds really judgemental. Some of us aren't capable of losing on a higher calorie allowance. I am 4'10" and physically disabled and that is the calorie limit. I tried eating more on the advice of a guy at my gym who has a degree in exercise science and nutrition. He said to eat around 1700 calories. I've gained weight doing that. And it isn't really a matter of "wanting" to be on 1200 calories. I'd rather be on 2000 calories, but I don't want to gain more weight. There are a lot of things to me that aren't worth it if I want to hit my calories and macros. I'd love to have a bag of M&Ms but too many calories and throws off my macros.
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I don't, but would if I wanted to.
In other words, when I want pizza, I have pizza. I just don't always want it...0 -
musicfan68 wrote: »Why would anyone want to be on a 1200 calorie diet if they are capable of losing on a higher calorie allowance is a whole other story.
Well, that sounds really judgemental. Some of us aren't capable of losing on a higher calorie allowance. I am 4'10" and physically disabled and that is the calorie limit. I tried eating more on the advice of a guy at my gym who has a degree in exercise science and nutrition. He said to eat around 1700 calories. I've gained weight doing that. And it isn't really a matter of "wanting" to be on 1200 calories. I'd rather be on 2000 calories, but I don't want to gain more weight. There are a lot of things to me that aren't worth it if I want to hit my calories and macros. I'd love to have a bag of M&Ms but too many calories and throws off my macros.
If you aren't capable of losing weight on a higher calorie allowance, then the statement doesn't apply to you at all and there is no judgment there.
That said, while some people do need 1,200 to lose, most people can probably eat more. So using "It's hard to fit in on 1,200 calories" wouldn't be reason most people couldn't fit pizza into a weight loss plan (if they wanted to).0 -
We have Flatbread Fridays. We go to Flatbread Pizza Co. and get ourselves a market salad, pizza, and a beer or two. We always go to the gym on Fridays, and I make sure to stick close to my calorie deficit during the week. Like many others on the thread, I typically gain a pound or two the next morning, and then it's gone on Sunday.
I need to have pizza in order to stay sane on my weight loss journey!
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