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  • VFIT STUDIO
    • CLASS SCHEDULE
    • CLASS DESCRIPTIONS
    • CLASS INSTRUCTORS
    • SERVICES & RATES
  • LEARN MORE
    • WHAT’S THE VFIT STUDIO
    • TESTIMONIALS
    • FAQ
  • MY STORY
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  • VFIT ON DEMAND
  • RECIPE ROLODEX

7 Steps Up Personal Development Tips from Rachele

February 5, 2023 by Maria Sogard Leave a Comment

Rachele has put together a special series of tips on personal development called 7 Steps Up to share and we’re putting all the lessons here in this blog post for you to easily take in.

Step 1: CHANGE

The first level is CHANGE and Rachele shares some great tips and dispells some myths about this topic in the clip up above.  How do you handle change?  Are you armed with the right support system to help you get through and thrive through this season of life?  How do you handle set backs when you fall off track?

Step 2: FAITH

Today I’m pushing the comfort zone for many and sharing my personal take on the importance of FAITH.

It’s a topic that a lot of people shy away from or get uncomfortable around, but I truly believe that faith gives us the comfort, guidance and security we are all truly craving.

That doesn’t mean we all need to believe the exact same or we can’t have differences.

It’s about tapping into a deeper part of yourself and knowing you are here on purpose, for a purpose 🙌

Step 3: FOUNDATIONS

What are those small, daily habits you do that incrementally improve your wellbeing? A lot of focus here is on the morning routine. Right when you get up, each day, you get to to choose where and how you spend your energy.

Are you jumping immediately onto your phone and checking emails?

Or are you tuning in first thing and sitting quietly, journaling, reading, listening to a special podcast?
Having solid foundations are essential for you on your path of personal growth and reaching a higher potential. The more you are able to dial these in, so much so that you aren’t even thinking about them and they become as automatic as brushing your teeth, the better off you’ll be and have more mental and physical space to focus more on what’s important to you.

The importance of foundations cannot be stressed enough. Incorporating more positive habits into your life, over time, will set you on a higher trajectory and you ever believed possible.
The principle of 1% improvement each day is great to think about when it comes to foundations, too!

You don’t want to try and change too much too fast, but what you can slowly improve upon each day so that you are making those micro-adjustments to your thoughts and actions that help you better align with your passion and purpose?

STEP 4: FELLOWSHIP

It can be so easy in this day and age to not have true connections to others. You can work remotely, have groceries delivered, you name it, there’s been a way to use tech in a way that has removed some social interaction that’s been a part of our evolution.

But guess what, as humans, we are built to be part of community! It is vital to your mental well being.

What kind of groups and communities are you putting your energy into?  Have you felt disconnected lately?

It’s been said and studied often in social sciences and pyschology, who you are surrounded by has a direct effect on how you show up in this world, it’s so important that you choose wisely. 

The law of averages is the theory that the result of any given situation will be the average of all possible outcomes.  Motivational speaker Jim Rohn takes this theory and relates it to human connection and says that we become the average of the five people we spend the most time with. What’s your top 5 right now? 

Fellowship is so deeply interwined as part of my self development and why it’s part of this 7 steps up series.  Without fellowship and connection, we are missing an essential part of the human experience.

STEP 5: PLAY OFFENSE

You don’t need to be at rock bottom to get help or wait for something really serious to happen with your health to make a change.

When hit with a challenge, I want to come in on offense. What that means is that I have the tools, training, and coaches in place that willl help me overcome obstacles.  

Having that offense in place arms you to sprial UP rather than down when things get shaky.

Self work is all about being able to go through the seasons of life.  When I first started with a life coach it was uncomfortable at first.  You get to learn a deeper side of yourself when you go through this kind of journey.

The uncomforableness is GOOD for you.  You have to put in the work, even when you don’t feel like it, to get the benefits but it’s oh so worth it!

I empower you today to take an offensive approach to your mental, physical, and spiritually.  Have coaches and people you look up to in the fields you are looking for growth in – for all of these parts of your life.

It’s never too late to start playing offense, just like in sports, it happens one play, one action at a time so you can walk through the storms as they come.

I’d love to be part of your OFFENSE in this season.  

LEVEL 6: THE PROCESS

This afternoon we take in level 6: What the Health Industry Does Not Want You to Understand with Rachele for her 7 Steps Up series. 

