Maria Sogard, Author at VFit Studio

Repeat After Me “I DESERVE THIS!” -What is Your Fresh Pot of Coffee?

September 4, 2020 by Maria Sogard 1 Comment

We talk a lot about habits, especially morning rituals. What we do each day to start it off on the right foot.

Getting up early is my saving grace. The quiet of the morning is one of the most magical times of the day and sets the tone for the day.

I’ve felt very on top of my morning game for years now. It’s my time to shine.

That is … until I had two good friends, who also happen to be VFit trainers over last month.

What follows is a simple story about how my morning coffee ritual brought me to one of the most powerful mantra’s I now repeat several times a day and how my support system gave me a very powerful lesson.

My morning ritual actually begins the night before: I lay out my workout clothes, get my water cup out and set my coffee maker up to brew a fresh pot of coffee as soon as I am up at 5:30am. I always brew a near full pot of coffee as a security blanket (I’ve got 3 young kids and a puppy, you NEVER know how nightime will go!), but there is almost always at least 1/2 pot left by day’s end.

VFit Trainer Janelle – thank you for this lesson!

So there I am, hanging out with VFit trainers Janelle and Lauren a few weeks ago, chatting with them in the kitchen as I get my “stuff’ set for the next morning.

I skipped the getting the fresh pot of coffee ready part and they asked me why?

I replied, “Oh there is enough old coffee left, I’ll just reheat it in the morning, it’s easier and that way I don’t waste anything.”

To which they both gasped and asked, “Does it taste good reheated?!?”

We all know the answer to that, no way! It tastes like burnt day old coffee.

“WHY ARE YOU DOING?!” asked Janelle.

“You deserve a fresh cup of yummy hot coffee EVERY DAY! You do everything for everyone,” added Lauren. “

“Rachele, YOU DESERVE IT”, they both shouted at me.

VFit Trainer Lauren – I’ll always remember this morning thank you!

It sounded amazing to have a fresh, hot cup of coffee each day! Extra work, yes. Maybe a bit extravagant since I already had coffee in the house that I already made, ableit very old, but still – it was there.

And so for the next few minutes my good friends gave me a very powerful lesson that I’ll never forget.

YOU deserve fresh coffee if it makes you happy.

Now I know what you are all thinking! Buy a keurig, make less coffee each day, what on earth does coffee have to do with a fitness blog, I can go on!

But I share, because this lesson really hit me hard.

By changing the script in my head from “this is more work”, “it’s easier if I just….”, to “I DESERVE THIS!” changed my entire outlook from that day forward.

Say it! Say those 3 power words next time something feels like a chore or like you aren’t worth the extra effort.

I promise it will empower you and take you from a feeling of “I have to”, to “I get to”. And when something feels like a reward, you will do what it takes to keep those rewards coming, because you do deserve it!

For you, maybe it’s something like taking a daily shower, getting outside on a walk every day, or taking time out of the day to exercise.

What is your ‘fresh pot of coffee’ that you deserve that you’ve been neglecting?

Even if it’s a little extra time and effort, if it’s something that fills you up and will make you feel good – give yourself the license and grace to do it for yourself.

Then savor it. Enjoy it. Know you deserve it and are worthy of it.

What is your ‘fresh pot of coffee’ you’ll give yourself today?

Share below in comments once you do it and let us know how it feels.

The Mask Debate

June 25, 2020 by Maria Sogard 1 Comment

The great mask debate………..

Who would have ever seen this one coming? Not me that is for sure.

But here we are in the middle of 2020, a year that has rocked every single one of our worlds inside out and upside down.

As places begin opening back up, we have entered a big debate over who should wear masks, when it’s safe/not safe, and it’s become a point of much contention. In many areas it is mandated to wear a mask in public places.

The reality is that this topic isn’t going away any time soon. I think we’re going to see mask requirements for a long time to come.

Which almost had me ignoring the topic all together. I hate seeing people fight and lash out at each other over difference of opinions.

As a leader in health/fitness, I have been asked a lot lately on my thoughts over wearing a mask while working out. At first I was going to dodge this question, since at VFit wearing a mask will never be an issue (nothing I ever planned when building this platform, but something I know I am thankful for more than ever.).

I will state for the record that this is my personal opinion and I am not a medical professional.

Should having to wear a mask be your excuse NOT to workout? HECK NO!

If you have a gym/studio that you so deeply love and they are doing a diligent job to keep the facility safe, clean, and with your best interest in mind, then by all means get yourself back to your beloved gym.

Here’s where I may rattle some feathers though.

Chances are that most people are not going to stick to working out in a mask long term. They just aren’t.

And that is FAR more detrimental than working out in a mask can be.

Is wearing a mask comfortable? No!

Is it hard to breath in, especially during a workout? Yes!

So when something becomes more of a burden and gives us an unpleasant experience, we’ll find more and more excuses not to do it.

Exercise should be one of the biggest rewards you treat yourself to daily.

There’ll be some who are fine working out in a mask and are just happy to be back at the gym – you know I support that 100%! Your gym needs you and you need them – rock on my friends!

Right now we NEED our health and well being to be at all time highs. That’s going to take putting in the physical and mental time and effort of working out.

Your health cannot afford to take this season off! It just can’t! Especially when we don’t even know how long ‘this season’ is going to be. It could be more than a year. You simply cannot stop working out waiting for things to go back to your previous normal.

“Because the next few months are going to go by no matter if you workout or not – make them count!”

So this may be the time in your life that you need to pivot your approach to what you think a workout should look like.

You didn’t ask to make the pivot, but life has thrown us some major curve balls. Sometimes pivots will change your life in amazing ways you never saw coming.

