In 2022, Constable Marshall had a plus-size surprise.
He heard he was to receive the Physical Training and Defensive Tactics Award when he graduated from the Royal New Zealand Police College with Recruit Wing 360.
Fitness had not come easy to him. The Tauranga-based constable made a mammoth effort to get fit when applying for Police and exceeded his own expectations when it was time to graduate.
“When I started my journey to college a year before I was accepted for the wing, I weighed in at 135kg with blood pressure that was off the scale,” he says.
It was a lifestyle change. “I got hooked on competing with myself and chasing new records.
“It soon became that I would go to bed earlier or eat better knowing that the next morning I had another chance to beat a time or distance.
“I was fat and lazy. I could not run more than 200m and I could not do five push-ups.
“I got started and at the point I was accepted into college I was able to breeze through 50 push-ups and run 10k for fun in under an hour.
"I lost 35-plus kilos along the way and I’ve loved every minute of getting fit.”
Constable Marshall has a bachelor’s degree in Theology and knows getting into shape is like studying for exams. Getting fit can be a mental challenge as much as a physical challenge.
Exercise not only changes your body, but your mind, attitude and even your mood.
“Being fit and healthy has changed every aspect of my life. I enjoy hunting, which is now so much easier for me.
“I’m not as fit now as I was at college, due mostly to work and home-life balance, but I’ve not gone back to my old ways.”
Superintendent Mel Aitken, Director of Police's Safer People group, couldn’t be happier at Constable Marshall's story.
“It’s fantastic seeing people like this who have found their passion for wellbeing, whether it’s through sport, nutrition or a combination of both,” she says.
Constable Marshall has some final advice for others who are training for their upcoming PCT or wanting to lose weight and get fit.
“I found what I put into my body had a bigger impact than what output my body could do. Sticking to a calorie intake limit kept my weight loss consistent.
“I didn’t go crazy with specific foods - after just a few weeks of tracking calories, I quicky learnt what foods worked and left me feeing full and which ones just left me hungry.”
He has the same message for any potential recruits training for a Police application.
“I set myself small achievable goals, like being able to jog without stopping for 400 metres. Once I could do that, I moved the goal to 1km and so on."
For exercise and enjoyment he joined a cycling club, which has led him taking part in racing.
“Make sure you pick an exercise you enjoy and just keep going. Keep your eyes on the prize, so to speak.”
LINKS
- Men's Health Month is marked every June in an international awareness-raising effort to get men to think about their wellbeing because, let's face it, we tend not to.
- In New Zealand, Men's Health Week was observed earlier in the month - but the messages are valid 52 weeks of the year. Check out the resources on the Men's Health Week website.