So far our levels have been: CHANGE, FAITH, FOUNDATIONS, FELLOWSHIP, and PLAY OFFENSE.

Level 6 is The Process

Wake up every day and know that the work is in the process.

The end goal is often not your end goal, often it’s still not enough or where you want to be.  Why is this the case?  Because we aren’t enjoying and being present in the journey.

You need to connect with the process and bring awareness into your life.  Quiet the voices – outside and in your head – that are holding you up.

The process is 99% of your life.  Your morning habits, what you do during each day.  This is all the process and foundation you are setting in your life.

Tune in to learn more about the significance of focusing on the process.

This week we will be wrapping up this special mini series with the final level of the 7 Steps Up series here in our newsletter and on all of our social channels: Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok.

For more information and to claim a space in the mentorship:
https://thevfitstudio.com/light/

LEVEL 7: YOU

Level 7 is YOU.  If it’s going to be, it’s up to me.  You are the one that needs to put in the work.  You have to have that iron will, grit, tenacity and know the habits and choices you make today are creating your future self.  Only you can do the work that positively will impact your mind, body, and spirit.

THANK YOU 🙏 so much for all the input and for supporting this series. We’d love to hear from you about how these tips work for you!

Filed Under: VFit Studio News Tagged With: exercise, fitness, inspiration, motivation, wellness

Passion and Purpose Project: Episode 2

February 2, 2023 by Maria Sogard Leave a Comment

Welcome to The Purpose & Passion Project. Enjoy Episode 2 in this series as we embrace this new chapter of spreading light and inspiration with this special heartfelt interview with trainer Lindsay M.

Everyone has a story. No story is insignificant, or without lessons and inspiration. When we share our journeys, we can help each other.

For Episode 2, I interviewed trainer Lindsay M who opened up and shared with us about her journey from sobriety to breast cancer to becoming a wife, mom and fitness trainer. Lindsay and Rachele’s conversation on this journey touched so many already and we hope that as you take time to listen, you too find nuggets that you can relate to and use to empower your own path.

Opening up and sharing our stories is what shining your light means – to share your gifts, your strengths, your struggles……to Live ON Purpose.

While this isn’t a “traditional” podcast, we are using the infrastructure we have in place at VFit, and have opened these up for all to join.

I know deep in my heart that the people who need to hear these stories, will find them and my purpose is to get them out through all the channels we have built over the years.

Enjoy this vulnerable share on Lindsay’s journey of .

Filed Under: VFit Studio News Tagged With: exercise, fitness, inspiration, mindset, motivation, wellness

The Passion and Purpose Project: Episode 1

January 11, 2023 by Maria Sogard Leave a Comment

Tune in above for a full replay of The Passion and Purpose Project: Episode 1

Welcome to The Purpose & Passion Project. The next dimension of VFit. Enjoy Episode 1 as we kick off this new chapter of spreading light and inspiration.

Going into 2023, PURPOSE and PASSION are 2 of my words. Once I set that clarity, I got a clear calling that in 2023 I am to empower others to share their stories.

Everyone has a story. No story is insignificant, or without lessons and inspiration. When we share our journeys, we can help each other.

That is what shining your light means – to share your gifts, your strengths, your struggles……to Live ON Purpose.

So this month I launched episode 1 of my new project – The Passion & Purpose Project – with my dear friend and fellow VFit Trainer Lauren.

While this isn’t a “traditional” podcast, we are using the infrastructure we have in place at VFit, and have opened these up for all to join.

I know deep in my heart that the people who need to hear these stories, will find them and my purpose is to get them out through all the channels we have built over the years.

Enjoy this vulnerable share on Lauren’s journey of chasing goals, doors closing, doors opening and reaching a milestone she had worked incredibly hard for.

Filed Under: VFit Studio News, VFit Tips Tagged With: exercise, fitness, inspiration, mindset, nutrition, wellness

Birthday Reflections & Gratitude

December 6, 2022 by Maria Sogard Leave a Comment

Rachele here, to say THANK YOU you all for joining me on Super Saturday, 12/3 as I celebrated my birthday. To be able to share willPower on my birthday was TRULY special.

The great thing about getting older, is getting wiser and more in tune with the important things in life.

