Happy 5 year blogiversary to toningwithtwins.com! 🎉 How has it been 5 years already?! I created Toning With Twins to share my postpartum twin mom fitness journey. I guess now that my twins are 5 though, it’s just my fitness journey. 😆
In honor of this milestone, I thought it’d be fun to reflect and see how my perception of fitness and nutrition has evolved these past 5 years.
Fitness
While I’d love to say I got my pre-baby body back, but that just isn’t the case. My body is simply different than it was 6 years ago, and I am proud of it. I’ve also built muscle I’ve never had before. 💪
Before kids, I had no clue what hypertrophy or progressive overload were. Pinterest was my trainer; my workouts had zero structure. Sure, I’d hit Planet Fitness 5x a week, but I didn’t have dedicated leg days, upper body days, or anything of that nature.
After kids, I discovered at-home workouts with Beachbody and started following their calendars with specific programming. Say what you want about Beachbody, but its programs provided me structure and took my workouts to the next level. This is when I started to build muscle. 80 Day Obsession was my jam.
Even now that I’m no longer doing Beachbody, I find structure in my Peloton workouts thanks to the #hardCORE On The Floor calendar.
Nutrition
Nutrition can seem so complex these days.
Before kids, I counted calories. Simple, for the most part.
After kids, I discovered Beachbody’s Portion Fix, which controversial as it may be, did teach me how to incorporate all food groups including the so-often-missed fruits and vegetables, protein, various forms of healthy fats, and yes, even carbs. It also helped lay a decent foundation into counting macros.
However, transitioning into fully counting macros has allowed me more freedom to not feel restricted or guilty though for consuming foods that other diets (*cough* Portion Fix) deem “unapproved”. Diet culture.
Embracing my “Mom Bod”
These past 5 years of my fitness journey have been a roller coaster with self-image, learning to embrace my mom bod. On January 1st, I took my “before” photos and measurements like many others post-holidays. For once though I did not compare my measurements to previous times. A voice inside me was saying look forward, not backwards; that I wasn’t here to compete with myself or anyone else for that matter.
This has become my mantra. I am proud of my journey.
I want to thank everyone who has followed / supported Toning With Twins these past 5 years. I may not be the most buzzing blog on the Internet, but I do see those who occasionally leave a comment or interact with me on social media. I hope my content benefits your own journey and am always open to topic suggestions to blog about!