Fla. cyclist spreads word on pizza diet

Most health and fitness fanatics wouldn't restrict their diets to one type of food to lose weight. Matt McClellan, 34, believes otherwise.

The St. Petersburg, Fla., pizza-shop owner, who shed 24 pounds by eating nothing but pizza for 30 days last summer, rolled into South Street last night as he nears the end of his bike ride up the East Coast to spread the message that pizza isn't a diet killer.

"I want people to stop thinking pizza is junk food," said the owner of St. Petersburg's Tour de Pizza, who will end his tour in New York City. His diet calls for eating one slice every three hours.

At a stop at Joey's Stone Fired Pizza, on South Street, last night, McClellan said he looks for high-quality ingredients, so he can top his pizza with fruits, vegetables and different meats.

"One observation I have made is that I haven't gotten sick or felt ill since I started the diet," he said. "Pizza has a lot of garlic, and the tomato sauce is an antioxidant."

When it comes to pizza, Sari Greaves, a registered nurse and dietitian and spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association, said she tells her clients to mind their p's and q's - portions and quality. "A slice of pizza can fit into your regular diet," she said. "It's a variety of food groups. The key is watching your calories and portions."

Averaging 60 miles a day on his bike requires McClellan to eat more calories than normal. He has had more trouble mapping out his first long bike ride than what to eat.

"This is the first bicycle ride I've ever done," McClellan said.

"I had a route planned out. Then, I found that not all of the highways were really suitable for a cyclist."

Greaves said though McClellan is embarking on a long-term, intense physical activity, one food group isn't enough to sustain his body.

"Sometime a high-fat diet can backfire because fat is a little harder to digest," she said. But overall, she said she agrees with McClellan. "Pizza is not a fast food," she said. "It has a bad reputation of being fatty and greasy, but pizza is a mixed meal."