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So what does the cheap man think about cheese and other delicious high calorie per ounce toppings? Well, that depends on a couple of things: 1) how much room do you have in your calorie budget?, and 2) are you paying extra for them?

I could easily cut out 115 calories from my usual power sandwich by eliminating cheese and light mayo, but if you don't leave yourself any indulgences, this plan is going to suck and probably going to ultimately fail. Plus, I find it about impossible to eat any kind of sandwich without a high-calorie dressing. I can get by with mustard in a pinch, but light mayo is only 35 calories and tastes every bit as good as full fat mayo which has almost 3x the calories.

Cheese is great - just don't go crazy with it, or you'll be racking up calories fast. One slice will run you about 70-80 calories per ounce. I usually go with Meunster or Provolone which are 80 each. Some are more, like Swiss, which will set you back 105 calories.

(Side note: I do know most of these calorie approximations by heart. My wife keeps calling me Rain Man whenever we start talking about calories counts in certain foods like I'm some sort of prodigy, but once you start logging your usuals, you'll get to remembering them too.)

If you're ordering out in a restaurant, you'll often be charged an extra buck for cheese, so I'll usually take that as an opportunity to save the cash and the space in my calorie budget. If you're ordering a tasty, already high-calorie item like a hamburger or something, it's probably not going to need the extra flavor from cheese that say a turkey club could probably use. A bacon cheeseburger does indeed taste a lot better than a regular burger, but once that regular hamburger is sitting in front of you, it's still going to go down pretty easily. Plus, it's pretty ridiculous that they charge 10-20% extra for something that costs them so little, so stick it to the man and pocket that extra buck (or two bucks if you skip the bacon too!)

Oh, and another word about bacon: depending on the thickness of the cut, you'll be taking as much as an 80 calorie hit per slice whenever you use it. Like most men, the words, "I cannot eat any more bacon", have never crossed my lips, and it wasn't for a lack of trying. So, be careful with that too.

Also, whenever possible, try to toss the bun. That'll make up than a little more than the calories in either your bacon or your cheese.

Lastly, try some subs for ketchup or otherwise keep its use to a minimum. Restaurants don't charge for it, but it has a lot of sugar. I'd rather see you use lower calorie, salty toppings since excess sodium will eventually flush out of your system (even if it does cause some temporary upswings on your scale through increased water retention). Try Worcestershire sauce or salsa on your burgers, salt on your fries, mustard on your hot dogs, etc.

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