The Value of a Good Sandwich

I'm a huge sandwich guy and always have been. I've realized over the last day or so that I have underutilized the value of a great homemade sandwich. Sure, I'd love to be like Jared and grab a Subway every day, but right now that's not really in my budget. Every once in awhile? Sure, but not every day.

The homemade sandwich can either ruin you, or help in a huge way. It's like with anything, you need to count calories and account for everything you put between those two pieces of bread. If you slather on the mayo, add a ladder full of meat and cheese and go with nasty white bread, you're going to hurt yourself more than help. Stay away from ranch, bleu cheese spreads and anything with too much oil.

The bread is probably the most important thing in building a fine sandwich and keeping the calories in check. The key is to find good tasting whole wheat bread that has a decent amount of fiber. There are a million bread makers out there, but Milton's is my favorite although a bit pricey. The taste is good, plus there's 5 grams of fiber in each slice.

Next, snagging lean meat from your deli at the grocery store is highly important. Ham can be a bit high in sodium, but it's an underrated meat calorie-wise. Roast beef is another meat I love lately and it's starting to get much better support than it ever did. You don't have to be a strict turkey guy or gal to keep your sandwich calories down. Be sure to look at the calorie content when buying, but most servings of lunch/deli meat are very low in calories...about a 100 calories per serving.

Cheese! Oh, how I love a good slice of Swiss, which is usually the lowest calorie cheese in stores today. Cheddar is a bit higher. American? Blech. I try to avoid American cheese. To lower your sandwich calorie count you can eliminate the cheese altogether, which can save you anywhere between 50-100 calories.

Mustard and mayo is a must for me, with mustard having no calories and lite mayo with canola oil having half the calories of regular mayo.

Add copious amounts of lettuce, tomato, pickle and any other veggie you want to, mainly because the calories don't hurt you at all.

Overall, you get good healthy carbs, protein and veggies. If you're smart, you can keep your sandwich right around 500 calories!

As I try to get back into the swing of things with exercise and Jiu-Jitsu (second day in a row with almost NO BACK PAIN...yeehaw!), I intend on using the sandwich as a main staple in my diet for awhile. It's a balanced meal, easy to make and tons of options to choose from for variety every day. Plus, you can't beat the price.