Watch the full interview below or listen to the full episode on your iPhone HERE.
Stu: This week I’m excited to welcome Bela Castro to the podcast. Bela is a lifestyle and spirituality coach who is re-energizing common fitness and nutritional goals by revealing what is truly motivating them. In this episode, we discuss why so many of us know what we should be doing, but struggle to take the right path, how long new healthy habits take to become second nature and so much more. Over to Bela…
Audio Version
Some questions asked during this episode:
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Why do so many of us know what we should be doing but struggle to take the right path?
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How long do new/positive habits take to become second nature?
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If our biggest struggle is nutrition, how can we create better habits for life?
Get more of Bela Castro:
If you enjoyed this, then we think you’ll enjoy this interview:
Elise Museles – Healing Your Relationship With Food
Brian Keane – Transforming Your Body & Mindset For The Long-Term
Justine Switalla – Fit, Healthy & Strong in Mind & Body
The views expressed on this podcast are the personal views of the host and guest speakers and not the views of Bega Cheese Limited or 180 Nutrition Pty Ltd. In addition, the views expressed should not be taken or relied upon as medical advice. Listeners should speak to their doctor to obtain medical advice.
Disclaimer: The transcript below has not been proofread and some words may be mis-transcribed.
Full Transcript
Stu
(00:03)
Hey, this is Stu from 180 Nutrition, and welcome to another episode of the Health Sessions. It’s here that we connect with the world’s best experts in health, wellness, and human performance in an attempt to cut through the confusion around what it actually takes to achieve a long-lasting health. Now, I’m sure that’s something that we all strive to have. I certainly do.
(00:23)
Before we get into the show today, you might not know that we make products too. That’s right. We are into whole food nutrition and have a range of super foods and natural supplements to help support your day. If you are curious, want to find out more, just jump over to our website. That is 180nutrition.com.au and take a look. Okay, back to the show.
(00:44)
This week I’m excited to welcome Bela Castro to the podcast. Bela is a lifestyle and spirituality coach who is re-energizing common fitness and nutritional goals by revealing what is truly motivating them. In this episode, we discuss why so many of us know what we should be doing, but struggle to take the right path, how long new healthy habits take to become second nature and so much more. Over to Bela.
(01:12)
This is Stu from 180 Nutrition, and I am delighted to welcome Bela Castro to the podcast. Bela, how are you?
Bela
(01:20)
I’m great. How are you?
Stu
(01:21)
Yeah, very well, thank you. Very well. Really pleased that we managed to connect and intrigued and enthusiastic about sharing your story and your knowledge today because you’ve got an interesting story and I know that our listeners are going to be aligned with what you have to tell us. And I think also being the start of a new year when people want to plan perhaps new year’s goals and healthy habits, they oftentimes can be a little stuck. So I think that it’s going to be a great conversation in terms of just trying to iron out those bugs and set people on the right track as well. But first up, for all of our listeners that may not be familiar with you or your work, I’d love it if you could just tell us a little bit about yourself, please.
Bela
(02:09)
Absolutely. Hi everyone. I am actually from Brazil. I played tennis my whole life, so I’m a former tennis player. I went to college to actually study business management and I actually found out to be not my path. And then I went through a divorce, and like most of us, when we go through a big transition in our lives is when we have that wake up call. And for me was to actually follow what I really wanted to do, which was to study everything related to holistic health. So I invested my time and my energy in learning and developing better communication and habits when it comes to mindset, psychology, everything related to neuroscience, personal training, nutrition. So I could actually grasp a better idea of how can I impact the world in healing, transforming their lives and living their best lives.
(03:09)
So with that, B-FIT came to play, and B-FIT, again, is a company that empowers people to be mentally, physically, and emotionally stronger to really withstand our life’s goals and missions and really empower people to be the best versions of themselves every single day. So with that, we have health programs, we have masterminds, retreats, and different events that help people empower themselves. So when it comes to Bela, I think that the relationship that I have with my health is what triggered me to be the best version of myself every day and overcome the challenges that life threw at me. And I think that my going life is to help people also do the same. So that’s the spark that brought me to be in this path.