You may need to take your workouts outside in the fresh air. Connect with nature, use some rocks, benches, and dirt roads as your training ground.

Maybe you start an at home workout program, or you spend a lot of money on a new piece of equipment in hopes that a big investment will motivate you to workout from home.

But if I can give everyone ONE piece of advice as to how to be successful in staying fit and healthy during this season of life, masks or no masks, home gym or the great outdoors – FIND A COMMUNITY to be a part of.

That’s always going to be the key to success is in any area of life. We are human beings. We NEED each other.

We need connection. We need accountability. We need someone to assure us that we can do this and this is going to be ok.

I’ve had a lot of emotions over the last few months when it comes to running VFit.

VFit is my passion, my joy, and one of my babies.

Yes, we have grown a lot over the last few months, but that wasn’t out of chance or circumstance. We’ve also invested a ton over the last few months to increase our infrastructure and have nearly doubled our class offerings to make fitness attainable at all hours of the day and to all levels and abilities.

Our growth has come on the hands of many YEARS of hard work developing our community of trainers and members. Of mastering the art of online, LIVE fitness training,

Our passion stems from setting the foundation that no matter the season of life you are in – work overload, kids being sick, kids in sports, no child care, living far from a gym, feeling intimidated by a gym, and the one we never saw coming – COVID – YOUR HEALTH AND WELL BEING ALWAYS MATTER.

This moment to open our doors to anyone who has the will to be part of a positive community, a community who lifts each other up and cheers each other on. A safe space to connect, sweat, smile, and laugh, without even having to think about if you need to wear a mask or not.

So coming back full circle, to wear a mask or not to wear a mask? That is going to be up to you!

What we believe is the more important question right now is “have you armed YOURSELF with a community and platform that will get you to show up and put in the work to better your health and well-being in this unprecedented season of life?”

Or will you look back in 3, 6, 12 months and say “I regret not taking that precious time to take care of me?”

No matter how tough some days are, no matter how much fear or anger is out there right now, one thing you do have the opportunity to control is taking care of YOU! And there’s nothing selfish about that my friends.

In health,

Rachele Jaegers, VFit Owner

P.S. – If you have yet to find the community and tribe you know you need, we always have a spot on the VFit team. We are built on the morals of lifting each other up, cheering each other on, and taking the time to make the world a better place, by bettering our mind, body and spirit together.

We have an awesome membership special going on right now and one membership is good for the whole household. Click here to learn more. Whether you join us for a month, 6 months, a year, or forever, we’d be honored to be part of your journey to the best YOU possible.

Creating Your Own Normal

May 28, 2020 by Maria Sogard 1 Comment

VFit’s Weekly Inspo

You’ve heard the phrase again and again … your ‘new normal.’ It’s something we all are facing as we transition to a new phase of life through this global pandemic.

Universally, the last two months have been extremely challenging for all. In our lifetimes, we’ve never experienced something that has disrupted our lives as much. Our parents generation did through wars, our grandparents’ through the Depression, but for us, this level of change and impact is something we’ve not had to face.

As we transition to phases of things opening up, or the reality that some things are just never going to open up or go back to normal, there’s a ton of emotion tied to that.

This is affecting all of us. From those happy go lucky ones of us that usually are so upbeat, positive, and filled with motivation and inspiration to those that that already struggled in those departments, we’ve all felt waves of highs and lows. Confusion. Doubt. Fear of what’s next and what else may be taken away.

Collectively now more than ever it’s important to surround yourself with a fun and supportive community. Usually summer is your busiest time of the year spent outside and socializing. The reality is, that this summer will be very different.

Our online studio and platform is uniquely positioned to continue to help those looking for self care, positivity, and to improve their health.

The VFit Studio schedule and community continues to maintain our packed schedule from morning to night. We continue to keep the positivity and safe haven for you to change your level of health and happiness.

Our cardio classes will help boost those feel good chemicals in the brain and give you that long lasting boost of energy through the day.
Strength classes will help you push your mental and physical limits while building a stronger foundation throughout your body.
Balance and mobility classes will help you learn to work through transitions and find equilibrium in your physical surroundings.
Lastly, our restorative stretching and yoga classes will work to balance out the rest of your workouts, create space, and improve your mindfulness and focus for the rest of your day.

You can search our full schedule here on what live group fitness classes you can take with our team from your home.

While you search for answers for what’s next and what your new normal will be, think of what you can do and what you’d like to keep as part of your daily life.

We encourage you to choose self care as a priority. Find support and accountability. Focus and celebrate what your body is able to do and let yourself feel good in your own skin.

Feel free to share with anyone who needs these positive reminders today.

In health,

Rachele & Maria

#VFITSTRONG – Thank you from your VFit Trainer Team

April 13, 2020 by Maria Sogard 2 Comments

VFit’s Weekly Inspo

Wow, what a month that has felt like a decade! One month ago VFit opened its doors for free to the world.

It was one of the scariest things I’ve ever done. Letting one of my “babies” out into the big world with so much unknown. But we had to do it, people needed us, and we wanted to help in any way we could.

I didn’t know that the universe had been preparing our team for this over the past 4 1/2 years. We had been training for one of the biggest events we didn’t even know we signed up for!

Overnight we more than doubled our schedule, we welcomed back a few original trainers coach Lindsay started a youth conditioning program, we brought on members to help with electives like drawing, Spanish, story time, lunch and learns, youth sports, and most importantly we came together as one of the strongest teams on earth!

Close to 2000 VFITSTRONG passes were claimed. 4-5 times the amount of traffic was coming through our classes!

And at first I was overwhelmed. Scared. Exhausted.

