95% Of The Time, It Works Everytime

Day 5: 2/27/16

Imagine this. You wake up, fully knowing what it is you're going to do, feel, say, act upon, eat, drink.... You know that you'll feel strong. You know that you'll perform to the best of your abilities; whether it be your job, or a task at home...... Now imagine me, Aaron, A A Ron (that's my name at work).... I'm the exact opposite. I don't know what I'm going to do, or feel, or say... let alone what I'm going to eat, or drink.

Today, I woke up, knowing what I WASN'T going to eat. I had some great conversations about food. I told my wife, Alysa, that for me, I feel like I have to be the extreme. I can't say "Oh, today, I can have a cheeseburger." That's not because I truly feel that one cheeseburger will make or break my journey. However, what will break my journey, is the mindset that I can justify, at anytime, eating something that does not align with my end goal. Today it's just one cheeseburger. That one, turns into one the next day..... and the next.... and the next. So for me, it's not one cheeseburger.

If 80% of weight loss is what you eat, then 95% of that 80, is mental. You can go to the store and buy only vegetables and lean protein. You can eat a vegan diet, or gluten free. You can whatever fad diet you want, but the largest factor in your success of execution of that diet, is mental strength.

One of the things I would like to start doing for the log of this journey, is to post certain recipes that I come up with that help with eating a high protein diet.

I roasted a turkey last night to use in dishes. Here is that recipe.

ROASTED TURKEY:
You will need the following
1 - 8 to 12 lb. turkey (completely defrosted)
3 - large parsnips (peeled and chopped)
4 - large carrots (peeled and chopped)
4 - celery stalks (chopped)
1 - yellow onion (chopped)
2 tbsp - course sea salt
2 tsp - poultry seasoning
1 tsp - black pepper
1 tsp - Extra virgin olive oil
6 - garlic cloves (whole)
2 - sprigs of fresh rosemary
4 - leaves of sage
2 - sprigs of thyme
3 cups - low sodium chicken stock

INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat oven to 350f
place chopped parsnips, carrots, onions, celery, and chicken stock in bottom of roasting pan, set aside.
rub olive oil over the body of the turkey, after that rub your spice mix (salt, poultry, pepper) on the body of the turkey (reserve a couple of pinches for the inside of the turkey.
place remaining spice mix, garlic cloves, rosemary, thyme, and sage inside the turkey and set on top of veggies in the pan
Cover tightly with foil
Place in oven. Plan on 20 min per lb of turkey.
about 40 min before the planned end of cook time, remove foil from turkey to allow the outside of the bird brown. after you take it out of the oven, allow to rest for 30 min to an hour before carving.

I chose to refrigerate mine prior to carving as I'm using the meat for many different recipes.