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 51½ÖÉä 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
- 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 .