I’m a big fan of Subway this year (though their ex-spokesman needs to meet the business end of a baseball bat, repeatedly). Normally, by now, I’m packing on the holiday season pounds, using another hole in my belt and wondering how long it’s going to take to drop the weight come spring time. Not this year. This year I’ve been eating my lunch at Subway, quite religiously. Now, because I’m such an active fella, that six-inch sub is for the birds, I go with the full 12. That’s 840 calories, plus 240 for a PowerAde, plus a couple of hundred for some chips… Call it 1,100. My daily allowance is around 2,800. I have an apple and a banana for breakfast, so that’s another 200 calories. So far, that’s 1,300 for the day and that leaves 1,500 for dinner.
In the past, my lunch was a lot less, um… responsible. I would consume upwards of 1,700 calories for lunch so by the time I got to dinner, I’d either have to eat light (which I never did) or suffer the consequences. 400 calories a day adds up after a while (that’s a pound every eight or nine days – figure 15 weeks for winter, and you’re looking at 12-15 extra pounds to come off).
So anyway, I’m all Subway Italian BMT all of the time. I love ’em, but the meal (with the drink) costs $10. A month ago (or so), I had my wife pick up all of the ingredients at the grocery store. American cheese (white), ham, salami, pepperoni, spinach, green peppers, cucumbers and a few jalapeno for a little flavor. Then, some real mayonnaise and I’m set. I can build my own sub for about $3. It was missing something though. My subs are cold while the Subway version is nicely toasted.
So I picked up a toaster oven at the local appliance store. $30. I’ll have that paid off in savings in a little more than a week by my math. Better still, my subs aren’t 12 inches anymore, closer to eight, and I’m drinking water instead of PowerAde – and I’m completely skipping the chips. So now, I’m at closer to 800 calories for lunch instead of 1,300 – and this makes sense, in the middle of eating season. But let’s not stop there… While we’re at it, let’s really look at what’s in my sub… A simple Google search will turn up the calories in virtually anything:
3 slices of salami at 41 calories each.
2 slices of Black Forest Ham at 60 calories each.
1-1/2 slices of white American cheese at 110 calories each.
1 Aunt Millie’s Super Sub Bun: 220 calories
4 slices cucumber, green pepper, lettuce and jalapeño peppers: 100 calories
1 Tbsp. mayonnaise at 94 calories each.
822 calories (man, they sure do add up in a hurry!). Now, I think when we lay everything out like this, it becomes clear why weight comes off when we drop the bread, right? Simply stated, bread can be looked at as wasted calories. Not by me, of course, but by some. That said, I decided to look into the calories in a flour tortilla… maybe turn that sub into a wrap and save some calories, right? A large tortilla has more than double the calories of the sub bun. 467… So, if you’re looking to save calories, maybe stick with a sub bun over a wrap. This is one of those things that just doesn’t seem right, I mean how could a whole, entire sub bun be half the calories of a tortilla wrap? I know what’s coming next, too. “Well I eat the spinach wraps, so I save a bunch of calories there! Wrong. You save about 48 calories over the flour version, that’s it. But hey, if you feel better, that’s what really important.
Finally, what’s important to me is that I get to eat well, all the while avoiding having to stuff my chubby ass into my Lycra shorts come springtime. For that, I am grateful.
when i was traveling a lot for work, my coworkers and i used to hit up a place eat half and bring other half for dinner to save meal money for something at the end.
neat trick
My only problem with that is I have a tough time cutting myself off at half!
Now that sounds like a plan. Well thought out strategy — figure out what satisfies you and then how to make it work for you. Bet my son would love these for lunch as well. Thanks for the idea.
You bet… It’s really a fantastic sub. Just as good as store bought.
Frankly, I’m a tightwad, but
Try it before you knock it Dan, it’s good stuff.
No doubt in my mind!! What I have to watch in my “off” time is portion control and not eating out of sheer boredom!!!
