by One man lost more than half a stone despite eating 10 slices of pizza every day for a month — and is more ripped now than when he started. Personal trainer Ryan Mercer, 34, ate pizza for breakfast, lunch and dinner and managed to lose a whopping three and a half pounds during the 30-day challenge. He took on the challenge of showing how calorie-deficit diets allow people to lose weight without restricting their favorite foods. Ryan, from Bangor in Northern Ireland, carefully planned his diet and made all the pizzas himself, while maintaining his usual exercise regimen. He said, “January is a tough month for people when it comes to fitness goals.” Not only did I want to emphasize that fat loss is about calories in and calories out, but it’s not about restriction either. “We don’t have to limit our favorite foods to get results and I also wanted to encourage more people to prepare their own food.” Ryan’s usual diet is a flexible approach to eating, with a healthy protein intake and seven to 10 servings of fruits and vegetables per day. But for the challenge, Ryan ate nothing but pizza. He added, “I ate pizza for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day.” I ate two pita pizzas and one larger dough-based pizza a day, which equated to about 10 slices a day. “Plus, I left room for extra snacks.” Pizza is one of Ryan’s favorite dishes, but his busy schedule made it difficult for him to make time to prepare the pizzas himself. “The hardest part of the whole diet was the preparation,” Ryan said. “Pizza is one of my all-time favorite foods, so I enjoyed it all month long, although I made sure to have a wide variety of different pizzas to give myself some variety.” While preparing everything himself, Ryan spent just under £10 a day on food. He added: “I cooked everything myself. The estimated daily cost was about £6 a day for two pitta pizzas, a dough based pizza and three salads.” Plus I spent about £2 or £3. a day of snacks.” At the end of the month, Ryan slimmed down, surprising many of his followers online. He said, “This was a carefully planned nutritional strategy. I designed a system and it got me to my goal. “Daily calorie intake was set at 1800-2100 from Monday to Friday, 2,700 kcal on Saturday and Sunday, daily protein target 140 g per day, daily target for fruits and vegetables, a minimum of seven servings per day.” Ryan only recommends the diet if it fits the person’s lifestyle, citing “everyone is different.” His video reveal has been viewed more than 2 million times online and has generated a huge response. He said, “I feel [that the video] has highlighted the confusion among the masses when it comes to fat loss and nutrition. “I’ve had some negative comments, some very funny and of course some positive feedback. “One thing we have in common is we all eat, so everyone has a certain opinion when it comes to nutrition.”