Click here to access the full replay of class.

Sweaty selfie shot during Super Saturday’s birthday class

I chose the opportunity of my birthday willPower class to weave in life lessons learned this past year into class, broken into five different themes and songs that have touched my heart.

Birthdays are a powerful time to reflect on a year of personal growth and take into account all the experiences of the previous 12 months.

Below I recap these top 5 lessons and songs I shared of this past year. I hope that by sharing, it helps you see lessons in your own life and opportunities to grow and reflect.

1. Honor and see the strengths in yourself and others.

We all are born with special gifts and strengths. Look for that within yourself and see that specialness in others. It is a good thing that we are all unique.

We are so quick to see where we are lacking or comparing ourselves to others. The truth is we are ALL unique, amazing and have a special gift to share with the world.

Seek the gold God put in you to align closer with living out your purpose.

Song: “This is Me” by Keala Settle, The Greatest Showman Ensemble, Dave Aude

2. Be proud to be “a work in progress”.

Deep self work, having coaches/mentors, prayer, meditation, listening to the whispers – it is all such important work. Being a work in progress can be HARD, it gets uncomfortable and tough at times, but it is some of the most important work we can do.

Apologize if you aren’t working on your progress!

I invested more time and money in my personal and professional growth than ever over the last year and it transpired into my biggest year of growth in so many areas. What you plant and water, will grow, choose wisely those seeds you are planting.

Song: “Priceless” by KING & COUNTRY

3. Protect and celebrate your energy/spirit.

It is vitally important who you are around and what energy/influence you let into your life. The last few years have gifted us a beautiful and once in a lifetime opportunity to really uncover the essence of who and what matters most in your life.

Guard yourself to the negative influences out there, but don’t stay so guarded that you dim your own light from shining to others.

Song: “Joy” by KING & COUNTRY

4. FAITH over fear!

I have never felt so connected to God and it feels SO good.

Pray hard and listen even harder. The whispers are quiet, but so much more powerful than fear, doubt and ego can ever be.

This year I prayed, journaled, and read a devotional every single day. That stuff is life changing. Handing over any fear, anxiety, control and surrendering to a higher power is magical.

Song: “Reason” by Unspoken

5. Live ON Purpose!!

This mantra hit me like a ton of bricks in October and will serve as our VFit Mantra for 2023. Wake up each day and live your life ON purpose.

What are your core values, your non-negotiables, your to-be list that you want to show up and serve this world as!!

Song – “This Could Change Everything” by Francesca Battistelli

Thank you again for helping me celebrate another trip around the sun, and for our VFit community which has helped me live out my passion for self care through our platform.

It’s truly an honor and one I hold dearly each and every day. I’m so thankful to get to live our my purpose, to spread light and optimism and to share this legacy with my family through the years.

Here is to another bright and powerful trip around the sun!

Screen shot shared from the live willPower birthday workout class that has my whole family there!

Filed Under: VFit Studio News, VFit Tips Tagged With: exercise, fitness, inspiration, mindset, motivation

Love Your Heart

October 13, 2022 by Maria Sogard Leave a Comment

Cardio is Hardio But Here’s Why it’s Important to Not Skip

This morning I delivered a VFitFest #7 special event class, 6AM PST, called Love Your Heart Cardio Blast.

The idea with Love Your Heart was to serve double duty during our live session, by delivering an epic 30 minute cardio workout, and also educate everyone on the importance of cardio and the different training zones.

(YOU can do the full workout replay here)

The Four Cardio Training Zones Broken Down

Training ZoneMetabolic MarkerRPE
Rate of Perceived Effort (1-10)
DescriptionMyzone Range
1Below VT13-4Light to moderate movement
Can easily carry on a conversation
Light Grey/Medium Grey
2VT1 to Midpoint5-6Challenging to hard movement
Difficult to carry on conversation
Blue/Low Greens
3Midpoint to VT27-8Vigorous to really hard movement
Can only get out short phrases
High Greens/Yellow
4Above VT29-10Super hard to maximal effort
Basically just grunts or single words
Red
An overview of heart rate training zones and corresponding RPE (rate of perceived effort) and Myzone training zones

Your Ventilatory Threshold

This biomarker, VT for short, is your ventilatory threshold. This helps measure is your intensity in terms of your breathing during a workout, and denotes when lactate starts building up in your bloodstream.

