Diet busters: America's worst sandwiches

Quizno Tuna Melt         (flickr)

Weight loss efforts can be challenging. Reading labels, counting calories, and watching portions. Every once in a while, there is nothing wrong with taking a little break from it all by enjoying a good sandwich. Be careful though; don't be fooled by diet-sounding words like salad, vegetarian, chicken or turkey. Depending on the other sandwich ingredients, you could be consuming more calories and fat and carbs than you think.

An article in Men’s Health magazine listed the 5 worst sandwiches in America, as listed in the new book, Eat This Not That! The Best (& Worst!) Foods in America!: The No-Diet Weight Loss Solution. Check out this interesting list:

Worst "healthy" sandwich

Romano's Macaroni Grill - Grilled Chicken and Artichoke

980 calories

55 g fat (13 g saturated)

 2,240 mg sodium

76 g carbohydrates

Wow! So much for grilled chicken always being the safe choice. The book suggests trying the Grilled Chicken Spiedini instead. Only 360 calories, 10 g fat (2 g saturated), 1150 mg sodium and 17 g carbohydrates. 

Worst vegetarian sandwich

Blimpie Special Vegetarian - 12 inch

1,186 calories

60 g fat (19 g saturated)

3,532 mg sodium

131 g carbohydrates

It's not the vegetables that make this sandwich a diet disaster, it's the three different oils and the over sized roll. Try the VeggieMax on Wheat (6" roll). It has 499 calories, 21 g fat (6 g saturated), 1,212 mg sodium and 50 g carbohydrates.

Worst meaty sandwich

Subway Footlong Meatball with Cheese

 1,260 calories

54 g fat (22 g saturated)

3,570mg sodium

142 g carbohydrates

Jared certainly wasn't eating these when he lost his weight. Eat This Not That! The Best (& Worst!) Foods in America!: The No-Diet Weight Loss Solution suggests sticking to a 6-inch turkey, ham or roasting beef. If necessary, get extra meat for only 50 to 80 additional calories. A 6 inch Double Roast Beef contains 400 calories, 7 g fat (2.5 g saturated), 1410 mg sodium and 47 carbohydrates.

Worst fried chicken sandwich

Chili’s Buffalo Chicken Crisper Bites

 1,620 calories

100 g fat (21 g saturated)

5,380 mg sodium

123 g carbohydrates

 For the same bold flavors, try the Fajita Pita instead. It has 460 calories, 13 g fat (2 g saturated), 1400 mg sodium and 52 carbohydrates.

 Worst sandwich in America

 Quizno’s Tuna Melt (Large)

 1,760 calories

133 g fat (25 g saturated, 1.5 g trans)

2,120 mg sodium

 How can something as healthy as tuna, turn out like this? It seems the "melt" part translates into tons of mayo and cheese and Quizno's huge serving sizes don’t help. Try the Sonoma Turkey Flatbread Sammie. It is only 280 calories, 14 g fat (4 g saturated), and 740 mg sodium.