During my workout, the idea to do a fitness bootcamp for people who want to exercise, but have issues with obesity. Many times, just like it was with me, these folks start off doing something, then fall right off for a lack of support. I believe that this is a part of something I am supposed to be doing. It’s all about giving back.

Even though I have not reached my goals, I have come a long way. I still consult with a group of extremely fit people so that I can continue to challenge myself and stay on top of things. My goal is to start this project on October 1, 2009. Now that I have put it out there, let’s see what happens when I take a leap of faith on this vision of mine.

Dreams mean work,

Lou Riley

There are several key components to healthy weight loss.   Exercise, rest, diet and mind-set are alway at the top of that list for me.   My focus in this blog post is diet.  Moreso in terms of supplements.

Vitamins  and supplements have played a major part in my weight loss journey over the past six weeks.  I begin my day with Double X, a multi-vitamin cocktail the that has been tailored for optimal health.   This Multi delivers power-packed levels of essential vitamins and minerals, with natural plant concentrates that deliver broader antioxidant protection and unbeatable health benefits. It also helps unlock energy stores.  Double X is also certified kosher and halal.

I have been using it after my workouts to give me a boost.  It’s been six weeks and my proof is in the distance I have grown to run and the increase I have had in the weight room.  That’s all the proof I need.  Double X and Rhodiola are only a couple of products I will be using. So far, these have been my starting points. I will definitely keep you updated on what more I bring into my diet.  Stay tuned!

Dreams Mean Work!

There is a long road ahead. However, I rest in the knowledge that time can become more about perception than actuality. This is why I have not put together many measurements so far. In the near future, I definitely will, but for now, I consider the videos I have done up to this point as my foundation. There is so much more yet to come.  The road to a healthier me has been a challenge.  Yet, instead of complaining.  I am humbled by having the ability to exercise and make healthy choices.  The only thing a fighter ever needed was a chance….another tomorrow-and I am looking forward to hearing the bell ring!

Thank you again for taking some of your time and spending it with me. Feel free to leave a comment or tell me about what you are going though. I look forward to it!

Dreams Mean Work!

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Two questions I learned from one of my professors in my Master’s Program:

1.  How am I doing?

2.  How am I really doing?

Ok, I think I can get to the real answer.  I’m tired.  Flat out tired.  I have been in 90+ degree heat for the past three days.  I help coach a baseball team that played in a tournament in Knoxville, TN this weekend.  I wasn’t able to get the type rest I needed on Monday.  However, I did get up on today and make my wayt to the gym.  I didn’t plan on exercising for two hours…it just happened!  Now my body is really feeling it.  I have twinge in my lower back that feels like it could turn into the all familiar nerve pinch.  However, I know a little trick that should keep that from happening.

My exercise routing for the day was challenging.  I know why as well.  I am still tired from this weekend.  I made a huge mistake by not getting enough rest.   No need to dwell  on it.  Stuff like this happens, especially when you are on the move.

Committing to exercise is hard enough.  When you’re not at home and around familiar people, places and things, you have to make your plans portable.   I always travel with my sneakers when I go out of town.  If I end up in a nice area, I  like to wake up and run.  Also, the exercise bands I use can easily pack up and go along with me wherever I go.   If I did hit a milestone, I’m too tired to have recognized it!

What about you?  Is your exercise routine portable?  Or can you only exercise if you are at the gym?  There’s no right or wrong here.  What works best is what works for you.  I’d love to hear about it!

Dreams Mean Work!

Last week was good for me. I found myself gaining more control over my thought process when it comes to “needing” to eat. That carried over to today. After eating a sensible first meal, my initial thought was to get more food. I thought about it for a second then decided to drink more water and have more fruit. Watermelon this time of year is like a secret weapon for me when it comes to weight loss. It fills you up and at the end of the day, heck, it’s mostly water. I realized that sometimes you have to trick your body into thinking its satisfied in order for it to be satisfied.

