Fitness influencer Marlon Tomlinson leading by example
Published:Wednesday | February 23, 2022 | 4:53 AMSade Gardner/Staff Reporter -
Being in shape has been a recurring theme in Marlon Tomlinson’s life.
He’s etched his name as a respected dancer who spent several years at performing arts company, ASHE. About 10 years ago, he was modelling for Pulse and signed to British agency Sources Model Management. On the surface, he was “#BodyGoals” for several people, but in private, Tomlinson said he struggled with body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), an anxiety disorder related to body image.
“I always had a struggle with physique,” Tomlinson told The Gleaner. “Even when people say I look good, I always felt like I didn’t look how I wanted to look in my mind.”
An advocate for changing one’s reality instead of engaging in negative self-talk, he decided to embark on a fitness journey in October 2020, and meditated and spoke to a counsellor to work on his BDD.
“I’ve always wanted to get into fitness,” he said. “I used to always tell myself that my ideal life would be to go to work, go to the gym, and have fun. That recently transpired when I decided I didn’t want to dance as much, but I wanted to focus more on health and fitness in its traditional sense: eating healthy, working out and doing a lot of physical activity.”
The pandemic’s hit on the entertainment sector freed up his schedule, but the inactive period also saw him growing a “likkle belly”. Having maintained a toned physique most of his life, his focus has been on building a muscular upper body.
“Because of dancing, I have a very strong lower body,” he said. “My legs are very muscular and very defined, but then my upper body is not as defined or toned. It’s coming along, but because of how your body structure is, you can’t just focus on one area because then it’s going to look disproportionate.”
Trained by Delano Dacres of Alpha’s Iron Den, Tomlinson has leg days on Mondays and Thursdays, chest on Tuesdays and Fridays, back on Wednesdays, and does yoga and whatever else he chooses on Saturdays. It’s a rigorous schedule, but he’s cultivated the discipline while inspiring thousands of followers to get serious about their health. He also maintains his lifestyle while being a behaviour change officer at the Ministry of Health and Wellness and radio host at Newstalk 93FM.
OKAY TO START SMALL
“When my alarm goes off at 4:30 a.m., I literally don’t want to get up, but I tell myself that if I create this habit, one day it will become easy as habits are hard to break,” he said. “I find different reasons to want to do it, whether it is to record something to inspire somebody because I realise that I tend to inspire people a lot, so that kinda motivates me … I can’t tell somebody to do something and not practise it; I have to lead by example, so that’s my philosophy with everything.”
He’s also changed his diet, cutting out juice and sticking to water, a habit he said has also done wonders for his skin. He also eats less rice, consumes mostly proteins like chicken and fish, snacks on nuts, and makes home-made protein shakes.
For those who want to follow in his footsteps, Tomlinson said it’s okay to start small.
“Gyms can be very expensive, and having a personal trainer can also be very expensive,” he said. “I started by just researching and doing some push-ups, sit-ups and pull-ups at home, just to get myself in the frame of mind of exercising. If you want to lose weight, you can start by just walking in your community. It doesn’t have to be you going to a gym. Gym is when you want to take yourself to another level. Working out is a personal journey, so you can’t be too hard on yourself. You have to know it’s a process and trust it.”
He also encouraged fitness enthusiasts to have an accountability partner who would encourage them to stay on track. Most important, “Physique is all right, but being healthy is most important, and if you put the health first, then everything else will fall into place.”
Being involved with the Jamaica Moves project, Tomlinson aspires to use his platform as a fitness influencer to engender champions for healthy lifestyles.
“I work with a lot of communities, so I would love if I could create healthy community ambassadors, meaning champions for healthy lifestyles. So, people who share the same passion I do who will just go out and be ambassadors for health and encourage people to work out, be fit, eat healthy and create healthy habits.”