Day 48...off to the beach

What’s up crazy blog readers…

Still kicking butt and taking names here : ) All is well and the first ever ‘official’ Body-for-Life challenge is moving right along! We have been killing some major WODS and having a blast. All this warm weather has put me in the mood for the great outdoors so we’ve been hitting the trail (literally) and seeing all kinds of new and nest places. We are leaving in the morning for Virginian Beach where we will be camping for two nights. The kids and us are SUPER excited and can’t wait!

When we get back I promise we will update our progress pictures so you can all see just how much we have been leaning out : ))) It’s been none short of amazing !

Till then, keep working hard and remember your blessings!

Be blessed!

~Rob

Day 40...Lovin Life!

Day 40   Almost half way through the Body-for-Life challenge and through self-imposed obstacles and much trial and error we are still at it!!! This past weekend was simply marvelous! We had so much fun picking strawberries on Saturday and then we took the kids to The Great Falls, which is a National Park located in Virginia, on Sunday! Jennifer even made the comment that it felt like we were finally living…it’s funny how much fun you can have without alcohol : )

I feel much less stress, I’m caught up with school and exercise and nutrition just seems to come naturally now! God is SOOOO GOOD!!!

Don’t ever give up!

Many blessings to all!

~Rob

Day 37...Back in the game : )))

Today was just amazing!!! Finally drug my butt onto the treadmill and ended up running 6.8 miles in 60 minutes and it felt GREAT! Super glad to be back in the game! Planning on a great workout tomorrow and maybe some more cardio to make up for lost time!

Nutrition was back in line and we are planning on taking a trip to the Farm tomorrow…CAN’T wait!

Blessings!

~Rob

Day 36...have no fear...still here!

Yes, I’m still here and struggling to pull it all together…The last week or so has been a total disaster! My last post was on the 28^th and the 29^th we

woke up and stress came like a boulder. I had been woken up in the middle of the night by an anonymous phone call and had not had much sleep at all. I was in a terrible mood and so that put Jen in a bad mood as well.

Instead of working out we decided to make it a ‘free day’ and drink. Some of our neighbors were outside playing with a slip-n-slide and drinking so we took the kids down and started drinking. We were doing shots, drinking mix drinks and getting pretty wasted. Jen ended up getting sick and while I was checking on her Nehemiah slipped away from the crowd and friends we thought were watching him and wondered off all by himself! This is something that has NEVER happened to us, EVER! He was only gone a few moments and someone from the party saw him and brought him back but the whole thing scared Jennifer to the point she has decided to NEVER drink again.

She is normally the one who can drink and remain in control, where as I’m the one who usually drinks way too much. Anyway, We have fought, struggled and went back and forth the past week. I have been SOOO depressed and could barley drag myself out of bed. We have done NO exercise and I have gained almost ALL my weight back!!!

Last night we had a long talk and both committed to each other to be alcohol free…the few moments of fun NEVER have outweighed the bad circumstances. She thinks that I put too much focus on these ‘fitness challenges’ whether it be BFL-T.Com or others I have tried. I think she may be right. Being a stay at home Dad the challenges have become my ‘thing’ the thing that keeps me motivated and inspired. The one time we were able to drink and actually have a wonderful time with NO bad outcome was when we visited Florida. What was the difference? We had decided to not worry about any challenge and just have fun…so maybe that’s been my problem, I put sooo much of my focus and energy into these challenges that the moment something happens that sets me back I sink into deep depression!

So, I don’t really know where I am mentally right now as far as these ‘challenges’. I really don’t want to do a restart and part of me doesn’t want to even do it at all! I NEED to put more focus on my relationship with God, my family and then I think the health and fitness level I desire will automatically come.

Well, for now…I’m going to just keep going and see where things fall. Maybe if I put the majority of my focus on God and family then the rest will just fall into place! I might just stick with the BFL challenge as well…adding more is probably NOT in my or my family’s best interest right now.

So, that being said, if I don’t post everyday don’t worry…I’ll update at least once a week and I’ll be plugging along!

Many blessings!

~Rob

Day 31...she's a Ninja

Another AWESOME, KICK BUTT Day! Jen, my wonderful wife is SO amazing…she did her first squat cleans today and ROCKED IT!!! She became comfortable with the uncomfortable : )))

She really did awesome! So, yeah…everything is going great here, no storms, although they were predicted so we changed our plans to stay home : ( Anyway, plans to hit one of our favorite local farms…pick your own strawberries are ripe : ))))) Whooohoooo…we be going through some berries with 4 kids who all eat pretty much fruit at every meal!

So, Transformation Challenge is going Great too, on day 3 of that and so far so good!

