Weight Loss and Depression

Another Big Run Saturday is in the record books. From the looks of it, I cranked out about 4.2 miles. Not bad at all. I chose a different route today and in part made things up as I went along. I wound up running the first portion of the Music City Marathon Route so that I could take on one of the huge hills. I’m glad I decided to do so because once again, the obstacle that seemed to be was nothing once I started in on it.

It’s incredible to consider how powerful perception can be. We can convince ourselves of anything if we think hard and long enough about it. Sadly though, most of us allow the negative to enter our minds and become our prevailing thought. As the Law of Attraction teaches, we can make heaven or hell out of most things. So many of us have become used to disappointment. Bad things happen in our lives and it comes as no surprise. Some of us would admit to expecting things to go wrong. It’s almost as if we have built in mechanism designed to protect us from disappointment by never allowing us to have hope. This is why many of us never bother to thing big.

It’s even worse once we are in the midst of our depression. We already kick ourselves for the things we either have become or have not become. We drown ourselves in the problem and fail to give any thought to a solution. Things then begin to compound. We feel like we are holding on by the thinnest of threads with no solution in sight. Then, to pour water on your drowning spirit, you have people around you who fall right into misery’s trap. They offer no real words of encouragement. Only cliches and shallow quotes.

Such is the case with weight loss. Many have convinced themselves that being overweight is who and what they are. “That’s how God made me!” Some will explain. They have tried everything and nothing seems to work. To that, the voice in my head wonders if they have ever thought to try commitment. I don’t say this to sound rude or cold, however it has been my own personal experience that whenever I would commit to losing weight, things would work out in my favor. Sure, I could be biased, however, I have only my own story from which to relate. I would fail at losing weight whenever I would allow myself to stop believing. I had to learn the hard way. I got that covered, so now you can learn from my shortcomings.

This is why, in our moments of clarity, we must arm ourselves with positive people and positive talk and positive vibrations. These are the things that get us through the lean times. Those positive voices can be the very thing to move you forward to your next challenge. This is why I love self improvement/development books. I see so much of myself in them. They help me to better relation to people, places and things. It also helps to listen to the perspective of others who have been where you are and have made it through. I don’t focus on weight loss stories at all. Instead, I find books on how people go from nothing to something to be extremely fascinating. If you read and pay close enough attention, you will find certain secrets buried inside the pages. Those my friends are our solutions. Stop bathing in the problem. Knowledge is all around us. We only need to reach out and bring it into our lives.

Until the next time….remember...

Dreams mean work!

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Are You Brave Enough To Dream Alone?

One of the hardest parts about the actual process of living our dreams is realizing that there are people who are close to our heart who will not see things the way you do.  Time and circumstance has limited their view.  You want so much for them to understand what it is that has you fired up and inspired.  You long for the day when they come to you and say "hey, I get it...how can I help?"   Instead, that day never comes. The truth of the matter is that what is for you is for you.  No matter how hard you try to convince some people to believe in your dreams, to the best of their ability, they cannot.  Are you brave enough to dream alone?

Of course this can slow us down a bit.  It can break your spirit and kill our momentum if we let it.  Let's dissect this for a second.  You find yourself becoming passionate about something you can see yourself doing.  You really believe that you can make it happen.  That thing has begun to wake you up early and it keeps you up late at night.  You really think that you have finally found where you fit.  You excitedly run to the people who you believe in most, be it family or friends.  When you share with them your great revelation they laugh, shake their head and look at you as if once again you have lost your mind! 

You will have to find a way to excuse them.  You see, these are the people who have known the most intimate sides of you.  These are the people who have seen you in your most embarrassing situations.  Sometimes it's difficult for them to picture you as being serious or committed to something because they had a front row seat to all of the times you were not.  In their eyes, this is just another chapter in your book.   It's another phase you are going through and they wish you would just wake up and do like everybody else.  Play it safe.  Color inside the lines.  Good enough is okay.  I guarantee that the day you settle for what others expect from you when your own expectations are far greater, a part of you will die a little each passing day.  You my friend have just given up on dreaming. 

Author, James Allen wrote in his classic "As A Man Thinketh," this excerpt in relation to dreams: 

"The greatest achievement was at first a dream. The oak sleeps in the acorn; the bird waits in the egg. And in the highest vision of a soul, a waking angel stirs. Dreams are the seedlings of realities."

If that thing that has you so very excited is truly worth your time, do your homework.  Pay your due diligence.  Rip it apart and truly ask yourself if this is something you want to invest yourself into.  Prayer and meditation are always recommended!   Once you have made the decision for move forward, jump in with both feet, burn the bridge and don't ever look back!  Even in the midst of what some may define as failure lies a blueprint for the type of prosperity on a select few will ever know. Sadly, most of us will never do this.  It's just a statistical fact. Actually,only 3-5% of the population will  find the freedom they see in their dreams.  Maybe that's why they control about 90% of the world's money.  That's a completely different subject though....

Right now, I just want you to begin focusing on your dreams.  If you don't have any, get some fast.   Your dreams are the only things that will sustain you when everyone else fails you.  I recently watched a video where Tony Robbins explains that the only path to having the things you desire is to first experience them in your mind.  If you cannot see yourself being successful, you will never become successful.  That my friend is the dividing line between living your dreams and having no dreams to live for.

