Get Healthy.

Today's Marketing Cookie is often not fun, but it is always necessary. We all have an idea of what a healthy lifestyle looks like, right? For some people, it means being in shape or at least not being fat. (Round is also a shape) It can mean not eating junk food or at least not eating it as often. It can mean getting enough sleep or at least not drinking as much coffee. Whatever a healthy lifestyle means to each of us, doing it is usually the last thing you want to do until you start doing it. Somehow actually starting to make changes makes you feel good or at least not feel as bad. It's true.

Sometimes our marketing gets fat, lazy, and out of shape. We get something good going, and put our campaigns in the marketing rotisserie, so we can "set it and forget it." Meanwhile, the competitors are working out, finding ways to cut down on fatty budgets and hitting their stretch goals. You need to get your marketing moving again, otherwise, it'll lose its attractiveness, while the competition is looking more buff and relevant.

I turned forty on March 3rd and suddenly realized that I had become "chunky". I've basically been a scrawny kid my whole life and have weighed the same amount since college until I turned 30. In the last ten years, I went from scrawny to full, and then achieved chunky status. If I lost 20 pounds, I'd be exactly the weight I like, and so I joined a gym. I went religiously every morning for the entire month of March to run in place. I lost about 8 pounds.

Then on April 2nd, instead of getting up at the crack of dawn to run in place, I began getting up to write (and eat) Marketing Cookies. Now it's already June and I've only gone back to the gym a handful of times and gained all 8 pounds back again. Bummer! I begged my wife not to cancel my gym membership and have promised that I will figure out another time when I can go back and run in place again. And I think I will.

I've also started a diet. No bread, potatoes, or rice. Or at least very little bread and no drinks with my meal other than water. I now drink my coffee without sugar. But that's not all! I have also embarked on the International Tour of Salads. (That's what I'm calling it.) Every day for lunch and dinner, I explore and try different salads.

It's only been a week since the tour of salads began, and I've never eaten so much salad in all my life. I've found it to be remarkable just how many different varieties of salads there are out there. I don't know how effective my crazy diet will be, but I feel good about it, and I hope that my change to a more healthy lifestyle will benefit me tremendously.