Food Delivery Makeover: 8 Steps to Hosting a Healthier Pizza Party at the Office
Posted by Sara on Thursday, August 14th, 2014 with 2 Comments
Pizza has a lot going for it, especially when it comes to office lunches and food delivery. Pizza’s a crowd-pleaser. It’s easy to share, and relatively easy to eat. And, of course pizza’s downright delicious.
But can pizza be healthy? Well… for a food based around dough and cheese, definitely! There are many ways to participate in an office pizza party without sabotaging your dietary goals. The key is to plan ahead, as is usually the case when you’re trying to eat healthy at the office. If you aren’t in charge of ordering your own food, talk with the admin assistant or office manager who is and put in a few requests to help make the menu healthier. Chances are very, very good you aren’t the only one in the office who will appreciate a few lighter options!
A thin crust plus lots of veggies equals a healthier pizza!
Image source: Flickr user falsecognate
Here’s our simple, straightforward plan to pull a food delivery makeover, and stage a healthier pizza party at the office:
1) Start your meal with a good salad that won’t look sad and limp and totally unappealing next to all that piping hot pizza. The point is to help curb your appetite before you dive into the pie, so look for an option with some fiber and/or protein: beans, grilled chicken, hard-boiled egg, or just a lot of delicious vegetables, like a greens-free salad of some kind.
2) Portion size can be extra-tricky with pizza, so play it safe by ordering a smaller pie. It may sound like common sense that large pizzas come with larger slices – so two slices of a medium pizza is a smaller, lower-calorie serving than two slices of a large pizza. But, most of us don’t think that way: we tend to think a slice is a slice, and don’t take the size of the pie into account when deciding how much to eat.
3) Choose the right crust: if you care about getting the most nutritional bang for your buck, choose whole-grain, which will be higher in fiber. If you’re strictly concerned with counting calories, go for the thinnest crust you can find!
4) If possible – and palatable – ask for “light cheese”, a surefire way to cut down the saturated fat on your pie.
5) But, pile on the veggies! Bell peppers, roasted tomatoes, spinach, artichokes, garlic, mushrooms, onions: choose three to four of your favorites. If you’re watching your sodium, though, be wary of olives, which tend to be packed with salt. For a bonus, go gourmet and add fresh arugula to the top of your pie.
6) Go meatless if you can, but if you must have meat, choose wisely. Your best bets are ham, grilled chicken, and anchovies, while bacon, sausage, and pepperoni are considerably higher in calories and saturated fat.
7) Skip the breadsticks and dip your pizza crust in marinara sauce instead. Whatever you do, steer clear of those buttery garlic dipping sauces: they’re likely to pack in around 250 calories per serving, as opposed to marinara’s 25.
8) A 20-ounce bottle of Coca-Cola will have 250 calories – which is probably more than another slice of pizza. Have club soda with a slice of lime instead for a zero-calorie yet festive alternative.
However you slice it, pizza will continue to be a food delivery mainstay for office parties and employee lunches. Following these tips will help you enjoy the occasional indulgence without completely disregarding your health and nutrition… and ordering from Waiter.com ensures you’ll be able to find the perfect menu and prompt delivery for your next office pizza party!
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I loved your advice about starting with a salad before jumping into pizza. A pizza party can be so much fun but is easy to overeat with such temptation. A nice and delicious salad can help you to work your appetite before eating too much pizza.
Exactly! Salads can be just as delicious!