There was a quote I used in my last video that said in order to control your urges, you must first control your thoughts. This is week #5 of this part of my journey and I have to tell you, I am feeling stronger. I am not focusing on lifting heavy weights or anything of that sort, rather, I have incorporated a few very simple techniques that have given me incredible results. I promise in the future, I will do a video to show you what I am talking about. For now, I’ll let you know that I use a combination of resistance bands, kettle bells as well as a few resistance exercises.

I also owe you a glimpse of what I am doing to eat healthier. I have been given numerous suggestions, but you have to understand that I am the type person that wants to figure this stuff out for themselves. I will say this, diet plans are not for me. Food has always been a part of my culture and will continue to be. I’ve envisioned in about 15-20 years becoming a chef of some sort. Maybe this phase of my life is where those lesson are going to be laid? Only time will tell.

Dreams mean work!

I hope that your journey to healthy weight loss is coming along well. I have just started my fourth week and I feel pretty good about myself. As mentioned in the video, one of the side effects of doing the right things is having other areas of your life affected by it. I don’t remember who said this, but the quote hold true: “the hard I work, the luckier I get!” I am a firm believer in this principle.

I realize that the weight gain I have experienced over the years really isn’t about weight at all. It’s about emotions and thought. The day we learn how to control our thoughts, we gain a better ability to control our emotions. For many, this isn’t new information. However, I have seen few who offer a way to control your thoughts. I came across just the thing that could very well help you do that. It’s called “The Master Key System.”

The Master Key System was among the first books to use the phrase Law of Attraction, which has become such a popular term today when referring to the most powerful force in the universe. It covers everything from how to create abundance and wealth to how to get healthy. It’s author, Charles F Haanel, leaves no stone unturned.

With precision, Haanel presents a step by step guide, along with exercised to increase your ability to control your thoughts. This book was banned by the Church in 1933 and has been hidden away for decades.

Rumor has it that while he was attending Harvard University, Bill Gates discovered and read The Master Key System. It was this book that inspired the future founder of Microsoft to drop out of the University and pursue his dream of “a computer on every desktop.” You probably know the results…

It is Silicon Valley’s secret that almost every entrepreneur who made a fortune in recent years did so by studying the words Mr. Haanel penned around 100 years ago! Almost every millionaire and billionaire in the Valley read The Master Key System by Charles F. Haanel. Since this book was no longer in print until recently, copies of The Master Key System became a hot commodity in the Valley.

The book was also one of the major inspirations behind the hit movie known as “The Secret” and is now known to have inspired the writing of the world’s most famous success book Think And Grow Rich. It has once again been made available. For those of you who have read this far into my blog post, I have a treat for you. The original Master Key System is written in a very cryptic, old school type language that can be a challenging read for many. However, I own a copy of the audiobook narrated in modern day terms and easy to understand. Leave a comment below if you would like a copy.

Dreams mean work!

Today I hit a minor milestone in my healthy weight loss plan. Insignificant as it may seem, I was able to walk a mile without having to stop due to lower back pain. Now, I wish I could just go on and on about how good my back feels, but I can’t. There is a lot of pain involved here. I do my best to take my thoughts away from the pain and focus on other things.

That’s one of the reasons I exercise to music. Most times, it has a way of taking me to another place, if only for a few moments. Right now, that’s all I can ask for. Painful as it may be, I have been able to tap into the power of my subconscious to temporarily remove certain physical discomfort. Trust when I tell you that the day I learn how to block out a tooth-ache, I’m selling the rights to the highest bidder! For now though, I’ll just use my “powers” on me.

It’s starting to feel good to be active again. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I know that there is more work to be done. For the brief moment though, I am happy with what I have done so far. The road ahead is going to be long and bumpy, but hey, that’s what I’m built for!

I’ll be back with another post soon. I’m getting the hang of this blogging format and I hope to see it blossom. I’ve been studying and implementing several techniques to better help market and promote Lou Riley Live! Right now, it’s a one man movement. Let’s see if I can pick up a few friends along the way. I’d love to hear about your struggles with healthy weight loss as I will continue to share mine. Be sure to leave a comment below.

