I am super excited about today’s Woman Crush Wednesday because I not only got to interview one of my best friends but also the very person who inspired this whole series, Tasha Henderson.
Tasha and I are long time friends. We actually lived together my senior (and her junior year) of college (yeah, yeah, she’s younger) and now I’m lucky enough to live in the same city as her once again.
She has not only welcomed us to Portland with open arms but has also helped us get our feet on the ground here in so many incredible ways – including allowing our entire clan (Casey, myself, Casey’s dad, my mom, my mom’s dog and Abbie) to stay at her house while waiting for our apartment to be ready for move in. True story.
And over the last several months since moving to Portland, I’ve watched in total admiration at how hard she works – whether training for her trail half marathon, working her butt off at bootcamp, getting her sweat on in a yoga class or kicking ass on a hike – she’s inspired me in so many ways and now, without further adieu, I’ll her inspire you too!
Everyone, meet Tasha. Tasha, meet everyone ;).
1. Tell us who you are, where you live, and where you blog.
Hi I’m Tasha Henderson! I live, work, and play in Portland, Oregon. I blog at
Tashasdish.com about my adventures in food, and more recently, my fitness
endeavors.
2. Why did you start your blog?
I started my blog shortly after moving to Portland. At the time, I was so excited by all of
the restaurants, access to delicious produce, and yummy local food products that I
really wanted an outlet for sharing all of my cooking and eating adventures. Over the
last year I made a commitment to get healthier, so lately my blog has been more
focused on healthy meals and my fitness activities.
3. What have you gained from starting your blog? And what have you learned?
Through blogging I gained motivation to push my comfort zone and try new recipes and
techniques in the kitchen. Because of that I’m a way better cook (if I may say so
myself…) than when I started my blog a little over 5 years ago. When I started blogging,
I also became more interested in the blogging community and I started finding a wealth
of knowledge about cooking and ingredients. When I started making healthy changes
in my life, I got ideas from other bloggers about healthy recipes to keep things
interesting in the kitchen, which helped me stay on track.
4. You recently did something pretty amazing…can you tell us about it?
Thanks for noticing, I lost 40 pounds and I recently fit back into my “skinny” jeans! After
moving to Portland, I got into some pretty unhealthy habits and began gaining weight. I
had always been active and really enjoyed running, playing soccer, hiking and skiing but
the combination of living in a new city (with rain!) and being in a new relationship (with
my now husband) led to lots of eating out and “staying in” at home when the rain poured
outside. Suddenly, the things I loved to do like hiking, running, and even yoga became
really difficult and less enjoyable. I knew that the number on the scale had been
creeping up, but after the holidays in 2012, I freaked out when I saw that the number on
the scale said 192.
I cried a little, and realized that something had to change.
During 2013 and early 2014, I made a point to be more active and started eating a little
bit healthier. These were small changes, but I ended up losing 20 pounds. At that point I
felt much better but I had stalled out on my weight loss. I decided to sign up for a boot
camp class 3 days a week to really kick my fitness routine up a notch. It was the push I
needed, and it started a positive chain reaction. Once I started doing more high
intensity training, I began paying close attention to how I was fueling my body and
started cleaning up my diet. With higher intensity workouts and a cleaner diet, I lost
more weight, and felt strong enough to do the outdoor activities that I loved again. I’m
still on my fitness journey and I’m still working for my flat tummy and 6 pack abs, but I
feel like this first 40 pounds has been a major milestone.
5. Your journey to fitness is incredible. Now that you’ve lost the weight, how do you
keep it off? What motivates you?
Hands down, staying healthy motivates me. I don’t want to go back to a time where my
body limited me from doing the things I love. Losing weight was a struggle both
physically and mentally so now that I have the forward momentum, I want to keep it
going!
I think the key to my success is prioritizing my health and scheduling my work outs.
Once I schedule a work out or a run in my calendar, I treat that time like a diamond (and
who would just give away a diamond!). As women (and people of the world) we wear a
lot of hats, and take on many rolls. However, at the end of each day I feel like
everything that I do is improved by working out: I have more energy, I think more
clearly, I’m more confident, and I’m almost always in a better mood. When I’m feeling
crunched for time, a little sluggish, or unmotivated about a workout, I always remind
myself “you never regret a workout!”, and I never do!
6. What’s your one piece of advice for others trying to lose weight and get fit?
I think everyone is different, and different things work for different people, but what has
worked for me during my journey is making lifestyle changes that work for the long-
term. For example, my work outs are convenient for my schedule, and located close to
my home, office, or on my bus line home (hello, boot camp on the Portland waterfront!).
If I had to drive an hour out of my way in rush hour traffic to go to a workout it wouldn’t
be sustainable for the long term, and I’d quit going! The same mentality goes for my
diet. I try to eat clean most of the time, but I’m not going to restrict foods that I love 100
percent of the time, because I love food, and I’d inevitably find myself sitting in a corner
crushing an entire pint of cookie dough ice cream!
At the end of the day, I try to be really mindful of both my end goal (six pack abs!) and
the fact that I have to be happy with the changes I’m making because they are going to
be part of my life for a long time.
7. What’s your favorite workout currently?
Running, hiking, and boot camp! I also really love yoga, but I’m still struggling to figure
out a way to get it into my schedule more often. Lately I’ve been spending a few
minutes each night at home on my mat and working on poses that have always been
challenging for me like crow pose and handstands. My goal is to be able to master
them by the end of the year.
8. Favorite food?
Right now it’s summer so I’m loving all of the fresh fruit. But I also love peanut butter,
avocadoes, and walnuts. For treats, I love french fries, ice cream, and any type of
noodle product you can get your hands on!
9. Favorite workout song?
I’m loving Drake’s Hold on We’re Going Home during my solo lunch time runs on the
water front. Empire of the Sun’s Walking on a Dream and MGMT’s Electric Feel are
always on my playlist.
10. Spirit animal?
Elephants! They aren’t the smallest animal in the kingdom, but they are strong, loyal,
and they never forget!
11. Who is your fitness crush?
Confession: I am always Googling “Jessica Biel fitness routine”…’nuff said!
Leave a Reply