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.

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.

First Friday’s Wellness Cafe: Ayruveda 101 with Lindsay

March 7, 2022 by Maria Sogard Leave a Comment

This month in the VFit Studio First Friday’s Wellness Cafe with Lauren and Maria we were honored to let Lindsay M take over the cafe with a special workshop on Ayruveda.

As Ayruveda has helped Lindsay personally navigate the changing of seasons of life, she has put her focus in the Signature Series here at VFit with working one on one as a coach to assist those looking to deepen their understanding of their own constitutions and use yoga and Ayruveda principles to help restore balance and harmony in their lives.

Below, we have the full replay of Linday’s Ayruveda 101 Workshop in the Wellness Cafe:

Lindsay culled her own personal knowledge along with the following book as part of her workshop, Practical Ayurveda: Find Out Who You Are and What You Need to Bring Balance to Your Life by the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centre.

Lindsay’s Slides are available here for viewing here.

To learn more or explore ways to work directly with Lindsay, her one on one coaching services are available through the VFit Studio Signature Series.

Join us next month for the VFit Studio First Friday’s Wellness Cafe when Lauren and Maria have guest host and VFit member Misa from Misa’s Clean Kitchen as she shares information on her specialty area of adding healthy food to kids (and OUR) plates, by providing strategies to make healthier food more appealing and fun for all.

First Friday’s Wellness Cafe: Revisiting Wellness Intentions and Mindset Shifts

February 16, 2022 by Maria Sogard Leave a Comment

Tune in to the full replay of the VFit Studio First Friday’s Cafe with Lauren and Maria up above.

For the February installment of the First Friday’s Wellness Cafe with Lauren and Maria, the duo revisited the idea of setting intentions, goal setting, and mindset shifts from their January session.

Self improvement by means of setting intentions is a powerful activity, but is often challenging to achieve without support and a framework to work from. Throughout the Wellness Cafe session, we held an open dialogue about how our experience has been with setting intentions so far in 2022, and shared different resources that have helpd us.

Lauren shared that after the January session she revisited her feelings about walking and shifted her mindset of it being done as low impact workout or recovery exercise to getting in quality me time, outdoors, ALONE through her neighbhorhood. This mindset shift has turned this marathoner and HIIT-workout lover into a neighborhood walker and she’s now hooke on getting in her walking time.

Maria shared in the Cafe about how last year she focuse on two words as intention: flow and connection. Each of these words encompassed different areas of her life and actions she wanted to focus on and brought many of her 2021 goals to light. This year by leaning in on these two words again, while out with her sister having brunch, she was introduced to a home care cleaning and maintenance program that’s been really working for Maria to have a system for taking care of the house. It’s been a game changer for her, and a few other members were familiar with it – Fly Lady. Maria’s been using the Fly Lady app and following along with the morning, afternoon, and evening homecare habits along with the zone cleaning areas and it’s made a world of difference in her sense of peace at home.

Other members shared their power words and intentions for the year and took the opportunity to open up on goal setting and empowerment. Thank you to all who were able to join us and your continued support with the Wellness Cafe Series. We look forward to returning in March with more wellness goodness to share!

If you have any tips on setting intentions, goal planning, or would like to share your words or personal mantra for the year, we’d love to hear from you. Please feel free to comment below and share this blog and replay with those in your life who you think would enjoy this positive message of growth mindset, self improvement, and self care being critical care and not being selfish.

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.

Dream Believe Do Repeat

December 28, 2021 by Maria Sogard Leave a Comment

It has been SOOOOOOO hard keeping this in, but the time has finally come to share our 2022 VFit “Mantra of the Year!”

We do not take lightly to choosing these each year. After all, the powerful words we are called to set as out mantra, set the underlying tone for an entire year around here.

Sweat, Smile, Shine was one that would be hard to out-do and will be grandfathered in as a permanent tag line of VFit.

But as we head in 2022, nearly 2 years into a pandemic and where every single person has gone through some major life shifts and transformations, we have a calling to: Dream, Believe, DO, Repeat!

VFit is a one of a kind community, we need a one of a kind mantra!

In fact, we went back and forth many times on the trainer team, with many good mantra’s but none of them gave us the chills we needed!

Then Rachele hit to her 2021 vision board and there it was front and center! Words she had been staring out all year long, without realized the true power they held.

Dream

When we have dreams within our mind, body and souls, we are alive! Having dreams/goals gives us emotions, it keep us uncomfortable, it reminds us that we have more potential than we even realize in this life. It all starts with a dream within…….

Believe

But a dream is just a wish, until we start believing in ourselves, in those around us and when we have that unshakeable faith that….

YES I CAN!

DO

DO = action! It means doing the things day in and day out that will proper you closer to the dream you believe in. It means that you are willing to show up for yourself on that days you don’t feel like it, that when you fall down, you

have built the tenacity to get back up.

