Subway help..

corazombie
corazombie Posts: 84 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Unfortunately i dont usually have the time to eat a home prepared meal. I recently began intermittent fasting and have some questions about fast food, specifically Subway.

Ive been researching online for hours and I mostly saw that roast beef, and oven roasted chicken were the preferred options for high protein.

My questions are: Is it better to eat them in a salad and leave out the bread? Are there better options with less sodium, or how can i reduce the sodium when i order it? When I log a Subway sandwich into the diary, it usually tells me its high in sodium. I just assume its a bad thing. So im looking for something high in protein and low in sodium.

Any advice or comments are welcome. I just want to be informed so I dont screw this up somehow.

Replies

  • Debmal77
    Debmal77 Posts: 4,770 Member
    Have you been diagnosed with high blood pressure? Nothing wrong with bread as long as it fits into your calorie count.
  • zyxst
    zyxst Posts: 9,149 Member
    edited October 2016
    If you don't have issues with high blood pressure, eat the bread unless you don't like it or are low carb or whatever. White bread/hearty Italian is the lowest sodium bread I've found at Subway (at least in Canada). A salad is usually lower sodium, but be careful with the dressings.

    ETA: and pickles are high in sodium, too. I miss them.
  • corazombie
    corazombie Posts: 84 Member
    Nope, no high blood pressure... I was heading in that direction but hopefully this gets me on the right path... Im new at all this so I may ask some silly questions...

    The bread thing is just a way to keep carbs low, i suppose... and i thought maybe it affected the amount of sodium. i realize now i havent even bothered to look up what sodium is, exactly. Sorry.
  • ValerieMartini2Olives
    ValerieMartini2Olives Posts: 3,024 Member
    If you have the time to go to Subway, you have the time to make a sandwich or salad at home.
  • Debmal77
    Debmal77 Posts: 4,770 Member
    Choose a plan that is sustainable for you. I just could not see myself going without bread for a lifetime. Choose the foods you love to eat and stay within calories. Don't make this any harder on yourself.
  • shoeoptional
    shoeoptional Posts: 46 Member
    edited October 2016
    Why Subway? Get yourself to a decent market and buy a better quality product from the deli if deli meat is what you want. You want roast beef, then eat real roast beef not a roast beef like product. Chicken, turkey alike. Subway, and places like that, use the lowest possible grade of food product which is why they can sell a sandwich for $3.50 and still be a billion dollar company.

    As for the bread, I no longer eat bread, and it's just highly processed, low energy carbs. Eat it and you'll just be hungry in an hour. You pay the full dietary price but reap none of the benefits. Roll the meat up and cut it into pinwheels and have it with a mixed green salad like an antipasta salad. Dressing can be a killer so the fewer ingredients, the better. If you have to have bread, then at least quality fresh bread from a bakery; don't settle for the lowest common denominator. I learned to live without bread and now I pick and choose my bread moments like from a kick *kitten* deli or killer pizza for a cheat meal.

    However, somewhere you're going to have to make the time if you're really trying to eat right. Go to Goodwill/Salvation Army and get yourself a crock pot, modern pressure cooker, or a roaster. Ask your online contacts on Facebook or whatever. Some people would be glad to get rid of stuff they don't use. You can set these things up well in advance, work a long day and it's either ready in minutes or done when you get home. Being able to make your own roast beef, turkey or chicken will allow you to save money and knock out meals in advance. I pick two days a week and spend 1.5-2 hours making all of my meals. Saves me time during the week and I can grab meals when I'm on the fly. Better food, less money, controlled eating and mission accomplished. If I can do it, you can too.
  • corazombie
    corazombie Posts: 84 Member
    ValerieMartini2Olives wrote: »
    If you have the time to go to Subway, you have the time to make a sandwich or salad at home.

    Haha I suppose youre right. What kind of sandwiches or salads do you make at home? Any recommendations? What brand of bread do you use and what type?
    zyxst wrote: »
    ETA: and pickles are high in sodium, too. I miss them.

    Not pickles :(
    Thank you by the way.
    Debmal77 wrote: »
    Choose a plan that is sustainable for you. I just could not see myself going without bread for a lifetime. Choose the foods you love to eat and stay within calories. Don't make this any harder on yourself.

