INTRODUCTION

Lesley Logan 0:00
Hello, Be It babe. Welcome back to the Be It Till You See It Podcast. I’m so excited. I have a dear friend Natasha Caleel here. She is incredible. Ladies, this one is for you, especially my mama’s out there. If you’re not a mom, I hope you still listen because I found it to be very refreshing. I actually found lots of it, things that we can apply to ourselves, because it doesn’t matter if you are a mom or not. For some reason, women, we put a lot of pressure on ourselves, like a lot, to do a lot of things perfectly, to be all these things and like, it’s really easy to lose yourself in the work or the people that depend on you, whether they’re little ones or partners, and team members. So so please listen to this, because the advice she has is something that anyone can use. And she’s such a joyous, generous human being. And I, for you, women out there with little ones, I hope you check out the workouts that she has. So it’s, you know, I… It’s amazing to me, the all the different things that we can go out there and do. Like, growing up, I never could be a podcaster because it didn’t exist. And so I can see like how it’s really funny when people ask, “What you want to be when you grow up? It’s like, “Did you always want to be that when you grew up?” It’s like, a lot of things that we’re all doing didn’t even exist 10 years ago. And so it’s funny how we think that life has to be linear, when like, it’s not like it’s actually not in any way. And so you’ll see with Natasha story that it isn’t linear. But it all adds up to like what she’s created for herself, to help women around her. And I share that and I point that out. And I really want you to listen to that. Because if you’re feeling stuck, if you’re feeling like, “Okay, but I did this thing over here. And I did this thing over here. I did this thing over here. And none of those things connect.” I bet they do. I bet there’s actually a common thread that you can bring in there. Because it’s you, you’re already the common thread. But also like there’s a skill set that each one of those gives you that you can create something so unique, that really is solving a problem that someone has, and honestly, if you can solve people’s problems, you can do anything. Right? Like it’s really like that’s what people want. They just want to problem be solved. No, we all have obstacles no matter who we are. So, well, I’ll stop talking, you’re gonna listen to Natasha, she’s amazing. And let us know how these tips and her story helps your life by tagging us on the @be_it_pod. And here’s Natasha.

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Lesley Logan 2:15

Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I’m Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I’ve trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it’s the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring Bold, Executable, Intrinsic and Targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It’s a practice, not a perfect. Let’s get started.

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Lesley Logan 2:56
Hello Be It babes. I’ve got my friend Natasha Caleel here. Y’all, like I’ve just, I met this woman in a room hotel (Lesley and Natasha laughs) situation. And like, we go around, everyone’s talking about what they do like in a sentence and like an interesting fact about them. And I just was obsessed with what you do and your passion on this planet because you really are here to help so many women. So I knew I wanted to be friends with you. And we continue to get to hang out together. I get to see her next week in LA in real life, which is so fun. (Natasha: I know. I’m so excited.) I just really anytime I can be in person with people. I’m like, “Oh…” That is an introvert. But that’s because I’ve been inside so long. I’m like, “The introvert is ready… (Natasha: Let me out.) Let me out.” So Natasha, can you tell everyone, who you are and what you’re doing these days?

Natasha Caleel 3:43
Yeah, of course. So I am the owner of Fit Mama Santa Barbara. I coach women both locally and online. And I help them really embrace their strength and feel strong and confident in their own skin. My background is as an occupational therapist, and I’m now working as a woman’s health coach specializing in prenatal and postpartum.

Lesley Logan 4:02
That is so cool. That is so cool. So okay, so did you start off as occupational therapist and then get into like, Fit Mama, like, or is it the other way around? Like you’re helping women in postpartum? (Natasha: So…) And then you became like, how did it start?