DO is a sum of the choices/actions you make day in and day out, that make up the quality of your life.

Repeat

We say this often in classes… “repetition produces results.” You do not do something one, 2 even 100 times and become proficient in that area.

We are what we repeat, and repeating the positive habits in your life on a regular basis, WILL change you life for the long term.

Focus on your “best practices list,” meaning what are the actions, that when done on a regular basis, leave you feeling and living your best life.

If you fall down 99 times, get back up 100 and repeat the habit of not giving up on YOU!

While we know a new year will bring much that we didn’t plan for, or that is out of our control, we firmly believe the power of these words will keep us united as a community and #VFITSTRONG in 2022!

October First Friday’s Wellness Cafe – Wellness Resources & What Kind of Eater Are You?

October 25, 2021 by Maria Sogard Leave a Comment

VFit Trainers Maria and Lauren hosted the Wellness Cafe and each brought their own unique perspective to the conversation on wellness.

First, Maria shared more on VFit Studio resources for members:

Recipe Rolodex

VFit Blog

Weekly Dashboard and Wellness Wheel

FUNctional Fitness Plan

VFit Signature Series

Next, Lauren shared about the different eating personas. Do you know what kind of eater you are?

Careful clean eater? Professional Dieter? Chaotic Unconscious eater? Possibly a refuse-not, waste-not, or an emotional uncouncious eater?

Tune in to the full replay above to watch Maria guide through the VFit Studio resources and for Lauren to dive in to the different kinds of eating personas.

We are here for you and enjoy sharing the Wellness Cafe Series with you each month! Any questions on our topics covered, you can email Maria maria [at] thevitstudio.com or email Lauren laurenferrara85 [at] gmail.com.

#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

What is YOUR Zihuantanejo?

February 21, 2020 by Rachele at VFit Studio 4 Comments

Always take the trip, a reminder I was in need of. It isn’t easy to step away from the hustle of everyday life, but we must remember to always take the trip!

Sometimes that may be simply unplugging down the street from your house, maybe that will be a cruise through the Mediterranean, or going away to a retreat that lights you up.

Earlier this month was an experience of a lifetime when I stepped away from work and family to attend a 3 day Mastermind Retreat in Coronado, CA.

I was in the company of 100 passion driven Fit Pro’s and there was some serious magic to take away from this experience.

Last year, I made the decision to up-level my professional career and joined a Mastermind Group, under one of the most influential mentor’s out there – Todd Durkin. And I finally I had the opportunity to come together with this group in real life. I had to take the trip!

“The only person who can put limits on you, is you!”

It has taken some time to process this experience. I was surrounded by some of the most heart centered, passionate and down right purpose driven people on the planet.

I am excited to share some of my top takeaways from this retreat in hopes that it inspires even one person to keep growing outside your comfort zone.

In no particular order, my top inspo bombs from the TD 2020 Beach Retreat:

Lesson 1: “Being Uncomfortable Pushes You to Be Better.”

It is one of my favorite quotes to remind myself of. And as much as we know this concept to be true, it takes A LOT of effort to keep pushing outside your comfort zone.

Heading off to this retreat was WAY outside my comfort zone. I was leaving all 3 kids for the first time, travelling alone and spending the weekend with people I had never met before.

Getting outside my comfort zone is what got me to SHOW UP!

Lesson 2 : “Success is small wins each day.”

I always say, “beat the sun up and you already won the day”. Meaning that when you wake up and start your day with purpose and a workout, you tend to do better at life.

Look at any successful mentor out there (and I don’t measure success by money in the bank, but rather purpose, impact and happiness), and they all have a strong morning routine, which includes some form of movement to get your mind up and ready for the day.

This was proven to me again by my fellow masterminder’s.

Here we were on “retreat” and yet 90%+ of us CHOSE to wake up before the sun was up each morning to get in a killer workout together.

Rise and shine, literally! Above is a picture of our day 2 workout watching the sun rise over Coronado Bay…. more to come on that magical morning in #7.

Lesson 3 – “If you are not growing, you are dying.”

Humans are the most complex species on earth. It is our innate desire to continue to grow and flourish, yet we tend to be our own worst enemy when it comes to letting fear, comfort and doubt take the wheel.

Investing in yourself to be around the right people and events is always a good idea!

Most of your personal and professional growth will happen outside of your “office”.

It is through the people and experiences that we put ourselves out there for, that we grow the most toward our full potential and purpose.

Lesson 4 – “What is your Zihuantanejo?”

One thing that I loved most about this Retreat was there was an overall “theme” and that was “What is your Zihuantanejo?”

Now just like most of you reading this, I had no idea what the heck that meant at first, but as we dove into the meat of the retreat this concept was the heart of everything.

