Step right up, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, because while Canada Day fireworks are more than a week away you're just in time to see a grown man's head explode.
This morning, I ate what I would have sworn was one of the healthiest breakfasts I've ever had. But it turns out its total sodium content, 700 mg, was just less than half my daily recommended intake.
It was disheartening, to say the least.
But I would not be defeated. I went jogging since a) the warm weather is making me feel a bit doughy and b) now that I know I'm ingesting this much sodium I damn well better do something to compensate.
Then, after my run, I was feeling all healthy. Yeah, healthy! Feels good! You know what, I said to myself, I'm going to have a salad for lunch. Yeah! A salad! Forget about eating an entire bag of chips. I'm going to eat an entire bag of baby carrots. But even doing that would cut way too much into how much wiggle room I have left for the day.
So instead I pathetically counted out 16 carrots (80 mg of sodium), a few radishes (20 mg) a quarter cup of chick peas from a can (100 mg), a quarter cup of broccoli and what seemed like a tear drop's worth of Newman's Own Oil & Vinegar dressing but was actually two tablespoons worth (320 mg). I know, I know. I should have foregone the dressing.
But I need to live a little. And it's not like I was spraying the dressing around like a fireman putting out a blaze-we're talking two tablespoons here, people!
Still, even if I did leave the dressing out of the equation I still would have consumed at least 200 mg of sodium from carrots and peas.
How can I win? I thought I was being all healthy and it turns out I ate 520 mg of sodium, or a little more than one-third of the daily recommended limit. That also means I must eat a dinner with no more than 280 mg of sodium in order to stay within the daily limit.
I suppose I could have the same salad for lunch that I had for dinner, minus the salad dressing. If it comes to that, anyone who's all geared up for some head exploding action should be at my place to watch the show.
One last note before my skull goes ka-boom. If anyone out there is curious to know just how much sodium there is in a one-pound bag of baby carrots, the answer is just over 242 mg, or just slightly more than 1/6 the daily recommended intake level.