I’ve always been upfront about my take on food, nutrition, diet, whatever word you want to use for it. To me food is fuel. I’ll even admit, there have been many years of my life where I sacrificed eating the foods that taste great, because I figured the best way to get a true understanding of how my body would work on food was by going as basic and bare essential as possible. Most might say that’s sad way to live, and it is extreme, but it did teach me everything I needed to know about how my body responds to certain eating habits.

After developing that feel for what worked and what didn’t work, I loosened up a little. While I still follow what most would call a “strict” diet, it’s not because I want to restrict myself, but because I enjoy eating basic. For more on my take on food and learning to build a lifestyle diet plan that works for you, check out my piece on intuitive eating for lean muscle. Also, if you’re just starting, you might find our list of the best 25 muscle-building foods very helpful.

Now, onto this diet with pancakes, pizza, and popsicles. That’s what you came for in the first place, right? You still probably don’t believe me, but give me another paragraph or two. You’ll see.

This is a perfect example of why it’s worth spending some time eating the basics and learning what you’re putting in your body. Eventually, you won’t only realize when you can really let loose and cheat, but you’ll also learn just how easy it is to make some of your favorite foods work for your needs.

The secret is the preparation and portion control. We’ll get into that below, but let’s start with a structure on how pancakes, pizza, and popsicles could actually become a somewhat regular meal plan. I say somewhat, because, come on, you don’t need pancakes, pizza, and popsicles every single day, even though, I know, it sounds fantastic.

The basic diet structure

Eat 5-6 times per day. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. There should always be a protein source in each meal. Portion controlled, homemade pancakes and pizza can be eaten a couple days per week. Other days of the week should be the meal plan basics such as eggs, protein shakes, chicken, turkey, etc. Popsicles can be eaten throughout the week. (Again, I refer to the piece on intuitive eating which has a sample meal plan)

Breakfast: The lightened up pancake

Let’s start by looking at IHOP’s Original Buttermilk Pancakes. Five of those are 670 calories, 24 grams of fat, 94 grams of carbs, and 21 grams of sugar. And I’m not even sure if that accounts for the butter and syrup, it’s not worth calling them, you get the point.

Here’s what we change:

• We switch to buckwheat mix for more fiber
• We don’t need butter
• We can swap in unsweetened almond milk for the whole milk
• We can use stevia powder instead of syrup
• We can use protein powder to bump up that number and offset the carbs.

How to make them:

⅓ cup organic buckwheat pancake mix
Two egg whites
4 oz of unsweetened almond milk (not 100% necessary either)
½ scoop of whey protein
Water

When serving them up, go by the pancake mix package. A ⅓ cup makes two pancakes (5 inches or so) at 160 calories. With the extra protein powder (+60 calories), two egg whites (+40 calories), and 4 oz of almond milk (+20 calories) you’re up to 280 calories, 31 grams of carbs (5 of which are fiber), and 15 grams of protein, and only 2 grams of fat.

The protein compliment:

Couple this up with even more protein, preferably eggs. Maybe 4-5 whites and 1 whole. You’re looking at approximately an additional 100-120 calories, 16-20 grams of protein, minimal carbs, and 5 grams of fat

Meal totals:

380-400 calories
31 grams of carbs (5 fiber = 26 net carbs)
31-35 grams of protein
5 grams of fat

The close comparison of a typical breakfast of eggs and ½ cup of oatmeal:

250-270 calories
28 grams of carbs (3 fiber = 25 net carbs)
17-21 grams of protein
5 grams of fat

Dinner: The skinny pizza

Let’s put a single slice of traditional Italian dish pizza in the hot seat. We’re looking at approximately 285 calories, 10 grams of fat, 36 grams of carbs, and 4 grams of sugar. Remember, this is one slice. Just one.

Here’s what we change:

• We swap in Mission’s carb-balance wraps instead of traditional pizza dough
• We don’t need cheese
• We can use grilled chicken to bump up the protein.