Yes, Zihuantanejo is a place in Mexico, but what it symbolizes is so much more. The value of this concept is to center your life, work and the things you are “doing”; around creating experiences that light you up from the inside.

You know…….those moments where you heart is literally smiling!? We ALL need to focus more on creating lives filled with THESE kind of moments.

The tragedy of Kobe Bryant, his daughter and the others aboard that tragic helicopter flight are a prime example that nothing in life in more important than right now and who you spend you time with.

As a mom of 3 young kids, trying to run a business is quite the juggling act most days. This theme was a HUGE reminder of the truly important things in life and where to place more of my time and energy.

Lesson 5 – “Be the Coffee Bean.”

Damon West, Author of “The Change Agent” and co-author of “The Coffee Bean” hung out with our group for a day and also gave one of THE most powerful presentations I have ever heard.

Damon grew up in a nice middle class family, was a star quarterback, who had everything going for him, when he let addiction take over his life and landed himself with a life sentence in prison.

I’ll let you read the story or listen to his podcast with Todd Durkin, but Damon is an incredible person and has one of the most powerful lessons to share.

I have been sharing the “coffee bean theory” left and right with my members, kids and anyone who wants to listen!

You have 3 choices in life: be a carrot, be an egg, or be a coffee bean.

When placed in a pot of boiling water, aka “the world”, a carrot will become soft and weak. The carrot lets the hot water break it down and take it’s strength and grit away. Don’t be a carrot!

What happens to an egg when it is placed in this same pot? It becomes hard (and stinky as my kids reminded me!). The egg lets that hot water harden its shell and insides. The world has way too many eggs. Angry, resentful and negative people. Don’t be the egg!

Be the coffee bean! Be that bean who when placed in a pot of water, changes the water into coffee! The coffee bean doesn’t let that water change it, IT changes the water.

We have the power to change our surroundings and make a positive impact in this world.

Smile more at strangers, walk into a room ready to light it up, laugh more, live more, compliment more. Be the coffee bean!

Lesson 6 – “The power of a team”.

That is what a mastermind is. A TEAM!

It is the belief that being part of a team with others of like minded values, passion and purpose; brings more value to your life than any one person can do alone.

I found my people this weekend! People who believe in lifting each other up, not climbing on top of each other to get to the top.

People who believe so deeply that we are on the FRONT lines of healthcare and that is is going to take all of us working together , to have a chance at changing this world for the better.

Each one of us wake in the morning driven to spread positive IMPACT around us. Let me tell you, being in the company of such passionate, fun and amazing people was a true honor.

Lesson 7: “Regret and excuses take a lot more time and energy, than ACTION does.”

I talked above about the importance of a strong morning routine. Does that mean it is easy to bounce out of bed each day? No way!

The second day at retreat, I didn’t want to wake up and work out. I was tired…. I didn’t have my kids…. We had blackout curtains in the room…. I had every excuse in my head why I could miss this workout. It was optional after all.

But I know better! As usual, I had already put out my workout clothes the night before. I couldn’t let them go home fresh!

I knew if I missed that workout, I would spend FAR more time regretting it, than if I just got my tired booty out of bed and in action.

How often do you get to workout on THE BEACH with a bunch of other amazing, driven and FIT beasts?!?!

I’m never one to sugar coat that being healthy and feeling good takes effort. “You aren’t always going to feel like it, but you must always be disciplined.” I tell my team that ALL the time.

I am so glad I woke up and went to that workout! We ran on the beach, there was so much laughter and bonding, I taught a segment of the workout to a group of peers (back to getting uncomfortable!), we watched the sun rise over the day and we laughed some more.

THAT workout was a highlight of my weekend and PURE MAGIC! So many “aha” moments were had during that beach workout. Much more magic than any sleep would have been.

Lesson 8 – “Polar Bear Plunge” – the power of a motivated LEADER

This picture above SAYS it all – united and stronger together! Let fear fuel you and rely on the power of a team to push you outside your comfort zone.

It was actually really cold in San Diego this day, and if you have ever been in the Pacific Ocean in CA, it’s pretty dang cold in general.

I had told myself I wasn’t getting in the water. Thank goodness my heart knew better and I put my swim suit on “just in case”.

But when our fearless leader, Todd Durkin led us through a sunset pep talk and encouraged us to link arms, to go run into that water together and to release anything that is holding us back – you bet we knew we had to take this once in a lifetime opportunity!

That is what a good leader does. They motivate, inspire and push you to be a better version of yourself. And it was 100% worth the plunge!

Being around some of the best leaders out there over the course of the weekend was infectious. From that “plunge”, I came out of the water a stronger leader myself.

Lesson 9 – “Chase more sunrises and sunsets.”

This one needs no further explanation.

It’s simple – you either can get busy living or get busy dying.

Go out there and chase as many sunrises and sunsets as you possibly can!

In health,

Rachele, VFit Owner

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