Update August 2013: After finding out that Jimmy John hunts and kills endangered animals I have decided that I will no longer be eating there.
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About once a month on a payday I like to treat myself to a lunch that I didn’t make… in other words I eat out. It usually falls on a payday Friday. About 9 times out of 10 I end up getting Jimmy John's because they are fantastic! I love the quality of their ingredients and the fact that they deliver means I can hang out in my cubicle at work and perhaps work on a blog while I wait on my delicious lunch to get here.
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About once a month on a payday I like to treat myself to a lunch that I didn’t make… in other words I eat out. It usually falls on a payday Friday. About 9 times out of 10 I end up getting Jimmy John's because they are fantastic! I love the quality of their ingredients and the fact that they deliver means I can hang out in my cubicle at work and perhaps work on a blog while I wait on my delicious lunch to get here.
As many times as I’ve ordered a JJ’s sandwich looking at their online menu I’ve never noticed the Nutritional Information tab. I’ve been making an effort to be aware of how many calories and whatnot that I am consuming in an attempt to achieve a healthier lifestyle. Therefore today I actually sought out the nutritional information before ordering instead of just jumping in and indulging without a care and trying to work it off later.
I am impressed with the nutritional tool that JJ's has on the website! It’s truly fantastic. If you go to their Menu, then click on the Nutritional Information link you will be taken to the interactive tool they have provided. Click on the sandwich that you would like to see and you will find out exactly how many calories you are consuming if you purchase your yummy sandwich as is.
However the really cool part is if you click Add To Meal and then in the Your Selected Meal Items box click on Edit.
You can then start adding and taking away ingredients and see the nutritional information of your sandwich if you customize.
I love the Beach Club and I’ve always ordered it on their fantastic wheat bread with Dijon mustard added. We will just talk calories and the rest you can play with yourself.
When I added the Beach Club as is with the sandwich on the default French bread you will see that it started out at 729.35 calories.
I was like whoa… no wonder it tastes so good.
Take away the French bread and put it on my usual wheat and it is now 730.35 calories.
Add Dijon mustard and I find that I typically consume 738.55 calories just with the sandwich alone.
The yummy factor of this sandwich makes it worth the extra work out later.
But of course I had to see what would happen if I removed the mayo, I’m not big on mayo anyways but usually do not bother removing it… get ready for it…. No mayo brings us down to 545.55 calories! The mayo is definitely something me and my hips can live without.
Now what else can I do… all of the other ingredients really do make the sandwich but I decided to see what would happen if I made it an Unwich aka Lettuce Wrap… remove bread and lettuce since it will be wrapped in lettuce and we are now at a phenomenal 201.85 calories!
So my dilemma… do I go Unwich and sacrifice my beloved bread? I spent about 10 minutes showing my coworkers my new Nutritional Information toy that JJ’s has provided me while deciding (they seemed as amused as I was) and in the pursuit of practicing indulgence restraint (and I just had that awesome dinner last night Omelet Night) I decided this time I will go out on a limb and try the Unwich.
I was fearful that without the bread I’d feel like I’d wasted my money because I thought I’d just basically purchased a salad wrapped in paper. Was it going to be enough to be filling? I was also afraid that maybe the lettuce would be be kind of gross, perhaps not at its freshest or some weird something.
My fears were for not! Oh my gosh! It was good! First thing I was impressed that it was the same size as if you had ordered it on bread. The lettuce was flavorful and crunchy. And mostly I did not miss the bread at all! All those ingredients that go in the bread that make the sandwich were able to shine and be the grand star in the Unwich. Turkey, tomato, avocado, cucumber, provolone cheese, sprouts, and Dijon mustard wrapped in lettuce was awesome flavors exploding in your mouth goodness.
I realized I needed to stop and take a picture when there were only a few bites left.
The Unwich filled me up and I did not feel overly full like I usually do when I order it on bread. I consumed 536.7 less calories than I normally do when I order my beloved sandwich.
I actually started this blog before my food was delivered by the super friendly delivery girl because I was so enthused by the interactive nutritional guide, however the Unwich was so good it needed attention as well. I am now a JJ’s Unwich convert.
Take a risk! Make healthier choices, you may be surprised at how good it is. And never forget to tip your delivery driver.
Much love!
Please note that Jimmy John’s did not ask me to write this blog… I just really love their food! All screen shots of the Jimmy John's website were taken by me as I played with the nutritional information tool and I claim no ownership of them, nor do I have intention of any copywrite infringement.