Stu
(04:02)
Fantastic, fantastic. And we mentioned before that we are into a new year, so 2023. And oftentimes it can be a great opportunity to reflect on perhaps the areas of our life that we want to optimize that we couldn’t do in the previous year. So this is the year for a new change. We’ve got new goals, new opportunities, very, very enthused about doing it, but many of us struggle. We kind of still do the wrong thing when we know what the right thing is to do. So my question to you is, why does so many of us know intuitively what we need to be doing to hit whatever goal it may be that we’re hoping to achieve, but we just don’t do it? And that could be, I need to be eating healthier, but you know what, I just really love these chips and these soda pop, or I know I need to stop smoking, but I just can’t do it because I enjoy it so much. So how can we make change that’s long-lasting and get these new healthy habits to be automatic?
Bela
(05:06)
I think Stu, it has to come from a deeper understanding of ourselves because in the beginning of this transformation, you have to embody the version of you that you want to become. And a lot of times when we are stuck in the past, we have to change our subconscious to reprogram the way we saw ourselves in the past to create a different future. So if we live in the past of the behaviors that we used to have, we are going to continue in that mindset, and that’s why we have to retrain our brain to create different habits. If we think for example, oh, in my past I used to eat this or my family used to act a certain way, or people that are around me, they don’t exercise. So they’re putting themselves in that victim mentality, which puts them in the same behaviors over and over again.
(06:03)
So I encourage everybody to start rewriting your narrative. If you want to change the behaviors that you display every day, first change your thoughts about how you see yourself, how you want to embody this new version of yourself. Accept where you are, because a lot of times that comes from that level of compassion with the process that you’re going through, but also that self-love that is going to push you forward. Because yes, pain is going to probably kick your butt in the beginning to start something, but the self-love is what’s going to help you create that long-lasting change that you are looking for. And that self-love will come from again, forgiving yourself, forgiving the past, forgiving the situations that put you in the position that you are today, so you can then reprogram your mind to create those different habits for the future.
Stu
(06:58)
Okay. So do you have any… I mean, do you have a toolkit then that allow us to understand what we need to do to stop that journey? And I would imagine that maybe manifestation would be in there and visual aids and guides and maybe some techniques in terms of the way that we think about things and maybe meditation. I don’t know. What might those tools look like?
Bela
(07:27)
Yes. My program is all about heal, connect, and glow. So the process, you cannot manifest the life of your dreams if you’re not actively working on healing your relationship with your past. And that’s why I said, so first you have to dive deep into your past, heal your inner child, heal the version of you that was present in the past, and then you can start connecting with yourself. So the healing process, you have to really dive deep into your own past, write down every single pain points that you remember that you can recall that is still affecting your behaviors and triggering some behaviors that you want to change. That’s the first step. And a lot of times we use food or other tools, for example, alcohol or even sometimes drugs to escape from our past because we’re not owning our story. We have to own our story, we have to heal from it and reprogram the way we think about it in so many levels.
(08:37)
So your relationship with food, your relationship with money, your relationship even if you’re trying to find a new partner, your relationship with your career path. All those things together will affect how you see your health in general. Your mental, your spiritual, your emotional, even your physical health will be in contact with your relationship with your past. That’s why healing is the first step. So I’ll encourage as a tool for people to start journaling about their past. Asking yourself questions about why do you think you act this way? What is preventing you from finding the love of your life? What is preventing you from sticking with the career that you want to? What is preventing you from waking up every morning and exercising? What is actual reasoning behind it? And the more you dive deep into the why, the more you’re going to get to the root cause of all your problems.
Stu
(09:32)
Got it.
