I have heard about extreme dieting in the past, but the new diet, called the "K-E Diet" or " The Feeding Tube Diet,"  lives up to the name "EXTREME". The article I read this morning in the Globe and Mail discussed this trend.

Brides are paying $1,500 to have a feeding tube administered into their bodies which provides them with an 800-calories-a-day diet (i.e., very minimal food intake).  These women are using this method to lose the last few pounds so they don't "Look Fat" on their wedding day.  According to the diet, you lose twenty pounds in ten days.

I'm really excited that one of my sister's really good friends, Haley Moore, is sharing her thoughts on perseverance with us.  I have gotten to know her, and she inspires me.  Haley is an aspiring writer and the creator of the blog, Your Old Sweater. Feel free to comment and encourage her to go after her dreams :)  Hope you enjoy her encouraging words as much as I have. Happy Friday everyone!

Every individual that was interviewed for my series, myself included, has stressed the importance of social support in pursuing their passion. Friends and family help you persevere through the setbacks.

You will have many obstacles in your path. So, it is essential to your success to surround yourself with people who cope with these obstacles in a positive rather than a negative manner.

I encountered an “obstacle” in my life this past week with the death of my dog, Sable. I am so blessed for all the support. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!!You have helped me to cope with her passing a positive and healthy manner.

Today, Danelle Kabush, is sharing her experiences of perseverance with us, as she is a professional athlete and mental performance consultant. Danelle combined her love of psychology with her other lifelong passion, sports, and completed her doctorate in Sport Psychology from the University of Ottawa in 2007. Along with competing, she works as a mental performance consultant to many different athletes in various sports. You can check out her website at http://danellekabush.com. Keep up the great work Danelle! Thanks for encouraging me to persist. I'm really glad I connected with you! Read Danielle's interview below!

It was a sad day yesterday. My family and I had to put down our 16 year-old sheltie, Sable, who had been battling bladder cancer. Sable tried to hold on for as long as she could, but yesterday she gave up her fight.  Up until yesterday she had been energetic and strong but that changed very suddenly.  We had no choice but to put her to sleep as she refused to eat, had a difficult time drinking, and had little to no energy. However, even in the face of adversity, she still stayed positive and died with a smile on her face.  She is reunited with her best buddy Comet, our cat who died last June.

Since the message last night was about "Loving The Skin You're In," I thought I would follow it with this important message about melanoma.  If you haven't seen it already, the video is a must watch!

Today, Felicity Lumb, who writes a blog called The Life and Loves of a girl called Felicity, is sharing with us about perseverance.  She has a powerful story to tell as she battled with and overcame anorexia.  She turned something negative into something positive - I love her honesty! Her blog was started as a way for her to promote healthy body image and fight mental health stigma.  Thanks Felicity for reminding us to Keep Loving the Skin We're In!  I'm so glad I reached out and connected with you!

All the successful relationships require trust. This can be generalized to all domains as trust is essential to perseverance. I know many situations where individuals are worried and obstacles occur, but they proceed on their path with the trust that it will turn out all right in the end.  Because of this trust, they can keep going towards their goal.  Trust is the “reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc., of a person or thing; confidence.”(dictionary.com)

I found this poem called "Don't Quit" (author unknown) and had to share.  I thought it would be really fitting for my "Profiles of Perseverance" series.

Do you have any inspirational poems, quotes, or videos to encourage others to not quit? I'd love to see them.  Hope you all are having a great week!

Today, Amanda Christian, is sharing her thoughts on perseverance with us. Amanda Christian is the hiking yogi buddy you always wanted but never had. She’s a soul-engineer, a maximizer and a modern day voyager with lots of strange ideas. Strange ideas that just might be what you’ve been waiting for. As a miracle-fueled yoga instructor + creator of weekly Soul Workout YouTube videos, she’s been featured on MindBodyGreen, Purpose Fairy, and Tiny Buddha. Think of Amanda as your chia-drinking, mountain bike-riding, bubble-blowing miracle maven illuminating the path to personal power and miracles.

I have had this happen to me a couple times before, when I was starting to write large papers for some courses I took. However, I have never experienced such a large mental roadblock until recently. When I went to start writing my book, I had all these ideas running through my head; but when I went to type them out recently, I couldn’t.

I know from past experience that you don’t make any progress by doing nothing.  So I decided to try to overcome my writer’s block and found some successful ways to do that. The small changes I made and the strategies I learned (which I have shared below) made a world of difference!

Today, Wade Wilson, is sharing with us his thoughts about perseverance.  Thanks Wade!  His message is really valuable and insightful.  I suggest you read it.  Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend!

Self-Reflection is a wonderful but scary process. It is difficult to objectively look at our faults and acknowledge them, however being able to learn from past set-backs is necessary to achieve excellence. We can self-reflect on both positive and negative experiences to find strength to persevere.