Day 2 NO Coffee

Another great day today!

Jen on the treadmill...

Got more sleep than normal and felt energized most of the day. We have started over the last two days to try and wing ourselves from coffee…so far so good! I drank green tea with RAW honey this morning and throughout the day. I normally have anywhere from 1 to 5 cups of coffee in the morning times, but HATE the crash! I had started having my normal 1-2 cups in the morning and then 1 or 2 in the afternoon and sometimes even at night we would have 1…not good and from what I’ve been reading coffee can stunt fat loss. So, green tea it is for a while…maybe on ‘free day’ we’ll have some : )

Also cut way back on dairy, haven’t completely gone dairy free like some people on the Palo diet, but I have cut back quite a bit. One of the biggest changes has been with vitamins. We watched the movies ‘Food Matters’ and ‘The Beautiful Truth’ the other night and they were both really amazing and informative movies. I’ve decided to up my vitamin intake…especially of vitamin C and niacin (vitamin B3). I feel more energetic and hope to feel less stressful as time goes on!

Well, things are running WAY behind tonight and I hope we can get to bed before it gets much later!

Sleep well!

~Rob

Day 1 2011 Body-for-Life challenge

So day one is almost in the books!

We had an awesome Workout and our new nutrition plan is going well!!! We did 5 rounds for time of: 400 meter run/10 back squats/25 sit-ups. I did 115lbs and Jen did 65…which was 10lbs heavier than the last time she did back squats : )

It’s a little past 9:30pm here and all the kids except Joshua are fast asleep so our plan of getting to bed earlier seems to be on the way to working also…least I sincerely hope and pray!

Till tomorrow!

~Rob

New Beginnings

Wow, the last few days have been rough to say the least. I got sick…stress, stress and more stress seems to have been piled on top of our already stressed out life. Decided to just step back, make a list of MUST do’s and try and de-stress our lives. We are NEVER going to be able to complete a successful BFL challenge if we keep trying to force it in with all our stresses and busy schedules without being mentally ready!

We’ve taken a break the last few days and have been really studying the effects of RAW diets, the Paleo diet, as well as the Thrive diet. We have also realized that without adequate sleep NONE of the healthy choices we have been making will make much difference…SOooooo, we are once again planning on re-starting our BFL challenge and this time actually planning ahead!

WE stoked up today on TONS of RAW fresh, organic fruits and vegetables, sprouted seeds and nuts…then we had one last hurrah meal at our favorite restaurant and took our starting pictures for this challenge! This time we R ready…we have a plan in place, plenty of healthy food choices and determination!!! Jen’s elbow is still weeks if not months out from being better to the place of actually working out, but we’ve been in contact with some people who are helping with advice and we feel confident that she can have a successful challenge and wonderful transformation even under the current elbow situation!

So, yeah call us crazy, but when sometime in January-February of next year they announce Rob and Jen Smith as the 2011 Body-for-Life Challenge couples champions we can all look back to this day and thank God that we didn’t give up or let the criticism keep us down!

Life is hard and our life seems especially hard right now with Harvest, our 6 year old with Type 1 diabetes…trying to find a way to minimize her need for intravenous insulin injections, if not heal her, through proper nutrition. I’ve struggled and continue to struggle with alcohol and trying to NOT drink while on a challenge and Jen’s elbow issue. Stress and lack of sleep seem to keep kicking our butts!!! Well, we will NOT give up or quit! We have to change and ARE changing…this IS and has already become a lifestyle for us…we just need to be more consistent andddd as for the challenge and re-start…I look at this BFL challenge as a job, an opportunity for me to help provide for my family financially and along the way for my wife and myself to become closer and healthier than ever! Our kids have already embraced the healthy, fit lifestyle and these challenges will only further our healthy life and fit dreams!

I have to learn to RELAX and not be such a perfectionist! I have to realize that there may...just may not be such a thing as a 100% perfect challenge : ) Either way, I'm learning and the journey is really what its all about anyways, huh?

