Matt McClellan and his pizza diet. Image Via: The Consumerist
Who doesn’t love pizza? If you add tons of veggies, limit the cheese and meat toppings, and make the pie from a whole-grain crust, then you have yourself a health food. Kind of.
Cyclist and Florida pizzeria owner Matt McClellan is setting out to prove that pizza can in fact be a healthy choice by biking from St. Petersburg to New York City. And for the 30 days of his trek, he will eat nothing but pizza.
McClellan actually did the 30-Day Pizza Diet a few years ago and lost 24 pounds. On the diet, he ate nothing but pizza, up to eight slices a day, and limited his toppings to veggies, part-skim mozzarella cheese and a few other select items like lean chicken breast, pineapple and avocado. Pork, red meats and extra cheese were off limits.
By following his self-created mono-diet, he was able to lower his body fat percentage, cholesterol and blood pressure. He also exercised every day.
On his East coast pizza expedition, he is biking 90 miles a day and stopping every three hours to refuel on a few slices of pizza. McClellan began his journey on June 4 in Florida and intends to finish it on the 4th of July in Times Square, with a celebratory New York-style pizza pie.
Now, I have nothing against pizza. I love the stuff, and I’ve made it as a semi-healthy meal or complete nutritional nightmare. But if you’re engaging in intense physical activity every waking hour of your day, like McClellan is, whether it’s pizza or Krispy Kremes, you’re going to maintain your weight or even lose it, depending upon how fast you pedal.
Still, we wish the pizza biker nothing but luck and we’ll bring you an update of his pizza trek next month.