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Low Calorie Pizza

After years of avoiding food and being scared of it – I’ve finally embraced the fact I love it.

It’s still a topic I find hard to discuss though as I’ve always attached a sense of self worth to avoiding it. I know, despite everything, this will be something I’ll always need to work on.

But ??
There’s no reason you can’t enjoy food fully and still hit your goals. You just have to be smart.

Since we’ve been on lockdown and I’m not at the gym until 10pm every weeknight, I’ve been cooking for my parents. My mum has lost 5.5lbs in the last couple of weeks. Her activity levels have mostly been the same, so we’re chalking it down to meals.

My mum will likely need a heart operation this year, she has a pacemaker and it needs replacing. For the best results, she’s been advised to lose a little weight and that’s the only reason for a focus on weight-loss. She’s by no means overweight.

This week we’ve had a healthy style nandos dinner, homemade pizzas among other yummy dishes and she’s still losing weight. We’re just being clever.

Last night we had pizza, so I thought I’d share how I made them.

Ingredients:

Lo Dough bases (1 per person)
Tomato puree
Light grated cheese, Eat Lean is a shout for lower calories
Light mozzarella
Pepperoni
Salami
Ham

Method:

  1. I mean, this recipe is quite self explanatory – but coat the bases in a layer of tomato puree, right to the edges.
  2. Cover in a sprinkle of grated cheese.
  3. Layer up the meat, I think we had about 5-6 slices of pepperoni / salami on each pizza and split 2 slices of ham across 3 pizzas. But have as much or as little as you like, and if you’re vegan substitute the cheeses and meat for vegan alternatives!
  4. Sprinkle over more cheese and then add 3 thin slices of mozzarella to each pizza.
  5. Cook for about 6-7 mins on 180-200 degrees. They really don’t need long in the oven as the Lo Dough crisps up so quickly and everything else is already cooked! (If you’re ever making Lo Dough pizza, because it doesn’t need long in the oven, I’d make sure all your toppings are pre-cooked before you pop them in!)
  6. Slice up and devour.

I made a gluten free version for my mum, simply by using a GF sweet potato wrap. Works exactly the same and was delicious.

The toppings were a little decadent, but using 39 calorie Lo Dough means you’re saving hundreds of calories on a base. We paired our pizza with a side salad of spinach, tomato, cucumber, avocado and balsamic glaze, and fries. Normally I’d homemake the chips, using half normal or sweet potato and half butternut squash and parsnips, but we’d been on a walk and wanted something a bit quicker!

Food is allowed to be enjoyed. Lockdown doesn’t mean you need to enjoy it any less or panic. Just be clever and smart with your calories. Bulk out meals with veggies, or half and half things like potato’s or rice with veggie alternatives. Get volume without the kcals.