Takeout pizza is the ultimate family dinner food when you're too tired to cook and you want something quick that everyone loves. Many kids and adults would eat pizza nearly every day if they could. It's a family favorite. However, if you like to watch your weight, you might wonder if eating pizza frequently is a good idea. Here are some tips for making healthy choices when ordering pizza so you don't have to worry about it sabotaging your diet.

Stick With Veggies

One way to lower the calories is to order a veggie pizza. Toppings like tomatoes and mushrooms have fewer calories and they are nutritious too. Meat adds a lot of flavor to pizza, but it also has more calories. If you miss having meat on your pizza, try ordering different types of pizza with your meal so you can have one slice of your favorite pepperoni pizza and the rest with low-calorie vegetables.

Choose A Light Crust

The crust makes the pizza, but if you need to watch your weight, you may want to pass on deep dish style pizza. Choose thin crust or cracker crust instead. Some pizza restaurants even have light crust options and some even offer gluten-free crusts. With less dough per slice, you'll save on calories as long as you don't eat more slices of pizza to compensate.

Cut Back On Cheese

If you need to cut calories, avoid extra cheese pizzas and pizzas with cheese stuffed in the crust. The pizza restaurant may even have the option for half-cheese pizzas. If you're adventurous, you can omit the cheese completely. Pizza takes on a new taste and texture without cheese, and you might find you like it just as well. Leaving off the cheese or cutting back on it could save some calories on the meal.

Look For Lower Calorie Options

Pizza is not considered a diet food by any means, but some takeout pizza restaurants realize you might want to cut the calories so they provide lighter options. This saves you from struggling to make a good choice. You might have chicken as a topping along with less cheese and a lighter crust. You can view the calorie counts on the menu or the website so you can choose something that looks good and has a lower amount of calories.

Pizza is not something that's easy to control. You may have a hard time limiting yourself to just a slice or two. Order something you love so you enjoy the experience, just consider cutting calories where you can, such as with the amount of cheese and dough, so you can eat your pizza without worry over your weight.