We will always share this month TOGETHER where we have given each other stability, smiles, kindness, lots of sweat and true compassion that we are all going to get through this.

VFit stayed 100% true to our core values and as a reward, we have been gifted the opportunity to have helped so many.

We showed everyone who let us, the true VFit lesson in life…. no matter how much is going on, no matter how out of control your life may seem, no matter how overwhelmed you may be – you always have the opportunity to make your health and happiness a priority!

VFITSTRONG has always been a tag line of ours. Now it means more than we ever knew possible.

Thank you sounds so insignificant for the emotion I am overcome with right now. Your support through all of this and your enthusiasm to share VFit with so many has forever left an impression on all of us.Below, each trainer shared a little bit about what this experience has meant to them. It’s really meant the world to all of us to do this together!

In health,

Rachele

During these surreal and uncertain times our VFit community remains a vital source of joy in my life. Thank you for sharing your spirit and energy with me over this last month; I hope you’ve enjoyed our time together as much as I have.

In Health, Trainer Ceci (also a nurse on the front lines)

When I jumped back in to teach for this special month I was delighted to see so many of the same members consistently taking classes after I had been away for 2.5 years. VFit truly is an inspiring tribe of all stars!!

Xo
Trainer Chris

Rockstars,

What a month we’ve had together!! From the bottom of my heart, thank you for making this time of such uncertainty, certain in one way- knowing that my side of the screen was going to be filled with smiles and sweat from all over the world! When we didn’t know what major announcement was coming next, we DID know that you’d be there sweating with us the next time we logged in. And we are thankful!

More than these things though, you showed up for YOURSELF!! You wanted to move, to sweat, to get your happy juices flowing for yourself and your family. What a powerful action!!! It’s my hope that we’ve 30 minutes you spent with us made your day better. You got stronger physically and mentally every.single.time you made the decision to log in to class. CONGRATS!

I’m excited to keep seeing so many of you as we move forward. Even if you’re not choosing a membership, keep moving and showing yourself this kind of love. We’re all in this together. VFITSTRONG

XO, Trainer Christine

I’ve loved having all of the new people in classes along with our members! The first couple of weeks of the shutdown were really rough for me, my business shut down and I was suddenly shut off from my entire support system.

Knowing that so many people were in the same boat and that we were all exercising through it really helped me to feel more connected and to have something to look forward to every day.

Getting to know all of the new people, all over the world, that have joined Vfit for the last month has really been a bright spot and motivation for me to find the good in all of this! I hope many people continue on to a fit memberships so I can continue to get to know them!

In Health,

Trainer Leslie

Being a keen vfitter for the past 3 years, I was honored when Rachele asked me to teach Youth Sports Conditioning. We are getting a lot of repeat young athletes working out 4 days per week. I am so impressed by their dedication and hard work. I love unmuting everyone at the end of class and getting to say hello to all the athletes.

My family has been loving Mr. Tom’s drawing class and Chef Alias’s cooking class. And I love getting to try out more class formats at different times of the day.
Trainer Lindsay B

This team is my rock, my connection and my tribe! I’m so grateful to those who joined us for VFit Strong and to our loyal members for staying with us through thick and thin. I will never forget this time together!

Namaste, Trainer Lindsay

You write a company mission and vision, and it sounds lofty. Impossible. But it’s still something you WANT and know the world needs.

I would have never thought something like COVID-19 would happen in our lifetime and cause half the world to go into shelter in place.

I also would never have imagined we’d find a way to help so many with our online fitness studio. These past four weeks have brought me so much joy and light in the darkness of the unknown.

I’ve personally had goal smashing days, and then others barely wanted to get out of bed. The one constant with the VFITSTRONG tribe each and every day, there to lift me up. Light up my screen. Fill my heart!

Thank you to all of you who joined us, got out of your comfort zone, and took classes with our trainer team. I’m forever thankful we’ve been able to share VFit with you this past month.

In health,
Trainer and Director of Operations at VFit, Maria

VFit strong friends. What an amazing month we have had together! I have loved every moment of having you all in classes with me, and I hope you will continue your journey with us. You all truly do become, not only members, but also dear friends. I have made some of my best connections and friendships with this team.

VFit strong always,
Trainer Shari Belmarez

Thank you for lighting up my screen for the last month and allowing me and my silly boys into your homes as we sweat and coped together. Your energy was felt across the miles and I hope each 30 minute session together lifted you up and reminded you of how amazing and resilient you are! Be well!

Be Well,
Trainer Steff

Every situation in life is temporary. So, when life is good, make sure you enjoy and receive it fully. And when life is not so good, remember that it will not last forever and better days are on the way.” -Unknown

Team, these uncertain times have been challenging to say the least. But what has made it bearable is THIS community. You showing up to class matters! You matter.

You have made a huge impact on me. Your commitment and determination is inspiring. You have helped me during this time more than you know. It is nice to be included in this amazing and supportive environment. I appreciate you all. Be well friends

Thanks!
Trainer Steph

5 S’s of Wellness

March 14, 2020 by Maria Sogard Leave a Comment

VFit’s Weekly Inspo

When we feel we can’t control things, we become fearful. That part is human nature. But let us NOT forget that there is still so much in our day to day lives that we CAN control.

Here are 5 great tips that we all have control over (to some extent over) during all seasons of life.

STRESS LESS

Feels impossible right now, right? But there is plenty you can do to control your stress. Get off social media when you find it is having an effect on your mood, take a relaxing yoga class, stop watching the news, be very careful of negative people.. YOU control what goes into your brain, so choose wisely. Stress is one of the most detrimental facets to your immune system.

