I think more than 2x per week is excessive. Deli/lunch meat seems very processed and unhealthy to me, as does the bread there. If you really can't resist, try getting the salad once in awhile.

To me, the thing that makes a Potbelly sandwich unhealthy, even if you skip stuff like cheese and mayo, is the portions. The turkey sandwich I make at home will simply be smaller, so it'll be a lot fewer calories, carbs, etc. The Potbelly sandwich will be significantly larger but odds are I'll finish it anyway, so I'll end up eating a lot more than I really need.

I mean, the calorie count for an original turkey breast is 440 calories, and a skinny TKY is 300 calories. That doesn't sound like an obscene number of calories to ingest for one meal.

Anonymous wrote:Who knew sandwiches would be such a hot topic?

To me, the thing that makes a Potbelly sandwich unhealthy, even if you skip stuff like cheese and mayo, is the portions. The turkey sandwich I make at home will simply be smaller, so it'll be a lot fewer calories, carbs, etc. The Potbelly sandwich will be significantly larger but odds are I'll finish it anyway, so I'll end up eating a lot more than I really need.

+1 yes, I think the portion sizes are what make it "unhealthy" more than anything else.

15:48, Master of the Single Entendre. Is that you, OP?

Anonymous wrote:
I think their name says it all, OP. At least they're upfront about it

The bottom line is that you're never sure whether "straight-forward" foods in restaurants aren't secretly laden with sugar, salt, fat and other things to make then tastier.
Plus there's the question of portion control.
Then there is the equally difficult question of: "Are you really eating that healthy at home anyway?"

Potbelly = the stove. Which is on their sign.

Who knew sandwiches would be such a hot topic?

To me, the thing that makes a Potbelly sandwich unhealthy, even if you skip stuff like cheese and mayo, is the portions. The turkey sandwich I make at home will simply be smaller, so it'll be a lot fewer calories, carbs, etc. The Potbelly sandwich will be significantly larger but odds are I'll finish it anyway, so I'll end up eating a lot more than I really need.

Anonymous wrote:
I think their name says it all, OP. At least they're upfront about it

The bottom line is that you're never sure whether "straight-forward" foods in restaurants aren't secretly laden with sugar, salt, fat and other things to make then tastier.
Plus there's the question of portion control.
Then there is the equally difficult question of: "Are you really eating that healthy at home anyway?"

Well, except that at Potbelly (and many other restaurants) you can look up all the nutritional information. I don't know that every single ingredient in their turkey is listed, but you can look at the nutritional info for every item on their menu.

To OP: I guess it depends on what your definition of "healthy" is. For some people it means on whole, unprocessed foods, prepared from scratch - everything else, to them, is unhealthy. To others healthy means eating well overall, moderating intake of saturated fats/sodium/whathaveyou, some processed foods in the diet balanced by other from-scratch whole food meals, etc.

I tend to fall in the latter camp. When at Potbelly, I get a thin-sliced Mediterranean on wheat with chicken, skip the artichokes and feta, and add lettuce, tomato, onion. I don't go often, because there isn't one convenient to me - but I'd say that I hit a similar place (Subway, Chipotle, etc.) and make a similar reasonable choice 2-3 times/week. I'm ok with that when I'm making healthy, homemade dinners most nights of the week, you know?

Of course it is not healthy OP, but I think you already knew that and were trying to start a fight. Processed meat is unhealthy and may cause cancer. Processed bread is unhealthy too. So, why would you even think it is healthy?

The question is so simplistic and one-dimensional. Healthy for what? Every meal? Every lunch? Is every item on the menu healthy? Healthy for whom? My underweight daughter who needs a high-fat high carb diet? My DH with high cholesterol? The person who is on Weight Watchers? Anorexic person?

OP, stop looking at food as your enemy and as something that gets divided into healthy and not-healthy and never shall it meet your lips. Look at it as something that you can have in the context of certain other trade offs and choices. A turkey sandwich? Why would it be healthy at home and not healthy at Potbelly? Maybe it's higher quality and more nutritious if it's made with better ingredients, but "not healthy"? No.

Stop eating out so much. Just sayin'.

I always order the TKY with lettuce and tomato...no mayo and it is delicious. I would order it every day if I could. Just stay away from those delicious chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. They are the Devil!

I get the skinny thin cut turkey, no cheese only mustard. That's healthy as fuck.

It's hilarious that the OP has posted such a silly question and then is angry that people haven't intuited EXACTLY what she means.

Hey, OP: if anyone is the jerk on here, it's you!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good grief -- I don't mean a homemade turkey sandwich vs. store bought -- I meant a homemade meal vs. a Potbelly sandwich. Sorry I didn't spell it out for you.

She is answering your question you idiot! A Potbelly's sandwich is about as healthy as one you might make at home.

Dually noted. I'm such an idiot, I'm not really sure how I even function.

"Dually" noted? Quit while you're ahead OP.

(Ps - next time you ask an unclear question and don't like the answer you get, maybe just clarify instead of instantly becoming defensive. This is the food forum for goodness sake!)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good grief -- I don't mean a homemade turkey sandwich vs. store bought -- I meant a homemade meal vs. a Potbelly sandwich. Sorry I didn't spell it out for you.

She is answering your question you idiot! A Potbelly's sandwich is about as healthy as one you might make at home.

Dually noted. I'm such an idiot, I'm not really sure how I even function.

*Duly. Your second sentence seems very apropos.