    I looked up sodium and apparently it is good to reach the 2300 daily requirement. Some days i see that number in red and i freak out. I know better now.
  • corazombie
    corazombie Posts: 84 Member
    shoeoptional wrote: »
    Why Subway? Get yourself to a decent market and buy a better quality product from the deli if deli meat is what you want. You want roast beef, then eat real roast beef not a roast beef like product. Chicken, turkey alike. Subway, and places like that, use the lowest possible grade of food product which is why they can sell a sandwich for $3.50 and still be a billion dollar company.

    As for the bread, I no longer eat bread, and it's just highly processed, low energy carbs. Eat it and you'll just be hungry in an hour. You pay the full dietary price but reap none of the benefits. Roll the meat up and cut it into pinwheels and have it with a mixed green salad like an antipasta salad. Dressing can be a killer so the fewer ingredients, the better. If you have to have bread, then at least quality fresh bread from a bakery; don't settle for the lowest common denominator. I learned to live without bread and now I pick and choose my bread moments like from a kick *kitten* deli or killer pizza for a cheat meal.

    Are there any deli meats that you recommend that comes packaged. One they would sell in a supermarket? The only places Ive ever bought meat from is the butcher at supermarkets or mini markets. I live in a heavily hispanic populated area and dont think Ive seen delis that have good quality stuff. Ill start researching right now, maybe i can find something. Thanks.
  • shadowfax_c11
    shadowfax_c11 Posts: 1,942 Member
    corazombie wrote: »

    I looked up sodium and apparently it is good to reach the 2300 daily requirement. Some days i see that number in red and i freak out. I know better now.

    This macro numbers are minimums not maximums. You need to at least reach the number it gives you. Going over them by a small number is unlikely to be a problem unless you have a health issue. I a routinely way over on sodium. The only issue I get from it is water weight masking my weight loss. Doesn't bother me much. The xscale isn't the only means of measuring progress.

    AS far as Subway goes my usually choices are the 6" Ham and turkey, just turkey or the veggie delight. Usually with a bag of sun chips and unsweetened iced tea.

  • corazombie
    corazombie Posts: 84 Member
    shadowfax_c11 wrote: »

    This macro numbers are minimums not maximums. You need to at least reach the number it gives you. Going over them by a small number is unlikely to be a problem unless you have a health issue. I a routinely way over on sodium. The only issue I get from it is water weight masking my weight loss. Doesn't bother me much. The xscale isn't the only means of measuring progress.

    AS far as Subway goes my usually choices are the 6" Ham and turkey, just turkey or the veggie delight. Usually with a bag of sun chips and unsweetened iced tea.

    Thank you, I understand that now. I guess when i see them in red, i just assume i have done a terrible thing. What kind of dressing, if any, do you put on the sandwiches? I love honey mustard, but i know alot of it is bad.
  • fishshark
    fishshark Posts: 1,886 Member
    what i do for my husband is i marinade chicken breast in pineapple juice and soy sauce then grill it off for the week for his sandwiches. I buy bread that is easy calorie counted (he doesnt need to watch what he eats).
  • mysticlizard
    mysticlizard Posts: 896 Member
    Many mustards are not high calorie and give a good flavor. There are a lot of different mustards out there. They have way less calories than salad dressing and mayo. :)
  • sweetilemon
    sweetilemon Posts: 122 Member
    corazombie wrote: »
    Nope, no high blood pressure... I was heading in that direction but hopefully this gets me on the right path... Im new at all this so I may ask some silly questions...

    The bread thing is just a way to keep carbs low, i suppose... and i thought maybe it affected the amount of sodium. i realize now i havent even bothered to look up what sodium is, exactly. Sorry.