Bela
(09:34)
And then finding solutions for the problems. Because a lot of times what happens is we find the problems, but we are not actively working on the solutions. So that’s what healing really comes from. The process of transformation from the pain into purpose, pain into purpose. Put that situation that you had to overcome into a learning lesson. And then from there you can work through. So the healing process, journaling, try to write down as many ideas and thoughts that you have.
(10:06)
The second step is connecting. So in the connection, you start really meditating, breath work, connect with yourself, connect with your body, love your body, accept your body. Look yourself in the mirror as many times as you want to until you really accept who you are, accept who you see in front of the mirror. Because a lot of times women especially, we tend to not have a great relationship with our bodies because there’s so much comparison going on. There’s so many barriers out there. So we want to dive deep into understanding that this is our own bodies. We have to own who we are. We have to love and respect our bodies. So that’s the connecting part of it. And connect with your mind. Sometimes we have to also look ourselves in the mirror and see, “What areas can I improve upon to be a better human being for myself and for others?” And that’s sometimes very difficult, but that connection is going to guide into your better self. And meditating and breath work will lead you to that. That’s the second step.
(11:13)
And then the third step is again, the glow. The glow is the manifestation, visualization, creating the future that you want, seeing the future. I normally do a three-month visualization because sometimes it’s hard to project too much out in the future, but I say, “In three months, where do you see yourself? How do you feel yourself?” And whenever you’re doing the visualization, you really pretend you are in that moment. You smell the air, you vision yourself, who are you going to be around, how you’re going to look like, how you’re going to feel like, what are you going to be doing? And all those things are so important to really reprogram your whole entire being. Because our mind, it comes from our thoughts and our bodies, our feelings, we manifest in everything that we do. Our feelings comes from the body. So if we have a good relationship with the way we think and the way we feel, automatically we’re going to embody a whole different state of being.
Stu
(12:19)
Okay. And how long typically would that process be? You mentioned the three months perhaps for the manifestation stage, but let’s say we are kicking off now. So at the start of… Well, say the start of January. How long would I have to do this groundwork in order to start thinking or feeling or even manifesting change?
Bela
(12:45)
It really depends on the intensity of where people want to work on this. Personally I would say if people are actively working on this every single day, they could literally do this in three months. And I personally have a program that is starting right now, a mastermind that is meant for that specifically to go from healing, connecting, and glowing in three months.
Stu
(13:08)
And irrespective of perhaps the issue then that we’re looking to tackle. So let’s just say our biggest struggle is nutrition, right?
Bela
(13:15)
Yes.
Stu
(13:16)
So I’ve got a bad relationship with food, I keep eating the wrong things, I know they’re wrong, but I enjoy them. But the impact that it’s having on my mindset, my body, maybe even relationships is just not right, it’s just running ruin with my life. That would apply then just to… That same process would still apply whether it be nutrition or whether it might be another psychological trigger down the line. So we could apply that to everything really. Is that right?
Bela
(13:48)
Absolutely. And you can think about nutrition… I’m going to give my own example because sometimes it’s good to illustrate with real examples.
(13:55)
I was absolutely addicted to sugar. I was to a point where I’d eat an entire box of Oreos, I’d have a whole entire cake by myself. I would order a dessert in every restaurant that I was in. If I didn’t have a dessert, I would get super cranky. So it was just something that I needed to do that was a mandatory thing in my life and it was affecting me negatively. So my way to transfer… And I don’t know, we probably know that already, but most of us don’t even understand how sugar actually affects our brain and it’s addicting. So the fact that the sugar is so addicting and it’s so hard for us to get out of that path, we have to put ourselves out of the box of why are we even starting to feel this way? What are the triggers mentally that is causing us to feel that we need something in order to compensate for what we actually have to tackle?
(15:00)
For example, my sugar addiction was for me a comfort way for me to deal with the problems that I couldn’t address on my own. Which means a lot of times it’s maybe communicating with somebody the way that I needed to. Maybe it was to get out of a certain situation that I was in. I tend to be a people pleaser, so I’ll always give my time and my energy on things and people that sometimes will not reciprocate. So I needed to also stand up for myself and set different boundaries in other areas so I could have more confidence on who I am and start setting boundaries also in the way that I was eating.
