Marshall Ramsey

Goal Weight: 195 lbs.

Today’s weight: 198 lbs.

Ran 4.5 miles this morning in the complete dark.  Glad I didn’t fall into a hole!

Paul Lacoste and me

Anyone who knows my backstory knows that the last year and a half have been insane. I lost half my job (and salary), took a second full-time job to keep the house and have picked up several freelance jobs in the process.  To get cheap energy to propel me through the day, I start drinking Cokes. And because I didn’t have the time to workout, I quit exercising.  I went from running a marathon on Halloween 2010 at 195 lbs. to weighing 248 lbs. on Dec. 20, 2011.  I was fat, tired and miserable.  Enter a dare from Patrick House and an amazing bootcamp put on by Paul LaCoste and I lost 45 lbs.  I’m now at over 50 lbs. lost and maintaining it — and as you probably can guess if you’re a regular reader of this blog, you know that exercise has improved my life in many, many other ways as well.

Today’s July 10, 2012.  By August 4, I have to have a children’s book illustrated. And I have another one that I need to be doing concurrently.  I currently work 13 hours a day. And I have a family with three boys who need to see their dad occasionally.  Really not sure how I am going to get everything done in such a short time.

See the potential problem here?  See where I could make the same mistake I made in 2010 and 2011? See how I don’t have enough time to exercise?

I’m not making the same mistake twice. Hell no.  I’m not going back.  I will get up at 4 a.m. and run for an hour five days a week (with a long run on Saturdays of two hours).  I will not drink sodas again. I will not cheat to get cheap energy.

I will fall back on my new habits to propel me through this next month of hard work and will come out of it stronger and more fit than ever.

Why?

The exercise is the only way I have to burn off the incredible stress involved with producing a daily editorial cartoon, radio show and pages for a book.  It helps keep my mind right.  Otherwise the very creativity that brought me to the dance will die.

I’ll never go back to being fat and out of shape.  Never. Not going back there. The next month will be tough. But if you want excellence, you have to demand it from yourself. That’s my challenge. Now to go forth and win.

View from the top of hill #13

Goal Weight: 195 lbs.

Yesterday’s Fit-to-Fat-to-Fit Blog was me paying homage to my frustration.  And to be honest, it bordered on whiney. Today’s will be about me going out and punching that frustration right between the eyes.  Because it takes as much energy to go out and conquer a problem as it does to worry about it.

I woke up thirty minutes early, picked the hardest five-mile route I could find and attacked it with everything I had.  That route, through my neighborhood and into the one next to us, is nothing but one hill after another. Thirteen hills to be exact — including the hardest one for the last quarter mile.

Call it metaphor Monday. Each of those hills represented a one of those challenges I face.  And as I huffed up them as fast as I could, I visualized myself achieving those challenges.  At the top of the hill, I mentally checked off yet another goal.

I kicked the hills’ butts — one at a time.

It was so humid this morning. I was soaked by the time I finished my run.  But I had a sense of satisfaction that is hard to explain.  Maybe it was fatigue. Maybe it was the endorphins. But I feel like I can take on any goal I set.  Just like I conquered the 13 hills this morning.

Have a strong week. Keep moving forward and climbing. Conquer your hills. And relish in the satisfaction of your progress.

Goal Weight: 195 lbs.

Current Weight: 198 lbs.

I guess you can say I’m in survival mode right now. Last week, I only ran twice — The Watermelon Classic 5K (A respectable 30 minutes considering the crowd and the heat) and an 8.5 mile run yesterday (once again, very respectable considering I got started late and it was brutally hot by the time I finished). My weight is holding steady, too.

I’m not moving forward. But thankfully, I’m not moving back. I’ve continued to be pretty good about what I eat. I’m not eating to self-medicate.

Last week, our beloved dog Banjo tried to die.  Diabetes was the main culprit, but after spending several hundred dollars (thousands, actually), we are no closer to an underlying cause of his problem.  At this point, we suspect he may be developing Cushings.  That will screw with his diabetes and make him insulin resistant. Bottom line, two jobs, two books to illustrate and now this, my stress levels are off the chart. And I’m exhausted.  I felt myself starting to crack on Friday.

I HAVE to do better than running only twice in a  week.  Exercise is my only way to survive.

I’m going to set new goals today.  Fitness and professional.  I’ve found that when I don’t have specific goals in front of me, I drift.  Right now, I am drifting.

And when you drift, you hit the rocks.  I have too much to do to end up like the Costa Concordia.