Well, it was high time–as we used to say when I lived in Kansas–that I do another interview with some really interesting people. This time I chose Jami and Steve Ronda from Medford Oregon to interview. What an interesting and romantic and fun story they have! As you will read, the seeds for this challenge were sown years earlier, with a typical pregnancy causing a bit of weight gain–typical except that it was quadruplets of course! Anyway, here’s their interview, which I think will really speak to the hearts and minds of most of you. There is an entire photo gallery of them on my website as well, under the Ronda family. You can see the separate link for it at the top of the page you’re reading!

1.A How did you two meet; when and where did you get married? 

 JAMI: We went to Jr. High together, but officially became friends the summer before our senior year (1986).  We were just buddies and shared a locker, then after graduation went our separate ways.  He joined the army and sent me (and probably 20 other girls) a postcard from boot camp.   We didn’t see each other again until 5 years later…then the magic happened and we dated for 6 months before getting married here in our hometown.STEVE:  Not sure what got into me, but God gave a desire to marry this girl and to marry her fast – 6 months from the first date to the wedding day.  Yes, we were friends in high school, so I am sure that helped move things along.  I never told any other girl that I loved them, and I was able to tell Jami that in 2 weeks after we made contact.  God blessed our relationship from the beginning – it was not just a warm fuzzy.  How did we know?  I am not sure, but it was different than anything I experienced before.B What’s a “normal” day in the life of Steve, Jami and the quads like? JAMI:  A typical day is just busy, giving direction to 4 “tweenagers “ who have pretty strong emerging opinions about life.  We try to play as hard as we work and count each day as precious!STEVE  It feels like I am going to battle each day.  When they were young, it was physical labor, constantly having to feed, dress, change diapers, bathe, etc.  As they get older, it is becoming more mental work – deciphering what they are thinking, what is motivating them, where their heart is, etc.  And to make it tougher, they make so much noise!  The noise never ends. 2.  How did you hear about BFL and what was the motivation to do this couple’s challenge?  JAMI:  I bought the book years ago and then “dabbled” with the program for 4 weeks when the kids were toddlers, but wasn’t truly committed to make a change at that point.  Life felt pretty chaotic when the kids were little.  We recently heard from a doctor that the divorce rate for parents of multiples is currently at 75%, so we feel very blessed to be approaching our 16 year mark deeply in love and fully alive.  Body for Life just enhanced our joy in life, reduced our stress, and gave us a joint venture to leap into.STEVE: She talked me into it.  I thought that it couldn’t hurt and it can only help. 3.  What was the hardest part of the challenge for each of you? JAMI  The days when I wanted to eat the old way, but those were few and far between.  Changing my mindset about food was challenging, taking it from its position from “something to be adored” into the fuel that it is.  It was fantastic making that transition and I’m still learning more and more about a proper relationship with food. STEVE:  The food was easy for me.  In the past, when I have needed to lose weight, I would just stop eating.  So, changing the diet wasn’t tough for me because I am not a big eater anyway.  HOWEVER, the workouts were tough on me – I pretty much hated going to the gym at first.  As the weeks passed, going to the gym got easier and easier.  4.  How did you stay faithful to the diet and workouts within your respective schedules?   JAMI: We were just so ready to make a change and were motivated by the positive results we were seeing and how much better we felt.  My stress level decreased as my energy level increased.  It was an exciting time for us and I don’t think anything could have taken us off course.  We kept our goals posted in the kitchen and often ate our healthy meals, standing up,  while studying the before and after shots of successful BFLers who’d gone before us.STEVE:  We didn’t let “NO” be an option in our workouts – we had to do them no matter what.  With eating we said NO a lot.  It got to a point when we just didn’t feel like eating anything bad for our bodies.  We only wanted the good stuff to build muscle. 4.  When my wife and I did a challenge in 2000, we had friends who thought it was great, friends who thought we were nuts or had “lost our salvation” and friends in between! What was your reception like from family and friends? JAMI:  We had all sorts of responses just as you described.  It’s incredible to me how sometimes FOCUS is perceived as obsession.  Other healthy people really got it and encouraged us, but they were fewer and further between.  It was fun showing our before & after shots to family, who’d had no idea how overweight we’d gotten, as clothing can cover a multitude of edible sins.  There were a lot of different opinions about what we were doing, but at the end of the day, God truly knows our hearts and motives.  If we are at peace with Him and where we are in life, it’s all good.  I learned so much in those 12 weeks (and after) about living my life to please God and to forget about trying to please everyone else.  I get one shot at this life; when I’m an old, old woman I want to look back and have as few regrets as I possibly can…about what I did or did not do.  I don’t want my time on earth to have been wasted in any way.STEVE:  We pray before making any major decisions.  BFL became a real an outreach for us-many friends have come to us with all kinds of life questions, not just health.  It probably opened us up more.  We feel blessed to be able to help others.  5.  I personally found a couple’s challenge very frustrating at times, but I gather that yours was really fun for you both. Care to share about how it was to work so closely together on such an intense project? JAMI:  It was a blast collaborating on something together, aside from child rearing.  It was a new adventure for us.  I really helped Steve on the workouts (which was my strong suit) and he helped encourage me on those rough days where clean eating sounded far from desirable or possible.  It was very special to me to have him onboard and made the challenge a defining time in my life, especially because we shared the trials and our success.  It can be a precarious road, though.  Getting 2 across a finish line can be more difficult than one, if both aren’t committed fully.  Thankfully, we were able to walk that entire road together and I consider our journey a gift.STEVE:  I can’t imagine doing BFL without Jami.  I don’t have that kind of discipline.  It was like we were doing BFL for each other.  That kept us strong. 