VT1 is when your body is burning equal parts fats and carbs as fuel. This is also when your aerobic system is working for you.

VT2 is that point in your workout when glucose becomes the main source of energy for your body. This also is the phase where you enter anaerobic training.

Workout like your life depends on it, because it does.

Maria Sogard
By using wearables, Myzone on left and WHOOP on right, heart rate data displayed shows the impact of the Love Your Heart Edition of Cardio Blast held in VFit Studio on October 13th in honor of our 7th birthday week led by me earlier today.

Benefits of Getting Your Cardio On

While prepping for the Love Your Heart edition of my Cardio Blast class, I went through several studies, course documents from my NASM personal training course, and blogs on the myriad benefits of cardiovascular training.

Some of the TOP benefits of Cardio:

  • ❤️ Increase blood flow and lowers blood pressure by helping increase good cholesterol and lowering bad cholesterol
  • ❤️ Helps regular blood sugar and reduce risk of diabetes
  • ❤️ Improve circadium rhythm, sleep patterns, lung capacity, energy levels
  • ❤️ Boost brain health by slowing tissue loss, improving memory, and increasing executive function which helps us organize, interpret, and take action
  • ❤️ Aid in lowering RHR (resting heart rate) which in turn improves efficiency of the heart in pumping blood through the body
  • ❤️ Decrease the following: risk of stroke and heart disease, depression symptoms, and stress

While this list is not exhaustive, it likely may shed some light on some areas you may be surprised to see.

What I hope is that this post and workout helps you rethink wanting to skip on your cardio each week.

Filed Under: VFit Recipes, VFit Studio News, VFit Tips Tagged With: exercise, fitness, inspiration, mindset, motivation, wellness

First Friday’s Wellness Cafe: You are strong than you think & an overview of the macro fat

September 26, 2022 by Maria Sogard Leave a Comment

This month for the First Friday’s Wellness cafe Maria covered the topic of strength training and exploring your current home inventory of dumbells and Lauren covered the macronutrient fat.

Maria’s talk was geared towards helping our community members understand that different exercises can benefit from having different sets of weights such as: light, medium, and heavy. Modifcation options were also talked about during this discussion.

Next up, Lauren continued from last month’s session on the macronutrient of protein and covered fat. She provided resources and ideas of how to better understand fat and how it is used by your body.

Next month for the Wellness Cafe we’ll have the live session open to all that are joining us for VFit’s 7th birthday celebration week. Lauren will close out her macro talk and cover carbohydrates and Maria is set go over heart rate training zones and cardio tips and tricks as part of the FUNctional Fitness Plan and a well balanced routine.

Full slides available here.

If you have any questions on either topic, you can learn more about Maria and Lauren’s Signature Series coaching options here.

Filed Under: VFit Recipes, VFit Studio News, VFit Tips Tagged With: exercise, fitness, motivation, nutrition, wellness

First Friday’s Wellness Cafe: Posture Clinic & Protein Overview

August 31, 2022 by Maria Sogard Leave a Comment

For our August First Friday’s Wellness Cafe with Lauren and Maria there was a posture clinic to start then an informative overview of one of the three macros: protein.

Maria begin the Wellness Cafe demonstration 3 ways to use an everyday object, in this case a broom, to help improve posture and mobility in three activities: holding a standard plank, during a hip hinge movement, and using the broom handle to help open up and increas mobility in the shoulders.

Next, Lauren led an overview on protein and provided the group with an explanation of what this important macro does for your body, what foods you can find it in, and recommendations for how much protein you should incorporate into your diet.

Here are slides of Lauren’s presentation, for our September 9th Wellness Cafe session, Lauren will build off this with another macro. Maria will lead another demonstration, this time helping educate on strength training from home with tips on what kinds of weights to use, grips, and recovery time.

Filed Under: VFit Studio News, VFit Tips Tagged With: exercise, fitness, motivation, nutrition, wellness

The VFit Mountain Goats Take on the June Lake Tri – and the lessons it instilled in us all.

July 13, 2022 by Maria Sogard Leave a Comment

Kathy, Rachele, Meghan and Becky before the race began

The past six weeks I’ve spent extra time training for the June Lake Triathlon, with three fellow VFitters as part of a relay team. The journey took me from the sidelines of the pool as my kids “swim team mom” to in the pool/lake, training hard for the 1 mile open water swim.

