I Balanced My Hormones and Everything Got Better! | EP 27: Autumn Calabrese

This is about mysterious, lingering problems that you might have no idea where they're coming from. How about unexpected weight gain or difficulty losing weight, Hot flashes, night sweat, night sweats, low energy or fatigue, irregular periods, reduced sex drive, mood swings and irritability, sleep disturbances, brain fog, lack of focus, dry hair, skin issues, bone loss, muscle loss. I could go on and on with this list. Many women are suffering with no clue what it's coming from. And sitting across from me is a super trainer who is one of those women. And you have come up with a program that we're so excited to launch. Bel Vital, the women's hormone health program. And I want to start this podcast with the toughest question.

Okay, let's just get it out of the way. What is it? Well, and hi, how are you? Thanks for having me.

It's good to have you here. It's about time, right? If anybody has dealt with lifestyle issues over the course of trying to solve them, being creative, being aggressive, being disciplined, you have from portion control to putting together programs that helps abs and butt and weight loss with time, nutrition and. And then the four week protocol. Four weeks for everybody. And now you find yourself two and a half years ago suffering in silence or maybe noise of your own head, like, how can this possibly be happening to me? So there are millions of people who have gotten results with your programs who are now gonna hear you talk about a program that sort of turns everything upside down in some ways. And we'll go, well, wait a minute. I thought I had the solution. Like, did she trick me all those years? Like, what happened? And how do you answer that with something that called Belvital that is now getting such incredible results for people?

Actually, it's a really easy question because we're not stagnant. So what worked 10 years ago? It doesn't mean that because I had to come up with Belvital. It doesn't mean that portion fix doesn't work or is a bad nutrition program. It doesn't mean that four week gut protocol doesn't work or is a bad program. It means that we are forever changing and I am forever learning. That's the beauty of life, is that we get to be learning and growing always. And this is just the next thing that I had to learn. And I sort of take it as like, I remember when my gut health issues started, there was a time period where when I was going through the gut health issues, it was like a why me? I am so healthy. I eat all the healthy food, I do the exercise. Like, how am I The one suffering with gut health issues. And then I realized two things. One, I got to learn something that I might not have taken the time to start learning about because I was dealing with it. And I got to create something to go help people with that. But I also got to dive deeper into getting to learn myself, my body. And tying together more and more just how intricately related everything is in life. That it's not just the fitness, it's not just the nutrition. For me, a huge reason I have unfortunately continue to have some of my issues, gut health and hormone health is stress. I've, you know, I don't share everything on social media. I don't feel like the need to just blah my whole life out there. But from childhood on, I grew up in a stressful home. I. Even though I have been very successful, that comes with its own stress. I am, I mean, you named a program for me called Control Freak. I think that says it all. I am a control freak. So there's definitely a high level of stress that I put on myself in addition to just regular life.

So.

So that's a very long answer to say that we should never expect that one thing will be the only thing that we ever need. We should expect to have to grow and evolve and tweak. And I don't have one fitness program. If it was one thing works forever and always and only do that, we would have stopped at 21 day fix, which is still a phenomenal program and I still love going back to it. But there's strength training and there's body weight training and there's cardio and there's muscle endurance and there's muscle building. There's all these different ways and having a balance of all of that is important. So it's the same thing when it comes to our nutrition. It's the same thing when it comes to our stress management. There's always these little tweaks that we make along the way.

So what was it about the problems that you were dealing with that led you to this exploration that the outcome was of hormone imbalances.

So it was interesting because.

