The Foot Long Story

One day for lunch, Michael and I went over to SE Hawthorne to grab a bite to eat. He picked the place. We went through the usual “Where do you want to eat?” rigmarole while deciding where to go. All of our Groupon deals were for dinner places, so that didn’t work. He suggested the East Side Deli.

I had never been there, nor heard of the place, and it was a tucked away little dive on SE Hawthorne that I probably drove past a million and a half times and never noticed. It’s a shame their signage isn’t better because it really is a little gem of a place.

On the inside it’s trendy with loud pop music playing and sandwich makers who stepped right out of a punk-rock band complete with piercings and pink hair. But then, that’s just kind of Portland, right?

When you first walk in the door you can grab a menu and you can either create your own sandwich or choose one of theirs. Michael went with their Italian sub and I got the daily special–a caprese sandwich.

The 6 inch sandwiches were pretty massive. As I sat down to eat my lunch, I reminisced on the old days when my typical meal from Subway consisted of a footlong sandwich with all the fixings, a bag of chips, a massive regular soda and two cookies. And yes, I ate all of that by myself in one meal. There was no “saving this half for later” when I was that big. That was a typical dinner or lunch for me. Sometimes I feel like it’s been so long since I was that “Old Lisa” that I forget what it was like to eat that way. I get little reminders once in awhile that show my just how far I’ve come from the old days.

Not only that, my 6 inch sandwich was completely filling. I was stuffed. I did not NEED any more food. How could I even think about eating a footlong?!

Yes, I’ve come a long way from the old person I used to be. I’ve learned how to be satisfied and listen to my body instead of feeding whatever that “emptiness” is with food I don’t need. I’ve learned that a serving size really is plenty. Sure, sometimes my eyes are bigger than my stomach but for the most part I pay attention to those hungry or satisfied cues.

How was the sandwich? It was so much better than Subway. The freshly baked wheat bread had a little crunch to it but it was soft on the inside. My caprese sandwich came with balsamic and oil, buffalo mozzarella cheese, sliced tomatoes with salt and pepper seasoning and fresh basil leaves. Every single bite of that sandwich was heavenly and it felt like I was eating summer. Basil and tomatoes together are just so refreshing!

Michael enjoyed his much messier sandwich:

And after he was done eating, he proceeded to serenade me with with Michael Jackson’s “The Way You Make Me Feel” as it played through the speakers. 🙂 East Side Deli was good. I enjoyed my sandwich so much. And I wondered why I never made my own caprese sandwich last summer when I had all that amazing basil in my garden? Adding that to my to-do list for this year!

QUESTION: How have your eating habits changed? Are you shocked at how much you used to eat versus how much you’re satisfied with now?