Dreams mean work,

There are times like today when I take a look at my life in its entirety but focus on my activity level. I laugh as I remind myself of the years growing up, when I could not wait to get outside and play. It was like being inside was a punishment. Healthy weight loss wasn’t even an issue then. I was made to run, jump and throw. The worst part of any day was nightfall. It got too dark to see things, so that meant that playtime was over.

Isn’t it amazing how time changes things? Now, its an automatic that I would rather be inside than outside. I would rather sit that stand. I would rather drive than walk. I would rather hear about it, than to go there. What happened to the me whose spirit would be crushed if he could go outside and play one more game?

I did not grow up a “fat” kid. I was extremely active and athletic. I needed to sweat. That was a sign that I was doing something! Sweat now can often a peculiar inconvenience, unless I am “scheduled” to exercise. It’s time for me to shake things up a bit and be more active. That’s why today, I decided to go swimming.

My lower back is in a lot of pain. However, it has been my routine to get out on the trail and just endure the pain for a couple of weeks. Now may be a good time to explain that I was collegiate athlete. I played football from the fourth grade through college. It takes a “different” mentality to compete in that sport. Football for me was a parallel for life. It made a lot of what I am on the inside. In my mind, I am the baddest SOB to walk the face of the earth. That’s how I approached playing the game, and that’s how I would approach exercise.

As I grew older, this would get me into a bit of trouble. What I mean is that I would put undue stress and pressure on my body, just to prove a point. One of the hardest things for me to do was to say, I’ve had enough. It’s not always about working until I can’t lift a finger, but working with a purpose and with consistency. That’s where swimming comes in.

Swimming is a low impact, high-yield exercise. I was in the pool today for an hour doing laps. I really can’t tell you how many. My mind tends to drift off whenever I’m in the water. It’s like therapy for me. At the same time though, swimming will bust your butt! I went home and slept for two hours! I’m up now typing this blog entry, but trust when I say, I could crawl back in bed and get another few hours in! I feel really good about my decision to not pound the pavement trying to make myself run. I found something that was 100x less stressful, but highly effective. Did I mention my arms feel like I’ve been lifting weights?

Take a second to turn back the years and reclaim the active part of your youth. Exercise doesn’t always have to be grueling. It can be lots of fun.

Now that I’m thinking about it, I wonder if they make roller blades in a size 15? Where’s that Google Search Engine?

Dreams mean work,

I’m about 30 minutes removed from my first workout at the time of this blog post. Over the weekend, I got a phone call from a very good friend of mine, Morris Jamison, who is a personal trainer gym owner at Marathon Fitness in Nashville, TN. I’ll make a long story short and just say that by the end of our conversation, he found a way to get my competitive juices going by challenging me to six months of exercise that would conclude with running a 1/2 marathon. I accepted.

You see, I have run five 1/2 marathons over the past several years. However, recently my exercise routine has gone straight to hell. I’ve had a few runs at it, where I would lose 15-20 lbs, but then I’d fall right back into the abyss. I always found a way to convince myself that it wasn’t as bad as it really was. I had me thinking that I could just hit the switch and out would jump this uber healthy version of me that would champion all of my bad habits and get the world spinning on its axis again. Strangely enough though, that guy hasn’t shown up. So now, its up to me to undo the damage that I have done.

Today was the first workout of this challenge consisting of:

1-mile walk (22 minutes today)
3 x 25 Standing Bench Press
3 x 10 Alternating Over Shoulder Pulls
3 x 15 Lat/ Trunk twists
3 x 15 Squats with band around waist.

A friend and mentor of mine turned me on to the resistance bands. After one workout with them, I really think I’m on to something. I felt the burn, but did not have the stress of hold weights in my hands. This is a great thing for me as I have grown to hat the clanking sound of weights. Time will tell though as its always easy coming out of the gate. Stay with me. This could turn out to be on heck of a ride!

Dreams mean work,

p.s.  Yes, my lower back was on fire to day from my first step into the mile run, until the very end of the workout!