Nonprofit T2 Fitness offers free programs that promote physical and mental wellbeing for individuals and communities that need it most
Personal trainer, fitness coach, speaker, and author of The Last 10 Pounds: How the Last 10 Pounds Helped Me to Lose 100 Pounds, Tasha Turnbull, owner of T2 Fitness and founder of the T2 Fitness Foundation, never set out to be a wellness guru.
“I was overweight all throughout my youth and into college,” says Turnbull. “I didn’t like who I was as a person, I had low self-esteem, depression, high blood pressure and I was thinking I was going to be 300 pounds before I turned 30.”
To make a change, she leaned into strength training because she had heard good things about it. She was basically on her own, but as she got more into her training, she fell in love with the power she felt after a workout.
“The feeling I got from lifting and pushing through something gave me a feeling I wasn’t getting from my job, hanging out with friends or watching TV,” states Turnbull. “I really felt a sense of power that I didn’t have in my life because prior to getting started, it seemed that life was just coming toward me, but I didn’t have any control over it.”
Three months later, she stepped on the scale and had lost 14 pounds. The weight loss provided her with even more encouragement, and four years later, she was 100 pounds lighter. That’s when she decided she needed to share her passion with others.
She began by opening a studio in Virginia Beach in 2011, but over the years turned more to providing virtual training online and eventually closed the studio in 2023. But she wanted to do more to help the underserved, so shortly after she created the T2 Fresh Start Initiative, which is part of her nonprofit foundation.
“It’s a free, comprehensive, 12-week wellness program for individuals who have been diagnosed with hypertension or diabetes,” says Turnbull. “The program consists of fitness training, life coaching, mental health, group therapy, cooking classes and health monitoring. We have this program in Norfolk, Suffolk, Franklin, Isle of Wight, Gates County North Carolina and we’ll be adding Newport News this year. We’re also going to start a completely virtual program in Tennessee this year.”
Turnbull holds fundraisers, like 5K races, to help support the program, but the initiative is also sponsored in part by Sentara Health, Obici Health Foundation, the Hampton Roads Community Foundation, TowneBank and Dominion Energy. The American Heart Association also provides the organization with free blood pressure monitors.
“The community that has developed amongst the ladies who complete the program is insane,” says Turnbull. “They’re going on vacations together. They’re walking together. That social health is so important when you’re trying to change behavior. And the program is a safe place for individuals to let down their guard and be transparent about where they are in their journey, which is very much needed. Because dealing with health and weight is sensitive.”
In between programs, Turnbull has started weekly walking groups in Franklin, Norfolk and Suffolk, to offer an outlet for people to keep their movement up year-round.
To contact Turnbull about personalized virtual training or as a speaker, email her at t2fitnessinfo@gmail.com. For information about her fitness foundation, email her at t2fitfoundation@gmail.com.
Barrett Baker
