Vanessa G Fitcast

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
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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!

We wanted to bring back one of our favorite interview episodes this week!
 
Justin Su'a is a mental performance coach for the Tampa Bay Rays baseball team and host of our daily favorite podcast, Increase Your Impact. He has worked with top NFL, PGA, MLB, and NCAA athletes, as well as top corporate leaders to improve their mental performance game. 
 
In this episode, we cover the importance of mental performance, the power of self-reflection, doing things by design instead of by default, how to figure out your WHY, and so much more!
 
Topics Covered:
 
- What Is Mental Performance and Why It Matters

- How to Train Your Mindset

- The Power of Self-Reflection

- How to Identify Your “Why”

- Doing Things by Design, Not by Default

- Using Your Mindset to Regulate Negative Thoughts and Achieve Goals

- Your Mind Has Limited Capacity: Why Negativity Crowds Out Growth

- The Hidden Habit of Elite Athletes and Top Organizations

- Getting Consistent With Nutrition and Trusting the Process

- Embracing the Boredom of Consistency

- The Law of the Bamboo Tree and Your Fitness Journey

- Stop Beating Yourself Up for Starting Late — Start Now
---------------------
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 fat loss feels harder than it should and healing seems slow no matter what you try, the problem may not be your discipline. It may be your nervous system.
 
In this conversation, I explain why a chronically dysregulated nervous system can block healing, fat loss, and hormone balance no matter how perfect your protocols look on paper. 
 
Your body is always choosing survival first, and when it perceives constant stress, it will not prioritize digestion, repair, or metabolic efficiency. I walk you through how your brain interprets everyday stress the same way it would a life-or-death threat, keeping you stuck in fight or flight. 
 
This is why cortisol stays elevated, inflammation lingers, and progress feels frustratingly slow. I break down why this isn’t a mindset issue or a lack of discipline, but a physiological response rooted in your nervous system. 
 
We dive into the role of the vagus nerve and how it connects your brain, gut, hormones, and stress response. I explain what vagal tone is and why improving it creates the conditions your body needs to feel safe enough to heal. 
 
You’ll learn simple, practical vagus nerve–supporting practices you can use daily without adding more overwhelm. We also talk about why these tools are supportive, not magical fixes, and how they enhance everything you’re already doing. If you’re dealing with stubborn fat loss, gut issues, thyroid challenges, or chronic stress, this episode lays the foundation you may be missing. 
 
Nervous system regulation isn’t optional or fluffy. It’s essential. When your body feels safe, healing becomes possible.
 
Time Stamps:
 
(1:19) Lots of Things Going On

(4:54) Getting Out Of Survival Mode

(7:52) The Vagus Nerve

(13:55) Strategies For Improving Your Nervous System
---------------------
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!

Struggling with motivation lately? You’re not broken and you’re definitely not lazy. 
 
In this episode, I share a real-time reflection on why motivation feels shaky during seasons of massive identity transition, especially when life, work, and motherhood are all evolving at once. When our identity is clear, action feels easy but when we’re questioning who we are becoming, everything can feel heavy and confusing. I break down why motivation is an unreliable driver and why waiting to “feel ready” keeps you stuck.
 
We dive into the three things that actually create follow-through: commitment, identity, and systems. I’ll challenge how you think about commitment (with a comparison that might sting a little), and explain why saying you’re committed isn’t the same as acting like it. 
 
We’ll talk about how anchoring your actions to who you want to be, not just what you want to achieve, changes everything. I’ll also walk through practical ways to reduce friction by building systems that support you on low-energy days.
 
If you’re in a season of transition, questioning your next chapter, or frustrated with your lack of consistency, this episode will help you reframe motivation and rebuild alignment. Stop waiting to feel motivated and start building something that works even when motivation is gone.
 
 
Time Stamps:
 
(2:02) Moving, Second Trimester, and The Swings of Motivation
(4:17) Forcing Myself To Show Up This Month
(8:17) Feel Motivated After The Action
(10:41) Commitment, Identity, and Systems
(10:52) What is Commitment?
(17:36) Identity and Who You’re Becoming
(23:52) Systems
(26:22) Tangible Steps You Can Take This Week
(29:57) Giving You What You Need
---------------------
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!

In today’s episode, I’m sitting down with Krista Moreland, one of our incredible functional health coaches here at Vital Spark, to share her story, her breaking point, and the moment that changed everything. 
Krista joined our team in early 2025 with over a decade of coaching experience, but her journey goes far deeper than credentials. Before motherhood, she was a two-sport college athlete whose identity was built on discipline, performance, and mental toughness. Then she became a mom, and everything she thought she knew about herself began to shift.
Krista opens up about navigating early motherhood while caring for a medically complex baby, including her son’s heart surgery at just four months old. She shares the shame, fear, and invisible stress she carried, and how food became her unexpected escape during that season. 
As a former athlete who had never used food emotionally, this struggle left her feeling confused and lost inside her own body. We talk about the identity shock no one prepares women for, especially high-achieving moms who are used to holding it all together.
Krista takes us into the quiet breaking point that happened in her bathtub, where she realized no one was coming to rescue her. That moment wasn’t about weight loss, but about choosing herself again. We explore how healing her relationship with food and her body changed the way she showed up as a mom, partner, and woman. This conversation is for any woman who feels like she used to know who she was and is ready to find her way back.
 
Time Stamps:
 
(3:08) Before Motherhood and College Days
 
(6:54) Identity Shift to Motherhood
 
(18:32) Leadership In The Home
 
(23:22) Managing The Mind and Emotions
 
(33:02) Where Coach Krista Is In Her Journey Right Now
 
(37:10) You Are Not Broken
 
(40:02) Where To Find Coach Krista
---------------------
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!