If you want to bulk up, you should increase your protein intake to 3g per kilo of body weight (225g a day if you weight 75kg), says Hugo Rivera, the author of The Body Sculpting Bible for Men. Fuelling your workouts takes 3g to 4g of carbs per kilo, so the pizza base helps to prevent a personal energy crisis. “Carbs help to shift bulk building amino acids from protein to muscles,” he says.

You can still have pizza if you’re trying to get ripped. Just make a few simple substitutions. Cottage cheese has a considerably lower fat content (about 2.3g for every 100g serving, compared to mozarella’s 20.03g). Also, adding ingredients such as capsicum and chilli can help to rev up your body’s ability to torch fat. To increase protein intake, use more chicken.

610 calories, 60g carbohydrate, 33g protein, 29g fat, 10g fibre, 950mg sodium

460 calories, 59g carbohydrate, 24g protein, 16g fat, 10g fibre, 880g sodium

1. Preheat oven to 180 deg C. Place pizza crust on baking pan to thaw. Cut or shred chicken into small pieces. Slice garlic and button mushrooms thinly. Then de-vein green beans.

1. Preheat oven to 180 deg C. Place pizza crust on baking pan to thaw. Cut or shred chicken into small pieces. Slice onion thinly. Remove top and core of yellow peppers and chop into 1cm cubes.

2. Spread pesto evenly on topside of pizza crust, followed by half the Mozzarella cheese. Add chicken breast, garlic, green beans, mushrooms, black pepper and remaining cheese.

3. Cook in oven for 20 minutes, until cheese topping turns light to golden brown. Remove from oven, top with fresh basil. Serve.

2. Spread tomato sauce evenly on topside of pizza crust, followed by half the cottage cheese. Add chicken breast, yellow peppers, chopped chilli, half the thyme and remaining cheese.

3. Cook in oven for 20 minutes, until cheese topping turns light to golden brown. Remove from oven, top with remaining thyme. Serve.