SLEEP

You need it! 7-8 hours is standard for most of us. Sleep will also help with #1! It is during sleep that your body heals and repairs itself. Want to be strong and healthy? Don’t skip the Zz’s. Focus on sleep hygiene by turning off all electronics an hour before bed and sleeping in as dark and quiet of an environment as you can. I have three young kids, I know this one is not always in our control, but we still need to highly prioritize sleep as a pillar of health.

SWEAT

Sweat and sweat often. Move your body in some fashion EVERY SINGLE DAY! You don’t need to bust out the world’s toughest workout every day, but you do need to move. Some days that may be a walk or stretch sesh, but move that body. Sweat and movement help increase blood flow and oxygen, repair damaged cells, it makes you feel GOOD, and it gets rid of toxins. I could go on for hours about the benefits.

STAY HYDRATED

Gulp a big glass of water right now. Every system in your body relies on being properly hydrated to function at the proper levels. When you aren’t hydrated your body is forced to work harder to do just about everything, and it is constantly sending out the wrong cues. Hydrate 8-10 glasses of water a day and watch your world change! As an added bonus, that may mean a few more trips to the bathrooms, which helps with #3.

SUNSHINE

Get outside and breathe that fresh air. Even if it’s not sunny, there are SO many benefits to getting outside. It will help with #1-4 above and clear your mind. In this sedentary world we live in where any and everything can be delivered or picked up in a drive-though, we can go days without getting outside and that is no way to live!

Feel free to share with anyone who needs these positive reminders today.

In health,

Rachele & Maria

Desire is What Gets You Started, But Habit is What Keeps You Going

March 2, 2020 by Maria Sogard 2 Comments

VFit’s Weekly Inspo

We are kicking off March, and it may be no surprise … many who had set the goal to ‘get fit’ in 2020 have fallen off course – and some never even began to course.

Up to 70% have already given up on the New Year’s resolution and are back to their unhealthy habits that they were determined to change, when the clock struck midnight Jan. 1st, 2020.

Whether you’ve been full on since January 1st with a new habit, or today is your day 1, we have put together some quick tips to help you form HABITS that can stick.

But first, let’s take a look and dive into why so many fall off so quickly with their resolution to stay fit…

It’s not a matter of desire, we’d be hard pressed to find anyone on the planet who didn’t wish for being healthy and living a happy life.

But many fail in this quest because they do not set themselves up for success in the following areas:

// accountability

// support

// goal planning with action steps

// habit formation

#1) ACCOUNTABILITY

First, with accountability. You can secretly set that desire out there into the universe about wanting to get fit, but unless you share that goal with someone, write it down, and hold yourself to it, there’s nothing stopping you from letting it slip by. No one calling you out, not even yourself.

If you set a goal for yourself, SHARE it. Just the simple act of writing it down makes you seven times more likely to achieve it.

#2) SUPPORT

Next, let’s look at support. If your goal was to get fit, but you are surrounded by people who do not share the same desires to lead a healthy lifestyle, how can you expect yourself to break the mold and go at it alone?

If you are looking to get healthier, find a tribe that shares that common goal and soak in all the positivity and support you can get from them. Don’t go it alone. You are much more likely to achieve success if you align yourself with a support system.

Find tribes to surround yourself with, where the person you know you deserve to be, is the norm behaviour of the group.

#3) GOAL PLANNING & ACTION STEPS

Goal planning and action steps can be the true breakthrough you need to achieve success. Have you set a realistic goal for yourself? Does it also stretch you a bit out of your comfort zone? What kind of action steps are you going to hold yourself accountable to each and every day, week, and month to ensure that you are on track to hit your year end goal.

A goal with no action steps is a wish that will slowly fade away.

#4) HABITS

Rounding out the list and most critical is your HABITS. Unless you are truly changing your habits and crowding out the negative ones that got you to where you are today, then you will not be able to get yourself out of your current situation.

Take a look at how you choose to spend every minute of your day. Each decision you make is a vote for the kind of life you desire to live.

If you want to take better care of yourself and yet claim not to have time, but also somehow manage to be totally up to date with the Bachelor and every Instagram post that’s ever been posted, then perhaps you need to reconsider how you are spending your time.

Building in a daily habit of self care may be a slow process, but it’s something you need to START one day at a time. It may be as slow as setting your alarm, waking up, chugging a glass of water first thing and doing some light stretching for a week or two.

Make SHOWING up your first habit to begin with. It doesn’t matter the duration or intensity of the workout – JUST SHOW UP until that habit sticks.

Showing up for 5 minutes a day, for 3 weeks in a row, FAR beats showing up for an hour per day in week one, burning out and then never returning.

After you are in the habit of showing up to exercise, then slowly start building up to adding in more and more. But you’ll never reach your goals, if you are not in the habit of “starting” each day. You have to start.

Building healthy habits into your daily routine make them second nature, so then down the road it’s a true no-brainer that you should be taking care of yourself. Working out is just what you do and what’s part of daily life, and not something you have to sit there and contemplate. Even when you “don’t feel like it”, you get over it and show up, because it’s a HABIT you simply can’t live without.

If you are reading this today and have not done something just for you, at least once a day in the form of self care or exercise, it’s time to reexamine your accountability, support, goal planning action steps, and your habits.

You can train your body and mind into creating the healthier life you deserve if you work hard to build in the habit of self care.

Your mission???

Sit down and write down 1 goal you’d like to hit by the end of March. Below the goal, write down three action steps you have to take each week to get you to the goal.

Really want to hit that goal?

SHARE your goal and action steps with one person today. Not sure who to share it with? Share it with US. We are here for you and want to help you hit your goals.