Tomorrow is Day 1…here we GOOoooooooo

God bless to all those who are reaching for their dreams and REFUSE to let life hold you back!

Keep reaching for the stars!

~Rob

14 years of Love and Friendship

14 years today Jen and I were married! I have truly been blessed with the BEST wife and friend a man could have! She is a wonderful mother and I love that I get to share this life with her!!!

Another busy day…Jen is cramming for the board tomorrow and also has her final due tonight! I got in a bit of cardio this morning, but decided to rest the rest of the day cause today’s WOD from mainsite looked horrendous and though I REALLY wanted to do it…I decided to get up and try it tomorrow after a bit of rest.

We are going to take the kids to Carrabba’s (our favorite restaurant) Friday for our Anniversary! Jen has a 4 day weekend soooo should be a lot less stressful after tomorrow!!!

Best!

~Rob  

14 year anniversary tomorrow...Sooo blessed!

Tomorrow is mine and Jennifer’s 14 year anniversary!!! I am SOOO blessed!!! I am still madly in love with my best friend and couldn’t ask for a better partner for life’s journey!

Today has been another in a line of what seems to be of late, very, very busy and stressful days! Jen and I both are attending college online, she has a board to attend Thursday that she’s been studying for, PLUS home schooling and trying to workout ALL at once can sometimes become quite overwhelming : )

The stress and lack of sleep, not to mention Jen’s recently dislocated elbow that we have to work around, has made for some rough days. Today I was able to get in some cardio, but Jen took a well needed rest day. I ran for 60 minutes on the treadmill and ended up over 6.5 miles. First long run I’ve done in a while. I hope to get in a good WOD tomorrow and I hope Jen is in a position to do some training also.

Other than that our nutrition has been going AWESOME…I’ve been reading books on the Paleo and ZONE diet and so far I really like what I’m learning…The Zone is based upon a lot of proven science and I hope to start implementing more of the Zone in the next few days/weeks!

Tomorrow makes 1 full week of our Body-for-Life challenge, but due to our schedule we will probably wait till this weekend to take progress pictures and do measurements.

Getting to bed LATE again…hopefully sleep will come easy!

Be blessed!

~Rob

Day 6

Had a great day today…the weather was super nice…a bit windy, but sun was out and a pleasant 65 degrees! We had the windows open and the curtains pulled back!!!

Had a great workout tonight as well…Joshua and I did Five rounds of: 5 Dumbbell deadlifts, 5 Dumbbell hang cleans, 5 Dumbbell push presses, 5 Dumbbell squats – Rob 20lb-35lb-40lb-50lb-50lb ---- Joshua 15lb-15lb-20lb-20lb-20lb Jen did 5 rounds of 400 meter run and 25 squats

Feeling good and eating healthy is going AWESOME…  Had a wonderful fresh salad tonight with baked free-range chicken that we picked up from the Farmers Market yesterday!

Made sweet potato pancakes for the kids today and they LOVED them…

All is well and so blessed!

~Rob

Day 5

Today we went to the Farmers Market and had a blast! Jen loved her Chocolates and the weather was pleasantly quite nice. We had a Great workout this afternoon and Jen actually ran a 5K this morning before we even left! She’s incredible!

Buffalo chuck roast for dinner with organic Brussels sprouts and almond meal biscuits and sweet potatoes.

Take care!

~Rob

Day 4

Wow, so last night was one of the most restless nights we’ve had in a LOnggg time!!! ‘Spealler’, our new puppy, decided he would wine most of the night and Jen and I both were up most of the night dealing with him. We had to take the kids to Jiu-Jitsu this morning so it’s been a busy and rough day!

We ended up eating out and felt miserable afterwards!!! We’ve been following a Palo style diet the last few days and eating CARBS really messed me up! I felt like crap and ended up having to come home a lie down! I feel better now, but Jen and I both are still a bit under the weather from the upper respiratory infections so we’ve decided to let today count as our ‘free day/meal’ even though it wasn’t much of one.

