Sandwiches are the architecture of the common man, but you need to start with a solid foundation. Don’t let lunchtime be blubber time.

Hail the hierarchy
The hierarchy of health, in descending order: turkey and chicken; roast beef; ham; weird processed things like salami and olive loaf. For example, instead of an Italian submarine sandwich with cheese and mixed cold cuts like salami and bologna, choose a roast beef hero and you’ll trim your fat intake by 30 percent.

Try a healthy tune-up for your tune
Don’t turn a perfectly good sandwich of water-packed tuna (two grams of fat per three-ounce serving) into a fatty disaster by mixing in a lot of mayonnaise. Instead, squeeze lemon juice and add pepper and hot-pepper sauce into your tuna. It tastes great – and it’ll pack less fat.

Ask for “extra lean” or “reduced fat” ham at your deli counter
Enough of this type of ham for a manly sandwich will burden you with less than three grams of fat, compared with six grams for regular ham.

Try a micro-melt
For a less greasy grilled cheese sandwich, don’t fry it. Start by toasting two slices of bread. When done, slip a slice of reduced-fat Cheddar cheese between them. Place the sandwich on a paper towel in the microwave. Cook on high for 25 seconds to melt the cheese. Fat savings: eight grams

Taste the “grateness” of cheese
When it comes to cheese, get handy with a cheese grater. Grate a piece of Parmesan or other hard cheese on your sandwich and you’ll save boffo fat calories over the standard slice fare.