We were probably, it was probably like a year after the launch of four week gut protocol. So I had been on my gut health journey for many years and was in a really great place with my gut health. And I was feeling really good, really like vibrant and energetic and the bloat had come off and I was like, yes, great, I'm in my groove. And I had actually just done a photo shoot for a clothing line. I was Doing felt phenomenal at the photo shoot. Loved the way everything looked. And a week later, one week later, nothing changed nutritionally for me. Exercise, we go on the Success Club trip, and I had probably gained in that one week, five pounds. That has never happened to me ever, other than maybe when I was pregnant with domestic. Like, I. I'm very consistent with my routine. So much so that when I went to put those. Those are the clothes I brought. The clothes from the photo shoot were the clothes I brought to wear on stage and teach. And they were so tight. Like, I remember being in tears, putting them on and just, like, being like, what the. How am I going to get on this stage? And I know people will look at me, and it's hard because people will look at me and be like, oh, on your worst day, that's. We would love to look like that. But through life, but when you're feeling it and you know what just happened and like, I was just crying all the time. I was like, for no reason, I'm just crying. The weight gain. Like, something is not right. And no sooner did I get home from that cruise, I called my doctor and I was like, what is happening? Like, something is wrong. I can't function like this. Well, the good news was is I had just been to my doctor about four or five weeks earlier. So we had drawn a bunch of blood, saliva, all the things, and we were waiting on the results, and he's like, well, your results just came back, so let's look and see. And he's like, whoa. Like, you have. You've flattened your cortisol curve. This is off. Your estrogen is off. Your progesterone is off. Your. Everything was a mess, which is crazy because it's all the stuff we had been working on. And we were on a zoom. And he just looked at me and he's like, autumn, I can put you. It doesn't matter how many hormone replacement therapies I put you on or how many supplements I give you, if you don't learn to manage this stress, there's only so much that we're going to achieve. So that was a big eye opener for me. I had also. I was like, two months into my Integrative Institute of Nutrition Hormone Health course. So I was starting to learn, and there were just these tiny little things. Like, as I was going through the course, it was so much fun for me because I'd be watching the video and I was like, oh, my God, that's what's happening. This is me. So I'm like, scribbling as fast as I can. Like, okay, this is what's happening here. And oh my gosh, this vitamin is going to relate to this. And oh, if I tweak this. Okay. Oh, I understand what I've been doing over here. Training too hard. Right. Because you're constantly trying to beat your body into submission. Like, I'll just go harder in the gym. I'll just go longer, you know, more stress. Yeah. And more stress on your body.

Yeah.

So, yeah, I was my. I. Weight gain. Hot flashes were crazy. Night sweats were crazy. The crying.

Mood swings obviously come with the crying. There was a, there was a. I, I. My hair, my hair was falling out. That was a big one. I actually remember being on the phone with Matt, who works for you one day, and this was probably like six months before I really realized it was hormones. And I was just breaking down to him like they were asking me for something and I was so stressed out with what I was already doing. And I was like, matt, I am not well. But I wasn't being funny. I was crying and I was like, I'm not well. And he's like, what? And I was like, I'm telling you something's wrong. And I was like, my hair is falling out. Like, I can't stop crying. Poor Matt. He was like, okay, what do we need to do to help you? And I was like, I don't know.

Oh, geez.

But you know, those are the things, like you don't even realize, like, you're freaking out and you don't even know why. Hormonal imbalance.

So how does it go from that diagnosis, hormone imbalances, which your doctor is pointing at your stress, but for you, and you know, you go through the certifications, how does it go from that? You could have created a stress reduction program. You could have just gone with breadwork. How does that turn into a full lifestyle program and a couple of supplements. Like, how do you go from here to there?

Well, as I'm going through my IIN hormone health course, right. That's a seven month intensive course. I'm reading books at the same time by different doctors. So I'm taking the knowledge that I'm getting from all these different places, and I had already been working with my doctor for several years on gut health. Everything's related in your body, so you can't assume that like, okay, why Gut health only affects gut health and hormones are only hormones and like everything's interconnected in our body. So I've already learned a lot about Gut health and how that affects everything. And I'm again, I'm going through the course and I'm learning, okay, these nutrients are affecting hormones, okay? Cortisol is affecting that. Obviously, I'm 20 plus years in the health and wellness industry, so I understand that the type of exercise you do can cause massive cortisol spikes. I understand that stress, both physical, mental, emotional, all of that plays a role. So you can't just look at, okay, I gotta adjust the fitness because that's causing stress. Nutrition can cause stress on your body too. If you're eating foods that you have a sensitivity to, that's stress on your body, it's inflammation on your body. I actually shared a story. Dom and I went to Italy this summer and I made the conscious choice that while I'm in Italy, I'm just enjoying. Like, usually when I'm in Europe, it's a little easier for me to eat. Even the gluten or the dairy or the sugar, it's pretty clean. And I was like, okay, I know these are things that probably shouldn't do a lot of, but we're here, we're gonna have fun. And I did. And I didn't feel anything. Like, I didn't have the gas or the bloating or weight gain or anything like that. But what was interesting was I wear an OURA ring. It's like one of my biohacking tricks and it tracks your stress. Like, that's one reading that it will give you. And I remember looking at my app every day and I was like, this is crazy. My stress level is off the charts right now. Like, the whole day my stress would be up, up, up. And I was like, I'm so relaxed. Like, Dom and I are having the best time. I'm not checking work emails. Like, I feel great. Why am I so stressed? And I was like, ah, I'm eating even though it's cleaner there.

