You've probably heard of Jared Fogle - he's the guy that lost over 200 pounds by only eating at Subway. His amazing story captured the attention of people all around the world. Here it is in a nutshell:

It all started March of 1998 when Jared was a college student with a problem. His weight had skyrocketed to 425 pounds. Now that's a lot of weight for anyone to handle, let alone a busy college student. So Jared made the decision to change his life.

He knew the weight would come off with the help of a healthy, lowfat diet. Luckily for him there was a Subway restaurant located near his apartment. His plan was brilliant in its simplicity. Everyday he ate the same thing:

• Breakfast - coffee
• Lunch - "I ate the 6-inch turkey, tons of vegetables, including hot peppers and a bit of spicy mustard." He left off the mayonnaise and cheese and had a bag of Baked Lays® potato chips and a diet soft drink
• Dinner - Footlong veggie sub - again no mayonnaise or cheese.

I'm sure you know the rest of the story. The Subway diet, along with exercise, got Jared to shed the extra weight until he was a lean 190 pounds (the guy is 6'2"), and he became a spokesperson for Subway, sharing his story and inspiring millions of people.

Subway then became synonymous with healthy eating.

Ever look at a Subway napkin? It lists 7 of their sandwiches that have 6 grams of fat or less. Then at the bottom it shows you an alternative. The Big Mac and the Whopper, burgers that hold 31 and 40 grams of fat, respectively.

Wow, Subway is much healthier, right? Well, yes and no.

First read the small print. The 7 sandwiches with 6 grams of fat or less are calculated with only bread, veggies and meat. So if you take your sandwich with cheese, mayonnaise, and oil (and really, other than Jared, who doesn't?) then you need to recalculate the numbers.

Here, I'll do it for you, using a 6" Roasted Chicken Breast sandwich as an example.

Let's not forget the tempting side items are that so often picked up in the Subway line:

And just like that your 'healthy' Subway sandwich grew into a meal with fat and calorie totals that rival a Big Mac meal.

Now I know you probably don't get all of the extras when you visit Subway but, quite frankly, that isn't the point.

The point is that there is danger in classifying any restaurant as 'healthy'.

The truth is that you could gain weight eating anywhere, just like you could lose weight eating anywhere. It all comes down to maintaining a balanced diet with a reasonable calorie and fat intake.

Jared lost weight by drastically cutting calories and fat from his diet and by starting an exercise program. You too could do this at Subway or any other restaurant. But eating at Subway does not mean that you will walk out leaner and healthier.

It all comes down to choices.

Everyday you make choices that directly affect your weight and your health. Should you get mayonnaise on your sandwich? What harm will one cookie do? Will skipping your workout today really make a difference?