Fit to Fat Blog: Day 10 Listening to the scale

Posted on January 31, 2017 by Marshall Ramsey

My pants fit a little better. The scale told me this morning I’m down six pounds. I don’t normally listen to the scale, but since my pants seem to be in agreement, I’ll be joyous this morning. My workout was just as hard as normal this morning. But I did certain parts of it easier this time than I did two weeks ago. That’s called progress. I like progress.

My goal is to see the south side of 200 lbs. I’m six feet and an inch, so that’d be a good weight for my height. I am not tackling running backs anymore — it has been nearly 32 years since I did that. My ultimate goal is to live each day to the most — and that requires me to take care of my heart, lungs, brain and everything else.

My feet were on the chip tray. I was in a plank position and I propelled myself 20 yards. I had 145 lbs. on the bar and I was doing three sets of 10 bench presses. I did burpees and ran up and down stairs. I did even more exercises that left me worn out. I came home and had a delicious protein shake.

My pants fit a little better. The scale told me it was because I’m making good decisions. I think I’ll listen to my scale more often.

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Roasted and Toasted

Posted on January 27, 2017 by Marshall Ramsey

The Mississippi Press Association Education Foundation roast of yours truly was a success last night. I was roasted. They had a big crowd (at least 1.5 million). And lots of money was raised. Which, of course, was the point. The roast will be on YouTube soon enough and I’ll post a link when it is — if you’re so inclined to invest that much of your life watching it.

The best part? Standing in the kitchen this morning and listening to my kids recite their favorite jokes from the night. And there were some funny ones.

A few of notes:

Governor Bryant popped in and was actually pretty funny. He showed his cartoons about me — if you remember Mr. Bill from SNL, I was Mr. Bill. I’ve drawn a lot of cartoons that have pissed him off this year, so I’m sure the whole thing was cathartic for him.

Rep. Steve Holland was hilarious (not a surprise). I guess a guy who works with death everyday has learned it really doesn’t matter what you say because he really doesn’t give a damn. I told him that since he was in the minority party now, the only people who’d listen to him were his customers (he’s a mortician).

David Hampton, who was my editor for 15 years, sang a version of Rocky Top with lyrics about me. It was not only creative, it was hilarious.

Sec. of State Delbert Hosemann’s routine threw down some serious smack and made me laugh. He drew special cartoons poking fun at everything from my time at SuperTalk, to my early career to the fact that my cousin is successful and I have $25,000 on my credit card (I don’t). He said that the first time he saw me running, he thought I was walking my dog (yes, I am that slow).

Paul Lacoste let the crowd know what kind of athlete I truly am. I mentioned I threw up several times each workout and that I had the body of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man (he’s not exactly wrong there). I could only give him so much crap back — he does have the ability to make me do 1000000 burpees.

Sid Salter, who is as good at one-liners as anyone in the state, emceed and did a great slideshow of what his cartoons would look like.

I walked out of there properly roasted.

I want to thank the Mississippi Press Association for the honor. And I want to thank everyone who attended last night. After 20 years, I realize I am the luckiest man in Mississippi.

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Time to get burned alive (roasted)

Posted on January 26, 2017 by Marshall Ramsey

Tonight I get roasted by the Mississippi Press Association. For many years now, I have been a roaster. Now, I am the roastee. My youngest son thought I was going to be burned alive. He may be right.

On the dias are Delbert Hoseman, Steve Holland, David Hampton (my old boss), Sid Salter, Paul Lacoste and I hear a surprise or two. My wife wanted to do it (she may be the surprise but I doubt it). She would be too cutting. I do know that my sons wanted to come to hear it — they could probably roast me, too. They are funny enough.

I look forward to hearing the jokes, insults and anything else that flies my way. And then I’ll get my chance to respond.

It’s all for a great cause (raising money for scholarships for young journalists.)

I’ll try to remember some of the better jokes and share them tomorrow. Until then, I had better prepare.