Gluten, dairy, sugar, stress from the inside.

Stress from the inside. So it's all of these things coming together. You can't just fix one thing and think that you're going to fix hormones. You're not going to take a magic pill. You're not going to do one style of workout. You're not going to only adjust the nutrition. And if you don't attack it from all the way around as a lifestyle, you might get a little relief for a little bit, but you're not going to actually work to rebalance things, to rebalance those hormones.

Well, you know, it's interesting, even around the Company like, you know, we talk about all those symptoms, all those things to be suffering from, and particularly hot flashes, night sweats, which when we would say to people around the company, we're going to develop this hormone balancing program, and people would go, oh, for perimenopause and menopause and to balance estrogen and manage the sex hormones, I'm like, no, no, no, that's not what it's about. Oh, are we getting into hormone replacement therapy? No, no, no. This is something for any age. This is something for anybody who's suffering from these things and doesn't understand how these lifestyle choices or the various these things work together are creating these consequences. What was the reaction? You put a test group together of little over 40 people, women of all.

Ages, 20s through 60s.

Wow.

Yeah.

Okay. And was it something that worked for everybody or was it just for the people who were in perimenopause, menopause?

No, it worked for everybody. Literally every. This is. We had, I think, 47 women go through the program. Like I said, from 20s to 60s. I was very adamant, you know, this. That I did not want a paramedic, menopause, menopause program. While this helps women in perimenopause and menopause, I'm watching too many women in their 20s and 30s suffer from all these issues that are medically noted to be from hormonal imbalances. And it's like.

Have we. Have we been suffering like this forever? I don't think we have. Like, this feels like it's a newer problem. So I really wanted to make it something that every woman felt that they could do and use and benefit from. And then obviously, then we. So I write the program, then we've got to say, okay, does it in fact do that? And it did. Every single woman that was in my test group lost weight, had an improvement in their symptoms. And the symptoms were a laundry list for each person, you know, a mix of a lot of the things you said.

We ran the blood work before they started, midway through, and at the end of the program, both blood work and saliva. So we know absolutely what improved. And it was different for everybody. Some people, like their cortisol levels improved, balanced out. Some people, we saw sex hormones improve. We saw people's insulin and glucose levels lower, balance out. It depends on where you start as to what changes you might see in those labs. But overall, all of those symptoms improved. Some of the things that I found to be the most shocking were the fact that, you know, we know once you're in Perimenopause and menopause, there's only so much that you can impact with the sex hormones. But it was interesting when we were interviewing one doctor, as we were bringing on experts, I was speaking with her and she was like, well, you know, you can't really do much with perimenopause and menopause if you can't really influence the hormones at all. And in my mind, and no disrespect to doctors at all, but I was like.

I disagree. I know I'm not the doctor, but I also know, I'm not saying that we, we're going to bring somebody out of menopause. That's not a possibility. But I believe that we can improve things even a little bit.

Sure.

And we saw that. We saw that in women that were already in perimenopause and menopause. We saw sex hormone levels balance out and improve. To see that improvement happen, that's a big deal.

Well, you were careful about the experts that you surrounded yourself with. Like you interviewed a bunch of people.

And ended up with this group.

Who have a specialty in this and really are, which is what I subscribe to.

More what they call, I guess, naturopathic, where you look at the relationship of nature and environment and lifestyle and its effect on your overall well being, likelihood of getting sick and all that. So I wonder why do you think the medical sort of establishment, what they would call Western medicine, is so blase about these various relationships that, you know, you go to a doctor, you go to an urgent care type of place and you walk in there, you know, in general you're going to walk out with some prescription and there's no questions about lifestyle. And what, why do you think medicine in general.

Blows off lifestyle?

Well, you know, it's functional medicine is what we're working with and that's getting the body to function at optimal levels. That's really what we're going for. And I think both Dr. Cole and James Lel both said it in their videos and in their interviews, which is just that they're just, this is not what they're taught in medical school. They, they've got to go search that teaching out in other aspects. I think, you know, again, it's no disrespect to doctors or Western medicine and it definitely has its place. It's not one or the other, it's this and that. But from everything I've heard doctors say, it's a lot of them just aren't trained in it. Yeah, they're not given the Nutrition courses, they're not given the lifestyle fitness, they're given the.

