Vanessa G Fitcast

What if the reason your body isn’t responding… isn’t because you’re doing something wrong?

In this episode, I sit down with Vital Spark coach Lindsey Newman to unpack the story behind her journey from “doing everything right” to realizing her body was breaking down beneath the surface. Coach Lindsey shares what it looked like to chase the “fit mom” identity of training harder, eating less, and trying to prove something both to herself and to the world around her. Despite eating as little as 1200 calories, lifting six days a week, and adding in cardio, her body was gaining weight, her energy was crashing, and her hormones were spiraling.

What followed was a season of deep exhaustion, chronic pain, anxiety, and the terrifying feeling that her body was no longer her own. She opens up about the emotional toll of that time, the frustration of being told she was “fine,” and the moment she finally felt seen after receiving a PCOS diagnosis. But even then, she knew there had to be more to the story.

That search led her to functional health, where everything began to click.

Lindsey shares how uncovering deeper root causes like POTS, gut dysfunction, and thyroid issues completely changed the way she understood her body and ultimately how she healed it. We talk about why “calories in, calories out” isn’t the full picture, how systems in the body are deeply interconnected, and what most women are missing when they try to fix their health.

This conversation is for the woman who feels exhausted, frustrated, and stuck despite doing everything she’s been told should work.

Because your body isn’t broken and there is a way forward when you finally start looking at the full picture.

 

Time Stamps:

 

(1:22) Coach Lindsey

(3:27) Having Babies Early and Staying “Fit”

(9:54) The Calories In Calories Out Conversation

(13:02) Finding Functional Health

(17:20) Finding The True Answers

(23:09) POTS Syndrome

(30:14) Coaching Women Through Experience

(34:58) Where To Find Coach Lindsey

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Find Out More Information on Vital Spark Coaching

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Follow @vanessagfitness on Instagram for daily fitness tips & motivation. 

---------------------

Download Our FREE Metabolism-Boosting Workout Program

---------------------

Join the Women’s Metabolism Secrets Facebook Community for 25+ videos teaching you how to start losing fat without hating your life!

---------------------

Click here to send me a message on Facebook and we’ll see how I can help or what best free resources I can share!

---------------------

Interested in 1-on-1 Coaching with my team of Metabolism & Hormone Experts? Apply Here!

---------------------

Check out our Youtube Channel!

---------------------

Enjoyed the podcast? Let us know what you think and leave a 5⭐️ rating and review on iTunes!

What if the very habits you believe are making you healthier are actually breaking your body down?

In this episode, I sit down with functional health coach Lacey Iskra in our new home and podcast studio (hehe) to unpack the powerful and complicated journey that led her from bodybuilding and extreme dieting to true root-cause healing. Lacey shares how years of intense training, restrictive nutrition, and pushing through stress eventually left her with hormonal dysfunction, autoimmune symptoms, and a body that felt completely out of balance. Like many women in the fitness space, she was doing everything “right” on paper but still watching her health decline.

Her story reveals how early gut health issues, birth control, chronic dieting, and years without a menstrual cycle quietly compounded into bigger problems later in life. After stepping away from bodybuilding, Lacey began searching for answers and eventually discovered the world of functional health and root-cause healing. Through gut testing, lifestyle changes, and deeper emotional and mindset work, she was able to completely reverse her psoriasis and rebuild her health from the inside out.

Throughout the conversation, Lacey and I break down the biggest mistakes women make when trying to fix their health and why fat loss alone is rarely the real solution. We also talk about the missing link most health protocols overlook: addressing the physical, mental, and emotional pieces together.

If you’ve ever felt like you’re doing everything right but your body still isn’t responding, this episode will help you understand why.

And more importantly, it will show you that healing is possible when you finally start addressing the real root of the problem.

 

Time Stamps:

 

(2:19) Who Is Lacey Iskra?