Natasha Caleel 4:16
No. Yeah, so it’s really interesting. So I actually, my undergrad was in Kinesiology. So I worked as a personal trainer all through school, you know, that’s what I kind of was doing for a while. And then I went back to school to become an occupational therapist, and started my career was really into that. And then I had my daughter. And obviously, that changes the whole narrative. (Lesley laughs) it’s all of a sudden, I realized, like, “Oh, man, like, I can’t just jump right back into all the exercise I was doing. Like, there is a lot of rehab stuff that needs to go on here.” So that’s why my business started and I’ve been able to kind of blend that therapy side with the personal training and really help women heal their core from the inside out and work on all those healthy habits to really get you bent back into a routine after having a kid.

Lesley Logan 4:16
Yeah. And I love that. It’s like, you know, from necessity you created it? (Lesley laughs) (Natasha: Oh, absolutely. Yeah.) I think that like a lot of people get stuck on like what to do. And it’s like, actually, it’s like the thing that you probably think everyone is doing. But you figured it out like. (Lesley and Natasha laughs) Right?

Natasha Caleel 5:20
Well, and the thing was so crazy. Like, after I had my kid, I started looking at places locally, and I’m like, “Okay, there’s got to be people here doing postpartum exercise.” And at the time, there really weren’t that many people. So I was like, “Well, I guess I’m doing it. Here we go.”

Lesley Logan 5:36
Okay, so have you always been a self starter? Or is that like, just because you were like, “I really used to be fit and felt confident in my body and now I don’t.” And so you’re on a mission like or …

Natasha Caleel 5:46
Um, a little bit of both. I’ve definitely always been a very independent, like, forward driving person. (Lesley: Yeah) So, I think that personality type mix with having something that I saw a need for. That’s why that was kind of born. So,

Lesley Logan 6:02
So you know, can we talk a little bit about … I mean, like, if you’re listening, you’re not pre postnatal right now. (Natasha laughs) Take this as information and there’ll be some more things here. But I’m curious because I am not one of those. But I have seen women change. I’ve had clients who are pre postnatal, (Natasha: Mm-hmm) like, you know, of course, like with my limited expertise, been able to work with them. But, you know, what I’ve seen is like, there is like a lack of confidence, or there’s almost like, it’s almost like they feel foreign in the body (Natasha: Yeah) that there. So can you talk about like, what, what happens to a woman postpartum that is kind of making this feeling happen? Because you said like, you’re like, “I’m just gonna go back to working out the way it was.” And you’re like, “Oh, that doesn’t. That’s not working.” So talk about like, (Natasha: Totally) what’s that process? Like, and why is it affecting women that way?

Natasha Caleel 6:52
Yeah, absolutely. And I think a lot of the things actually do carry over to other clientele as well. So it’s the same principles that apply if you’re recovering from an injury, or maybe something happened where you had to take time off from exercise. And getting back into it is no longer just, “Okay, I just need to go back to the gym.” We both know, there’s a lot of mindset work behind that, a lot of physical recovery and building back up that strength and endurance. And so that’s a lot of the same things that apply with the postpartum clients as well. So, I find the number one thing that is so hard for all my clients is that mindset shift of you no longer are just responsible for yourself. So prior to having a kid, and I know this, and it’s something I never even really thought about that deeply. I was like, “Oh, I go to the gym after work. That’s what I do.” And all of a sudden, it’s like, “Well, now I have to pick up my kid from preschool, and make it home and make dinner and clean up and do all these things.” So I no longer I’m just focused on me. And so I think that’s been a big part of my teaching with my clients is finding out a way to make exercise and make healthy living work for you in your current situation. Right?

Lesley Logan 8:05
Yeah. Yeah, cuz what also changes, right because, like, (Natasha: Absolutely) and changes for anyone, whether I don’t have a kid, but like, all of a sudden, my dog had his paw wrapped up. And so (Natasha: Right) now I have to carry him to the backyard,(Natasha: Oh, my gosh) to go the bathroom because homeboy refuse to walk on it. (Lesley laughs) (Natasha: Oh, my gosh) So carry the 50 pound dog out. Then I need to carry the 50 pound dog and and I have to help on the end, like so your routine can change and for any reason. (Natasha: Oh, absolutely.) And so what I do find interesting, though, with parents is that like it, it’s almost like the pendulum swings the other way. So they (Natasha: Mm-hmm) go from being so like, “I’m about me, and I’m taking care of me” and maybe your partner and like your job to like, “Well, now I’m all about the baby.” Because (Natasha: Yes) obviously the baby can’t (Natasha: Yeah) do it for itself. So that’s fine. (Natasha laughs) But like, there’s almost like no, “I” anymore. There’s no self thing and like so how do you help them with that? Because this is like, I feel like people look at me like I’m a crazy person, like, “You actually have to put your mask on first.” That’s what they say at the airport. (Natasha: Absolutely) (Lesley laughs)

