A Little Taeste
“I want to provide honest and genuine information for people who are looking to achieve their fitness goals. Because when I was starting out in fitness it was very difficult to find and sort through all the fake information on the internet, especially on Instagram.”
Sharing authentic fitness, nutrition, and workout advise has caused Tae-León and her blog A Little Taste, to essentially blow up over night. Armed with a passion for fitness A Little Taste relaunched in 2018 and now has a following of 31k on Instagram!
Diagnosed with a rare blood cancer at the age of 9, Tae, knows what it’s like to feel as if her body and health were not her own to control. Having known this feeling she is grateful she can now live her life and nourish her body through fitness the way she wants.
We had a chance to catch up with Tae and get some tips on how she manages and keeps up her healthy lifestyle.
SO WHAT STARTED YOUR PASSION FOR FITNESS?
So I’ve always been an athlete my entire life. It wasn’t until my senior year in high school that I really got into fitness and wanted to live a healthier lifestyle. It started when I purchased a program that I of course saw on Instagram, and I really wanted to challenge myself and see if what everyone was saying about lifting weights was true. And I’m very big on trying things myself because it’s the only way I can prove if something works or not. So I was like, “Okay, I’ll spend the money and try it out.” So I did it for 16 weeks, stuck to the plan day in and day out, and I was like, “Wow this lifestyle is incredible.” Like I looked and felt better, I felt stronger, and I was like how have I not been doing this before? So then after that it kept going and then I started designing my own workout program because that other program was too easy for me. I started doing research and setting goals and that how I got to where I am today.
WHAT ARE THE TOP MYTHS YOU FIND PEOPLE BUY INTO THE MOST?
The main one is that lifting weights will make females super, super bulky. I think that is what kept me away from weights for such a long time. There is just this common thought that if you touch a weight, 10lb to 15lb, you’re gonna suddenly gain the hulk muscles. That is a big myth I tired to dispel on my page. Because once I tried lifting weights and I tried it I saw that it actually took me towards what I want to look like not what this hulk image everyone seems to have.
WHAT WAS THE MOST SURPRISING THING YOU’VE FOUND WHEN YOU WERE WEEDING THROUGH ALL THIS FITNESS INFORMATION ON THE INTERNET?
You know I knew absolutely nothing about nutrition, which is SO, SO IMPORTANT! When I was first starting out I purchased a workout program and it basically said lift weights three times a week and try to eat a protein bar afterwards. So I had no idea how muscle gain interacts with nutrition and the way your body looks is directly tied to the amount of calories you’re eating. Then the break down of those calories into proteins, carbs, and fats. It wasn’t “surprising” for me to learn because I am a biology major, but it was kind of like WOW this could’ve saved me so much time in the beginning had I just known.
DO YOU HAVE ANY QUICK NUTRITION TIPS?
Yes! My quicks tips are actually pretty simple. If you’re looking to lose weight you need to be in a caloric deficit, which means you are eating fewer calories than you are burning through exercise. Then the opposite, being if you’re looking to gain weight or gain muscle, you need to be in a surplus of what you are burning through exercise so that extra caloric intake can be allocated towards muscle growth.
WHAT FITNESS QUESTIONS DO YOU GET MESSAGED ABOUT THE MOST?
I get a lot of questions about what to eat daily, how are you suppose to know what’s healthy or not and how many calories to be taking in? And that is one of the reasons why I post every single meal I eat on my page in my nutrition highlights so that I can show people what works for me. Obviously everyone is different but hopefully my meals can get your thinking about some things you can eat. That’s a really common one that is hard to answer.
WHAT ARE SOME HEALTHY SNACKS THAT YOU GO TO?
Fruit is definitely on there, I absolutely love fruit. Protein bars, kale chips, hard boiled eggs, air popped popcorn, any sort of fruit with a nut butter like apples and peanut butter, but I’m actually picky which makes things difficult. Like I’m anti hummus, which I feel would be very convenient to like, but I don’t do hummus, and oddly enough I don’t do yogurts either. A lot of vegetables I unfortunately don’t like so it doesn’t leave much for me to eat but I do manage.
WHAT’S IN THE FUTURE FOR A LITTLE TASESTE?
You know I haven’t thought that much about it. I just want to be able to reach and help as many people as possible on their fitness journey. I find that I get a lot of messages asking the same things about workout programs so I found the easiest way to help as many people as possible is to consolidate all of that information in a resource that can be widely distributed to everyone. So I think workout programs will be a thing that I do a lot of since I can’t always answer every message but with this then everyone can have a little taste and I be able to reach and help a lot of people.
DESCRIBE HOW YOU SLAY.
I slay by being fearless, by attacking my goals every single day, by staying positive and optimistic, and by not letting anything hold me back.
To see Tae’s latest workout and nutrition tips make sure to follow her on Instagram and check out all her posts on A Little Taste.