(5:39) Before Functional Health

(8:00) Birth Control

(10:04) Bodybuilding Prep

(14:52) Becoming an Online Coach

(18:04) Finding Functional Health

(34:35) There’s A Reason For Everything You’re Feeling

(35:16) Where To Find Lacey

---------------------

Find Out More Information on Vital Spark Coaching

---------------------

Follow @vanessagfitness on Instagram for daily fitness tips & motivation. 

---------------------

Download Our FREE Metabolism-Boosting Workout Program

---------------------

Join the Women’s Metabolism Secrets Facebook Community for 25+ videos teaching you how to start losing fat without hating your life!

---------------------

Click here to send me a message on Facebook and we’ll see how I can help or what best free resources I can share!

---------------------

Interested in 1-on-1 Coaching with my team of Metabolism & Hormone Experts? Apply Here!

---------------------

Check out our Youtube Channel!

---------------------

Enjoyed the podcast? Let us know what you think and leave a 5⭐️ rating and review on iTunes!

Most women will research every stroller, bottle, and sleep schedule for their baby but spend almost no time thinking about how to support their own body during pregnancy.

 In this episode, I’m sharing a “half baked” pregnancy update and pulling back the curtain on what I’ve actually been doing to support my body while growing this baby. 

The reality is that most prenatal care is focused on monitoring the baby, not optimizing the mother’s health. And while that makes sense medically, it also leaves a huge gap in how women care for themselves during one of the most physically demanding seasons of life. 

Pregnancy is often treated like a time to pause your health goals, but I see it more like a sport that requires intentional preparation and support.

In this episode, I walk through the team I’ve built around me including a functional practitioner, doula, midwife, pelvic floor physical therapist, chiropractor, and massage therapist and why I chose to outsource as many decisions as possible during this season. 

I share what the first trimester actually looked like for me, from fatigue and nausea to the unexpected mental challenge of body image changes. 

We also talk about the simple systems I’m using moving into the second and third trimesters, including strength training, daily movement, blood sugar stability, and pelvic floor work. 

I explain how I’m thinking about nutrition not just for myself, but for my baby’s long-term health and taste development. We’ll also talk honestly about the physical discomforts of pregnancy and the moments that can make you question whether something is wrong. Finally, I share how researching birth options shifted my mindset from nervousness to genuine excitement, and why I ultimately decided on a home birth with a midwife and doula while still working with my OB for imaging. 

If you’re pregnant, planning to be, or just curious about a different approach to supporting your body through pregnancy, this episode offers a real, honest look behind the scenes.

 

Time Stamps:

 

(2:54) The Anatomy Scan

(11:02) What I’m Doing/Will Do During Pregnancy

(14:02) Midwife vs Traditional OBGYN Care

(19:43) Letting Experts Help Me

(28:24) Choosing A Home Birth

---------------------

Find Out More Information on Vital Spark Coaching

---------------------

Follow @vanessagfitness on Instagram for daily fitness tips & motivation. 

---------------------

Download Our FREE Metabolism-Boosting Workout Program

---------------------

Join the Women’s Metabolism Secrets Facebook Community for 25+ videos teaching you how to start losing fat without hating your life!

---------------------

Click here to send me a message on Facebook and we’ll see how I can help or what best free resources I can share!

---------------------

Interested in 1-on-1 Coaching with my team of Metabolism & Hormone Experts? Apply Here!

---------------------

Check out our Youtube Channel!

---------------------

Enjoyed the podcast? Let us know what you think and leave a 5⭐️ rating and review on iTunes!

You are not failing because you lack discipline. You’re struggling because you’re trying to live like a machine. 

In this episode, I’m breaking down why most systems fall apart the moment life gets hard and how to rebuild yours so it actually works for a human nervous system. 

We’re taught to design routines assuming endless energy, focus, and motivation, but real life doesn’t operate that way. You have limited time, attention, and willpower, and your systems need to reflect that reality.

 I explain why the most effective systems are the ones that require the least amount of thinking and decision-making. When stress hits, you don’t rise to the occasion. You default to your systems. If your routine only works on your best days, it’s not a system, it’s a wish.

