A diet of only pizza? Sounds like a crazy, late-night infomercial, but Florida cyclist Matt McClellan has shown that healthy pizza is the real deal and can help you get in shape for harder and longer rides.

Five years ago, he created a “pizza diet” as a way to incorporate healthy eating with cyclists’ post-ride meals. “My focus was on flexibility, moderation, and not being so restrictive,” says McClellan, a long-time cyclist and owner of Tour de Pizza, a restaurant in St. Petersburg. “I wanted to show that you can eat only your favorite food and still be healthy.”

His eating plan consisted of 2,400 calories per day and included six total slices, which was equal to one extra-large pizza. The slices included revamping pizza toppings for maximum nutrition: Light on the gooey cheese and high-fat meats, and heavy on antioxidant-rich veggies, good fats, and lean protein. (See Matt’s four best tips below.) He ate one slice every two hours and exercised an hour a day, five days a week, alternating between cycling, swimming, and running.

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Within a month on his pizza diet, McClellan dropped 24 pounds, lowered his cholesterol from 243 to 157, and shrank his body fat percentage from almost 20 percent to nine percent. On the bike, his noticed more power in his pedal stroke and was able to ride longer and recover quicker. “The healthier I felt, the more inclined I was to stay active and cycle more,” he says. McClellan has also used his pizza diet for both weight-loss and endurance building while training for the New York City Marathon and mixed martial arts competition in Brazil.

His healthy pizza diet is based on the “flexible diet” approach of nutritionist and bodybuilder Layne Norton, Ph.D., who advocates eating a balance of macronutrients: fats, carbs, protein, and fiber. “Under the flexible dieting concept, there is no such thing as a ‘good’ or ‘bad’ food,” says McClellan. “All food, regardless of its source, has a nutritional value and tracking your daily macronutrient intake can help establish a healthy relationship with food.”

The All-Pizza Diet for Cyclists Matt McClellan

That change in attitude with food is what makes the pizza diet shine, says Norton. "Most diets fail because of lack of sustainability,” he says. “After a year, 70 percent of people regain all the weight they lost or more. So instead of diets that encourage extremism, people should incorporate their favorite foods into a healthy overall diet."

As you would expect of someone who found health benefit to eating pizza daily (and who owns a pizza shop), McClellan became a pizza evangelist. He took his pizza diet on the road and pedaled 1,300 miles over 30 days from his Florida store to Times Square. During his stops, he spoke to anyone and everyone about the power of pizza. “I don’t expect everyone to do a pizza-only diet,” he says. “My intent is for people to change their perception of pizza as junk food.”

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McClellan has recently filmed a pilot for a reality show based on his original pizza diet trek, tentatively titled, “The Tour de Pizza.” (Think “Survivor” meets the Trans Am Bike Race.) It is an elimination-based show where contestants retrace his original route and compete in pizza-themed challenges, like delivering pizza by bike.

But whether the show is successful, or tanks, McClellan has already found a winner: a way to enjoy pizza every day without an ounce of guilt.

Easy Tips to Make A Better Pizza

Sauce: Combine chopped garlic and olive oil with a traditional marinara sauce. “Garlic is a great immunityˇ-booster and the olive oil is rich with antioxidants,” says McClellan.

Cheese: Keep it light and minimal, like skim-milk mozzarella. “Less is more. You don’t need a lot for flavor or texture,” he says.

Toppings: McClellan likes to build toppings that mix protein, like lean chicken, with high amounts of antioxidant-rich green vegetables like broccoli and spinach, and finish up with slices of healthy fat avocado.

Crust: Whole-wheat and thin. “It gives you the fiber you need with some carbs for energy, but without having to worry about overindulging,” he says.

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