In health,

Rachele & Maria

10 Lessons Learned from the BIGGEST Challenge Ever Thrown At VFit

February 5, 2020 by Maria Sogard Leave a Comment

Watch the full REPLAY of Rachele’s inspo talk where she goes through the top 10 lessons learned from VFit Studio running it’s biggest challenge to date.

VFit’s Weekly Inspo

Last year, VFit Studio embarked on it’s biggest challenge we’ve ever run. We had all 8 VFit trainers lead our teammates through a 6 month LONG challenge, focused on goal setting.

The goal of this challenge was to get each member to hit a consistent class total for six straight months – from July to December.

A SIX MONTH fitness challenge that over half our studio signed up for and took part of. We had never heard of such a program, but felt it was important to find ways to work more closely with our members and help them stay consistent through the second half of the year.

As a recap, we came to find 10 top learnings from the challenge.

By sharing these lessons, we believe you can gain some added inspiration in your life and they can easily translate to all areas of life.

We have them summed up below, or you can hit play and watch the REPLAY of Rachele leading her talk.

1) The best inspiration and ideas come from when you step away from your “normal.”

True creativity comes from stepping away. Getting yourself out in nature with some fresh air and scenery. Whether its at a retreat or convention, or perhaps by water. Getting out of your norm can foster new ideas and innovation.

For us, four members of the VFit Trainer team were attending the fitness industry’s largest convention last June called IDEA WORLD and were all sitting around a fountain brainstorming about ideas to help members stay consistent with their workouts all year long. That’s when we created the #6monthsmatters challenge. Six months – from July through December – of consistent workouts, accountability, coaching and team building.

2) Embrace the power of a mastermind.

Create an environment where people are encouraged and feel empowered to share ideas and contribute. Gone are the days when one person has to have all the ideas.

The biggest ideas come from a collective. It took all 8 VFit Studio trainers working together to come up with the complete six month program.

By including all members of our trainer team with idea sharing, our ideas built off of one another and the end result was a program unlike anything any one of us singly would have dreamed up on our own.

3) RISK in going big.

Six months is a long time. This was far longer than any other wellness program we had created in our studio. Before the six month challenge, the next longest program we had spanned just one month. This was FIVE more months of teamwork, programming, consistency.

Would members get discouraged? How would we keep them motivated? What if one of our own VFit trainers fell off the wagon?

But, the risk of NOT pushing our team to do this was an even greater risk. The upside was just too incredible for us not to go for it. The fact that we could truly change some lives and habits was a risk we had to take.

4) Power of being part of a team.

People are okay with letting ourselves down at times. But put us on a team, there’s no way we would want to let an entire team down.

Having a team to compete with and where your goals and stats were public was huge reason why this program was successful for six straight months.

Members could have individual goals, but it took everyone holding up to their personal goal to advance together with the full team in tact.

5) The beauty of written goals.

Putting your goal on paper and out into the world is HUGE. Doing so, you have a tangible number to strive for and track.

We used goal setting as a major theme that held the entire of the challenge together. Each member committed to a personal class goal at the start of the challenge that they commited to hitting each of the six months of the challenge.

Miss a month? You were out of the challenge. Simple as that.

We had these goals literally ON OUR BACKS with team shirts that members wore with their class goal on the back. The goals were also on made public (to those in the challenge, that is) on a google drive that was shared by all members of the challenge. If you didn’t hit your goal, everyone on your team saw it. Talk about accountability.

6) Coaching to success.

We set each team up with a VFit trainer to serve as a coach each month. This extra bit of coaching from a VFit trainer helped the team stay connected, motivated, and loaded up with fresh inspiration.

Beyond being led by a coach, many teams had natural leaders arise in the team.

Do not underestimate the power of a coach. It’s always a good idea to have a coach to help push you and keep you accountable.

“You won’t always be motivated, but you must always be disciplined,” and good coaches help teach you the art of discipline and building healthy habits.

7) A shiny trophy at the end.

When was the last time you earned yourself a trophy? For most adults, it hasn’t been since we were children.

A fun part of this challenge was putting in some serious effort and EARNING a very real trophy at the end for all that completed the full challenge.

Who doesn’t love a fun prize or earning a trophy for hard work?

There was so much pride shared by our members once they received their trophy mugs. This was priceless. With every sip they take all year long, they will forever remember their six month commitment.

8) Building a community.

Why not have every person in the challenge (127 total members) be in one large supergroup? While we considered this, what really made this challenge special is breaking down the members into small groups.

With a smaller group of about 15 members, teams formed new bonds getting to know members and seeing themselves in some of the obstacles they had in reaching their goals. We had members bond over being new moms, rennovating homes, getting the flu. You name it, there were so many shared experiences for our members. Yet, through it all they forged through all six months and made it to the end of the chalelnge.

9) A few who didn’t meet their goal, silently faded out.

As a society, we put so much pressure to be perfect and when we don’t achieve this we feel shame. This perfection or failure black and white way to view the world is limiting.

We don’t believe this is how shit should be, but unfortunately that kind of fixed mindset is something many of us grew up with .

Sometimes, when you set high goals for yourself, you may not always reach them. Especially when a long time frame is in from of you.

But, reaching and stretching yourself is ALWAYS better than not trying at all.

Life is about improving yourself and focusing on incremental changes each and every day. We believe in working to adopt a growth mindset where you stretch and evolve and work to increase the size of your comfort zone.

We are so proud of the few members who may not have finished the challenge, but they have recommitted to VFit and their health and they believe they are ALWAYS worthy of another comeback.

If you fall down 99 times, the only number that matters is that you get up 100.

10) Heather’s Story – better late than never.