And I have to say, this whole journey has been life changing.

Thanks to social media and live interaction with the VFit team, we have been able to share the training journey with my community and am here to close out this chapter, summing up the weekly recaps and story.

I also came up with 5 TOP takeaways to share, in the hopes that there’s pieces in our journey that help inspire you to expand outside your comfort zone, take bigger chances, and enjoy your own personal journey more.

“On July 9th, 2022 the VFit Mountain Goats did it! As a relay team with Rachele on the 1 mile swim, Meghan on the 25 mile bike ride, Kathy on an epic 6.2 mile trail run, and Becky cheering them all on – they completed the race together.

It was a tough course, with variable weather, at an elevation of 8,000 feet, lots of grit and hard work but the team pushed through and came out all smiles and shine on the finish line.”

2 weeks before the race, our running teammate Becky found herself with a major knee injury and had to bow out of the race, leaving us heartbroken to lose her, and scrambling to figure out what to do.

But in true VFit fashion, where there is a will, there is a way – and local teammate Kathy stepped up to the plate to hop in.

A triathlon relay consists of 3 teammates, but in this case, we became 4! Becky came to cheer us on, hold our bags, and give us all the support in the world. The dream is in the team!

My Top 5 Takeaways from the journey, followed by a weekly recap of training:


🌟 Don’t take yourself so serious in life that you stop trying new things and letting yourself get uncomfortable. The biggest growth and reward is when we journey and push through our comfort zone.


🌟 On the flip side, please DO take yourself serious enough to put in the work and effort to chase your goals. Chasing and reaching goals takes training and hard work, I’m most proud of myself for sticking to what I committed to and not letting excuses derail me. I made it work, even on the busiest of weeks, to get my training swims in and it paid off.


🌟Being uncomfortable is ok – in fact, you grow the most from those moments. If you are scared to do something, it’s because you care about the outcome and it’s something you should reach for. There’s plenty of times I felt like the literal fish out of water, but I knew those athletes around me in the pool and lake, were all there chasing the same goal and we all wanted to the best for one another.


🌟 Having a team to do life with makes everything more fun. Your team will help support you, check in on you, and help hold you accountable. The dream really is in the team and you become the sum of who you choose to surround yourself by.


🌟 Most importantly, enjoy the journey!! May we all embrace being “works in progress” in this life! While the race was the end goal, it was that six week journey and all the steps that it took to get there that really made up my journey and what I’m most thankful for. Make sure to enjoy every success, embrace and learn from each stumble or failure, and remember that we all only get one life to live and work to celebrate your wins each day.

Join Rachele from Mom Hill as she gives a recap on her 6 weeks of training and her 5 top takeaways on training and completing the June Lake Triathlon

6 Weeks of Training Recap:

Week 1

I said yes.

I committed to be on a relay team for the June Lake Tri and I’m the swimming leg – Olympic distance. Funniest part is, 2 local VFitters asked me to be on their team and I thought “say yes more!”

And I did just that.

Between running VFit, teaching classes, taking the dog out and living a pretty active lifestyle, I haven’t trained for anything specific for a long time. But I felt the desire to push myself out of my comfort zone, focus on something with a tangible goal and to use the years of FUNctionsl fitness I’ve gained through VFit to train for this upcoming event.

I hired the best coach around. My 9 year old daughter who is passionate about swimming.

Off we go at 6:45am on day 1 of training! 💦 Bonus – 1:1 time with her, which is hard to come by these days ❤️ Let’s go Mountain Goats!”

Me and “Coach Emmy” my daughter in the pool for our first training swim together in Week 1.

Week 2

I know we talk about it in classes all the time.

The importance of accountability and making connections with accountability partners or buddies.

We’ve found at VFit that linking up with a partner for accountability has been proven time and time again to improve our members’ check in totals and overall morale with getting in their workouts.

Accountability goes much farther than just for classes I learned this week!

The biggest thing with finding an accountability partner is that it makes a huge difference on those days when you just don’t feel like it. We all have those days, even us Trainers.

You may not *feel like it*, but if you skip out, you know you are letting someone else down who is supporting you and expecting you to show up, to honor your commitment.

