The Woman Behind the Woman

Copyright © 2003-2007
All Rights Reserved
All content herein
published with permission
and remains the intellectual
property of the contributor.

Site sponsored by...

Karen Hiser Healthy Travel Network

Travel Fit

Are the Fast Food Retailers Catching On?
Or is it Just Great Marketing?

New Year’s resolutioners and fast food junkies rejoice! It seems like it might be possible to have your proverbial cake and eat it too. Well… Maybe not cake, but at least a meal that fits your diet.

Subway

Those ever savvy marketers are catching on to the diet trends of weight conscious Americans. Subway, Hardees, and Applebees all recently have introduced new menu items geared to various diet regimes.

Subway was ahead of its time back in the late 90’s when it introduced its low fat menu items, championed by that ever happy, ever goofy mascot, Jared. With great timing to coincide with all those New Year’s resolutions, Subway just introduced two Atkins-endorsed low-carb wraps—a turkey and bacon melt with Monterey cheddar cheese, and the chicken bacon ranch wrap, with Swiss cheese. They each have 11 or (tantalizingly) fewer grams of net carbs. A reminder to those of you trying a true low-carb diet: Atkins recommends only 20 grams of carbs during the “induction” phase, and (on average) 25 grams during the “ongoing weight loss” phase. So, don’t plan on eating these wraps too often, or you’re going to be eating little else.

I don’t think you’d find Jared, the low-fat king, eating one of these, however. The Subway wraps weigh in at a hefty 430 and 480 calories, respectively. The chicken wrap carries a whopping 27 grams of fat, and the turkey wrap doesn’t fare much better at 25 grams of fat.

Offering seven sandwiches with six grams of fat or less, Subway is a good choice for both low fat and low cal eaters. These sandwiches range from 210 to 330 calories, in comparison to Subway’s other menu items that range from 330 calories to a gargantuan 780 calories in the double meatball sub. Now, doesn’t that just make you salivate?

While I’m all for the low-carb diet, my personal recommendation: Get the low-fat sub, pick up a fork and knife, and skip the roll. Versus the new low-carb wraps, you’ll cut the calories in half, and reduce the fat by 75%. Neither of these can be a bad thing.

Hardees

Across the way at Hardees, they’ve been busy with the low-carb phenomena as well. Capitalizing on its Thickburger™ branding, Hardees has launched the Lettuce-Wrapped Low Carb Thickburger™ with a more respectable three net carbs. Made from 1/3 pound beef wrapped in iceberg lettuce and topped with cheese and the usual condiments, the burger weighs in at 621 calories and (ouch) 54 grams of fat.

Applebees

Finally, up the road at Applebees, they’ve been quietly test marketing 18 new Weight Watcher menu items in various towns around the country. The new menu details the Weight Watcher “points” values, as well as calories, fat, and fiber.

Reading the entrees, my eyes immediately gravitated to the Tortilla Chicken Melt, a quesadillas with chipotle roasted chicken, mozzarella, cheddar, yummy veggies, and cilantro dressing. Ummmmm good… 10 points?! I only can have 20 points per day on Weight Watchers!

Fortunately, however, there are some better options such as the Grilled Citrus Chicken Salad or the Teriyaki Shrimp Skewers, both only five points.

Market results will dictate which of the items Applebees launches nation-wide in 2004. Let’s hope the test marketers pick some options that are both diet-friendly and tasty.

Summary

It seems that the fast food and restaurant industry in general is catching on to our eating trends, but as always, be sure to read the labels before you decide what’s right for you.

Travel Fit Tips

- Don’t succumb to the marketing hype.
- Check the label.
- And when all else fails, use common sense.

Get Subway’s full menu and nutritional content.
http://subway.com/applications/NutritionInfo/nutritionlist.aspx?CountryCode=USA&ID=sandwich

Learn more about the new Hardee’s low carb Thickburger™.
http://www.shareholder.com/cke/ReleaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=124598&reltype=gen

Read the full menu in Applebee’s press release.
http://ir.applebees.com/ireye/ir_site.zhtml?ticker=appb&script=410&layout=-7&item_id=470890