(15:39)
So again, a lot of times, especially for us women, we have something called emotionally eating. So that tends to be the cause why we overeat, not necessarily because we are in need of that food, but because we use that to comfort our emotions that have not been addressed properly or validated as we should be addressing them. So as far as nutrition goes, is really finding the reason why we’re seeing that food as a “mandatory” thing in our lives because a lot of times it’s not.
(16:17)
Right now I don’t need personally to have desserts every day and I actually feel so much better. The same could happen, for example, with alcohol. A lot of people have this, “Oh, I need to drink every day.” Or, “I need to do dessert.” You don’t necessarily need to, but you created that. You created that mindset. You have to get out of it. Put yourself outside of that box and see for what it is, what is actually causing you to even have that urge to eat certain thing? Is it really the food itself or is it maybe something you address on your personal life or in your professional life or in your health life that you need to tackle and change in order to refrain the way you see the food itself? Because food is about nourishing the body. It has nothing to do with complimenting something, some emotional lack.
Stu
(17:09)
Yeah, it’s tricky, isn’t it? Because I think modern day processed and packaged and industrialized foods are very incentivized by profit and nourishment is probably isn’t at the forefront of their minds. It’s more about just palatability, “How can I make this so addictive that you never want to stop eating it because we might continue to make profits.” So with that in mind, intrigued then to hear from your perspective, you had a sweet tooth. Did you eliminate all of your sweet treats or do you still indulge from time to time? Is that part of perhaps a new and entrained mindset?
Bela
(17:52)
It’s interesting because I had to find alternatives. When I had to completely remove it from my life, is when I would go back to those old patterns because I was restricting myself. Now I found out alternatives for what I used to. For example, if I really like ice cream, instead of having ice cream, I’ll have frozen yogurt. Instead of having regular chocolate, I would have dark chocolate. So then slowly but shortly I kept on alternating different things to compensate for what I was craving and I started realizing that I didn’t actually needed it. And now I’m actually… Okay, well, for example, I had dark chocolate today. I had little two squares, but before I used to have a whole entire bar of milk chocolate. So it’s just very different approach. You know what I’m saying?
Stu
(18:45)
And I wonder how it would feel or perhaps taste if you went back and then started on the milk chocolate again. Because oftentimes the palette changes and it can taste incredibly sweet almost to the point where I just can’t eat this. This is sickly sweet.
Bela
(19:04)
Exactly, exactly. And it’s just like for example, nobody was born drinking alcohol.
Stu
(19:08)
No.
Bela
(19:09)
And I remember in college I did not like alcohol at all. I was an athlete. So the first time that everybody was drinking, I was like, “Why are people drinking this? It tastes horrible.” But then with time you develop the taste for it. So it’s the same thing. Why would you allow yourself to develop taste for something that is intoxicating your body instead of actually trying to find things that are better for your body?
Stu
(19:36)
That’s it.
Bela
(19:37)
[inaudible 00:19:37] those tastes. Because actually in regards to humankind, we’re meant to eat fruits and vegetables and grains and things that are actually from nature. And a lot of times we are completely disassociated from that because we got addicted to again, those processed foods that have that chemical effect on our brain and it’s making us more and more addicted.
Stu
(20:00)
Yeah, absolutely. So do you advocate for any particular type of diet then within the B-FIT program? Because I know that there are so many extremes out there at the moment, and of course the two polar opposites right now are veganism all the way through to carnivorism. So it’s only plants, only meat, and then there’s everything in between that covers every other gamut of diet and lifestyle that we’ve heard about over the last X number of years. But where do you sit on that chain of thought with nutrition in a place where we want longevity, we want healthy life? We don’t want a quick fix, but we just want longevity. So we want to live as long and happy and enjoy our time on the planet because we’re mobile and still cognizant. So how does food fall into that pattern for you?