Here’s a huge shoutout to my accountability partner Kathy.

This week was INTENSE in so many ways at home, with it being the first week of summer and all 3 kids home full time. There was also work to get done and the never ended catching up with loose ends, all of which could have taken over my mornings this week, but since I knew you were there to train with me, I showed up.

I showed up for you. I showed up for me. For our triathlon training team, for my family, and our entire VFit community.

Me and my accountability buddy Kathy in the pool togethe on Week 2.

Week 3

I’ve found my VFit community is there with me, even when I’m swimming alone in the pool.

First, with all the cross training we do together in our classes together.

Each time my legs burn I think about all the work we do together in classes like Barre and willPower to build muscle endurance.

Or when I start going for speed and my heart starts racing, I think of our Never Miss a Monday Met Mash and Tabata training – together and smiling through it.

Second, all the messages on these posts and also private DMs of support as I push myself to do something I’ve never done before!

The outpouring has been so heartfelt and many have shared that they’ve been inspired to go after a goal they’ve had in the back of their mind’s as well, because these weekly posts have them inspired.

That as you know, means the world to me and is a lot of why I’m sharing my journey with you all.

And third, my VFitter community is literally there with me with each heartbeat as I use my My Zone heart rate monitor and check myself into active class times when other VFitters are taking clasees or working out on their own too.

The second pic shows all of our My Zone tiles as I was swimming, trainer Maria was landscaping, and the other VFitters were all in a live class together.

This added level of connection is just awesome and I felt like we were all together in the pool.
I’m feeling strong and already can see progress with my swim times and stamina in the pool here on week 3.

I look forward to continuing to sharing my weekly accountability posts up until race day!

Thankful to get to be ‘live’ with team and connected with our My Zones for training swims. It really feels like they are there with me when I do this and helps push me to keep going. I feel their energy in the pool and cheers!

Week 4

“Swim training week 4 and it’s not getting easier.”

“But I can for sure tell I’m getting stronger!

My My Zone perfectly sums up how I felt this morning, slow to start!

I wanted to quit! Wasn’t feeling it! But I kept going and somewhere in there, my energy and drive kicked in.

Some days you just need to start! Abd like dory says ”just keep swimming.”

I always say in classes, “often times your best workouts come when you really don’t want to show up!”

Challenge yourself fo get through 5 minutes and see where it leads.

Today I ended with my longest swim yet, 50 laps.

A little progress each week adds up to a lot over time.

Week 5

So grateful for my VFit community. I told them about my tri swim training weeks ago and have been openly sharing the journey.

They are truly the best cheer team around!

This may seem like no big deal to many, but it is for me.

Im not a swimmer, I don’t love being cold and I don’t have a ton of extra time to train for a mile open water swim.

But I’m making it happen thanks to a TEAM!

From my 2 vfitters Meghan and Becky who asked me to be on their team. We text each other daily, we cheer each other on, we tease each other – we are team Sierra Mountain Goats.

Becky was even so kind to let me know I wore the wetsuit inside out yesterday 🙌

And here at retreat, each morning I’ve had a group of the most supportive, authentic and genuine cheerleaders along my side.

Today they even encouraged me to do double what we did yesterday, racking in .92 miles total!!

The event is in 2 less than weeks and this whole experience has nothing to do with the results, it’s all in this fun, uncomfortable and out of my comfort zone journey.

My wet suit may have been inside out, but either way, I got that first lake swim training done during retreat with the support of the my team paddling by my side.

Week 6

This swim mom has turned into a passionate swimmer this summer and I couldn’t be more proud of myself.

I’ve never considered myself a swimmer or signed up for a big race like this, but when the opportunity to join in a team being formed by 2 VFitters in my local community for the June Lake Triathlon – with them swim being in my fav lake on earth – I knew the universe was telling me this was my time to rise up and accept the challenge.

Being successful means you need to adapt and embrace change.

When your schedule changes, you have to change your schedule and stick to getting in the activities you’ve chosen to make a priority in your life.

You’ll never have a bunch of extra time to pour into your health, you have to create those windows and make it work because you understand how important it is.

Three ways to do this are: 1) set weekly goals 2) have accountability buddies and 3) show up even when you don’t feel like it.