Natasha Caleel 8:34
Well, it’s so true. And I think making people realize that it doesn’t have to be perfect. And I know this is something that you talk about a lot. And I really tried to drive home with my clients. Like, even if you only have 10 minutes to do something, that’s great. There’s still 10 minutes more than you were going to do at all. So you know if you are going into a workout routine, and you’re like, “Okay, I’m going to sign up for this exercise class. And I’m gonna go five days a week, and it’s an hour and a half out of my day, every day.” You’re never going to be able to do that. (Lesley: Right) So what can you do instead? So what’s like a realistic goal that you can stick with? It’s all about consistency. We all know, in order to reach our goals, we got to be consistent. So what can you do that’s going to keep you consistent so that you’re not flip flopping back and forth between feeling guilty about not being able to do things and then like doing things for a short while and then completely falling off track. So I think with just parenthood in general, it’s being a little bit kinder to yourself. And I found this even with work, where I’m like, “Okay, some weeks, my daughter requires a whole lot of my attention.” And I might not get everything done on my checklist. And that’s okay. It can always be carried over to the next week.

Lesley Logan 10:14
Right. All right, well, that’s it. Like, unless you’re listening to this and you are like some sort of surgeon and people need your surgery … (Natasha: Right, yeah) Today, the mo… the majority of us everything can can have a little bit of a leeway. And I’m someone who sets a deadline sooner, so that I do have room to push it (Nastasha: Yeah…) back. (Lesley laughs) (Natasha: Totally. I know. Oh man.) But you have to know yourself. So um, so when when you work with women on on this, like, are you doing nutritional help, like training help? Is it more mindset or or as a holistic? Like, what do you find is like the best way to help women in this, in their postpartum need.

Natasha Caleel 10:50
Yeah, definitely, I feel so if you know anything about occupational therapy. So occupational therapy really looks at the whole person. So it’s looking at the person, the environment and the things that they have to do in their daily life. So I really use those principles in my training, because if we’re just working on the person, and you’re not addressing any of the other things, you’re going to have some setbacks there.

Lesley Logan 11:12
Oh, this is fascinating, because I don’t think people know the difference between occupational therapy and like physical therapy, because when you go to physical therapy, like, (Natasha: Yeah) at least my experiences, like they work, I went to physical therapy after I broke my leg. (Natasha: Mm-hmm) And, and the guy’s like, “Yeah, I don’t think it’s your leg that is the problem. I think it’s your back. So we have to go back to the doctor to talk about that.” And I was like … (Natasha: Oh, no.) Oh, my God. (Lesley and Natasha laughs)

Natasha Caleel 11:32
Great. You’re like, “Can you just fix my leg that’s why I’m here.”

Lesley Logan 11:35
What the heck? So you’re, so occupational therapy is very holistic, you’re looking at all of it to make it (Natasha: Yeah) okay.

Natasha Caleel 11:42
So a lot of times, I’ll give an example because it is a super common question. People are like, “Wait a second, like, what’s the difference.” So if I go to someone’s home, for example, and they have a broken leg. I’m going to look at the bathroom setup. I’m going to look at their environment. I’m going to look at the support that they have at home, in addition to working with the person, one on one with their exercises, and all the other things. So it’s more, you’re looking at the person, but then you’re looking at everything else around them, as opposed to the physical therapist will come in and be like, “Okay, I’m going to look at these muscles in this range of motion. And this is exactly what we need to work on.”