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I support the Mississippi Arts Commission: Here’s why

Posted on January 26, 2017 by Marshall Ramsey

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Fit2Fat2Fit Blog: Day 7 — You get what you give

Posted on January 26, 2017 by Marshall Ramsey

“You get what you give” is a song by the New Radicals and an album by the Zac Brown Brand. It’s also a truism for life and any athletic training you do. If you push hard during training, you will see bigger and better results. It’s as simple as that. How many times have we cheated here and cut corners there? I know I have. And the old saying is so true: You are only cheating yourself.

Today we did an exercise that I haven’t done before (surprisingly). We started by squatting, picking up hand weights, doing a curl and then shuffling to the next set of hand weights. There were ten of them in a row and we kept moving down the football field. We did that for a few minutes and then we moved forward to a row of chairs. We’d sit down, rock back and then forward. Then we’d jump up and move to the next chair. We did that for a few minutes. Then we’d move forward to a row of cones. At each cone, we’d do a half-burpee (the on the ground part) and move to the next one. By the time I got to the cones, I was pretty tired. And every part of me wanted to slack off. But instead, I focused on each single phase of the drill and pushed myself. My plan? To be better next time.

Sure, I could have cut corners. But the time we were running on the bleachers at the end of the day, I could have slacked off. But I pushed until I nearly vomited. Why? Because I wanted to be better the next time.

Life is tough. We get fatigued. It is tempting to cut corners — but don’t. Life gives us what we put into it whether it is a 5 a.m. boot camp or a relationship or a job. So just remember this the next time you feel like you can’t give any thing else:

You get what you give.

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Fit2Fat2Fit Blog: Day 6

Posted on January 25, 2017 by Marshall Ramsey

Fit2Fat2Fit Blog: Day 6
Weight: 223

This isn’t a post about my grand accomplishments on the field of battle this morning. No, it’s about something different — and more important.

We gathered at the end of our workout and some of the rookies got up and told their stories. And to a person, their stories were powerful. And I think that is important. In this age of painting groups with a broad brush strokes, we need to remember every person has a story. Now sometimes, they won’t be very pretty. But that’s the point. We all struggle. And the person next to us is probably struggling harder than we are. We just don’t know it. We may not have asked. We may have already stereotyped them. We may just be concerned about the man we see in the mirror.

I sat in the back of the group today listening and being inspired. To a person, they all got past their fear of change and are now doing the work. I ran off the field impressed with several of my teammates.

Some stories in the news lately have me quite concerned. I can’t do a damn thing about them. But what I can do is work my butt off and make my family’s situation better. I can work hard on the football field. I can work hard at the drawing board. I can work hard at the microphone. I can work hard in front of the camera. I can use the energy I would have used for complaining and worrying to make my world better. And have some left over.

Everyone has a story. And when you have enough energy left, you can help them make their stories better, too.

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The giant who wasn’t very tall

Posted on January 24, 2017 by Marshall Ramsey

My grandparents in the mid-1970s. They had taken me on at trip to Clingman’s Dome in the Smokies.

My grandfather wasn’t particularly tall but to me he was giant. He was an incredibly smart man — a man who had grown up with little, worked at a sawmill and then later as an accountant at Alcoa. I’ve seen him do math in his head that would require me to use a calculator. Like many of our parents and grandparents, the Great Depression honed him. I remember him straightening nails to reuse them, turning off the heat in our rooms to avoid paying TVA and driving a car forever. I once asked him what MAX meant on the car’s air conditioner. He replied, “We don’t use that — it costs money.” Much of what my cousin Dave talks about on the radio is the example our grandfather set. He built the family cabin on Fort Loudon Lake. Summer vacation with him meant you were going to work on a project — you built seawalls, cut grass, painted — he was a man of action. He was also a giving man. And he never hurt for money.

