Are Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches Healthy? (5 Tips For Weight Loss) 

Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches are part of American culture, like chocolate peanut butter cups, and can’t be missed. If you love Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches but are wondering if it’s healthy, or good for your waistline, this article is for you. Find out what goes into making a classic Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich, how many calories it contains, and how to stay in shape while indulging in this delicious American dish.

The first Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich ever invented was in 1901, however, the popularity of this sandwich rose to fame around 1920, as sliced bread was introduced and peanut butter prices dropped significantly.  

Although Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches are delicious, are they actually healthy?

Technically, Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches can be relatively healthy if they are made with the right ingredients. Therefore, we recommend making a healthier version of Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches by swapping out a few ingredients.

Here are five steps that explain what Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches are, the calorie amount in one Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich, as well as how to stay fit and healthy while eating this classic American snack. 

1. Find out How to Make Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches

2. Find out How Many Calories Are in One Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich

3. Understand How Many Calories You Need to Consume in a Day 

4. How to Make a Healthier Version of Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches

5. Make Sure To Consistently Workout, Build Muscle & Increase Your Activity Level

Now that we know our five steps, let’s get into the details that will help you stay in shape while enjoying some delicious Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches.

Tip 1: Find out How to Make Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches

Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches are not only loved by children but also appreciated by many adults.

Let’s take a look at what goes into a classic Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich. 

A classic Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich is often made with Sara Lee’s White or Whole wheat bread, Welch’s grape jelly, and Peter Pan’s Peanut Butter. The bread can be toasted prior to giving it a little more crunch.  

Now that we know what Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches are and how to make them, let’s take a look at the nutrition facts of one Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich.

Tip 2: Find out How Many Calories Are in One Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich

The key aspect is to understand how many calories you need to consume in a day, whether you have a sedentary lifestyle or an active lifestyle, and to make sure not to overeat on your total calories for the day.  

Let’s take a look at the nutrition facts. As you can see, one Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich made with Peter Pan Peanut Butter, Welch's Grape Jelly, Sara Lee Whole Wheat White Bread has 390 calories with a macronutrient ratio of 46 grams of carbs, 12 grams of protein, and 18 grams of fat.  

Although a classic Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich has a moderate amount of calories and is high in proteins, it also carries 19 grams of sugar.  

The key to dieting is a nice balance of macronutrients, as well as having an active lifestyle.  

A good rule of thumb is sticking to 30% carbs, 40% protein, and 30% fats.  

The calorie amount in one Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich can still easily be incorporated into your daily caloric intake, as long as you work out and don’t overeat.  

However, regarding the ingredients used we recommend making a healthier version with better ingredients.  

Now that we know a little bit more about the nutrition facts of one classic Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich, let’s take a look at how many calories you need to consume daily to stay in shape.

Tip 3: Understand How Many Calories You Need to Consume in a Day 

Great health and fitness are all about calorie or energy balance, which means that you can still eat your fats and carbs, and stay in shape. 

You can easily overeat on unhealthy, processed foods that are high in fats and carbs, especially when something is as delicious as Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches. Overeating is usually the quickest way to get out of shape. 

If you burn more calories than you consume, then you will find yourself in a “caloric deficit” which is the only way fat loss can occur. 

To stay healthy and in shape, we need to first go over your daily caloric needs and figure out how many calories you need in a day, as well as figure out how much of each macronutrient you should be consuming.

There are a few factors that determine your daily calorie intake. Such as weight management, weight loss, or weight gain. Other factors that play a major role are your gender and your height. 

So, how do you know how many calories you should be eating in a day?

The answer is through trial and error and finding a calorie range that allows you to lose 1-2 pounds of fat per week. 

However, a good place to start is to multiply your body weight by 12 or to use an online TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) calculator.

Your TDEE relies heavily on how active you are and how much movement you see in your day.

Within your TDEE lies a subsection, which is called TEPA (Thermic Effect of Physical Activity) which accounts for 15-30% of your entire day’s worth of calories.

This means, you are in control of 15-30% of how much you can eat, which is a huge portion of calories.

The key here is to find foods that keep you full longer and still deliver a balanced amount of macronutrients. 

