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Every weight loss thing you didn't want to know about pizza

Everyone loves pizza but I’m sure not everyone wants to know how uncool it is for your weight loss progress.

Recently one of my b5 bosses, Jeremy Wright, over at Ensight started a weight loss program but decided to have pizza for lunch one day last week. I bravely took it upon myself to warn him of the fat dangers of pizza and save him from certain weight loss doom.

What is good about pizza?

Firstly I thought I’d look at the good side of pizza because I thought I would get the easy short stuff out of the way first.

If you really wanted to find some positive elements to the good old pizza then you would first look to the vegetables on top. Vegetables are high in fiber, minerals, vitamins and just about every other nutrient your body needs to be healthy and fat free. In fact, some vegetables will even help you burn fat because they take up so much energy to digest. Digestion is one of the body’s most energy consuming process so vegetables are great.

Next you would look to the tomato paste. Tomato’s have been shown to be one of natures best anti-cancer fruits (it’s a fruit!) and recent studies have had interesting results for preventing prostate cancer in men. What is even better is that when you cook a tomato certain chemical reactions take place and it becomes even healthier. It is one of the only natural foods that become more healthy with cooking.

Thirdly, you might argue that the protein and iron found in the meat is good for muscle gain and other weight loss practices.

That is about it for the pizza positives - and sadly, the positive elements have often been corrupted by other ingredients.

What is bad about a pizza?

Now for the juicy stuff that you all don’t want to hear. Here are the main reasons why you shouldn’t choose pizza if you are on a weight loss program.

1. It is high in salt
Salt is like a leech that sucks and damages all the other nutrients that it encounters. People think that it is not so bad for you when you are trying to lose weight but they couldn’t be further from the truth.

Many nutritionists will tell you the truth which is that the weight gain caused by salt is water retention. This is true and if you have a high salt plus sodium diet you will hold water which will appear as weight gain. However, what they often fail to mention is that salt will damage your heart and your metabolism, both of which are very negative effects.

And, it is the salt that ruins the lovely tomato paste. Huge amounts are added to enhance the flavor.

2. High in fat
Not all fats are bad for you but, alas, the fats in pizza are. Saturated fats are found in the pizza base and the cheese and usually amount to about 20 grams. With nine calories for every gram of fat that makes pizza not a good choice.

3. The sugar
But, the real fat loss killer is the sugar. As in almost any take away or man made food that you can find there is more sugar than you can poke a treadmill at. And the fact of the matter is, low-fat foods are particularly high in sugar. As painful and confusing as it is to hear, not all low fat foods are good fat loss choices as they are so high in sugar. How else are they going to make it taste good?

Some people will tell you that pizza is good for you

Domino’s Pizza released some interesting “facts” about pizza recently which state that we are all actually wrong and pizza is, in fact, a good healthy meal choice. Here’s what they have to say:

* Pizza is essentially a meal in itself, as you can find foods from the four basic food groups in one slice.
* A crunchy thin crust Domino’s pizza contains less than half the carbohydrates of Domino’s classic hand-tossed pizza.
* None of the core products on Domino’s menu (pizza, bread side items, chicken) contain trans fats.
* Customers seeking a healthier pizza have the option of ordering their pizza with a lighter portion of cheese.

Ignore it.

What else is wrong with pizza?

One of the main things people overlook when they order a pizza is what comes with the pizza. Do you order a beer? Do you feel so full after you don’t go for the exercise you were planning on doing? Do you think that seeing as you’ve already ruined today’s weight loss diet you may as well have another junk meal?

Eat it anyway!

In the end, we all need a cheat day or two and we cannot take weight loss too seriously or we are going to drop it like a bad habit. People don’t want to be told what they cannot do, they want to know what they can do. This is why you need to start looking at what is a good thing to eat and start enjoying it and learning to love the healthy feeling and lifestyle. An occasional pizza isn’t going to kill you.

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