We call it “Heather’s story”, but this is a story that will resonate with all of us at one time or another in life.

Heather was 5 1/2 months into the 6 month challenge, on a team that had not lost a single teammate, she was 4 classes away from earning her trophy and crossing the finish life, when life rocked her world upside down.

She is a mom to 4 young kids, and her youngest baby was sent down 6 hours from home, to CHLA, where she ended up spending 2 weeks in the hospital with him (he is doing great now, thankfully).

During this time, her husband was travelling back and forth, as they were trying to keep a sense of normal going for the other 3 kids, and it truly became impossible for her to get her final few classes in. She did try logging in a few times from the hospital even!

So instead of skirting out quietly and ending the challenge for herself, Heather opened up to her team, asked for forgiveness and admitted that she was not going to make it – feeling she let them all down.

Her team was SO supportive of her and only cared that her baby and family were going to be ok and get through this tough experience. They were there to cheer her on and push her back up when she needed it most.

Heather didn’t get her final classes in by the deadline, but the trainers agreed to give her 2 more weeks to complete the mission and earn her trophy. That was enough to FIRE her up, so that when she got back home and into her “normal” again, she had the support to get back at it and she EARNED that mug in 4 days.

Sometimes you need to rely on our team and others to push you up and believe in you, when you don’t have it in you at the moment. We will all fall on tough times and letting others help you is so critical.

Heather may have earned that trophy 2 weeks late, but still earned it. She didn’t give up and so we didn’t give up on her.

In health,

Rachele & Maria

Don’t Wish For It, Work For It

January 13, 2020 by Maria Sogard 3 Comments

VFit’s Weekly Inspo

At the VFit Studio, we like to set a studio-wide intention for the year. With so many of our members working towards becoming a better version of themselves each time they log in and focus on self care, we chose this mantra for 2020:

DON’T WISH FOR IT, WORK FOR IT

Now that’s powerful!

It’s a little bit of tough love, and a bit of a dare.

Today we are releasing the latest tool to help YOU work for reaching your fitness goals.

Are you willing to WORK for your goals?

Goals, goals, goals … everyone has them, right?

There are no shortage of goals to be set and there are no shortage of tools and resources out there to help you achieve those goals.

But how many actually hit their goals consistently? Sadly, over 50% of people give up on their goals because they forget to set the most important part – the foundation.

What is the secret to those that continue to achieve success?

We believe that people spend too much time in the “wishing” stage of setting goals, and they are forgetting the part that matters most – ACTION!

We are here today to share a very simple, yet life changing approach to making your goals a reality. A tool that will take your goals from wishes to reality.

There is study after study about how much more likely you are to achieve your goals if you WRITE them down – like 7 times more likely!

I don’t know about you, but if the simple act of writing my goal down will make me 7 times more likely to achieve it, I am going to arm myself with those odds no doubt.

Then, if you SHARE your written goals with others and build in accountability, your success rate jumps up to 95%!

It really is that simple! Of course next comes the actual work that you will need to put in to reach that goal, but setting a strong foundation for which this goal actually has a shot of becoming successful is a KEY STEP!

Want to work out more this year? Let’s start with this goal. Just thinking and saying you want to exercise more is not a goal, it is a wish.

We are now going to turn it into a goal.

How many times do you want to workout this year? 150? Perfect, that is a substantial and powerful amount of exercise.

So write that out. “I WILL workout 150 times this year”.

Then under that line, write 5 action steps you WILL take over the year that will get you to this goal.

We like to reverse engineer our goals, but you can work through in whatever direction feels comfortable to you.

150 workouts a year sounds like a lot, especially if you are starting from 50 or less, but watch just how DOABLE it is.

150 workouts a year means just 2-3 workouts a week, 12-13 workouts per month. EVERYONE has that it them and deserves to hit that goal.

Then you stick that written statement and action you wrote down and put it somewhere you will see EVERY DARN DAY and you commit to reading what you WROTE! Every. Single. Day.

But since we are human and we tend to be our own worst enemy, you need to take this a step further. YOU NEED to tell others about this goal you set.

We tend to be ok letting ourselves down, but I promise you, you aren’t the type of person who will want to let others down.

By telling your goals to your family, your fit tribe, your co-workers, kids, boss and anyone else, you are now making them part of your team.

And THEY ALL want you to succeed, and if they don’t, that is a whole nother blog on who you are surrounding yourself with.

I know that if I tell my family it is important to me that I get in 2-3 workouts a week, and to please help keep me accountable to that, they will! Same goes to my fellow VFit members, they want the best for me, now I owe it to all of us to make it happen.

Goal setting is a skill, it is something that takes time and focus and practice.

The number one reason I see many short change themselves in life, is that they aren’t setting any tangible goals and they have no action plan on how to achieve the goal.

If you know anything about VFit values, you know the number that we track and that matters most is how many times you SHOWED UP! No heart rate, calorie, or pant size number matter more than that stat.

Because we love you and we want to give you every opportunity to put what we are sharing into action, we have created a WORKPAGE Goal Sheet just for YOU!

Simply download this one page worksheet and state your Annual Workout Goal on the top. Then think through 5 action steps you can take each day/week/month to get you to this goal.

Below the action steps, we have a grid for you to fill in monthly with the number of workouts you showed up for.

Put this simple piece of paper in a place you will look at DAILY, and watch the magic start to add up.

But don’t forget, to make your chance of success shoot up to 95%, you can’t keep this to yourself.

Share with your friends, fam and the VFit team. We would love nothing more than to see what stats you are aiming for and then we vow to do our share of the job to help keep you accountable and on-track.