We plan on hitting the farmers market tomorrow…I’ve secretly ordered Jen some homemade, organic Dark chocolate truffles so she’ll be surprised : )  We are going to try and get in a run in the morning and then a WOD later during the day!

I’m not sure if we will take pictures tomorrow or Wednesday. Wednesday will be the end of our first week and we will probably show WAY more results then rather than now…specially after a day like today  ; )

All the best!

~Rob

Day 3

Awesome day yesterday!

Workouts were: WOD/21-15-9 reps of front squats/kettle bell swings Rob- 95lbs/1 pood Time-4:30.9 Joshua 55lb/24 kb Time-8:39.7 Jen (back squat) 55lbs/24 kb Time-5:40.4

Jen has the day off today so we are going to have a wonderful time together and get in another Amazing workout!!! This last weekend we purchased some more Crossfit equipment from Christian fitness in PA, for our workouts and we also picked up the newest addition to our family…’Spealler’ a Labrador puppy! He is soooo beautiful and we are all having a blast with him! He’s only the best dog in the world!!!

Today was another good day in the ZONE…Eating healthy is going great. Since Jen had the day off we decided to go and see about trading in our van for a new one while we had the extra time.

LONGgggg day, but we now have a brand new 2011 KIA Sedona…our first ever brand new vehicle. We are so blessed : )

Anyway, we didn’t have time to get in our planned workout, but feels good to have taken care of something so important!  

Blessings!

All the best!

~Rob

Day 2

So here we are on Day 2 of our 2011 Body-for-Life challenge and things are off to a great start!!!

Joshua and I did an AWESOME WOD yesterday and Jen did a modified WOD due to her elbow.

 WOD/ 4 rounds for time of: 400 meter run/ bench press 10 reps 135lbs (Rob) 65lbs (Joshua) /pull-ups 15 reps using 1 small band- Rob Time 16:01.1 Joshua Time 18:14.6 --- Jen 4 rounds for time of 400 meter run/ 10 squats holding 20lb medicine ball/ 25 sit-ups-Time 17:28.9

Feels soooo amazing to be working out again! I convinced Jen to start taking the wheatgrass like I do and she is feeling much better in just three days of starting! We have another great workout planned for today and our eating is going perfect! We have set our weekly goals and pumped to bring it !!!

All the best!

~Rob



Day 1

  Alright…here we go AGAIN!!!

Looking back over the last two weeks I realized that I haven’t worked out even ONCE! After Jen fell and dislocated her elbow it has really thrown us for a loop. She and I both became sick and she still is actually. Anyway, I understand the mindset of NOT re-starting, but pushing thru, but I also have to realize that a two week hiatus in a 12 week challenge is A LOT to overcome, sooooo, we are in fact starting over : )

I know some will desire to give us flack about the re-start and that’s okay. I agree, if you miss a workout or two or have a slip up or two where nutrition is concerned then yeah, push thru, but TWO WEEKS is a lot and I don’t want to look back at the end of 12 weeks and think, if only I had those extra two weeks…

Soooo, I’m going to go back to trying to post everyday for accountability and Jennifer and I are re-committing to giving 110%. She still has mobility issues with her elbow and can’t really do any upper body weight training, but we don’t want to wait another minute so we ARE going to push ahead and start!

Jen’s Birthday was Monday the 7^th and we chose this day to take our before pictures and today will be our official start date! I’ll post updated pictures this weekend, probably Sunday and we’ll go from there!!!

Here we go…

February 9th, 2011   to   May 3rd, 2011

Blessings!

~Rob

Jen fall down and go boom!!!

                                                           Jen's dislocated elbow...
                   

