Day 4 – The Salt Lick Award

I’ve been really taking to heart what Patrick has been saying about starting the PCP and one thing that has resonated with me has been his comment of staying away from salt. I know salt is bad for me and I should eat less but I really wasn’t aware just how pervasive it is in my everyday food.

I get emails from Dr. Arya M. Sharma, a specialist on obesity here in Canada and he recently sent information about the ”Salt Lick Award” which is given out to increase awareness of salt intake by three national networks – the Canadian Obesity Network, the Canadian Stroke Network and the Advanced Foods and Materials network. Together these agencies bestowed the award on none other than pizza.



This is really sad for me because I really love a good slice or two of pie, but I never realized how much salt is in it. The “Salt Lick Award” press release states that the level of sodium in a couple of pieces of pizza can far exceed the recommended daily intake for adults of 1,500 mg. as well as the Upper Tolerable Limit of 2,300 mg. of sodium.

Consider these examples, based on a scan of nutritional information posted on pizza makers’ websites:

• Two slices (292 grams total) of a Pepperoni Lover’s large stuffed crust pizza at Pizza Hut contain 3,000 mg of sodium – double the recommended intake for a full day.
• Two slices (284 grams total) of a large Rustic Italian pizza at Boston Pizza contain 2,580 mg of sodium.
• One large slice (339 grams) of Meat Supreme from a walk-in Pizza Pizza restaurant contains 2,400 mg of sodium.

The three national networks say that the onus is on the food processing industry to cut back on sodium in processed meats and cheese used to make pizza and in the meantime, they warn that pizza should only be consumed as an occasional treat. When ordering pizza, avoid processed meats, ask for little or no cheese and limit the number of slices.

So there you are, I am now a man who has had his favorite food taken from him and I feel a little lonely. But never fear, I now have Patrick, fellow PCPers and the PCP to guide and help me along.

The workout was great today, I felt strong and confident doing much more than the base requirement. The problem came when I had a long meeting and missed lunch. I felt fine until mid afternoon when I wanted to eat a whole double chocolate cupcake. I didn’t though and finished off just eating half of everything else. So I’m going to try and get some good sleep tonight as I’m really tired and have not had a good sleep in a few nights.

Until tomorrow.