We believe if everyone embraces the motto of Don’t Wish for It, Work for it, then you are unstoppable. You will work to build in more healthy habits and create less space for the ones that are deterring you from reaching their goals.

We hope you enjoy this free download and really put it to use. Whether it becomes your inspiration to join us for a free week of classes, or helps towards reaching another fitness/life goal, we hope this concept is one that you work to embrace in your own lives.

Goal + Action = Success

In health,

Rachele & Maria

VFit’s 5 Tips for Not Starting Over – We call it YANGO

December 26, 2019 by Maria Sogard Leave a Comment

VFit’s Weekly Inspo

As fitness professionals, we hear it all the time. Especially this time of year as people look back on the year and begin making their own wish list of what the year ahead should look like.

How do you stay so fit? How do you make the time? How do you get it all in?

While being healthy does take time and energy (but so does the alternative), the answer is easier than you would think! We’ve even made an acrostic which you can use so you too will always remember these five simple tips for not starting over – YANGO.

YANGO may sound familiar if you’ve been following our studio over the last year, it’s what our members have been declaring during a special fitness challenge we run each quarter. It initially was a play on words to represent how the fitness challenge worked, a cross between Yatzee and Bingo.

Yango has been by far the most successful challenge we’ve ever run, and we run A LOT, so we were ready to take the name up a level and have created an acronym so you too will not need to keep starting over and over when it comes to your health and fitness.

Y – A – N – G – O

Letter by letter, here our VFit’s 5 tips for not starting over:

Y – YEARLONG – Your health should never be a seasonal sport! Your self care needs to be center stage all year long and made a priority.

Once you let self care slip as things get ‘too busy’ that’s where people start falling off. And once you stop working out and taking care of yourself, it’s twice, if not three times harder to start back up again.

Our tip? Find a fitness solution that works for you all year long.

A – ACTION – Wishing you were fit and active, but not setting goals or taking any action gets you nowhere. You have to take that initial step, however small it may be, and keep moving forward with your workouts and self care.

There’s no, ‘waiting until Monday’, or until I have the time/space/clothes (we hear it all), or the New Year here. We are talking, if you want to take care of yourself, start today and DO something now.

Create an action plan and prioritize your day so you can take action each and every day.

Our tip? Each week set aside 5 minutes to prioritize and schedule your workouts and self care for the week. Like any important meeting or event, when it is on the schedule, you are far more likely to make it a priority.

N – NON – NEGOTIABLE – Your self care needs to be non-negotiable. Period! Self care is often the first thing to go when people get busy or overwhelmed. Then guess what? People get more stressed out and more overwhelmed when they start skimping out on self care to get other things done.

If it’s important to you, and it should be since you only are granted this ONE body to live in, you need to make self care non-negotiable and make it happen in your life.

Our tip? Write out your commitment, on paper and place it somewhere you’ll see every day. Even better, tell your friends and family how important this commitment it to you. We are willing to bet, they want you to be healthy and happy and will be more than eager to help keep you accountable and on top of your commitment.

G – GOAL – Setting up personal goals to reach for will help you stay motivated and on track. Goal setting is an important part of success and we recommend setting goals on a weekly, quarterly, and annual basis.

Goal planning is a skill and one you can develop the more you practice. Set realistic, but also challenging enough goals, they give you something to aim high for.

THE most important part of goal setting is creating your action plan. A goal without a plan is nothing more than a wish. Take time on working through how you will plan to reach your goals. Share your goals with others to build in accountability.

Our tip? Write your goals down and share them with others who are there to lift you up and cheer you on. Being part of positive communities is a huge tip to reaching your goals. Soon you’ll realize it is so much more fun to climb to the top together and that you don’t have to go at your goals alone.

O – OUTSIDE – Get outside of your comfort zone. The more you can push yourself beyond your little zone you’ve set for yourself, you’ll stretch and grow as a person and build more inner and outer strength. Comfort zones become a personal cell and can really limit you if you let them.

Soon you’ll start to experience that what was once so uncomfortable and scary, soon becomes your norm and then it’s time to step up your game again and again.

Our tip? Do one thing each day that scares you. It can be as small as closing your eyes and balancing, to asking for a raise or saying no to something that no longer serves you. Much of life happens outside your comfort zone, go and enjoy it!

There you have it, VFit’s 5 tips for not starting over – YANGO. If the mindset we shared here strikes a core with what you need more of in your own life, we sincerely invite you to put all 5 tips together into practice with the VFit team and kick of the New Year with our January round of, you guessed it, YANGO.

YANGO is a 20 day fitness challenge VFit runs on a quarterly basis and comes with a class pass to attend UNLIMITED VFit classes throughout Yango. To kick off 2020, we’ve opened up to the public. For more information, click here.

In health,
Rachele, Maria, and the VFit Trainer Team

P.S. If you’d like to start the next decade, 2020 with a surefire item to add to next year’s “Greatest Hits List,” we present to you our January round of YANGO!

Kick off the new decade with 20 days marking off 20 fitness challenges, ranging from 1 to 30 minutes.

By January 20th, if you’ve marked off a fitness challenge from our challenge board each day, we guarantee you’ll set the tone for a strong year!

The buy in is only $20 and includes a 20 day unlimited class pass to the VFit Studio, our online private Facebook support group for daily check ins, trainer support, and the YANGO playing card. Trust us, this will be one of your greatest hits for 2020, we guarantee it! Learn more and sign up for YANGO today!

Be Proud of Being a Work in Progress

December 9, 2019 by Maria Sogard Leave a Comment

VFit’s Weekly Inspo

We have made it! Each of us reading this has a 100% record of making it to today, the final stretch of 2019. So let us start with a big ol congrats, that is a big deal.