Blessings to you alL

~Rob

Day 30...wooop-wooop

 Another great day here in Smith land!!! Had a GREAT workout today and enjoyed some wonderful family time!!! Quick post tonight cause I’m off to bed so I can get up early and do it aLLLL again!  I tried leaving comments on Blogger today, but it wouldn’t let me so for Noelle and anyone wondering about the new challenge it can be found at: Transformation Challenge...If you sign up let me know so I can friend you!

Blessings!

~Rob

Day 29...2 challenges : )

Another great day…Found a new challenge to start at Transformation.com…it’s for 8 weeks and a trip to Hawaii is the grand prize…that would be nice, but whatever can keep me motivated is what I really need. Between the BFL and T.com challenges…I should be a lean-mean-machine before too much longer : )))

Anyway, super tired…Jens computer got a virus and her school and Joshua’s home school documents are on there…NOT GOOD!!! I think we got it fixed, praise God, but a good reminder to buy an external hard drive. Also, took most of the night : (

Sooo, taking my butt to bed!

Sleep well!

Blessings!

~Rob

Day 28...great day : )

Another great day today…

One of Jen’s friends from basic training has been visiting for a couple of days and it’s been a really nice time. She even did a WOD with Jen and Joshua today! 

She had to take her back to the airport tonight and all is going well...

Jen has to go back to work tomorrow, but after that has another 4 days off…woop-wooop!!! She has a hernia that the doctors found after Nehemiah was born and she has been putting off having the surgery to after our challenge, but looks like we will be getting orders soon and the doctor called today and said they could go ahead and work her in…if she goes through with it then that would be the end of her challenge as she won’t be able to exercise for 6 weeks. She has to have the hernia surgery and have her tubes tied at the same time. She has a uterine window and her and the baby could die if she gets pregnant again…soooo, I told her if they could go ahead and do it, then she probably should just do it.

 Her safety has to come first. She’ll know in a week or less what the plan is.

Till then we’ll keep hitting it hard and I’ll finish up either way!

Blessings!

~Rob

Day 27...Back

Ran a 5K today on the treadmill with 1.5 incline and after walking for the first minute I kicked it up and finished in 24:35…sweat pouring off me and a smile on my face!!! Feels SOOO GOOD to be back exercising again…maybe the couple days break actually did me good. At least my heads back where it needs to be and I’m/we’re going to kick butt the rest of this challenge!!!

Wooop Wooop!

Be blessed!

~Rob

Day 26...Spring/Summer cleaning

Today we spent doing a much needed deep cleaning of our apartment! Jen is off for a few days this week so decided to take advantage of the time and get the cleaning done!

No workouts other than the extreme cardio/clean : ) Our nutrition was spot on though and already feeling like we’re back in the game  : )))

Tomorrow we'll be on it hard and heavy!

Can't wait!

MUCHO BLESSINGS!!!

~Rob

Day 25...Rest and Recovery

Today was rest and recovery from the wild day we had yesterday. The ‘Warrior Dash’ was a blast and I had a ton of fun running the race. It was WAY more difficult than I had expected and I did not properly hydrate so I was hurting most of the race, but being the Ninja that I am I grabbed suck and carried on!!!

We did indulge in a bit of alcohol, but nothing too bad. I had one beer at after the race and Jen had two. We did have a few more drinks after getting home and stayed up pretty late…our diet wasn’t as nutritious as it could have been either, it was however, our first REAL official ‘free day’ in Body-for-Life terms. I do have some regret as I had planned on completing the 12 week challenge without alcohol, but I made the choice and will live with it.

Tomorrow we will get up and hit it hard, jumping right back in! There is no more re-starts…this is about more than just 12 weeks…this is for LIFE…so we have to have to be honest with ourselves and have a feasible-working plan that we can actually live with. We’ve decided that alcohol is not inherently bad, but it has caused a lot of problems in our past and has derailed most all our challenge attempts. So, that being realized we are not going to go back to the usual ‘free day drink fest’ we use to have. If a special event comes up where alcohol is involved then was may have a drink or two, other than that we will try our best to stay the course and finish strong. This way we are not setting ourselves up for failure and at the same time we are not letting ourselves get out of control.

To me is all about taking responsibility of our lives in every aspect; health, fitness and all parts. Life is a process and Jen and I continue to grow and lean throughout this process. A friend reminded me that if nothing else, our kids are worth us giving our best. Our best would not be drinking all the time, but our best may also not be totally abstaining to the point of feeling like we have no control of our life. What ever our 'best' is...this IS what we truly want to give...we are learning. Maybe the stronger-more controlled life woul be to totally not drink...

