another subway lunch

I now eat at Subway once a week, on purpose, whereas before I only did if I was too lazy to pack a lunch that day. Why?

Apples.

Yes, I'm serious. Subway recently began offering raisins or apples as a side option when buying a meal combo (previously, the only choices were chips or cookies). The small bag has a mix of sweet red and tart green apple slices, in a "specially designed bag to lock in their juicy apple crunch."

These apples are so perfect, I swear they must be grown in a lab. They have the perfect flavor and crispness, and I like the variety of sweet and tart. I like them so much, I now crave these apples, hence my weekly trip to Subway. (Insert references to So I Married an Axe Murderer here.)

I've also developed a taste for Diet Coke from a soda fountain, which is the only zero-calorie soft drink I like besides Diet Dr Pepper. As it happens, Subway serves Diet Coke of the fountain variety.

What's with all this talk of healthy food and drink? Well, I have been eating healthier lately, for several reasons. The initial reason was that I decided to audition for Elyria Summer Theatre's Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and I felt I needed to lose as much of the gut as possible if I wanted a shot at playing Joseph. However, I wasn't going to kill myself over it, so I didn't join a gym or start running five miles a day. I decided to follow the "energy in/energy out" formula and just reduce my caloric intake. None of this low-fat/low-carb/low-taste stuff.

The results came quickly. I lost 20 pounds in two months, and it has remained steady at that weight. Some of the gut is still there, but that has always been true, even dating back to my near-anorexic days in 7th grade. That likely won't change unless I start working out, but I'm not really worried about it as far as auditions are concerned.

One of my co-workers is taking the opposite approach: eating the same as he does now, but adding exercise to his daily routine. I'm not only too lazy for that, but hate the vast consumptive black hole of time that exercise is; that's a fancy way of saying I have better things to do with my 3 - 4 free hours each night. I'd rather just change what I eat, since I'm going to be eating anyway.

What did I change? Instead of Pop Tarts for breakfast, I have cinnamon toast on whole grain bread, using Splenda instead of sugar. My lunches already involved carrot sticks and an apple, but I stopped including a bag of chips, and drank bottled water instead of pop. That's when I realized my lunches were rather bland and boring without the chips and pop, so I started mixing it up with kiwi and strawberries instead of the apple, for example. (The strawberries are also dusted with Splenda rather than sugar.)

Things that did not change: I still have my one mug of coffee per day, sweetened with sugar. Splenda just doesn't cut it for coffee, for my taste. But coffee has negligible calories, and even with sugar and half & half, this is only about 100 calories total. Still less than a can of pop.

I also eat the same dinners I always have, i.e. whatever my mommy makes.

I stopped snacking almost entirely. This was probably the hardest maneuver, because it was like removing several small meals from the day. At least with breakfast and lunch, I was eating something in place of something else. But after the first week, I got out of the habit of running to the cupboard every time I had a slight twinge of hunger.

I also don't buy into that "if you want a snack, eat an apple instead of cookies" nonsense. First off, eating a lone apple outside the context of a meal often leaves me more hungry than when I started -- Justin says this happens to him too. Secondly, chances are good that when I want a snack, I'm craving a specific flavor or sweetness, which a bland old apple won't fulfill (Subway's apple slices being an exception). And lastly, choosing an apple over cookies won't solve the underlying problem of rewarding every twinge of hunger with a trip to the fridge. That's my view, anyway.

So what was the second reason for this adventure? I simply wanted to see if I could do it. I want to know how much control I can exert over my weight and appearance. Everyone's body is different, so I certainly wouldn't claim that my methods are appropriate for everyone.

I don't know that these changes in my eating habits will be permanent -- in related news, auditions are this weekend -- but it's nice to know that I seem to have a choice in the matter. What's funny is that I don't think I look as skinny as I did when I was this weight in college, which is nice. That may just be mental, though.

Isn't it ridiculous that I had more trouble gaining weight than losing it? Trust me, that's not always a blessing. Exhibit A, ages puberty through senior year of college. QED.