The producer says he shed nearly five pounds without giving up his favorite food — but nutrition experts aren’t so sure it’s a plan worth copying
Benny Blanco has never been one to shy away from a bold experiment, and his latest stunt proves it. The 38-year-old music producer, known for shaping some of pop music’s biggest hits, spent five straight days eating nothing but pizza, all in an effort to demonstrate a controversial idea: that weight loss doesn’t require sacrifice, restriction, or willpower over favorite foods. The experiment quickly caught fire online, turning a simple diet gimmick into one of the week’s more talked-about celebrity moments.
The Pizza-Only Challenge Begins
Blanco kicked off his experiment in a TikTok posted August 21, laying out the simple, if unconventional, rules for his followers. Each day, he would eat one large thin-crust pizza from Domino’s — and nothing else. No snacks, no side dishes, no exceptions. He acknowledged early on just how little a single slice actually amounted to when stretched across sixteen portions and a full 24 hours, joking about the absurdity of trying to make it last.
Starting the challenge at just over 152 pounds, Blanco framed the entire exercise around a single message: that meaningful weight loss is possible even while eating foods typically associated with indulgence rather than dieting. It was less a nutrition plan and more a public experiment in defying conventional wisdom, delivered with his signature comedic timing.
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Staying Committed Through the Ups and Downs
Blanco’s dedication to the bit didn’t waver, even when it meant carrying a pizza box to a dinner date with his wife, Selena Gomez. The couple’s outing became one of the more memorable moments of the challenge, with Blanco opting for his daily slice over whatever the restaurant’s menu had to offer — a visual that quickly made the rounds online.
Not every day went smoothly, though. At one point, a slice met an unfortunate end on the ground, forcing Blanco to recalculate his already tight rations. On another occasion, he returned to his recording studio only to discover that a chunk of his day’s allotment — roughly eight slices — had mysteriously vanished, presumably devoured by someone else entirely.
By the challenge’s midpoint, the novelty had clearly worn thin. Blanco admitted to feeling exhausted by the monotony of eating the same meal day after day, and by day five, he described something closer to an identity crisis brought on by five consecutive days of pizza and nothing else, joking that he could barely remember what life looked like before it.
Energy Levels and an Unexpected Boost
Despite the fatigue, Blanco insisted the challenge left him feeling surprisingly good physically. He even broke into a spontaneous sprint on camera to demonstrate his newfound energy, framing it as proof that his body wasn’t suffering the way many might expect.
The nutritional reality behind the stunt, however, tells a more complicated story. A small, topping-free thin-crust pizza from Domino’s clocks in at under 900 calories for the entire pie — meaning Blanco’s daily intake fell dramatically short of the roughly 2,400 calories generally recommended for a man his age. Registered dietitian Marina Rabkin, speaking to Hackensack Meridian Health, has noted that consistently eating too few calories can make it difficult to get adequate nutrients, calling that kind of severe restriction an unhealthy approach to weight management, regardless of which specific foods are involved.
Weighing In on the Results
When the five days wrapped, Blanco stepped on the scale to reveal his results: a drop to 147.5 pounds, amounting to a loss of roughly 4.7 pounds over the course of the challenge. He used the moment to reinforce his original thesis — that the type of food eaten matters less than the overall approach, at least in the short term, and that strict “clean eating” isn’t the only path to results.
Blanco also used the viral moment as a launching pad for his next project. He referenced his upcoming memoir, Fck Failure*, slated for release on September 15, encouraging his followers to check it out as the pizza diet buzz continued to spread across social platforms.
Whether the pizza diet reflects sound nutritional advice or simply clever marketing timed to a book launch remains an open question. Either way, it’s generated plenty of buzz — and reinforced Blanco’s reputation as one of pop culture’s most unpredictable, and entertaining, personalities.
Source: People
