Building A Foundation

Ok.  I thought I'd share with you, some of the homework that I've been assigned, pertaining to the reading I've been doing.  The reading is tough for me, since I have never been a strong reader.  Yes, I can read!  But still, I get bored and I don't retain as much as I'd like.  Then sometimes I pull a 3.7 GPA going to summer semester college.  I'm tricky.

To improve your State of Mind, we must first find out what state you are in!
Well that is easy, I'm in Utah! Ha ha...  Ok, all jokes aside.

These pertain to fitness:
1. What are your biggest fears?  Not being able to support my family and being a failure.
2 What are the biggest fears holding you back?  Failure or an injury that is life long because I would fee like I was abandoning my family.
3.  Have you placed limits on yourself that keep you from reaching beyond your comfort zone: YES
4. Have you tried before and not achieved your desired outcome and if Yes, how many times? YES. I've never kept track.  It was not a lot b/c I never set a challenging goal.
5. How long have you been seeking better fitness shape? All of my life.
6. Describe what you think really limit you or your limiting belief: Nagging injury in my back.  in my mind, I know what I can do.  Pushing limits is a very key contributor to staying in my comfort zone.

List 5 thing that have limited you in the past:
1. Thinking I need a membership to a gym to exercise.
2. Stress
3. I didn't track progress.  If I didn't like what I saw, I'd quit b/c i was still fat.
4. Unhealthy eating habits/routines.
5. Doctors would preach and preach!  I didn't do much, just to spite them.  I took pride in the fact that they were generally impressed with my overall health, even being as big as I was.

What Do You Want? Decide what you want.  What do you "not" have now that weight loss/muscle toning would give you?  What are you currently missing out on b/c you're not fit?  What have you already missed out on?  What will you miss in the future?

1. I want to be an ATHLETE
2. I want to know how to be nutritious! Cooking and eating good nutrients as well as reading labels.
3. I want to have a better quality of life with my family.
I want to be fit so I can participate in physical activities with my family.
5. I want to feel good about myself and my eating habits.

What has stopped or prevented you from having it?
1. I'm afraid of sustaining a serious injury.
2. I've never asked anyone for help understanding nutrition.
3. Stress has limited my desire.
4. I have never been comfortable about my physical conditioning.
5. I've been impulsive with food and food choices.

At this point in the reading and the videos I watch, of Coach Cowboy giving me the daily lesson and inspiration to keep reading and keep learning, I've been told it is a journey all in it's own, for the desire to change a lifestyle. BUILD A TRIBE of support he says.  Coach Cowboy is there to hold me accountable.  But why not use networking and ask family and friends to hold me accountable as well give me support.  So on my Facebook page, I've created a group: Nick's Cowboy Fit Fan Club.  

What are your GOALS for ultimate fitness success?

1. Enjoy fitness and healthy eating habits!
2. Mentor: if someone needed pointers on how to get started with their own journey of nutrition or physical fitness, I'd like to pay it forward.
3. TO BE AN ATHLETE:  maybe dunk a basketball?  Run a 3k or 5k or a 1/2 marathon for accomplishment.
4. I want to be able to splay sports and go hiking to build strong parenting relationships with my children (together with my wife.)
5. I want to feel good about myself and let my wife pick out some new fashions or new clothes for me.
6.  I want to know how to cook healthy and to prepare something for my wife and kids to eat with me.


So there you have it.  I've done a lot of reflection on my life over the last 20 years or so.  I know that depression has been part of my choices b/c I know that I was ok, but I didn't ask for help with dealing with our mother's passing from cancer or with our dad's tragic accident that took him from us only 3 years after mom passed.  Honestly, I think that we all turned out pretty darned good.  I've gone through life with the best of them.  My siblings and I have all chosen our own ways to deal with stuff.  Some of them turned to drugs, some of them turned to sports, and at least one of us appears to have turned to focusing on other people instead of their own health. Some of that depression comes from the temporary friends that we choose along our path.  Some of the best times you have come from people that have hurt your feelings more than once.  People are who they are. Just like being in the right state of mind before taking on this challenge, I can chose to let them things run wild in my head, or I can take something away from the experience.

For the record, I love shooting hoops with my brothers.  I actually used to enjoy the feeling of a hard work out of weight lifting or cutting/splitting and loading a couple of pick up loads of firewood to sell.  Heck, even at my size, I spent a summer doing concrete work.  But I'm tired of saying, "Remember when I used to..."

I want to shoot hoops with my kids.  I want to teach them what I know and what I've learned about the sports I know a little bit about.  I want to learn new sports with them!  I love my children.  I love my wife.  I am very blessed.