This pill works for this symptom.

Yeah. And that's sometimes I think that's where the breakthroughs come from. You get a person who is not taught in it, meaning. So you don't know what rule you're breaking or what convention conventional wisdom subscribes to. And you're like, you take this, you learn this and you put it together. And that's where a breakthrough comes from. And then all of a sudden that becomes conventional wisdom, which I think is possible for Belvital to teach people that in 12 weeks you really can have these kind of breakthroughs. Which back to the test group, if we can again, 12 week program and you can talk a little bit about how the nutrition works, that's fine. Or people can look at it. Belvital.com But I'm really curious because it's work and for some can be intimidating, this kind of overhaul. What's the first week like? What can people expect? Or the first month, how fast can they start to see improvements and start to feel like this is working, this is worth it.

Again, I think it depends on everybody's individual sort of start point because people are going to be at different places on their journey. But what was really interesting with the test group, and this was even very surprising to me in week one. So obviously our test group was body partners. And a lot of them, people I'm friendly with or friends with, close with, have been following one of my nutrition programs, portion fix 4 week gut protocol, or even following 2B mindset, one of our other nutrition programs. So they had already been putting in work on nutrition. So I tell people in week one, I don't make that big of a change to your nutrition if you've already been doing one of my programs. So, yes, you're starting the fitness five days a week. The workouts are between 30 minutes to an hour. But again, we've got Pilates in there quite a bit, some strength training. You only get cardio one day a week and it's three of the four weeks of each phase. So you don't even have cardio every single week.

The amount of weight that people were dropping in week one was shocking.

Why do you think that was?

I think it's the combination of all of it because you got to understand when you're having these kind of symptoms and you're having the hot flashes, like if you've never had a hot flash, nobody understands it. I know I didn't like people could explain it. And I was like, man, you know, women and their fans and like, what? How bad can it be? Right up until I was like, somebody lit a fire inside of me. I'm cooking from the inside out. And the sweat is pouring off of you, and you're just like, what is happening? So you're pretty desperate to want to feel better.

So, yeah, you get the program. You're very excited to go in and start doing it. Okay, great. Here's week one. We're taking this one week at a time. So, yes, here's the things that we're going to do. Here's what we're adding in. Here's a couple things we're taking out. Here's the fitness. Here's the two supplements that myself and the team came up with, which I think are phenomenal additions to the program. And the stress management. Like, I'm very specific with people. Like, the stress management is not a. This is not a buffet. The program is not a buffet. It's not a. Take what you want from the program. The way the program works is to implement everything I've given you, from the nutrition to the fitness to the supplements, to the stress management. Breath work. The breath work does not. Like. I could literally, while you're asking me a question, I could be doing a breathing exercise to keep my nervous system calm. And I think all of that combined. And that's what it is. It's all of it combined, really just kickstart stuff. And people will see when they do belvital the first month of nutrition. Nutrition changes week by week in phase one, and there's a reason for it. There's some goals that we're working on.

I'm not gonna say what they are. That's in the program. It'll come out as the program comes out. But there's some main goals of phase one, some things that we need to rebalance before we can then move on to the other phases. So that's why the nutrition is getting tweaked week by week in the first phase. And it also makes it, I feel, like, a little bit easier for people to stick with because they're like, great. I'm just looking. Okay, this week is this, and then the next two weeks. Oh, okay. This is this. This is this. Got it. And then the final week, and before you know it, phase one is over. They're feeling fantastic already. They've already seen some big improvements and getting that small win in week one. But what I don't want to do is give false hope I always say this too. I'm very quick to tell people this. Some people will drop weight in week one very quickly and other people, it'll be almost a little bit more of a shock to their system and their body might be like, what's happening? Hold on, time out. And so their weight loss might not come until week two or three. You've got to trust the process. It's not a one week program, it's not a one month program. If you have a week or two or even three weeks where the number isn't moving on the scale. That's why we're looking at measurements. That's why we're looking at sleep quality, mood energy, strength gains in the workouts. All that stuff matters. Are those symptoms going down or improving, however you want to say it, because it is 12 weeks. And really.

You know, I know we, we've got to put a start and end date on programs but for me none of my programs have a real end date. Portion fix is just a lifestyle and four week gut protocol. Yes, it's four weeks. But really.

I don't know why, when you feel better, would you go back to doing what you were doing before?

Obviously I like to put a end date on it so that people are like, okay, yes, point, hold you to a standard.