The kids are home from school for the summer and fitting in triathlon training has gotten admittedly more challenging.

I’ve had to readjust the time of day I do my training, even if my body wants to do it in the morning, it’s not realistic, so I’ve had to will myself to commit to train at different times based on the days’ commitments. This means I’ve even had to do my training swims at night or bring the kids, but I’ve committed to stick to my plan and that means I have to adapt.

I started training 6 weeks ago with 30 laps in the pool which sounded like a ton of swimming, way more than I was used to. Each week, I’ve added 5-10 more and lo and behold, I made it to my end goal!!!

Sometimes progress feels slow, but small increments forward on a consistent basis really add up huge. Our mind and will is oh so powerful, use it wisely in your favor and you too can conquer your own big goals you’ve set for yourself this summer.

Race day is this weekend, look for a few more posts as I close out my training and sharing my accountability posts. Thank you so much for your support throughout this journey.

Swim Mom turned SWIMMER! Thank you all for your support and being a part of the journey with me and my team.

Filed Under: VFit Studio News, VFit Tips Tagged With: exercise, fitness, inspiration, motivation

The Benefits of a Mastermind

June 21, 2022 by Maria Sogard Leave a Comment

VFit Community

MASTERMIND.

Here at VFit Studio we believe in health for the whole self: mind, body, and spirit. We deliver functional workouts over 70 times a week and these connect us with in real time with our team.

For an enhanced membership experience, to bring connection even further, we also have opportunities for our community members to join Mastermind groups. These groups are formed based on different program or membership experiences and help our members engage, learn, and lean on one another in a variety of program formats and options.

The Mastermind group opportunities we have for our members include:

  • VFit Connect – year round enhanced membership experience with includes 2 weekly community corner sessions a week, a monthly wellness workshop, and monthly manifest Monday meditation session
  • Ascent – a 100 day challenge that runs in the late winter/early spring that connects teams of 10-15 together with a wellness coach to work together to hold one another accountable in working towards personal goals
  • 6 Month Challenge + Holiday Hustle – accountabilty challenges based on either 6 months or from Halloween to New Years, that brings together small groups of VFitters along with wellness coaches to work on check in goals and team building. Spoiler alert … In 2022, we will host our first Holiday Hustle!

We continue to work to find new ways to bring together smaller groups of our community to foster more connections and bring together shared experiences.

Below, we have all the letters that spell out mastermind explained and use our CONNECT membership enchancement as a basis to give more concrete examples of how each part of a mastermind benefits the members that are a part of it.

M

MENTORSHIP –  Having mentors around you is going to keep pulling you upwards.

Each of us is a master at something.

During our CONNECT sessions, we we are able to share our expertise with one another and learn from others .

You can find a mentor in so many areas of life through CONNECT, and you can be a mentor to others.

Chance are if you are facing something big or small, someone on the CONNECT team has already navigated those waters and can help you learn from their lessons and experience.

A

ACTION – if you are not a part of a group aligned with similar values, chance are at some point you won’t take action and will get stale or stuck.

You need the right support team to be by your side to keep you in ACTION.

This is part of this year’s mantra.  Action.  Are you putting in the work for your goals?

Your CONNECT team is here year round to keep you accountable, taking action towards you goals and dreams.

S

SUPPORT – CONNECT offers a big added level of support and structure, that is consistently there year round to hold you up.

A mastermind is your safe place to bring your challenges and let others in to help you find solutions.

The support in CONNECT is through the VFit trainer team AND other members of this mastermind and something you can count on in this add-on membership experience.

T

TEAM – Take it to the next level with a smaller group that is your TEAM.  Your go-to group that you can rely on and know you can connect with twice a week, plus two live specialty monthly sessions.

What you get out of the team experience is what you put in!  This goes two ways.

There’s a huge benefit to leaning into teams and growing together.  A rising tide brings up all ships, and this team is your tide to help you up-level your health and well being all year round.

E

EXCELLENCE – We aren’t talking about aiming for perfection here, but honoring progress.

Continuing to work on yourself and honoring that work in progress you are.

Without being a part of a group who are sharing goals with each other, there’s a tendency for excuses to start piling up and many of us can slide back into old, familiar habits, losing ground on personal goals and development.

R

RESULTS –  A lot of the results and reward in working towards a goal are all those incremental steps you took to get there.