    Sodium is salt. Your body needs it but too much raises blood pressure. Cured meats have a lot of salt. The less processed the better. I like the odd subway, it's usually less calories than McDonald's or other fast foods. For optimum healthiness homemade is best. Brown bread has more fibre and keeps you full for longer but generally more salt. You can't really win so best to keep it simple and varied.
  • ValerieMartini2Olives
    ValerieMartini2Olives Posts: 3,024 Member
    You can get 35 calorie a slice bread, reduced sodium cheeses and lunchmeats and make a sandwich for 250 calories or less and make a bunch of them.
  • ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken
    ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken Posts: 1,530 Member
    You know, someone was posting a lot of the salad-in-a-jar. If you had time to assemble these once a week it may be to your benefit. These jar salads are supposed to be good for a week and people usually just take along a bowl or even use the shorter and wider jars and eat the salad right out of that. If you are interested I will find the link to the salad-in-a-jar recipes.
  • corazombie
    corazombie Posts: 84 Member
    ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken wrote: »
    You know, someone was posting a lot of the salad-in-a-jar. If you had time to assemble these once a week it may be to your benefit. These jar salads are supposed to be good for a week and people usually just take along a bowl or even use the shorter and wider jars and eat the salad right out of that. If you are interested I will find the link to the salad-in-a-jar recipes.

    This is a great, i have jars, but maybe theyre too small. Thank you. And thanks everyone else for your input too.
  • shoeoptional
    shoeoptional Posts: 46 Member
    Ummm, those numbers are maximums, not minimums. You are not supposed to exceed that sodium count and it's not hard to do, trust me. So you don''t feel like you have to reinvent the wheel, go for your ideas on Pinterest. There's a wealth of ideas there and is my go to source.

    I can't recommend a deli meat over the another because in they end, none of them are really good for, you unless you buy the real roast beef and turkey breast from Whole Paycheck (Foods) which can hit $18-20/pound. Check out a Costco, maybe buy in bulk, repackage and freeze. Aldi, if there is one near you, has really upped their game in organic and whole food choices. Honestly, roast a turkey (it's not as hard as you think especially if you follow the America's Test Kitchen/Cooks Country episode on Youtube) break it down, package and freeze plus bone broth with the carcass. Maybe do the same with a top round beef roast. You'll have protein for two weeks buy rotating them.
  • shoeoptional
    shoeoptional Posts: 46 Member
    I'm also partial to one-pot meals: soups, stews, chili, etc. You can make large quantity and they freeze well. They also tend to be budget friendly and you can control the ingredients, flavors and sodium content. For proteins, I tend to buy less beef because it is super expensive unless you catch a sweet deal then stock up but I prefer roasts simply because you get more for your money. I've transitioned to more lamb, pork and even goat. I try to do fish but unless you catch it yourself, it is very expensive and you only want wild caught so i tend to eat more canned tuna, salmon and mackerel. It takes effort and commitment but I have saved a ton of money, lost weight and my BP is much lower by not eating out. You'll actually encourage people around you to start doing the same and you can meal swap (they make stuff, you make stuff in the same quantity and you swap).
  • ARGriffy
    ARGriffy Posts: 1,002 Member
    The lowest calorie option that also rates yummy that I have found is: chicken tikka salad box with sweet onion dressing. Nom
  • SylviazSpirit
    SylviazSpirit Posts: 694 Member
    shadowfax_c11 wrote: »
    corazombie wrote: »

    I looked up sodium and apparently it is good to reach the 2300 daily requirement. Some days i see that number in red and i freak out. I know better now.

    This macro numbers are minimums not maximums. You need to at least reach the number it gives you. Going over them by a small number is unlikely to be a problem unless you have a health issue. I a routinely way over on sodium. The only issue I get from it is water weight masking my weight loss. Doesn't bother me much. The xscale isn't the only means of measuring progress.

    AS far as Subway goes my usually choices are the 6" Ham and turkey, just turkey or the veggie delight. Usually with a bag of sun chips and unsweetened iced tea.

    They are definitely Maximums, minus a couple like the fats that say "0". Since there isn't a daily recommended amount for those, they are set at zero but it's not exactly a maximum, there just aren't daily alloted numbers.... But it's especially important to try to not go into the red on carbs, fats, and sodium. I stalled for a whole month before I realized it was my macros that were killing me. I fixed that (stayed under those) and I dropped 9 lbs the next month! Anyway, just a heads up. IIFYM is a great place to find your macro count by grams. It's also important to pay attention to your percentages though. So essentially you want a balanced day, not grossly over daily numbers (under is better), and under calorie count. That's where you win big. It's all in the science. Not trying to be combative, just thought that would be helpful to others. It was definitely helpful for me and helped get me out of my rut (not dropping lbs)

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