Yes.

What am I going to get?

This is what happened. Yes. But my point is, is that it's 12 weeks. Yes. Start to finish. But then it's a lifestyle.

Sure.

So it's not something that's not sustainable. That's my point.

Yeah. So we talked about nutrition. We'll get to the supplements. We talked about breath work and stress management. And you referred to fitness and you.

I know the door tracks aren't here.

Because you shot it here, but people don't know that.

So.

So we are in the studio of where they shot the belvatal workouts and this is super interesting. Hopefully we'll roll some footage in because you recreated as a component of the overall fitness program Pilates work that it looks like you're on one of these $10,000 machines. Where did you come up with this idea? How did you develop it? Because it's really impressive to watch.

It was super fun. So actually the idea, I don't know if you remember this or not. The idea came from nine week Control freak because we use the door track and nine week Control freak. So you know, we shot night, we control freak, then we shot off the wall, but we also shot remote control. You were like, great. That door track can go with people Everywhere. Let's give them five workouts that they can do when they're on the go. And I remember being like, oh, my God. I was a little bit brain dead at the time of, like, what else am I going to do on this door track? And I started looking at Pilates moves. I had been certified in mat Pilates years ago. I had not been certified in Reformer, Cadillac, all of the other apparatuses. But when I shot those videos, one workout in particular, I was like, I pulled some Pilates moves into it. And I remember saying, do. And of course, you know, I'm always hinting to you at the next thing I want to do. And you sort of rolled your eyes at me, and I was like, just so you know, there's a program here. And you're like, mm, yeah. But, you know, there's a time and a place. And it made perfect sense with Belvital because, you know, a lot of people will take Pilates to be just stretching and super easy. And it is the furthest thing from the truth. So when I started my Pilates certification through Bossi so Body Arts and Science International, I.

I just remember getting on this equipment, and I was like, this is the hardest freaking thing ever. People are crazy if they think this is easy. It's so much control, the preciseness of every movement, the mobility and the flexibility that comes along with it. And I just remember, like, getting off the equipment, dripping and being like, what? And then feeling so long and lean at the same time. And then going into my strength training workouts and being like, wait a minute, now I feel even better here now that I'm doing this. So it was really fun to get to go through the Bossy certification and learn all the different apparatuses. And as I'm learning them going, okay, it's essentially a cable system and a carriage with the Reformer. So put the slides in there to sort of help mimic the carriage of the Reformer. The door track gives us a different point of pull. So we get to work not just the front of the body, but the back of the body in ways that we don't get to when we're only using dumbbells or weights. And also, the most important reason for it is I'm being very intentional with stress on the body. How intense are the workouts? Where's that cortisol spike happening? How long is that cortisol spike happening? And what am I getting from the workout? So we get big bang for our buck with Pilates in terms of.

Strength, coordination, precision, flow. You're breathing all throughout it. So it even ties breath work into there. So you're getting a lot out of it. But without a massive cortisol spike like you might get from a hiit workout or a strength training workout. That doesn't mean that we never do hiit or we never do strength training. It's in there also, but. But it's a balance to make sure that we're not over taxing our body, our adrenals and hitting that cortisol when we're working so hard to try to balance it out throughout the rest of the day.

Yeah, well, super cool people are gonna be. They're just gonna freak out when they're doing this. Like, everybody's seen these machines. You walk by a Pilates gym, you see these big contraptions. They cost like ten grand.

Don't these things, they're expensive. I mean, in all honesty, I outfitted my home gym with all of it because the amount of hours I had to do to pass the certification, it actually ended up being less expensive. And I had the space because it was 500 hours that I had to do. If I was paying $100 an hour for class, like that adds up real quick. But it is. It's expensive. And it took me a year pacing it out to outfit my home with all of that stuff so that I could be practicing it and. Okay, if I do it over here on the reformer. Now let me take it to the door track. If I set it up for the Cadillac. Okay, what did I do there? Let me take it to the door track. I'm on the wounded chair. Let me take it to the. You know, it was fun like that. But yes, it is very expensive. And it's also very expensive to go take a Pilates class. Like, minimum. If you're in a group setting on a Reformer where Maybe there's like eight people in the class minimum, you're probably paying 35 to $50 an hour here in LA. Here in LA, you're not getting it for under like 85 to 100.

Wow.

Like, you're. Yeah, it's expensive.

It's crazy.