Time will tell…so I regret that if I had chosen NOT to drink yesterday…I would have eaten better today and most assuredly have worked out. Otherwise, I don’t regret the choice, because I woke up…not depressed and ready to continue the journey : ))) I guess not everyday can be perfect and its hard sometimes for me to admit and accept my own imperfections.

Another life lesson!

Many blessings!

~Rob

Day 24...Warrior Dash

Live-Love-Laugh

Day 23...rest day part 2

Somewhat of a trying day, but not going to let it get me down, we’ve come too far to turn back now! Anyway, tomorrow is the ‘Warrior Dash’ and Jen and I will be there having a blast!!! Babysitter is set and it will be our second, ‘sorta date’ in 4 years : )

Today I finally took a rest day and didn’t run or do a WOD…I did work on my handstand pushups and snatch, overhead squats and cleans…what? I really can’t just sit here : )

Well, off to try and sleep…I’m soooo pumped about tomorrow!!!

Many blessings!

~Rob

Day 22...rest day : )

Kicked butt today, Wooopwoop… so, it was/is rest day for us but I couldn’t stand it and ended up running 7 miles on the treadmill : ))) I think running those longer runs have begun to be my little place of solitude…I put on the headphones and just put one foot in front of the other. Sooo much fun!

Jen had training so she got home a bit late so she took a break from all exercise today and Joshua and I grilled out some juicy grass-fed beef and goat burgers…I’ll confess I had my second piece of bread in the form of 1 whole grain bun, but it was worth it and I’ll live with my decision : ) The goat burger was surprisingly juicy and delish! We also made sweet potato salad…boiled some cut up sweet potatoes, drained, added organic mayo, dill pickle relish from our Amish farmer, red onion and sea salt and pepper…totally AWESOME!!! Rain off and on most of the day, but overall a wonderful time!

So, Jen and I both hit milestones this morning as well…she weighed in at a slim 149 and I hit the 159 mark!!! NO looking back!

Been a great week and the weekend is going to be even better!!!

Rockin this challenge…

Blessings!

~Rob

Day 21....Three weeks down!

So day 21 today…THREE whole weeks into our Body-for-Life challenge and feeling absolutely wonderful!!! Truly so blessed to be doing this and for all the new and wonderful friends we are making!

Last night a friend gave me a pair of Military Revision sun glasses and I was trying them on when Joshua took a picture of me. I was looking at it today and it really put things in perspective for me…I can see a lot of physical changes and in ONLY three weeks. The physical changes though can’t come close to how I feel on the inside. I’m learning to relax and enjoy the journey. I’ve laid down the alcohol and decided to believe in myself! I’m giving my best and I think my best is going to actually be enough for once!

And my wife…Oh my Goodness…she is my hero and totally amazing! She yells, cusses and screams at me most every WOD we do, but and a BIG but…she does it!!! She pulls it together somewhere between round 2 and 5 and blows it out of the water and she is melting before my eyes!!! Sooo AMAZING! We are going to do this and I hope and pray we actually WIN this 2011 year Body-for-Life couples challenge!!! What an amazing end to a long, fought journey that would be : ))) And truly…not an end, but a beginning!

Picture from last night..one on left is day 1 three weeks ago and the other is from last night

Many blessings!

~Rob

Day 20...Jen's new bar...Yey : )

Jen with her new Bella Bar-

 Jen doing Burpees...

Jen’s new bar got here today and she got to break it in…we did 3 rounds for time of: Run 400 meter/ 10 thrusters/ 10 bar-facing burpees/ 30 sit-ups   Rob- 16:57.1     Jen- 27:22.13   (Rob 83lbs)   (Jen 53lbs)

It was a tough workout and felt good to be sweating : ) Other than that today has been relatively calm…I am learning to relax and just let the changes happen. I woke up this morning and had dropped 3 lbs…(I know I said I was going to put the scale away, but I didn’t) Anyway, Jen had dropped 1 so I know we are on the right track. Funny how one day can make a difference, I’m not sure if it was the run, the nutrition or maybe the rest we took the day before, it just all came together at once!

It just goes to show me that I can’t let the scale be the judge because even when it wasn’t moving apparently something was happening. So, we are excited about the changes and that we are finally doing this!

I have to say it feels GREAT!!!

Many blessings!

~Rob

Day 19..Milk, it does a body good : )

So the Freedom for Farm and RAW milk Rally went really well! Lots of people showed up and the weather was beautiful!!! The kids had a blast and there was even a Cow there…lol! Funny, they milked the cow right there at the Capital and drank the milk : )))

Afterwards we had to actually go pick up our milk and other goodies from the farm at our drop site and then we came home and both Jen and I ran a 5K @ incline level 2…she ran hers in 30:19 and I finished up at 24:13 : ) Great run!!!