If you’re someone who loves to eat a lot while staying fit, then being active is the key to a balanced lifestyle that allows you to eat whatever you like, such as Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches, and stay in shape. 

Once you know your calorie intake based on your weight and height, you can then decide how much you want to decrease it. If you want to lose 1 to 2 pounds per week, we suggest you start with 100 calories less than what you are currently consuming and see if you notice a difference within a week.

If you don’t see any changes in your weight, decrease your calorie intake by another 100 calories and see how that works. 

However, it is suggested, to not decrease the calorie intake below 1,200 per day for women, or below 1,500 calories per day for men.

So, just calculate whatever calorie range you find, and split up your calories by following those macro guidelines. 

Now that we know how many calories to consume daily, let’s take a look at how you can make a healthier version of Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches to reduce the calorie amount.

Tip 4: How to Make a Healthier Version of Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches

Since classic Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches are high in sugars and carbs, as well as hydrogenated oils, we recommend making a healthier version by switching out a few ingredients.

To make a healthier version of Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches, simply substitute dark, whole wheat bread for Whitebread. You can also use a rustic type of bread, such as sourdough. Keep in mind that many brands of sandwich bread contain some type of sugar. Regarding grape jelly, we recommend making your own type of fruit jam, as well as using either homemade- or natural peanut butter because these types of peanut butter don’t contain hydrogenated oils, as well as added sugars, and trans fats. Or you can ditch the peanut butter completely and swap it for almond- or Sunflowerseed butter instead. 

Now that we’ve discussed how to make a healthier version of Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches, let’s take a look at how to increase your activity level and build muscle. 

Tip 5: Make Sure To Consistently Workout, Build Muscle & Increase Your Activity Level

I’m sure that you’ve heard that carbs are the enemy and they’re the main driving factor at keeping us from getting a flat stomach or abs.

Carbs are your direct source of energy and they allow you to function properly and fuel your workouts and movements.

The same goes for fats. However, the body needs healthy fats to function properly and to absorb nutrients. As well as to produce hormones. 

The real enemy is inactivity and staying sedentary while eating more carbs than you need to. 

Therefore it is important you utilize your calories efficiently throughout your day. 

The best way to do this is to build muscle and to also move more throughout your day. 

60-75% of energy expenditure comes from your basal metabolic rate (BMR) which is how much your body burns if it did nothing all day. (NASM)

10% of energy expenditure comes from the thermic effect of feeding (TEF) which is the calories you burn from digesting different foods. (NASM)

15-30% of energy expenditure comes from the Thermic Effect of Activity (TEA) which is movement such as working out and aerobics. Source (NASM) 

To sum it up, up to 30% of our energy expenditure can come from movement and activity so this is a huge portion of our weight loss journey that you can actively control.

Building muscle allows you to burn calories at rest, which means you can eat more and still lose fat.

This is really the goal of working out and is what keeps you healthy as your metabolism increases.

As stated in Tip #3, you need to be able to burn enough calories throughout your day, to put yourself at a caloric deficit. 

Keep in mind that weight loss is really the concept of calories in vs. calories out.

Although working out and building muscle takes priority, having a consistent cardio schedule can help with expediting the fat loss process as it raises the energy expended throughout your week.

The fastest and most efficient way to build muscle is to learn how to do some resistance training.

You need to use weights and build muscle by doing a variety of workouts that target each muscle group specifically. 

Although it can be intimidating to get in shape, as it will be hard to learn and might be discouraging at the beginning, it’s definitely worth it in the long run for both your health and fitness. 

All you need are a set of dumbbells, such as these adjustable dumbbells, and a reliable treadmill such as the Bluefin Fitness Treadmill that tracks your calories and you’re on your way to controlling the number of calories you burn. 

Regarding working out with dumbbells, it’s important not to add too much weight too soon because that could result in injury if you are unfamiliar with the correct body positions. It is better to start small and then increase the weight level. 

Here is a workout plan we’ve created for women and men, where you can get started if you are someone who is new to a resistance training regimen.

