High Carb Day: Pizza done right

The point of the IIFYM lifestyle is to hit your goals in a healthy way – no deprivation and never having to say no to your favorite foods. Everything in moderation, y’all. 

The hubs hopped on the macro bandwagon a few months ago with the help of our amazing coach, Ashley, the owner of Grit Health and Fitness (3 years in, and I trust this girl with EVERYTHING. She’s a pro.). Since then, pizza on Saturdays – high carb day / refeed day for both of us – has become our thing.

Think about it. You CAN have pizza and still look amazing. You’ve just gotta make HEALTHY pizza!  Here’s how:

The dough

You can use your favorite dough recipe or pick up premade dough from the store. Roll the dough super thin when making it yourself or search out a dough made for thin crust pizzas. Thinner pizza = bigger pizza = fewer carbs per slice = MORE PIZZA!

The toppings 

Our favorite pizzas are packed with protein, keep the cheese to the minimum, and add in lots of veggies for volume. We add 2T tomato paste for sauce + salt + pepper and move to the toppings! 

A few ideas: 

• Goat cheese (goes much further than mozzarella for the fat grams), chicken sausage, spinach, roasted tomatoes, and garlic, with a balsamic drizzle and a little basil added after baking
• Goat cheese, chicken, mushrooms, artichoke hearts, and onions
• Light shredded mozzarella, chicken, red onion, cilantro, red bell pepper, with a siracha drizzle. Add a little hoisin sauce if you’ve got the carbs. 
• Light shredded mozzarella, turkey pepperoni, green bell peppers, onions, and mushrooms

Want more cheese? Warm some fat free ricotta in a sauce pan and drop a bit on your pizza. Yum! 

What topping combos should we try next weekend?