Bela
(20:54)
Yes, I love that question. For me, it’s all about holistic approach. Patio diet will be the closest thing I could think of to where you are adopting things that are natural and the least atomically modified as possible, meaning that coming from nature, organic, not modified at all if possible. But of course, now even meat is modified, eggs are modified, fruits are modified. So again, coming back to just the root of what we’re actually meant to be eating. If we were in the wild, we would not be eating half of the things that we’re actually consuming on a daily basis. So if you could go back to the root and just find the most natural ingredients in every product that you buy. Even if it’s industrialized, look at the labels, see how much trans fat are you consuming or cholesterol or sugar or any type of everything that you can read on a label that you cannot even spell or read. Really those things are definitely not great things to put in your body, if you know what I mean.
(22:03)
So honestly for me it’s more natural products and intuitively eating. So if you can eat whenever you are hungry and try to find as many products with nutrients, macro and micronutrients, the better you’re going to have when it comes to your health. I do not encourage anything related to weighting your food or being super dramatic about it. It’s rather, okay, what does my body need right now? Does it need more energy? Maybe more carbs. If it needs more power because I just exercised, maybe more protein. If I need to maybe detox my body because I had some drinks last night, maybe know some fruits and vegetables in the morning. I don’t know. It all depends on how you feel at that moment and what does your body need?
Stu
(22:51)
Yeah. I think when you remove those inputs, those artificial inputs, which will be the flavorings and the sweeteners and all of the stuff that the scientists use or the food technicians use to create these hyper palatable foods that we just have to have. Once you’ve removed that and your body starts to come back to almost its intuitive systems of nourishment, it’ll tell you what you want. And I think when you start to access that, then you can really get yourself out of this calorie prison and more so into this freedom of not being beholden to processed snacks and sweets and treats because you just don’t think about that stuff anymore and you can get on with everyday life, which is really refreshing.
Bela
(23:41)
Yeah, absolutely.
Stu
(23:43)
Just thinking then about, I mean, that’s the food, but then movement. And the term exercise, I mean, again, it’s like a loaded gun because there are so many different types of exercise that you can do. You’ve got the ultra endurance athletes all the way through to Olympic weightlifting. And two different camps, again, much like veganism and carnivorism. You’ve got either the high intensity or the cardio camp, or then there’s just the strength training resistance style exercise camp as well. Where do you sit in that camp because you come at it from a unique perspective, from an athletic background. So you’d know the importance of maybe a mix of the two, and also the importance of recovery thrown in as well. But if I came to you and I hadn’t really exercised before, but I just want to get in shape, I want to live long, that longevity is in the back of my mind, how would you recommend that I move?
Bela
(24:42)
I believe it’s a mix of everything. And I think again, it’s a holistic approach to exercising as well to where you are working on balance, you’re working on agility, you’re working on flexibility and mobility, you’re working on strengths and you’re working on endurance. You’ve got to find a mix of all of that. Why? Because a lot of people are getting addicted to one or the other, but they’re not optimizing their bodies. They want to make every single cell of their bodies to be in flow state a lot of times. And that’s why the symbol of beef it is an atom because a lot of times we are just focus on breaking down the muscle or doing trick stream of one or the other. But in reality, if you combine all those techniques, you can really grow a body that is vital, that is energized, that is happy. And it has to come also with the recharging of the body, which is better sleep, unwind a little bit, do some massages, just stretch your body, stretch.
(25:48)
And a lot of times, again, it comes from that perspective of balance, taking care of yourself, loving your body, loving yourself. Is not about punishing your body, which a lot of times that’s the relationship where people go to the gym is to punish their body. It has never to do with that. We want to again, increase the levels of energy not to decrease the levels of energy. So find a fine line between distress where you are improving the body and causing a little bit of, again, the distress to grow and expand and improve, but also find a way to just relax and recharge. Again, so I would say a combination of yoga, HIIT training, maybe running if people like running, a little bit of strength training. So more like in a functional way.