WOMEN

Day One (Full Upper):

• Weighted Crunches: 3x35 

• Lateral Raises: 4x15

• Lat Pulldowns: 4x12

• Knee Push-Ups: 4x20

• Seated Shoulder Press: 4x20 

• Dumbbell Row: 3x10

• Dumbbell Fly: 3x10

Day Two (Back/Hamstrings/Biceps):

• Hammer Curls: 3x10

• Bicep Curls: 3x10

• Hamstring Curl: 4x15

• Stiff Leg Deadlift: 4x15

• Cable Row: 4x15

• Lat Pulldowns: 4x12

• Assisted Pull-Ups: 3x10

Day Three (Legs/Butt/Abs): 

• Leg Lifts: 3x35

• Weighted Crunches: 3x35 

• Jump Squats: 4x20

• Glute Kickbacks: 4x20 each leg

• Glute Bridge: 4x20

• Goblet Squats: 4x20

• Squats: 5x5

MEN:

Day One: Chest, Shoulders, Triceps, Abs (Push Day) : 

• Cable Crunches: 4 sets 15 reps 

• Triceps Rope Push Down: 3 sets 15 reps

• Lateral Raises: 3 sets 15 reps

• Shoulder Press: 3 sets 10 reps

• Dumbbell Press: 4 sets 12 reps

• Bench Press: 3 sets 10 reps

Day Two (Legs & Abs):

• Weighted Toe Touches: 4 sets 25 reps

• Weighted Sit-Ups: 4 sets 25 reps

• Jumping Squats With Resistance Bands: 5 sets 20 reps

• Glute Bridges With Weight: 4 sets 20 reps

• Stiff Leg Deadlift (Romanian Deadlift): 4 sets 15 reps

• Weighted Walking Lunges: 2 sets 20 steps

• Goblet Squats: 4 sets 20 reps

Day Three: Back & Biceps (Pull Day):

• Hammer Curls: 3 sets 10 reps

• Bicep Curls: 3 sets 10 reps

• Seated Cable Rows: 4 sets 15 reps

• Dumbbell Rows: 4 sets 10 reps (Each Side)

• Lat Pulldowns: 4 sets 12 reps

• Assisted Pull-Ups: 3 sets 10 reps

We recommend working out at least three times per week in the beginning, since the resting days in between are important to build muscle. 

Building muscle will happen relatively fast if you are new to working out, so this is great news for anyone looking to get in shape.

You can also do a combination of resistance training and LISS (Low-Intensity Steady State) cardio or HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training) cardio, to improve your heart health and maximize fat burn. 

What you want to aim for is to burn around 1,000 calories of cardio every week through means of either LISS or HIIT. 

LISS is cardio that comes from walking or a brisk walk, you should be able to have a conversation while still building up a sweat.

HIIT cardio is intervals of a very high-intensity movement, such as sprints, battle ropes, or kickboxing movements aiming to quickly raise the heart rate.

The benefit of HIIT is allowing yourself to burn calories in a shorter amount of time. 

We recommend having 80% of cardio coming from LISS while 20% comes from HIIT for optimal fat loss throughout the week. 

The reason for this is that HIIT is very hard to consistently track as many of the calorie tracking devices are inaccurate. 

LISS is a much more reliable source of consistent movement and does not require rest as it does not shock the Central Nervous System the way HIIT can.

If you put calorie tracking, muscle building, and actively moving more altogether, foods such as Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches won’t get you off track because the formula provides so much leniency for you to shed some fat.

Fats and carbs are the two macronutrients that will be more likely to be stored as energy. 

Therefore, you don’t want all of your calories simply coming from carbs or fats, you want there to be a balance coming from carbs, protein, and fats.

Working out allows you to be more flexible in your diet and lifestyle, which is so important if you want to sustain a lean body and stay healthy. 

This is why we need to control the number of calories we get from carbs and fats in order to utilize the energy we gained through movement and workouts.

The tip here is to live active and go out and seek a workout regimen. 

So, next time you’re wondering how you can lose some weight, remember that you need to build some muscle and track your calories to your specified amount. 

THERE IT IS!

In this article, we discussed what Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches are and how to make them, if this dish is healthy, how many calories it contains, and how to stay in shape while eating Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches.

The key to healthy eating is balance and moderation. Our five tips will help you stay fit while eating Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches.