Meet Trailblazer Donna Holden

Today we’d like to introduce you to Donna Holden.

Donna, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
When I was 36, I realized I was not feeling my best, I was not being active and eating what I ever I wanted. I always thought you had to be on a diet to lose weight. This is when I read “Clean Eating” by Tosca Reynolds and it changed my life. I realize food plays the hugest role in your life, it literally affects everything! How you feel, your energy, and mood. Clean eating just makes sense to me you can eat food but you are eating real food. I also am a huge believer in a Paleo type of eating style also, however, I believe in living my life and enjoying it. So with that said, I do not EVER feel like I can’t have something, say that birthday cheesecake or those family favorite recipes during the holidays. I do however stick to a healthy lifestyle the rest of the time, so I never feel guilty about eating anything.

Moving is the other step that came into play. I started walking/running with a friend. It was slow and didn’t happen overnight. I was never a runner and always thought I couldn’t do it. I had gone and watch some of my bestest friends run some of the top marathons but was always in awe on the sidelines. I am proud to say not anymore I have officially completed 6 1/2 marathons and the Marine Corps full marathon in D.C. and countless 5Ks and 10ks. Running really has changed my life it has given me a total respect for my body and what it can do. I have built strong relationships on these many miles with a wonderful tribe. I just think running makes you feel an accomplishment like no other and it is the best mind clearer out there.

Just over a year ago, I decided to start my blog Healthy Town Living when I was getting friends and family asking to share my recipes and wishing they could come to my house for breakfast. I also wanted to share my running stories and other motivational people I admire to hopefully inspire and motivate others out there. My most favorite blog posts are those of the motivation people I have interviewed. My most personal blog posts get the best feed back, people love that vulnerability and most can relate to a lot of these topics that I touch on.

Has it been a smooth road?
Hard things are never smooth… lol! When we are training for long races our group has a saying, “If it was easy, everyone would do it”. It makes us laugh and keep going. As far as my blog my biggest challenges are I am not very tech savvy, so I struggled getting started and still do a bit BUT I chose to keep trying and to me that is all that matters. Just like in a race you have to just keep putting one foot in front of the other.

We’d love to hear more about Healthy Town Living.
I actually work a full time job along side of running Healthy Town Living so that makes it a bit tougher but I enjoy this blog so much that I just keep trying to put time into it. I have had people come up to me and tell me how much they enjoy it. That makes me keep pushing. I am most proud of I have done this all on my own, everything you see I have done. The photos, the food, the races. It’s all me. I think what sets me apart is I am 100% genuine. I am sharing my food of what I am “actually” eating and cooking. I also share a lot of my running to I hope motivated others. Self care is something I am slowing incorporating also as I think so many of us today don’t take enough time for that.

So much of the media coverage is focused on the challenges facing women today, but what about the opportunities? Do you feel there are any opportunities that women are particularly well positioned for?
I think there are so many and luckily, I have never felt or been in a position where I felt I couldn’t do something or go somewhere just because I am a woman. I guess, thank you Mom and Dad for making me feel like I could do what I wanted and being a woman didn’t change that.

When I think of my running I can never help but think of Katherine Switzer who was the first woman to cross the Boston Marathon finish line. Even during that race she had people try to stop her, I can’t imagine as a woman not being able to run in races because of my gender. So happy we have come so far in this field and there are so many bad *** babes out on those courses now! Thank you, Katherine!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.healthytownliving.com
• Email: htownliving99@outlook.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/healthytownliving/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/htownliving99/?ref=bookmarks
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/healthytownlvg

Image Credit:
Donna Holden

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