The last few days have been tremendously rough! Jen fell on the ice Saturday morning the 28^th as we were leaving to take the kids to Jiu-Jitsu. She dislocated her elbow and we spent the rest of the day at the emergency room where they had to do a reduction on her elbow. She was in terrible pain and is looking at 3 to 12 months before full recovery is expected.

She is doing better now and just had the cast removed, but she is still in a lot of pain. This really threw us for a loop. We were doing so AWESOME this challenge. We both, especially her, just felt like giving up. We ended up eating a lot of fast food due to the fact we were at the hospital all day and then so depressed about the whole situation. I also ended up drinking again Sunday and even got MORE depressed!!!

Well, here it is Wednesday and we just had a long talk. We both are behind in our school work, not working out and eating CRAP!!! We can continue down this path or we can take what adversity life brings and make the best out of it. We’ve decided to go that route! We’ve been the other way and know where that road leads. We are going to fight the depression; find exercises Jen CAN do and push through! What the heck, I still think we have a chance of winning this challenge, but even if we don’t win the challenge…we will be winners in our own eyes and in the eyes of God and our family! And…that’s what really matters!

Life will always have its ups and downs and exercising and eating healthy may not always be the easiest choice…it is though, still a choice, one that we sometimes have to make on a daily basis. Just like drinking, I can turn to my crutch (alcohol) when life gets hard or I can do something different, something positive.

I’m recommitting today to finish out this challenge alcohol free and I’m going to give 110%!!!

“It’s not how many times we fall that shows our character, it’s how many times we get back up after falling.”

Anyone with ides on exercises Jen can do with her sore elbow PLEASE let us know!

All the best!

~Rob

melting...

What a week!!!

I added lots of extra cardio and melted this week to a lean 163.2lbs : ) I also feel sooo much better! Taking a well deserved ‘rest day’ today and going to watch the playoffs. Also having on ‘free meal’ Jen just left to pick up Baja Fresh…steak burrito with chips and salsa!!!

Ran a total of over 26 miles this week when you add up all the cardio…did a couple of CrossFit WODs and also added in some isolation workouts! Jen is kicking butt also and leaning out as well!!!

Today is Joshua's birthday and he turns an incredible 12 years old!!! He is such an amazing boy and works out sooo hard with me and his mom. He has really embraced CrossFit and LOVES doing the WODs!!!

Jen made organic carrot cupcakes for him so they'll be on the menu today also : )

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Updated our progress pics also....

So blessed!!!

Make it a GREAT one!

~Rob

Champions in training

So far we are Kicking butt and taking names this challenge!!!

Not one missed workout and our nutrition is going AWESOME!!! I did end up drinking some beer the other night, but unlike most times I bounced right back and did not let it knock me out of the game!

We’ve also added some long cardio sessions this time and some more isolation workouts…along with our CrossFit WOD’s!!! I think we have formulated the best plan ever and results are going to be tremendous!!!

Champions in training!!!

~Rob

Awesome Quote

"This is my body. And I can do whatever I want to it. I can push it. Study it. Tweak it. Listen to it. Everybody wants to know what I'm on. What am I on? I'm on my bike busting my *** six hours a day.
What are you on?"

`~Lance Armstrong

Life is Good...and I am blessed!

Sitting here drinking my second cup of coffee on the 10^th day of our challenge and things really couldn’t be going better!!! Jen ended up losing 8 pounds the first week and I dropped 7!!!  We haven’t missed a workout and have even done some extra strength training and cadio this past week! Also, our nutrition has been spot on and we are feeling GREAT!!!

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Jen has started back doing PT with her unit 3 times a week so we decided to just let that be ‘extra’ and keep going with our normal schedule and routine. Not to be outdone, Joshua and I decided we would start adding in some isolation strength training three times during the week. Yesterday we did chest and biceps and then when Jen got home we all did a WOD/ 5 rounds for time of: 400 meter run/ 10 pushups/ 10 dumbbell squats/ 20 sit-ups (Joshua 19:27.5) (Jen 26:04.4) (Rob 17:26.9) Joshua and Jen did 20lb dumbbell and I did 35lb.

Even the girls are doing their mini WODs…We are ALL having a blast and feel really good about our results. Woke up to snow EVERYWHERE and it’s pretty cold outside, but that can’t stop our momentum!!!

I truly am soooo very blessed!

Gonna tear it up again today!

All the best!

~Rob

On track

Day 5 is almost over and things are going awesome!!!

I’ve had trouble sleeping the last few days and yesterday it finally caught up with me…felt like CRAP all day and had to drink like two pots of coffee just to stay awake with the kids. Last night I took 2 Unisom hoping to get some sleep…well, it worked, but I felt hung-over and drained most of the day. Anyway, felt better by this afternoon and we did an Awesome WOD tonight… We did for time run 1 mile/ 100 pushups/ 100 sit-ups/ 100 squats/ run 1 mile. Jen’s time was 32:42.4 Joshua’s was 30:24.6 and I was at 23:45.6.

Tomorrow the kids have Brazilian jiu-jitsu and then we may try and hit the local YMCA. I think it may snow tomorrow so we’ll have to see. So far so good…Jen seems to be really dedicated this time and her head is in the right place. We are on a good roll and and on track for an amazing TRANSFORMATION>>>I predict AWESOME changes coming!!!

All the best!

~Rob

To old to party like a Rock Star...

So day three and things are going GREAT!!! We’ve had some AWESOME workouts the last two days and yesterdays WOD was a killer!!! It was really simple, but OMgoodness…we thought we were going to die…seriously, Jen said she thought she was literally dying : )  We did 21-15-9 reps of thrusters and kettle bell swings. Jen did 45lb bar and 1 pood kettle bell. Joshua did 10lb dumbbells and 20lb dumbbell for the swings. I did 85lbs and 1 pood kettle bell.  Our times were (Joshua-7:49.8) (Jennifer-6:20.6) (Rob-5:14.2).

Today we are looking to do more of a metcon workout with some running involved…not sure quite yet what we will do. Our nutrition is back on track and we have each lost close to 8 pounds in the last two days…that’s what happens when you party like a Rock Star for two weeks and do NOTHING healthy : ) You gain  weight, but at least most of it was water retention due to ALL the carbs and sodium.

Anyway, so far so good…

All the best!

~Rob

BFL and BB.com/ON Challenge Day 1

2011 Body-for-Life and BB.com/ON Challenge Day 1

So here we go again and this time I am expecting AMAZING results. I’ve committed to keeping the blog going and posting more updates and pics to help keep us accountable. I have also decided to go this challenge alcohol free…I think the drinking was one of my biggest hindrances to success last challenge.

While Jen and I did complete the BFL challenge we started in 2010, we did not have NO where near the results we had hoped we would and have decided to wait until this one is complete before submitting our first EVER packet for official entry. Now we know what to expect and what works and doesn’t…We are SOOOO excited about this new challenge and look forward to those who decide to follow along with us!

We have also decided to take on the BB.com/ON 12 week challenge at the same time. Having two challenges to keep us motivated will be nice AND....twice the opportunity to WIN!!! We will be entering the BFL challenge as a couple and the BB.com/ON as individuals...

I am committing to giving 110% this challenge!

All the best!

~Rob

Day 82-83-84

So the last few days of our 1^st challenge could not have been worse! The kids and Jen and I both ending up sick and just miserable. No workouts and probably gained 10 pounds each! I guess we made it till the end, but definitely not with the results we had wanted. It’s sad because I KNOW we could have given more and didn’t. I know that life happens, but we let more than just that hinder us at times.

As I’ve stated before we had already decided that this was going to be our ‘learning’ challenge and we would learn the foundations of what did and did not work…well, we definitely know what doesn’t work : ) But…with all that said, we are ready to embark on our next journey and today we will begin our Body-for-Life challenge #2…

Stay tuned for more exciting details : )

~Rob