Stu
(26:42)
Yeah, that’s good advice. I’ve heard somebody say that the yogas need to lift more weights and those guys in the gym who are the weight lifters need to do more yoga because we can get focused on just this one type or style of exercise. And sure, we might see some results from a vanity perspective. Your muscles are growing, but if you can’t touch your toes, you’re not going to be that useful in the real world. So mobility is super, super important as part of, I think, of a movement protocol irrespective of what it is, but definitely do a little bit of everything. That is definitely good advice.
(27:26)
You mentioned breath work earlier on in the conversation as well, and I know that it’s definitely becoming more popular with the likes of Wim Hof breathing and also lots of mindfulness practices utilizing the breath as the center. How important is that in terms of the way that you look at holistic health and how do you use it as a tool?
Bela
(27:56)
Yes. I mean, think about this. How long can you stay alive without breathing? Probably a few seconds, a minute, two.
Stu
(28:07)
Not very long. I do a lot of free diving, so I do practice holding my breath quite often, but yeah, not very long.
Bela
(28:17)
Exactly. So that means that is the first thing that we need in our bodies. Every single cell of the body needs oxygen. So if we do a better job breathing by itself, we’re improving the whole entire system of our bodies. And again, we have trillions of cells that are just literally asking us to take care of it. Breath is the first thing you have to focus on, especially exercising. If you’re working on strength, make sure you’re breathing. If you’re working on mobility, make sure you’re breathing. Every single different modality within fitness should be focused on the breath and on the form of the movement because that will completely shift the way that your body feels.
(29:01)
Then the second thing is water. So your body, if you go a few days without water, you’re also going to die. So think about oxygen, water, and then what else is mandatory? Nutrients. So you can stay a few days without food, but oxygen and water are the first things. So if you think about in that perspective of, okay, how many times can you actually close your eyes and focus on your breath? And then how much more can you actually drink of water every single day? You automatically improve your metabolic rate just by those two simple things, which are so simple. Grab yourself a water bottle, make sure before you even stand up every morning, take some deep breaths. Every time you feel stressed, take some deep breaths because that oxygenates not only your body but your brain, which is again the tool that you can use to make better decisions. Your cortex, every single part of your brain is requesting you to make better choices and you’ll do so when you have more oxygen. So breathing is extremely important and that’s why it’s being so talked about.
Stu
(30:16)
And do you have any particular styles of conscious breathing? And I mentioned previously like the Wim Hof, which is very structured and can be quite a shock to some people if they haven’t done it before because it’s definitely very different to the type of breathing that you’re used to. But do you utilize any breathing practices in your daily routines personally?
Bela
(30:45)
Yes. I personally just take some deep breaths, inhaling from my nose, excelling from my mouth, expanding the belly, more like a yogi breath. And that automatically helps me just concentrate on my meditation because that’s the first step that I take, focusing on the breath and reconcentrating and recharging my body so that blood flows. But also I practice breathing every time I exercise. In every single repetition on any movement, I’m practicing, how can I inhale more oxygen? And I think that that can be practiced at any given moment. You don’t need to necessarily think about. It’s just something that you can consciously choose to work on every single moment, even right now as we speak.
Stu
(31:34)
Yeah, aware of it as you said that. And nasal versus mouth, and I know that from an athletic perspective, oftentimes people talk about the goal state is through nasal breathing. Have you got a perspective on that?
Bela
(31:54)
Actually, there’s actually a breath that you can close one of your nostrils and the other one, so you can focus on a different side of your brain. So that is actually a very good practice too. If you want to focus more on your rational or your emotional side, you can hold off your nostrils for five seconds and inhale from your nose and then exhale. And then you can actually work on oxygenating your entire brain in a much more intentional way. But I always think about inhaling from your nose is always the best way. And even when you’re playing tennis, you actively… Even during the breaks that you have, everybody’s like, “Okay, breathe.” And for me, it’s always been… Even when you’re running, you don’t want to overpower yourself. You’re always trying to breathe from your nose and exhale from your mouth.