6.  So what do the quads have to say about what you’ve done?

 JAMI: They’re pretty proud of us and kept telling us we were going to win as we went through the challenge and saw the weight falling away.  It’s been very sweet to see their undying devotion.  I think we surprised them and they look at us a bit differently than they used to.  They were pretty sad when we didn’t win, but we assured them (through our own disappointment) that it was not supposed “to be” for us and that we still personally won in so many ways.  We believe that with all our hearts.  This program is fantastic and we will forever sing the praises of Body for Life! STEVE::  Not sure I like what the boys are saying…  They are only 11 years old, and they say that their mom is “hot”.  I am going to have to talk to them about the lack of appropriateness of that statement – but it’s cute when they say it. 

7.  Jami, I’m sure at least the ladies reading this would like to hear how you felt about going through the Mrs. Oregon competition, and how that impacted your life.

Well, like BFL, it is not something I fathomed I would ever do, or could do.  It was a surprising and terrifying experience.  If you’ve ever seen the movie “Miss Congeniality”, that was me to some degree, a very unlikely “pageant girl”.  I wanted to see if I could do it, along with the fact that community service is something I believe strongly in.  It was a fantastic experience and I met some admirable ladies, one is a doctor and BFL’er.  Between volunteering for charities & the armed forces, meeting new friends, the incredible support of my family and surviving the actual pageant, I was truly blessed by going outside my comfort zone in this way.  It was a bit like a bungee jump…a very prolonged, adrenaline-filled leap!  I’ve become a big fan of trying the things that terrify me, for in those moments, I cannot rely on my own strength.  Trials provide an opportunity to grow and help me to trust God even more. Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote: “Always do what you’re afraid to do”.

8.  Speaking of “going through” something, Steve, it sounds like that you had an interesting little event not that long ago that qualified you for a new vehicle! Are you doing all right now?

 S: God gave me a serious wake-up call.  I rolled my Trailblazer two and a half times on black ice.  I guess it looked like a Hollywood stunt.  I came out of the wreck with a broken rib and some large lumps on my head.  It was very humbling.  I have always felt like a super-hero, but the wreck reminded me of my mortality.  It also reminded me of God’s ultimate control on my life.  The car was totaled and I was thankful to be alive  

9.  What advice would you give a couple who came to you and asked you about doing a BFL challenge together? What would you tell them that you learned that IS NOT IN THE BOOK?

 JAMI:  We gave each other permission to “coach” and “critique”, as necessary.  Not all couples might be up for that, but it worked really well for us and allowed us to work through the hard days and support each other. This challenge is not easy, but can provide a true time of growth as a couple.  We encourage our friends and relatives to really picture in their minds the things they long to accomplish, not only physically, and then act!   So many little choices bring about success. STEVE: I wish I would have lifted more weight than I did.  I don’t think I fully understood how to really build muscle mass until the latter part of the challenge.  Men in my family tend toward the scrawny side, so genetics, unfortunately are not on my side. “Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other thing.”  Abraham Lincoln  10.   I know you are a couple and family of strong faith, and I’m just wondering if you found that spiritual strength helped in any way to get through the tougher times of the challenge? JAMI:  It was huge catalyst for me and part of the reason I was so ready for the challenge.  I did not feel that I was a very good reflection of what God intended me to be physically while I was 30 lbs. overweight and not caring for my physical health.  I really wanted to learn to honor God in that area of my life and to live out the gratitude I felt in my heart for the gift of health I was blessed with.  I prayed a lot during my workouts in those moment when I thought I could go no farther.  Without that added strength I could not have had the results I did.  On the last day, I took a photo of the scale because I could not believe my eyes…I had not seen the number 126 since before I was twenty.  The lost weight is nothing compared to all that I gained and I thank God every day for helping me to change. STEVE: Knowing that God is in control, is a real motivation for me.  He wants me to be healthy for my kids and perhaps my future grand children.11.      What would people be surprised to learn about you two that they probably don’t already know? No fair with the quadruplets thing–we all know about that! JAMI:  We’ve got “His and Hers” Glocks (9mm pistols) and hope to one day compete in shooting competitions.  Steve is really good!  We recently took the talented musician, Tobymac and his band shooting when they were here in town to do a show.  What a memory that made for the kids!  Also, we’re serious about our board games and have a game night once a week at our place with friends we’ve been playing with for years.STEVE:  I am a huge game geek.  I love games – European board games, video games, card games, etc.  If it were up to me, I would play games all day long, everyday.  We are geeks with guns – a very dangerous combo. J