Think of hitting a large goal like running a marathon.  Don’t imagine and celebrate the end result of yourself just during actual race, but picture yourself pushing through each moment, each practice run, to keep going.  Even showing up on the days when you just don’t want to.

That push, those mini-wins along the way, all add up to your end result and those pivotal moments are all something to be celebrated as benchmarks you’ve set out for yourself.

M

MANIFESTATION – Whether you believe in manifesting and bringing your vision to life or not, hear us out.  There is real power in this – it’s called the power of attraction.

Our brains are powerful beyond belief and help you connect the dots once you start putting your dreams out there.  When we are in tune and alignment with our dreams, it’s 10,000X more times more likely to happen.

Having a group to support you, to share your dreams with, to push through with, to help you believe in YOU – is so important.

I

INSPIRATION – We all need extra inspiration at times.  Whether you have hit a slump or bump in your road, having people around you that can help you when you are needing the extra inspo is huge asset.

Looking for a new book? New job? Taking on a new project at the kids school? Getting through a funk?

Masterminds can help you grow your inspo tank as well, by bringing fresh ideas, support, and to lend a hand.  Share it and let your inspiration grow and take shape.

N

NETWORKING – Not in the traditional, salesy sense, but in working in a deeper level with people who have been through similar trials and tribulations you have been through.

Connecting through shared experiences to hep cope with grief, tackle the transition from working life to retirement, to the everyday demands of life.

Those with shared expertise or going through similar life events are a big component of the mastermind.  Connecting virtually or in person with one another is made possible through the group.

Networking together helps you know more people and possibly explore new places to build deeper relationships.  Whether it is new career paths, new friendships, or learning how to build stronger family ties.

This is a special network for you to be a part of and grow, to lean on if you need one, and to help you expand your comfort zone.

D

DEVELOPMENT – You are never so good at something, that there’s no room to grow and improve.

Working on personal development gives you something to look forward to and new goals to stride for.

Personal and professional development opportunities are part of the mastermind experience.

Monthly workshops are crafted to help you grow each month and weekly sessions provide opportunity for spontaneous sharing of resources and connections.

Sharing our expertise, giving you resources and material to help you grow and develop is at the heart of a mastermind.

Filed Under: VFit Studio News, VFit Tips Tagged With: exercise, fitness, inspiration, mindset, motivation, wellness

First Friday’s Wellness Cafe: Setting Intentions for the New Year

January 24, 2022 by Maria Sogard Leave a Comment

We kicked off 2022 in the First Friday’s Wellness Cafe with Lauren and Maria focused on intentions for the New Year. With a focus on a short and long view for goals, our conversation flowed and worked on brainstorming personal goals and intentions, with a shift in mindset from a classic New Year’s resolution.

We have included the full slides that were used by Lauren and Maria during the session which include many prompts and brainstorming ideas for the upcoming year:

We also have below the full replay of the session below. During this 30 minute session, Lauren and Maria share ideas on the topic and there’s member engagement and sharing about ideas to set intentions for the year:

During the live session, a few other resources and comments were shared by members. We have them included below:

Sarah Z shared the following:

A good video to help you understand how to dig deeper and figure out why you want to do something….called 7 layers deep. It’s so good. I will share it here as it can help you with what Lauren is sharing:
https://youtu.be/Sv882g7UVQE

Kristin A shared a great New York Times article about our human desire to do an annual instinct to improve eating.

https://messaging-custom-newsletters.nytimes.com/template/oakv2?campaign_id=9&emc=edit_nn_20220107&instance_id=49661&nl=the-morning&productCode=NN&regi_id=84225412&segment_id=78932&te=1&uri=nyt%3A%2F%2Fnewsletter%2F24640e1a-d7a1-5738-b879-173bfe80fa46&user_id=dad5236cf145bc250375e6bb767b776a

Linda A shared a journal that has been working well for her called The 5 Minute Journal which has worked well for her to get into the daily habit of journaling.

For planning out the year with weekly and daily goal setting, many members have picked up the VFit Annual Compass Planner. For those still looking for a comprehensive planner these are still available for sale as a PDF download.

Filed Under: VFit Tips Tagged With: exercise, fitness, inspiration, mindset, motivation, nutrition, wellness

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