But I wanted to make it available to everybody. The one question I know it's going to come up because I've already been getting it a lot, is are you going to do something like off the wall like you did with nine wing control frame? And the answer is no. There's no way to mimic those pieces of machine like and all of those moves without the door track.

So this thing just. It hooks up to a door like it doesn't look like a door in the set here.

Right. Because we just looks like a frame.

Yeah. But it hooks up to the door. And people can also install it on the wall.

Yes.

Which is the way I have it.

And I think that's the big thing for people to understand is that, yes, we say the door track because that's what makes it super easy. And. But you can install it on your wall, and we have instructions on how to do that safely so it doesn't have to be on the door.

Let's get to the supplements. So those are super unique and took forever. Like, we went through so many rounds and rounds and experimentation, trying things or looking at the marketplace. How did you land where you did with these two? And I know you had a team, PhDs, doctors and all that stuff. Just why these?

I mean, first of all, I've got to give so much credit to our team because I come in and I say, this is what I want. This is what I feel needs to be in there. And then they go through it step by step with me of like, okay, well, we need. Basically, it's a mixture of vitamins, minerals, and different adaptogens, depending on if we're talking about the stress support supplement or the metabolism and blood sugar supplement. But then they start going, okay, we need this in this clinical level and this at this clinical level. And we talked about, do we want to do it as a powder where you could mix it in a drink, do we want to do it in pills? We ultimately landed on, obviously, two formulas. Pill form. You only have to take two pills at a time. So it's really not hard to do. But I am so excited about what is in the formulas and the right amounts that we have in there. That's been. What's so fun is, like, it is a proprietary thing. You can't get something just like these. We looked. That was. The whole thing is like, we look to see, like, is there something out there already? And without having, like, the only other option was, okay, well, I'm going to buy these six supplements here and these over here, and I'll kind of get there. But the fact that we got, you know, all the right vitamins and minerals, the things that are supporting our energy, our B vitamins, vitamin C, our zinc, our magnesium, our ashwagandha, our rhodiola, the guarana.

Just all of it in both of those formulas, they are so effective and so much so that I think you have never had this happen. Right. With test groups. Yeah, we. We wrapped that Test group. And like, two weeks before we were wrapping, we were getting just blown up with emails and texts of like, hey, what about supplements? Because this program doesn't launch for six months and I can't go six months without the supplements. So, like, how do I buy the supplements now?

Yeah. Crazy. We've never seen that. Yeah. And without a doubt, you know, people are loving them. They're not the kind of thing that you just take at a time that you need them. You take them every day and that's what helps sort of harmonize everything.

And you're not going to just take the supplements and improve your hormones. That's just not how it works. Because eventually people will be able to obviously auto ship just the supplements once they've already bought Belvital. So I don't want people to have this misconception that you can take these and then cheat the system of like, I'm going to eat the not so good for me foods and I'm going to be more stressed out, but if I take these, it's going to cancel it out. That's not how it works. It's in conjunction with the proper nutrition, the fitness, the stress management techniques.

Yeah.

That's where you get this. Well, amazing result.

Yeah. And when you stop, like, people really, they look at prices, they look at kits, they look at boxes, and they really, I think, don't consider what's actually in there. I was talking to James Laval, our pharmacist, on this, and he was saying about.

That your nutrition plan is very similar to.

The nutrition plans that he does in his clinics. I guarantee they're charging hundreds, if not thousands of dollars for those nutrition plans. You already said to do this kind of fitness would cost hundreds, if not thousands of dollars to do. These supplements are premium grade, highly researched and tested, and also the actual ingredients in them are tested for potency. And you've got the Breathwork app. Like, all that together should cost hundreds, if not in the thousands.

No, no, Easy.

So.

What do you say to anybody who goes about $299? That sounds kind of expensive. Like, it's. It's pretty amazing.

Yeah. It's funny because I almost get defensive about it a little bit because, you know, when you and I were talking about this and I was like, this needs to be priced higher. Like, yeah, that what they're getting is so much. And so it's just, I think it's really about people understanding. Like, if you went, like you said, if you went to the clinic, if you went to the registered Dietitian, which I know, I understand. I'm not the registered dietitian. I have spent years studying. But we also have registered dietitians on staff that are checking the work. So if you went to the registered dietitian just once or twice, it's probably between 200 and 500. Okay. So if you're going for multiple months in a row and you're getting your nutrition tweaked constantly to go along with what you're trying to accomplish, you're. That alone is. You're in the thousands.

Yeah.