How to make them:

One large Mission carb-balance wraps
4 oz organic pasta sauce
4 oz grilled chicken
¼ cup thin-sliced bell peppers
⅛ cup onion
2-3 small mushrooms
Red pepper flakes

One large Mission carb-balance wrap is 210 calories, 32 grams of carbs (only 6 net carbs because 26 of them are fiber), 9 grams of protein, and 5 grams of fat.  The 4 oz organic pasta sauce is approximately 30 calories, 5 grams of carbs, minimal protein and fat. The 4 oz of grilled chicken is about 185 calories, 35 grams of protein, minimal carbs, and 2 grams of fat. The bell peppers, onion, and mushrooms combined are approximately 30 calories, 5 grams of carbs, and minimal fat and protein.

Process:

Pre-heat oven on high and lightly crisp both sides of the wrap while simultaneously grilling or pan frying the chicken. Slightly cook the bell pepper, onion, and mushrooms so they are a little soft. Add pasta sauce to the wrap, add the bell pepper, onion, mushrooms, and 2 oz of chicken, and place back in the oven for a few minutes. Watch for browning.

The protein (+veggie) compliment:

2 oz of the grilled chicken can be added to the pizza, the other 2 oz could be eaten separately on the side. The purpose of this is to keep the pizza light so it doesn’t break, but you’re still consuming some extra chicken as a side to keep the protein contents of your meal up.

Adding a favorite vegetable of yours such as broccoli is a nice way of keeping calories down, but giving you a serving of antioxidants, nutrients, and fiber.

Meal totals:

Approximately 455 calories (whole pizza/wrap)
42 grams of carbs (26 fiber = 16 net carbs)
35 grams of protein
5-6 grams of fat

The comparison of a typical dinner and the tradition

The typical dinner:

If you’re using the carb-balance wraps then net carbs are going to be very low. That could be a good thing if you’ve eaten more carbs with the pancakes in the morning, but could also work against you if you’re training hard and not eating enough carbs through the rest of the day.

The traditional pizza:

It’s no comparison here. One slice of traditional pizza is almost 300 calories of all carbs and no protein. The macronutrient breakdown of the “skinny pizza” is far superior with the additional protein, lower carbs, and lower fat contents.

Dessert: The craving-curbing protein popsicle

How about this? The calories in a Fudgesicle pop might even be a little bit less than the protein popsicle. Oh, no. Relax. It’s the macronutrient breakdown that matters. Let’s look at the Sugar-Free Fudgesicle numbers: 1 pop is about 35 calories, 2 grams of fat, 8 carbs (2 of which are fiber), and 2 grams of protein.

Here’s what we change:

• We don’t use the several processed ingredients in the popsicles
• We make the base with protein, not carbs or fat

How to make them:

1 scoop protein (makes 3 pops)
Splash of coffee in each
Splash of unsweetened almond milk in each
8 oz of water (makes 3 pops)

One scoop of protein is about 100-120 calories, 2 grams of carbs, 25 grams of protein, and 1 gram of fat. Coffee is negligible amount of calories, carbs, fat, protein, etc. A splash of unsweetened almond milk in each (2-4 oz total for 3 pops) is about 20 calories and under a gram of carbs, protein, and fats.

Process:

Do you think we really need to explain this one?

No food compliment necessary, use them as a craving curber

These things are all protein. If you’re a little hungry on the late night, grab one. Hell, you can have three, it’s the equivalent of drinking a protein shake, not eating a valueless traditional popsicle. And they taste very similar.

Snack total:

Approximately 100-140 calories (3 pops; 34-46 calories per pop)
2-3 grams of carbs
25 grams of protein (3 pops; 8 grams per pop)
1 gram of fat

The comparison of a Fudgesicle and the Protein Popsicle

As mentioned above, the traditional Fudgescicle is all fat and sugar with minimal protein, these popsicles provide a similar taste and have a completely superior macronutrient breakdown. They are guilt-free. It’s an easy switch.