Each Friday, we highlight an entwined community member who works in the TWINdustry of the Week. This week's post is by Anastasiya Goers, twin mom and blogger at Balance in Me.Giving birth to a child is a wonderful and amazing blessing for any woman. I was always amazed at how much women’s bodies go through during the pregnancy. I think women’s bodies deserve to have a special memorial in each and every city. This memorial must be double, triple or even octuple size for the moms of multiples.
After pregnancy, fitness does not always seem like the first priority after getting home with your little ones. Soon after I got home with my twins I felt like I had been run over by a train: sleepless nights, constant feeding and endless dirty diapers. I was lucky enough to deliver my girls naturally but a lot of women have to go through a C-section when delivering multiples or they spend time on bedrest prior to delivering. Multiple pregnancies have a lot of complications and pitfalls, and it does not get any easier after the babies are born. However, I am not trying to create a gloomy picture in front of you.
I must say that there were two factors that helped me tremendously to survive the pregnancy and the first year: my supportive husband and fitness. I was a fitness instructor for 6 years before I got pregnant and of course I was teaching through the entire pregnancy (my last class was 2 weeks before the girls were born but I would have exercised even longer if my doctor allowed me too.) About a month after the babies were born I felt that I needed some “me” time (something that any mom needs at a certain point.) I resumed teaching at a local gym and this brought me all the energy that I needed to take care of the little ones.
It is not always easy to be a fitness instructor when you are a mom, especially a mom of twins. There are times when you have no energy to go to class. There are times when it breaks your heart when you have to leave your sick child at home with their father. There are times when you are worried sick about your kids when you are teaching a class.
After my girls were born I started writing a blog about life balance – Balance In Me. Balanced living has always been something I was striving for but after the birth of my girls I felt a desperate desire for more balance in my life. The blog gave me an opportunity to vent a little bit and to share my experience and my frustrations. I can’t say that it was a success right away but slowly I climbed my way to the first 100 subscribers. After that I put a little more effort and got to 500. Then I redesigned my blog, wrote a few guest posts, found my voice and – voila – now I have a blog with over 2500 loyal followers (and still growing.)
Just lately I realized that it was time to combine two of my passions in life: blogging and fitness. Right now I am working on creating an online course on how anyone can turn their lifestyle from sedentary into active. Why do I believe in this course? As a mom of twins I know how difficult it is for moms to find time for themselves. Going to the gym seems like a luxury that a mom cannot afford. Working out with a DVD usually seems boring and most people do not have enough motivation to go on.
Now imagine that you have an online gym where you can talk to other women (in a live web chat or in the forum), you can visit a live online class or watch a recording. You learn how to make your lifestyle more active without doing any conventional exercises. You learn how to stick to your healthy lifestyle while having fun with your family. You learn how to find the time and motivation to go on. And on the days when you do not have enough motivation to work out, you get an email that reminds you why you want to do this and how great you will feel afterwards. This program is much more beneficial in my opinion than going to the gym. Why? Because once you learn to live actively no matter where you are and how much time you have, then you will always have a gym right with you.
I am getting ready to launch my online fitness program in the nearest future. As soon as it is up and running, all moms in the entwined community will get a 10% discount on this course - I look forward to working with you! In the meantime, grab a newsletter subscription to my blog (and download your free copy of Book of Wisdom: 50 ideas for the all-around balanced life) to make sure that you do not miss the launch day - the program will be limited to 50 members to create a warm and supportive community of friends.
I still teach Pilates classes at a local studio and I am planning to teach a few fitness-for-moms classes at my church. No matter how much I enjoy these classes and live communication I also understand how many more people I can help by focusing on this online project. But what is even more important, by working online I get to spend more time with my precious girls who deserve my attention and give something to others who need something new in their lives.
Anastasiya Goers has identical twin girls and runs a blog BalanceInMe. Contact her at anastasiya@balanceinme.com .
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