And then I know what I charged As a trainer 10 years ago, what people paid to train with me at the gym. I mean, they were paying 175 for an hour with me.

But I think. I think so while. And I get that. I get that point. I think the real incredible value is the fact that all of, like, somebody could go do that. Like, forget it. I'm going to go find the nutritionist, I'm going to find the fitness person. I'm going to get the app. But you harmonized it all. That's the incredible value of this.

Yes, but, and, but, yes, you could go do that. But like I said, you're not going to get the results from just doing the nutrition. You're not going to get the results from just doing the fitness or just doing the breath work. You might get a little relief, but you're not going to get that full balance. So, yes, it's all there. You don't have to try to figure it out on your own. And, and like I said, if you did go do it on your own, you'd still spend more than 299.

Yeah. Now, I know that you were on a cruise, you met with a bunch of partners, including some of those that were in the test group. Any stories come out of that that were particularly impressive or anything that you learned about the change in lifestyle, the improvements that people saw now that they'd finished the program?

I mean, everybody has amazing stories. So. So one of the girls in our test group, Heather, is a cancer survivor, and she made sure she found me at the first party. And she was like, I just want you to know my doctor wants all of the information on Belvitol, everything you've got. He is so impressed by my labs. This is. This is what her doctor. This is what she's telling me her doctor said.

Right.

He's never seen my blood work so clean. Like, that is such an amazing endorsement. Endorsement and compliment and like, just like, wow. So Heather's was A great story.

One of our girls, you know, Kristen, her husband came up to me with her at the party, and he's like, look, I really want to thank you. Like, our marriage has never been stronger, you know, and they kind of made a joke. Everything from her libido being better to. She was the one telling me. She's like, I don't know what my deal is, but, like, when we started the program, she was like, I can't focus ever. I am a mess around the house. Like, I leave the house messy. I just can't seem to get my act together to do any of the things that I say I'm gonna do. And she's like, you know, my husband and I argue about it a little bit. Not in a way of, like, where he's like, you, little missy, do the chores. It's not that. It was just, I think, both a frustration point for both of them that her focus, like, just wasn't there, you know, squirrel. That kind of thing. And he's like, you know, it's so much better now. And she told me, she said, the second I go off the nutrition a little bit, I feel it happen immediately. She's like, I feel the shift in my attention immediately. Kat, 57 years old. I mean, people have known Kat now since the 21 day fix. This is the best I think I've ever seen her look, since I've known her.

She was the modifier.

She was the modifier in 21 Day Fix, and now she just crushes it in all of her workouts now.

You know, look, we've been doing this for a long time. You've been with the company, what, 12 years?

11.

Okay, 11 years. I've been doing this now for 25 years.

Unfortunately, not everybody who buys a program with great intention follows all the way through. You got some people who just blow your mind, and some people who are just, like, they fall off the wagon and they never go back. What do you think for people who are watching this and they're like, oh, I'd like to do this. How can we advise? What's the difference between those people that don't make it all the way through and the people who, like Kat, like Kristen, like Heather, who buckle down and commit and see it all the way through? Through. What's that difference?

Support, for sure. There's like, this is why people love getting in test groups. Because when you're in the test group, like, not only do they have the support for me, they have the support from each other, and there's Just that little bit. In all honesty, I'm sure there's that little bit of, like, competition that people have. It's not a public thing where they're like, I'm going to be better than you. But I think it's that, like, even when it gets hard, when you're struggling, you pop into that group and you're like, okay, there this person is doing it. I can do it too. Or, you know, they'll put up a post, hey, you know, I'm falling off the wagon a little bit. And there's somebody there to be like, look, it's okay. We're not here to be perfect. Like, let's just get back on it, like, check in with us, like, whatever, post. And I know for us, some things have shifted in the company recently with how our partners and we're more of the affiliate model, but the fact that we still have the ability to host groups, I think is huge. That's human nature. We're not meant to do things completely solo. And while some of us have to, I think life is easier when you got a swim, buddy.

Yeah.

When you have somebody, even if it's just one person to help you along on the hard day.

Is that what happens, like, in week 13, too? Because you'll see somebody, like, have this epiphany, this. All the clouds lift. Look at life. And then they go right back to the alcohol, right back to the sugar. Less consistent with the. With the workouts. Or the stress comes back and they forget how to manage it. Like, does that need the support too? Or what is it that these people get derailed from something that was so great for them?