Stu
(32:53)
Yeah, I guess we got the physiology that enables us to do it. We may as well use it properly.
Bela
(32:59)
Exactly.
Stu
(32:59)
Tell us then about the B-FIT program. I’m intrigued to understand a little bit more in terms of the structure, what we would expect if we signed up. And we just wanted, again, just to make change. I want to optimize as many areas of my life this year as possible, whether it be nutrition, mindset, movement, just want to be the best version of myself. So from signup, what would we expect to see?
Bela
(33:27)
Yes. Once you sign up, you first receive access to an app where you’re going to have your entire workout program, your nutrition, you’re going to have access to me, and you are also going to have once a week call with me for a full hour where we’ll talk about your goals, everything that you need to unlock in your life, either professionally, in your relationships, in your health, because that might be affecting the way you are handling your health as well. Putting boundaries, creating discipline, resilience, just overall optimizing your relationship with yourself. Because for me, that’s the most important part as far as finding that self-love that will continue to push you to make the best decisions for yourself. So again, the signup process will lead you to get your app created and for us to set up a call every week. So you’re going to have your workout program, a call with me, and your nutrition all on the same platform.
Stu
(34:29)
Fantastic. I mean, how long would I typically access this for? Is this something that I would just do for maybe six months or 12 months, or is this something that I could access ongoing?
Bela
(34:42)
Yeah, so it’s a membership, a minimum of three months where we normally start seeing results. And let’s say after the third month, if you feel like you already optimized and you learn and you do not want to work with me anymore, that’s completely fine. Most people seem fit to work with me for six months to a year or even more than that because it just becomes a routine. And also you get access to working with me every morning. So we have a live that we do the workout in the morning, plus the meditation, plus the breath work. So it’s 6:15 AM Eastern time. And in that session, it’s just the best way for you to wake up and create a morning routine that everybody’s aiming for this year.
Stu
(35:27)
Yeah. Well, I think we all need to just dial in, fine tune our healthy habits because we could always do a little bit more. And you mentioned a masterclass. Tell me a little bit more about that and how that might differ from the B-FIT program.
Bela
(35:43)
Yes. The mastermind is actually a 12-week program that, again, going back to what we started talking about is the heal, connect, and glow. And in each of those sessions, we’re going to meet on Monday at 8:00 PM virtually or in person. I’m in Atlanta, Georgia. So for those that are not around here, they could connect online. And for this 12 weeks, you’re going to really work in depth on how are you feeling, your relationship with yourself, how we can shift some patterns in your mind. How can we shift some of the behaviors and the habits that you have currently that is preventing you from stepping to your potential? And in those 12 weeks after that is accomplished, you’re going to feel way more confident, happy and satisfied within yourself and aligned to actually pursue the life of your dreams. And not only that, you get a trip to Tulum, Mexico. So you are going to travel for four days and have a whole entire retreat experience together to celebrate our accomplishments.
Stu
(36:44)
Wow. Tell me a little bit more about the retreat, because I like the sound of that. So what would we expect? I’m guessing it’s going to be great food, lots of meditation, exercise, communication, things like that.
Bela
(36:56)
Absolutely. Workshops, a lot of great times. We’re also going to have rituals. A lot of people in Tulum are very spiritual, so we’re going to have some spiritual ceremonies as well. And it’s just a matter of celebrating our accomplishments. We start February 6th and it goes until the end of April. So we have entire three months of deep work to really get you from where you are to where you want to go and be part of an amazing community where we’re all looking to achieve higher and better results.
Stu
(37:34)
Wow. Okay. Well, look, no doubt we’ll put all of the details for that in the show notes as well, but I’m kind of intrigued then just to tap into a little bit of your daily practice in terms of the non-negotiables. So just run us through your day from perhaps the time that you get up to time that you go to bed, how is it that you utilize a whole bunch of the tools and strategies that you teach into your own day?