He came across as serious but was a very funny man with a dry and at times acidic wit. I remember him making me laugh time and time again. He had quirks — he hated it when my grandmother drove and would coach her every mile of the way. He’d take his foot on and off the gas while driving — it was unsettling sometimes. He also had a temper — the Ramsey temper but he never aimed it toward me. He also waterskied at age 72 — a record that stood in our family until my dad did it at age 78. He loved to read and always had a book in his hand. For a man barely 5′ 8″, he ate like was he nine-feet tall. Yeast rolls were his desert. Watching him eat on Thanksgiving was a sight to behold.

He died right after my wife and I got married but we were blessed that he was at the wedding in his bright yellow suit. He looked a bit like Popeye to me that day. I smile while I see him in our wedding pictures.

I’ve always wondered what he’d think of today’s world. He’d probably have laughed at the Great Recession. He’d have no time for social media and would shake his head at the self-designated victims who troll upon it. I have many of his views on work, self reliance and discipline — but I fail to live up to his standards most days. He didn’t really put up with BS. Or whiners. But I can’t remember him sitting around complaining, either. He just went out and got to work. He was proud of me as a kid. I think he would be today, too. He loved his grandchildren. All my grandparents did. I am a lucky man.

As I get older, I discover the cruelest aspect of death is that you lose the ability to be with the people who you need to talk to the most. I’d love to talk to my grandfather today. The best I can do is live by his example.

Lynn B. Ramsey lives on in his kids, grandkids and great grandkids.

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Fit2Fat2Fit Blog: Day 5 — Lung Day

Posted on January 24, 2017 by Marshall Ramsey

Weight 222 lbs.

Today was lung day. As in, “I need to shove my lung back in my mouth.” Coach Paul kept us moving — if we weren’t running, we were doing burpees or mountain climbers or something else to make us puke. And some people did. We ran 200-yard sprints with (in my case, broken) parachutes, a four-corner drill that kept us running around the perimeter of the field while doing burpees, pushups, ladder drills, etc. We spent time in the weight room doing chest and triceps (I benched 135 30 times) and then we ran the lines on the football field. We ran out of time before I finished. I finished after we finished. You ALWAYS finish the drill. I burned over 700 calories and feel appropriately tired. At times, it sucked. And that’s what I want to talk about.

In short term, it was hard. Uncomfortable. Unpleasant. Painful. In the long term, it will pay huge dividends. We are a microwave society. We want short-term pleasure and happiness. A piece of chocolate cake will bring me short-term happiness. But I’ll weigh 300 lbs. and have heart disease in the long run if I eat it every meal.

Think about your life. Are you pursuing short-term pleasure over and over? Or are you making short-term sacrifices to strengthen your future? The present is a sum of the choices you’ve made in the past.

And for the record, my lung stayed in my mouth. Now I’m craving chocolate cake.

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The Badge of Honor

Posted on January 21, 2017 by Marshall Ramsey

This is a trinket from the most important job I’ve ever had. Not only did working as a night custodian at Pope High School right after college teach me the value of a job, it also allowed me to meet Amy (which also led to us having the three greatest boys in the world.) At the time it seemed like a setback. But sometimes to move forward in life, you have to take a step back. I no longer question bad moments. I just try to figure out how to make the most of them. Like my Dad taught me when I was learning to waterski, don’t make your story about how how fell down. Make it about how you got back up.

I’m thankful for my year at Pope High School, the friends I made and the lessons I learned.

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Chainsaws & Casseroles

Posted on January 21, 2017 by Marshall Ramsey

My book Chainsaws & Casseroles derived its name from this: When a disaster happens, before you can crawl out of the rubble, there is a church van in your front yard full of people with chainsaws and casseroles. They’ll cut the trees off your house and then feed you.

This morning, the city of Hattiesburg is waking up with yet another disaster to respond to. The vans are probably already pulling up in the yards.

People say a lot things about my home state, but we’re very good at this. And today will be no different.

My prayers go out to my friends in Hattiesburg. Let us know what you need.

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