Pizza is, arguably, one of the greatest foods of all time. It’s not hard to see why, considering it combines some of the best ingredients ever: melted cheese, tomato sauce, toasted bread, and basically any topping you could imagine. It’s delicious, and we all wish we could eat more of it. But have you ever considered eating pizza for every single meal, every single day? One girl did it as an experiment, and the results will make you squint your eyes and tilt your head.
As an experiment for INSIDER, freelance writer Austen Tosone ate nothing but pizza for each meal, every day, for a week straight. While Austen says she didn’t gain any weight, down to the ounce (she weighed herself the day she started and the day she ended), we still can’t say this diet seems healthy in any way. Pizza is delicious, sure, but it’s also loaded with saturated fats, carbs, and dairy, all of which can raise cholesterol levels. And can you really imagine eating it every day?!
Before starting her experiment, Austen spoke with a nutritionist, who recommended she add a variety of fruits, veggies, lean proteins, whole grains, and healthy fats to her pizza slices. The nutritionist advised against eating cheese with every single meal, and suggested swapping out traditional crust for cauliflower crust or a Portobello mushroom.
In the end, though, Austen ended up sticking to a pretty simple pizza diet.
I ate pizza for every meal for a week — and I somehow didn't gain any weight https://t.co/qzzGEI0y86
— Insider (@thisisinsider) August 13, 2018
After reading the article, we counted that she consumed at least 16 slices of plain cheese pizza (sometimes with other toppings), five slices of vodka sauce pizza, three slices of buffalo chicken pizza, two slices of Margherita pie, two slices of mushroom and ricotta pizza, and two slices of sausage-topped pizza.
We did the math, and what that comes out to, calorie-wise, is pretty unappetizing. In each slice of your average plain pizza, there are 272 calories. 16 slices adds up to a whopping 4,352 calories. In an average slice of buffalo chicken pizza, there are 351 calories, and for three of them, that’s 1,053. The average calories in a vodka slice is 360, so five slices means 1,800. In a generic slice of Margherita pizza, there are 170 calories, meaning she consumed 340 calories worth. In the average sausage slice, there are 325 calories, and she ate two slices, so there’s 650 calories. These slices alone come out to a grand total of 8,195 calories.
Now, the average amount of calories you need to consume each week to maintain, lose, or even gain weight depends on your height, your body type, and your gender.
Since 2,000 to 2,500 calories a day is typically considered average, 8,195 calories in a week doesn’t seem too bad. But then you have to consider that Austen consumed other things as well: she added avocados onto her pizza for a few meals, as well as toppings like Brie, mushrooms, ricotta, and prosciutto. She also wrote about drinking coffee, smoothies, beer, and wine. In addition, the calories in the pizza could have been higher than we estimated. All of that adds up! (Note: calories and weight do not equate to health. Multiple factors must be taken into consideration, which is between you and your doctor. This piece is merely looking at the amount of pizza that was consumed by the writer.)
Plus, there’s just the fact that pizza, unfortunately, isn’t exactly good for you. Between the cheese, the crust, the protein choices (buffalo chicken and sausage aren’t exactly healthy), and the alcohol, this week doesn’t seem like it was ideal for Austen’s health. But we have to admit: it does sound like it was a lot of fun!
