eat more hoagies, lose weight

The hoagie is one of the stereotypical fat people foods. No news there. Since I have been losing weight, I think I have eaten more hoagies per week than I did previously. So what are the tricks?

The goal is to keep the sandwich to under 500 calories (preferably under 400 calories). You're probably thinking, clearly this is going to taste like crap and I'll need a big side of to fill me up. Nope and nope.

Forget about striving to find whole wheat or low carb this or that. I do like a lot of whole wheat breads, but I like a good old hoagie roll a lot better. I like these ones from Colombo at 190 calories a pop. Put about 3-4 slices of your favorite lunch meat on. This will add anywhere from 30 to 150 or so calories. Broil the sandwich until the bread is light golden brown.

Now, here come the tricks. Ditch the cheese, the mayo, and any oil-based spreads. Replace them with healthier alternatives. If you want the heat, slather on a good layer of the jalapeno spread I described in my last post. Hit it with some yellow mustard or some fancier mustard (side note - spend time in the grocery store looking at all of the crazy mustards - they really add a lot of pop to a sandwich and are virtually no calories). Add some lettuce*, tomato, onions, pickles, pepperoncini, you name it. Virtually any amount of veggies you add will sum to less than 100 calories (with the exception of avocado).

So even if you loaded the sandwich, you are looking at about 450 calories and a huge meal. Most of the time I don't eat anything else with it and I am plenty full. One great side that you can use on the sandwiches are Nathan's pickle slices (5 calories each).

* Chef's tip for cutting lettuce to make a restaurant style sandwich - get a head of iceburg lettuce, wash it, and smash the core against a table. Pull out the core. Dry the lettuce really well. Get a sharp knife and slice off the end. Then make about 1/4 inch slices in the lettuce, so you get shreads.

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