A while ago, the press covered a story on Subway weight loss. Basically a guy lost over 200 pounds by eating subway sandwiches. Like everything you read in the press, that wasn’t actually the whole story.
Seemingly, Jared Fogel admitted that he got very little exercise prior to starting his subway diet but now walks a lot. The added exercise would have helped him in his weight loss goal and is an excellent idea for everyone. But I do not believe that the subway diet is the way forward for most.
Why? Well simply because it doesn’t make sense to concentrate your diet around one particular fast food establishment. While they certainly have healthy options, the main product is bread. Bread should be a part of a healthy eating plan but a small part.
When you are trying to lose weight you should aim to break your food down in to the following groups:
• Fruit and Vegetables
• Bread, cereals, potatoes etc
• Dairy foods and milk
• Fish, lean meat or alternatives
• Sugar and fats
You should include all food groups in your new diet plan but the emphasis would be on eating more fruit and vegetables. Not only do they provide valuable nutrients and minerals but they also help to fill you up without consuming loads of calories.
The next most important group is the bread, cereals and potatoes category but this doesn’t mean that you should eat loads of bread, especially white bread. While we need starchy carbohydrates to keep healthy, white bread actually provides very few nutrients and may contain a lot of sugar. Wholemeal bread and pasta contain dietary fiber to aid our digestion systems, eliminating waste and helping us to lose weight. These foods also provide calcium, iron and B vitamins.
You may be surprised to find me recommending these foods on a weight loss plan but healthy eating incorporates all food groups. Fans of the subway weight loss diet will point out that carbohydrates are actually low in calories. This is true but they can cause problems for slimmers. Bread in particular has been noted as causing a fall off the diet wagon as slimmer’s struggle to reduce portion sizes. While you should eat some carbohydrates, don’t use that as an excuse to consume loads of butter, jam or fatty toppings.
Dairy products are a great source of protein but if you are on a diet, you should opt for the low fat varieties. It is too easy to consume a large number of calories snacking on full fat cheese.
Every meal should contain some protein, the main sources being from fish, lean meat or alternatives such as Tofu. Protein helps to keep sugar rushes under control and thus reduces cravings. Just remove all skin when cooking poultry and always bake or grill. Fried foods of all descriptions are now off the menu!
While the subway weight loss diet may be an option, I believe you will be more successful if you put a more traditional healthy eating regime in place.