I walk you through how to design structures that hold you steady when you’re tired, overwhelmed, or distracted. We’ll talk about simplifying your priorities so consistency becomes automatic instead of exhausting. 

I introduce the Plan A, Plan B, and Plan C framework to help you escape the all-or-nothing cycle. Plan A is for high-energy days, Plan B supports you when things feel harder, and Plan C keeps you moving forward on your worst days. 

Success doesn’t need to look the same every day, especially in different seasons of life. This episode will help you build systems that meet you where you are, so you can stay consistent without burning yourself out.

 

Time Stamps:

 

(2:32) Moving Updates

 

(6:22) The Fresh Start Effect

 

(8:54) Different Levels To Our Goals

 

(14:29) Beware Of The Comparison Trap

 

(16:28) Vanessa’s Plan A

---------------------

Find Out More Information on Vital Spark Coaching

---------------------

Follow @vanessagfitness on Instagram for daily fitness tips & motivation. 

---------------------

Download Our FREE Metabolism-Boosting Workout Program

---------------------

Join the Women’s Metabolism Secrets Facebook Community for 25+ videos teaching you how to start losing fat without hating your life!

---------------------

Click here to send me a message on Facebook and we’ll see how I can help or what best free resources I can share!

---------------------

Interested in 1-on-1 Coaching with my team of Metabolism & Hormone Experts? Apply Here!

---------------------

Check out our Youtube Channel!

---------------------

Enjoyed the podcast? Let us know what you think and leave a 5⭐️ rating and review on iTunes!

If you’ve ever felt like your body is fighting you no matter how “perfect” your nutrition or workouts are, this episode will feel like a deep exhale.
 Today, I’m sitting down with Soraya Rufener, one of our coaches at Vital Spark, to share the story behind the safety, trust, and results her clients feel from day one. 
Soraya isn’t just highly credentialed as a registered nurse and functional health coach. She’s lived through chronic dieting, body distrust, and the exhausting pressure to always “do more.” She started dieting at 13, spent years stuck in restriction cycles, and did everything diet culture promised would work. And yet, nothing was actually healing.
In this conversation, we unpack why willpower wasn’t the problem, how postpartum healing changed everything, and what rebuilding a body really requires physically, mentally, and emotionally. Soraya shares the moment she stopped punishing her body and learned how to support it instead. 
We talk about why healing is layered, why consistency matters more than intensity, and how nervous system safety changes outcomes. She also opens up about how her lived experience reshaped the way she coaches postpartum moms and high-achieving women today. Most importantly, we explore what she refuses to repeat from diet culture—and why coaching women differently matters. 
If you’re exhausted, frustrated, or quietly wondering why nothing seems to work anymore, this episode will remind you that you’re not broken.
You’re unsupported.
 
Time Stamps:
 
(1:17) Our Incredible Coach Soraya
 
(6:02) Early Teen Soraya
 
(9:17) Finding Bodybuilding
 
(15:02) The Food Noise
 
(17:09) Shifting To The Healing Phase
 
(19:55) The Mental Side of Healing
 
(22:47) 3 Kids In 4 Years and The Postpartum Journey
 
(31:23) Our Bodies Aren’t The Enemy
 
(34:15) Where To Find Soraya
---------------------
Find Out More Information on Vital Spark Coaching
---------------------
Follow @vanessagfitness on Instagram for daily fitness tips & motivation. 
---------------------
Download Our FREE Metabolism-Boosting Workout Program
---------------------
Join the Women’s Metabolism Secrets Facebook Community for 25+ videos teaching you how to start losing fat without hating your life!
---------------------
Click here to send me a message on Facebook and we’ll see how I can help or what best free resources I can share!
---------------------
Interested in 1-on-1 Coaching with my team of Metabolism & Hormone Experts? Apply Here!
---------------------
Check out our Youtube Channel!
---------------------
Enjoyed the podcast? Let us know what you think and leave a 5⭐️ rating and review on iTunes!