It’s an incredibly exciting time. To think, in just three weeks we enter a whole new decade!

And it is this time of year that we start seeing a lot trending over New Year’s resolutions, ‘fresh starts’ people are looking to put in place, and a focus on all the things your need to “resolve” or “fix.”

But, we are here to hit you with a fresh spin on a New Year and an opportunity to create something truly meaningful in your life.

As all of the excitement for the start of 2020 nears, may we suggest you take a moment and consider the following?

Be Proud of Being a Work in Progress

So often, we are working hard to seek a final destination or end result. If you are constantly working towards something, you more often than not are under appreciating the journey and the ACTUAL moments making up your life – the PROGRESS part.

People apologize for being a work in progress, when really they should be celebrating.

The fact that you CAN and DO work on yourself is a beautiful thing. To NOT be a work in progress is something to apologize over.

Today we are sharing a very simple yet powerful exercise for you to do between now and December 31st. This simple exercise will help you enjoy the journey you have taken this year and ALL that you have to reflect and be filled with joy over.

Sitting still and taking a break to be in the moment can be uncomfortable at times. As you practice this, it gets easier. If you find this exercise a challenge, you don’t need to do it all at once. There is no one that will be grading you and there are NO wrong answers.

We need these pauses in life to appreciate what is going on around us, to see just how far we have come, and have a better appreciation for what greatness we do have in our lives.

With most of the year end reviews we see out there, many of them focus on the negative.

I wish I had taken more trips. I didn’t have enough time to finish up a project. I didn’t run that race. I should have lost 5 more pounds.

This is NOT the place you should go to when thinking back about the past year. There is so much good to be found in the course of a year and we have a powerful exercise to share:

We like to call this exercise “Creating Your 2019 Greatest Hits.”

Watch VFit owner Rachele share how she does her own personal 2019 Greatest Hits List

Here’s how it works: (you can also click play on the video above, where Rachele breaks down how to create your own list).

//Download the template we have created for you to use here, or jot down your own. We want you to get an actual pen out and write this list. Writing it out is proven to activate a deeper part of your brain than simply typing. We want you to get the most out of the time you are about to spend creating your “Greatest Hits List”.

//Take some time to sit down and give some true effort to this past year, looking back at it month by month. This very well can be one of the most powerful exercises you do all year, but like anything, you will only get out the effort you put in.

Look back at pictures, read old e-mails, notes you wrote, social media posts, journals and calendars.

//For each month, reflect and write down 5 things that took course over the month that bring a smile and pride to your heart as you take a flash back on the year.

THOSE are the moments that most define you and where we want you putting your focus on to attract more of that going into the New Year.

It could be a trip, reaching an accomplishment, making a new friend, starting a new project, changing jobs, attending a conference. You name it.

Some months may be hard to fill in and you’ll really need to dig deep – others you may find you hit 5 and want to keep on going.

Likely, once you start this exercise, you’ll find it gets easier and easier to see the positive that happened each month and you’ll soon train your brain to look for these opportunities.

You will no longer need to RESOLVE to change or fix things, but by changing the way your brain sees life, you will in turn bring MORE of this into 2020.

Throughout this process some of the tougher times are going to come up. We don’t want you to ignore them, to bottle away the hurt/frustration/pain, but rather to know those too were part of your story. But, the story you want to write and document forever are the positive markers that got you to where you are today.

Once your 2019 Greatest Hits list is done, read it over. Your mouth will hurt from smiling so much. You will have 60 reflections of pride and joy to look back over!

You will see that even through the toughest of days/weeks/months, that you are still standing here and you are a “work in progress” and that my friend is a BEAUTIFUL thing.

Maybe even print and hang your list up somewhere in your house to admire each day.

Once you have done this exercise on your own, maybe try it with your family, work team, significant other, or friend.

It’s from HERE that you should start thinking about 2020. Look at all that you accomplished and what an incredible starting point for growth you have going into this new decade!

Completing your “2019 Greatest Hits List” will set yourself on a trajectory to get more out of the year to come.

Instead of resolving to change, set intentions on the year to come to build off all the good stuff you did this past year and continue to be a work in progress, and don’t you ever apologize about that.

We believe this idea of gratitude is an important part of overall wellness and have it as one of our key health foundations at VFit! You can’t out exercise or out eat an ungrateful mind. Just as important as sleep and water also are, gratitude is a critical part of living a well balanced life.

Your body hears everything your mind says. If you are too critical about yourself, it can really dampen your progress and even deteriorate your health, making you sick.

We hope that after going through this exercise, you celebrate where you are today, with all of your scars and flaws. That is who you are, and what makes you unique.

There is no set ideal or perfect point you’ll hit in life. 99.9% of life is in the journey you live on a daily basis. Life is about all the moments that make up the journey.

Looking forward to 2020, we sincerely hope that you continue to find more good and gratitude out of each of your days and months. Using this mindset of being proud to be a work in progress is a powerful way to find more acceptance through the year. This will also lead to you taking action and using discipline to get the most out of the year, and in turn this very special LIFE, you have been gifted.

Live a life worth telling a story about. We can’t wait for you to write your 2019 Greatest Hit’s story!

In health,
Rachele, Maria, and the VFit Trainer Team

P.S. If you’d like to start the next decade, 2020 with a surefire item to add to next year’s “Greatest Hits List,” we present to you our January round of YANGO!

Kick off the new decade with 20 days marking off 20 fitness challenges, ranging from 1 to 30 minutes.

By January 20th, if you’ve marked off a fitness challenge from our challenge board each day, we guarantee you’ll set the tone for a strong year!