Tomorrow we will hit a HARD-FUN workout…I ordered Jen a Women’s Bella bar from Rouge fitness and some new bumper plates : ) See I love my wife! They will be here tomorrow and so she can break them in!

So, finished school early so I’m off to RELAX : )

Be Blessed!

~Rob

Day 18...Say 'YES', to freedom of choice!

So the Farmers Market was a real let down today! The prices were outrageous, very little produce and just not much fun!!! I guess it’s still a bit early in the season, but hopefully it will get better soon! Tomorrow Jen has the day off and we are going to the Capital to a Rally in support of the Farmer where we get all our RAW milk, grass-fed beef and other products. It should be somewhat fun and entertaining for the kids if nothing else. The FDA has raided his farm and is trying to shut down our Co-Op. Crazy in my opinion…I know a lot of people have opinions about RAW milk, but my take on it is that it all boils down to ‘freedom of choice’!

If you don’t want to drink RAW milk then don’t, but if I wish to, then don’t stop me! It’s my right and choice.

Anyway, today was busy, stressful and the weather sucked! I had tons of school work, as did Jen and I just finished up mine…she is still in there working on hers! So, long day and night…

Took pictures today and not much change, seems this week has been a real struggle overall. I’m not sure why, we had some Awesome workouts and cardio, but just didn’t seem to culminate to the happy ending I had thought it would! Anyway, a friend reminded me that this is NOT just for 12 weeks and that this is for LIFE…so I need to get out of that race mentality and ‘just relax’  ; )))) I’m trying : )

So today, No workouts or cardio today even though I had planned on doing some cardio! I know tomorrow will be busy as well, but I PROMISE I will be making time to work out cause if I don’t work out I’m not a happy camper and if Daddy isn’t happy…well, doesn’t make for a happy house!

Till tomorrow, be blessed!

~Rob

Day 17...'Fight Gone Bad'

Great day today; went to Ft. Belvoir in Virginia, where we’ll be moving in the near future, to look around and visit. It will be nice to actually live on a post instead of where we do now! It looks really nice and the new hospital is HUGE! We will also be getting a 5 bedroom house so that will be a long time coming and such a blessing!!! We had 2 kids when we moved here and into our small 3 bedroom apartment…now we have 4 and have absolutely NO space left!!!

Its way more ‘country’ also…we are not city folk and will be very happy to be leaving D.C.

So, this morning we decided to do a Crossfit WOD and a benchmark one at that…we tackled “Fight Gone Bad” which is… Three rounds of: Wall-ball, 20 pound ball, 10 ft target (Reps), Sumo deadlift high-pull, 75, pounds (Reps), Box Jump, 20" box (Reps), Push-press, 75 pounds (Reps), Row (Calories)  (In this workout you move from each of five stations after a minute of work. The clock does not reset or stop between exercises. This is a five-minute round from which a one-minute break is allowed before repeating. On call of "rotate", the athletes must move to next station immediately for best score. One point is given for each rep, except on the rower where each calorie is one point.)

Our Rep's were: Jen- 195   Joshua- 258     Rob- 283

It was quite intense and I literally almost threw-up afterwards…I think we all did!  Jen and Joshua scaled to 45lbs for the lifts and an 8lb ball for the wall ball. I did RX’d

Our plan yesterday worked as well. We both dropped a pound each this morning…WoooHooo!  I do wonder though how much more weight I’ll actually lose. I know I still have body fat that needs to be burned, but I’ve gained muscle and have leaned out quite a bit already! Jen is leaning out as well, but I think she has a bit more ‘actual weight’ she’ll be losing. she has and is firming up real nicely though : )))

Either way, we are super stoked and thrilled with our results thus far! We will take progress pictures again tomorrow or Monday. Got to go catch up on school now so till next time…

Keep working hard!

Blessings!

~Rob

Day 16...still working hard

 Today turned out to be another great day. Sorta cloudy and dreary outside, but didn’t get me down : ) We had a great dinner and decided to workout after we ate instead of before. The last two days we have stayed pretty much the same weight and I think a lot of it has to do with us eating so late, so we changed it up a bit tonight and we’ll see how it goes in the morning. We always weigh ourselves first thing in the morning and have been steadily dropping up until the last two days.

Otherwise all is well…lot’s of plans this weekend so we’ll be busy and our favorite farmers market opens back up Sunday so hopefully the rain will hold off.

Many blessings!

~Rob