Until the next post....

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Lead Us Not Into Temptation...

Have you ever taken the time to slow down and take a look at the things?  What I mean is, have you taken the time to evaluate where you are in life vs. where you want to be?  If the distance between those two points seem to be lifetimes away, then chances are, there is something standing in your way.  It's probably YOU!

Before I go in on anyone, I'll throw myself into the conversation as my example.  Talk of losing weight is a popular subject around most people.  Many enjoy being a part of the conversation.  I know I did.  There are many around who would enjoy my conversation about wanting to lose weight. Let's face it.  The majority of us could stand to do a lot better when it comes to our own health and wellness.  I am no different.  However, when I take a hard look at things, I realize that I have been sabotaging my own progress.

Les Brown, world-renowned motivation speaker once said that the problem with becoming a millionaire wasn't actually making that much money.  The problem was believing that someone like him could actually  become a millionaire!   That one hit me right between the eyes.  Along with my journey to living a healthier life, I have dreams of being financially independent.  I dream about it at night.  I dream about it when I'm wide awake during the day.  It has begun to consume me.  Just as the effort to lose weight has begun to move to another level. 

However, just like Les Brown, my mind sometimes wanders into places that I rarely ever care to speak on.  In my videos you see the positive side of things.  I am generally up beat and looking to add a little motivation for others.  Sadly though, without night, there would be no day...without our downs, there would be no ups.....The most human side of me has to fight everyday to keep the dark side of my consciousness from becoming my dominant thought.  Once you spend a few week at getting back in shape, it becomes easier to battle against the "dark-side" when your body is in a more fit condition.  The negative thoughts don't come as automatic responses.  Instead, the first thought once I get up is "alright, time to go exercise!"  I am so very thankful that I am again back at this place.  Just as there is light, there is "darkness" that lives in me.  Yet without it, I would have nothing to fight against.  It keeps me sharp and aware that if I begin to fall off, I am making room for that part of me to take over.  I know what that looks like and I don't like it.

I am finally at a place where people are seeing the weight come off of me.  It's always a great thing to hear people comment on you losing weight without them being prompted to.  It is a sign that things are going well.  I am going to have to push myself a little harder as I go along.  I don't want my body to get comfortable doing the same thing over and over again.  At some point, it will level off and the weight loss will become stagnant.  To ward that off, I make it a point to switch up my routine on almost a daily basis.  Exercising the same muscles in a different way "confuses" the body, thus not allowing it to become complacent and settle in to what you have it doing.    It keeps things fresh and challenging enough for your mind to maintain its focus as well.   I will continue to add different things to the fold and figure out what exactly works best.  After all, I am a work in progress!

Dreams mean work,

Lou Riley

Blog:  http://www.lourileylive.com
Twitter:  http://www.twitter.com/lourileylive

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I Am Nothing Without My Dreams!

http://www.lourileylive.com |  "Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all."

2 Corinthians 4:16-17 verse
It takes more than me to be able to maintain my pace.  This journey to losing weight has morphed into the journey to achieve success across multiple areas in my life.  Although my videos and blogs have been from a "me first" perspective, trust when I tell you that I have a lot of others who have contributed to my effort.  My good friend, who initially challenged me to get back on track was at the gym when I finished today's Big Run.  I told him I just ran 3.8 miles.  He asked, "how do you feel?"  "Pretty good,"  I said.  Then he says, "well hey, come work out with us!"  I realized I had no excuse that would fly in on this occasion, so after running almost 4 miles in over an hour, I then underwent another hour of weight lifting and resistance training. 
I remember just looking at the weights at some point during the workout because there was nothing in me that was saying I could do it.  There he was in the background saying "Come on Louis Riley," and in my sarcastic undertone I said, "yeah, yeah, yeah...."  You see, its moments like this when you learn to appreciate how the mind controls the body.  I had so many thoughts of I can't running through my head, until it was slowing me down.  I kept looking for a reason to accept the "I can't" as my truth, but nothing would stick.  I knew from a place deep inside that at least, it was possible...and if it is possible, then why not try.  I pushed through fatigue and soreness and I completed the workout.  I must admit, I would not have pushed myself as much if I were exercising alone.  '
In every effort of success, we need to be certain we keep certain people around us who can see our lighter side and not settle for our darkness.  We all need someone in our circle who pushes us to become great.  We need that someone who believes in us even when we may not believe in ourselves.  I have a few people in my life who fit this description. I am fortunate to have them.  However, it sometimes takes a lot of swallowing my ego.  As I state in the video associated with this entry, I have a rather high opinion of myself.  When you tell me I can't, I automatically think I can.  When you doubt me, I want to prove you wrong.  So when I hear criticism, like many, my first reaction is to push it aside because I feel like I am being attacked.  However, I am built for success.  I know that these people come from a sincere place.  I listen to their opinions and I then allow it to run through my mental process so that I can pull the lessons I was supposed to learn. 
Sometimes when we drop our ego, we will learn that it was standing in the way of what we really need in our lives....


Dreams Mean Work!

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