I still like to eat too much. Therefore, I’d rather ride a few more miles than cut down too much on my food
Right now that’s an issue. When I’m BORED I tend to eat. I’m really having to watch that right now.
Haha, I am laughing at your tortilla revelation, it really doesn’t seem possible that they so many calories…but of course if you took a rolling pin and squashed all the air out of a sub bun, it wouldn’t look like much either!
The real question is, what are you gonna do with all the money you are saving?
Meh, I can think of a thing or two… WOOHOO! Daddy needs a new set of wheels!
Watching your weight and saving up for new wheels in one smooth maneuver? What a winning combo!
Yeah, it sounds cooler than it’ll work out. I’m not really getting new wheels. I’m good enough with the one’s I’ve got. That $28 a week will just go to the good and the welfare, if you know what I mean.
I think Subway should hire you! Definitely they need an upstanding spokesperson after the last round. Ugh!
Right! Somebody get Subway on the phone!
haha I had this great meal that I thought was super-healthy. It involved some hummus, a few homemade meatballs, and a huge amount of salad, all in a….. yup, a wrap. Then I started using My Fitness Pal which tracks calories for a short while and I was absolutely shocked to realise it was one of my most calorific meals! Still one of my favourite meals so of course I still eat it, but now without thinking it’s the healthiest thing ever 🙂
It never ceases to amaze me how perception can be led like that. I always thought wraps were the better way to go, simply because they always put healthy stuff in them. Go figure.
I’m boggling at that aspect. Do people not realise that tortillas are fried flatbreads?
Also, a 220 calorie roll seems high but maybe it’s bigger than ours or maybe it’s also fried or maybe factory bread (which tends not to be real bread, thanks to Chorleywood) is more calorific than traditional bread.
Baked, not fried. I used a hyperlink that takes you right to their website and has the calorie count right there.
Pretty sure that didn’t show up in the email version… but the ingredients looks like Chorleywood paff rather than real bread, though. And what’s High Fructose Corn Syrup doing in it? Very strange!
Makes it sweet. Nom, nom, nom… We put corn syrup in damn near everything over here. It’s laughable.
I used to eat wraps but now it tends to be just fruit for lunch. i’ve ditched the tea or coffee for water. Our whole department has switched to drinking water for breaks now – funny how it spread.
I’ve never been a subway fan but won’t knock those of you who love them. 😉
Thanks. You’re right, it is interesting how that spreads. As for coffee though, you can have my coffee mug when you pry it from my cold, dead hand. Chuckle… 😉
What I failed to mention was that the water at work tastes odd and the sponge/washing up brush has usually seen better days. So for hygiene reasons I fill my water bottle at home and take it with me. I drink tea and coffee at home. 😉
Gotcha! That makes it all make sense.
I do have two colleagues who’ve lost 4 stone this year who are part of the water gang. 😉
NICE!
[…] Bgddyjim had posted about saving money on food and staying within calories besides. It got me thinking about my current situation and how, through simple boredom, I eat. I decided to step on the scale tonight. […]
I’m about as religious about food as you are. I get up at 5.45am to prepare my & my kids’ lunch boxes.
Whilst most of my colleagues have a club sandwich, I’ll happily have my “boterhammekes” or “bokes” (say boh-kus). The are:
– lower in calories
– better in taste
– the same quality & quantity every day.
In fact, my wife makes fun of me for taking the same combination every day: 1 double slice with ham & 1 double slice with cheese (as we say “ene me hesp en ene me keis”). And 1 slice with jam, just to end in sweetness.
Add 2 apples a day and a lot of tea (no sugar).
I feel healthy as a horse, physically and mentally. (Horses can be psychic, right?). Just don’t ask me what country I’m from. 🙂
Love your blog & your style!
Awesome, that sounds delicious, thank you… and Belgium. 😉
Damned NSA IP loggers… 😉
Chuckle… Nah, I copied the saying you used and translated it with Google. Took ten seconds. 😉