Eating Clean at Subway

Question: I am trying to lose weight but I am on the road a bit and often eat at Subway. Then, I find myself cheating on the weekends and I don't seem to lose a single pound. I just need some direction about how to eat cleaner. What can you tell me?

Answer: Trying to lose weight by eating at Subway requires the discipline to choose your sandwich ingredients wisely, the size of your sandwich and the side orders along with it. Since the $5 footlong is the best deal for your money, you have to choose to eat only half and wrap the rest up for later. Order the chicken breast or turkey on whole wheat bread and no mayonnaise, cheese or oil and vinegar. If you need a side order of chips choose the baked variety and water is still your best choice for a drink. If you eat the 12 inch version you will get almost 1000 calories and 100 grams of carbohydrates. To help resist the temptation of eating the whole sandwich, keep some sugar free gum around and chew a piece as soon as you are finished with your 6-inch sub. The chewing helps and the sweet taste of the gum satisfies your taste buds. Subway is not the only choice you have for decent food on the road. Chick-Fil-A has a good menu and choosing the chili at Wendy's is an option as well to name only a couple. Wherever you eat remember this; ordering a diet drink does not entitle you to a large fry.

Weekend "cheating" may not be a bad thing and I actually encourage a "cheat" meal every 7 to 10 days if you are eating clean. Eating clean foods will charge your metabolism up and your body tends to burn calories like a furnace. However, after between 6 and 9 days of eating strictly your metabolism tends to slow down ever so slightly. The cheat does two things: it throws your body a curve ball and "tricks" it with higher carbs and fats than you are used to having which energizes the burn rate again. The other part of a cheat is it allows you some mental relief from feeling like you will never have the things you enjoy again. The funny thing is that the longer you eat clean the less you want some of the junk you were used to having. The secret of a healthy cheat is to limit yourself to one meal and don't make it a feeding frenzy. One other item to remember when cheating is if you have been consistently eating clean and you consume too much garbage or very rich or greasy foods your body will not handle it well.

Daryl Laws

Personal Training and Sports Performance Excellence Blog

Eating Clean at Subway