Bela
(38:05)
Oh, I love that question. That’s awesome. First thing, I wake up at 6:00 AM. I go to my garage where I do my workout. So there’s no excuses for people that say, “I don’t have access to gym.” You can do from anywhere. So you just need a yoga mat and dumpers. We do the routine from 6:15 to 7:00 AM where we do the workout, we do a meditation, we do breath work, and we do stretching. After that, 7:00 AM I go take a shower where I do my daily affirmations. I think about all the positive things I want to bring to my day. I do a little gratitude practice in that shower. After that shower, I go have my breakfast. I then have a book with me. I always like to read in the morning, or if I don’t feel like reading, I listen to a podcast. That’s my time until 8:00 AM to really connect with myself, connect with my vision, learn something new that I haven’t learned before.
(39:02)
And then at 8:00 AM I start having my calls with my clients. I go until 12:00. Then I have a break from 12:00 to 2:00 where I normally go for a walk. I do something related to wellness. I maybe call a friend or my mom or someone I want to talk to. 2:00 PM until 6:00, I’m always on different calls. Again, sometimes it could be a podcast like I am here with you today, or it could be with a prospect, it could be with a client, it could be with opportunities I want to embody. And then at 6:00, I’m completely free to do whatever I want with my life. If it’s either having dinner with a friend, it is watching a movie, it is unwinding, it is again reading more, whatever that is. I try to encompass my busy day from 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM and then have a break between 6:00 to 10:00. And then always going to bed around 10:00. If I have to go past that, I try to incorporate some naps throughout the day, the following day, just to make sure I have the time to recharge my body.
(40:07)
When it comes to food, I have breakfast in the morning, I have lunch around 12:00, and I always work on creating a plan for including protein, carbs, and fats in my plate every single time for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And in between, I always have some snacks if it’s nuts, if it’s a protein bar, if it’s a protein shake, whatever that is, where I always try to get my body nourished to get the best possible results.
Stu
(40:37)
And do you have a go-to breakfast, something that is just your automatic to kickstart the day?
Bela
(40:44)
Yes. Again, my sweet tooth, it’s always ongoing. So I like my oatmeal. I make protein oatmeal in the morning, so I have protein with almond milk, with oats, and then I put berries, banana, honey and sim. So that’s like really the deliciousness in one little box.
Stu
(41:09)
Yeah, you got a sweet flavor in there, that’s for sure and it’s great. And it’s good to get the protein in because that kind of changes the way that the body recognizes that meal as well and makes it even more beneficial after the workout.
Bela
(41:21)
Absolutely.
Stu
(41:22)
Oh, that’s great. Fantastic. Well, Bela, we’re just about coming up on time. So what’s next? Obviously we’ve just mentioned you’ve got masterclass and is that going to take you through to the end of this year or have you got other things in the pipeline?
Bela
(41:37)
Yes, I have that masterclass starting February 6th, and then I have another one starting August 14th.
Stu
(41:43)
Oh, wow.
Bela
(41:44)
So people have two opportunities to either join this one or the following one. This retreat is going to be in Tulum the first one, and the second one is going to be in Colombia in Katahina. So whoever wants to join each one, you have a different experience as far as the final destination, but neither of those would be great. And we have some events as well, so if you want to join the local events in Atlanta, you’re more than welcome to.
Stu
(42:10)
Wow, fantastic. Busy. Very, very busy. And for all of our listeners that want to find out more about you, whether it be social, look at the B-FIT program, the masterclass or the retreats, where can we send them?
Bela
(42:26)
Yes, it’s www.bfitatl.com.
Stu
(42:36)
Brilliant. Fantastic. Bela, I really enjoyed this conversation. Thank you so much for sharing some of your time today, and we’ll put everything that we’ve spoken about in the show notes and just want to share this with our audience and hopefully they can connect with you in the future. Thanks so much.
Bela
(42:49)
Perfect. Thank you.
Stu
(42:50)
Thank you. Bye-bye.