It's a couple things. I think mindset is so important. It's why my workouts. I'm always giving mindset stuff because I've realized I can give you the best laid plan. But sometimes you got. Well, not sometimes. You have to fix this. You have to fix your mindset if you want to fix anything else. And I also think a lot of times when you're doing something that is working really well and almost starts to feel second nature, you can get complacent with it.

Totally.

So I see that happen a lot. And then the other thing I see happen is this mindset shift of. And it's the wrong mindset to have. I already know how to fix it. So it's okay if I go off the rails a little bit. And that's where it starts to become this vicious mind game that somebody's playing with themselves of like, oh, okay, I'm gonna. We did it. And I look great and I feel great. And I know in week one alone, I lost five pounds. And so, fine, I'm gonna go drink all the alcohol and have a great time this weekend. And what they don't realize is the second you put the alcohol back in now it's harder for your body to detox. You probably didn't get as good of a night's sleep. You're gonna wake up the next day tired. What happens when you're tired? Your body looks for a readily available energy source. What is that? Sugar. Here come the sugar cravings. And you start this vicious cycle. And so the sugar cravings are back. And then it's like, ah, I'll get back to it tomorrow. And then it's like, oh, I know what I need to do. I'll just carb deplete. I'll just, you know, I'll just leave this out. Or I'll just go back to the beginning. They're thinking that they could cheat the system because they're making it about the number on the scale, and they're not making it about their overall well being. So.

It has to be a mindset shift from day one of, hey, this is a lifestyle switch that I need to make. If I have these habits that aren't serving me, then I have to be willing to let these go for good. I'm not saying you can't ever have another drink. I'm not saying you're not gonna have caffeine or something like that. But I'm saying you cannot go back to the behaviors that weren't serving you. And however, you need to remind yourself of that. Right? Like, I don't care if it's a post it on the fridge. Don't go back to old behaviors. Something on your phone if you need a friend to check in. But there has to be something. It's different for everybody. That's the problem, is there's no one way I could tell you make sure you do this to adjust your mindset.

Yeah. Well, it's like you said, that's why the groups can be so helpful. Because I think that really, the joy that you feel from completing this, you actually pay back to the group, to the next people who are doing it. And when you're supporting them to get these results, you're reinforcing that to yourself. And that's cyclical. Like, that is synergy. And all of a sudden, everybody's winning.

Yeah.

Okay, so look, I think Belvital is going to be A game changer.

Millions of women, I think, are going to benefit from it. You've put so much into this and I hope it's incredibly successful both for you and for the company.

But I'll just sort of give you this, like one last opportunity guarantee there's somebody watching this who's just like, maybe I'll do that. What is your advice to the person that's contemplating it? And I tend to think that maybe I'm going to do it means you're not going to do it. So what is your advice to somebody? You can even say it to the camera if you want.

Well, I'm going to say to you, I think maybe I'm going to do it as is more. I have such a fear of failing again and I don't want to feel that pain. And so if somebody's hesitating.

You got to step past the fear and go for it. It's not a failure, it's a learning experience. I think that's a big issue that we have is that it's like this all or nothing mentality of like, I have to do it and I have to be perfect and I'm waiting for the perfect time and it's three months long and there's a holiday and there's a birthday and there's a trip. There's always going to be something. This is your life. What does your health mean to you?

Yeah.

So maybe that's where. Maybe that's where you need to start. What does your health mean to you? The next time that hot flash hits, do you want to keep feeling that or do you want to start to feel better? When the mood swings are there, when the weight is just so frustrating because it just won't come off, you've got to be willing to take the chance and make the change. Otherwise nothing changes. If nothing changes, it's not about being perfect. You don't have to be perfect. I fully expect you to fumble along the way. Your day one is not my day one on this set. The day I step foot on this set, I am two years into development, I have spun around on that damn door track. I literally almost took my fitness expert's head off, almost broke the computer at one point. Like, it's not my day one, it's your day one. So fumble and work through it and grow and get better and learn about yourself. That's what it's about. It's about learning about you, your body, what makes you feel good and what works for you. Go for it.

Love it. Well, belvital.com is the place that people can check it out. You'll see.

Success stories there. If you want to see if there's anybody sort of like you in the place that you are, you'll be able to sort of work your way around. And hopefully, I think millions of people are going to try it, benefit from it, and that'll create this virtuous cycle of more people wanting to do it. So thank you. Great job and been great to have you on the Bodi experience.

Thank you. It's about time.

Thanks, Oliver.