Lesley Logan 12:16
So fascinating. Everyone should be an occupational therapist as well … (Natasha laughs) But like, it’s true, because that’s, that’s something as a habits coach, you know, we both (Natasha: Mm-hmm) talk to people on habits, like when people say, “I’m going to work out everyday for an hour.” And I’m like, “Okay, that’s, do you have the ability …” Like (Natasha: Yeah) that’s the first question, “Do you have the ability (Natasha: Yeah) to work out for an hour?” You know, so if most people don’t like, for me to have time to work out for an hour straight? (Natasha: Yeah, it’s a lot.) It’s a lot like we have, as a family, we go and work out at a place and it is an hour and 15 minutes of our time, because we we (Natasha: Right) literally five minutes before, hope, we don’t get a train. (Lesley laughs) (Natasha: Yeah… exactly) We get there and it’s an hour and we do it as a family. And it’s fun, it’s fun, something we do as a family. (Natasha: I love that.) But I couldn’t do it. I wouldn’t have that time for just myself. Because like so I break mine up that’s my workouts like 20 minutes at piece, you know, cuz I (Natasha: Yeah) get 20 minutes for myself. So I do think that most people don’t focus on ability. And I love that you do that? Because you’re like, “Okay, is the bathroom even able for you to move around in here with your crutches or whatever and …” (Natasha: Totally) What if we… (Natasha: Totally) Wouldn’t it be cool if we all do that in our life with everything we’re like, about to do? It’s like, “Do I have the ability? Is my house set up? Is my schedule set up?” Like what… (Natasha: Right) Yeah, okay, super cool. So, um, so when you, when did you start? I guess wondering, like, what made you draw and get drawn into an occupational therapy? And like, how did you start to see like, “I can do this and use it at everything that I do.”

Natasha Caleel 13:41
So this is actually I did not come to this revelation until I actually started working with women and was doing the postpartum personal training. Like when I first started with that, I was really focused just on the physical. So I was focused on healing people’s core, that was what I was doing, I was going to help them close their diastasis recti, I was gonna help them with their pelvic floor and that was it. But then as you know, as you start coaching people, one on one, all these other things come up. And that’s when I started to see all the similarities. I’m like, “Well, wait a second, like, this is the stuff I used to do with my old people with occupational therapy. And now I’m implementing the same strategies just in a whole different light.” So really working in like, you know, with my occupational therapy clients, we’re talking about habits, we’re talking about creating routine and like finding structure in your day so that you can get in your therapy exercises so that you can do the things that you need to do throughout the day. And all of a sudden, I was talking about all the same things, but in relation to being a mother. (Lesley: Yeah) So that’s how that kind of got blended and overlapped.

Lesley Logan 14:42
See, I love this because I feel like a lot of people get stuck on like the, “Who am I? And I didn’t have this.” And like you, didn’t get (Natasha: Yes) you know what I mean? Like, like, whatever … (Natasha: I didn’t sure with much of a plan to tell you that truth.) (Natasha laughs) Right? People think there has to be a plan and then it should (Natasha: Yeah) be linear and like, you know, you and I both run our own companies and so we’re very aware, how not linear it is. (Natasha: Yes) (Natasha and Lesley laughs) (Natasha: …) Yeah, yeah, yeah I think, you know, it’s so good for people to hear from another woman who is a mom that like, there wasn’t much of a plan, and you kind of like started over here, and then you got drawn over to this point. And then you took a little bit of that. And you know, I think that can be really freeing and inspirational for people to hear, because it’s like, I just don’t, I don’t know, who starts out exactly doing what they want to do. And they’re still I find that to be very rare.

Natasha Caleel 15:29
Oh and it keeps, and it keeps evolving too because I find over I’ve been doing this now for eight years. So I started when my daughter was born, she’s going to be almost eight this year. And it’s really evolved over that time, because my clients have evolved, and I’ve evolved. So now I’m more attracting clients that are in a similar stage of me, stage as me with young kids at home, because that’s where I am. So people look at you, and they’re like, “Okay…” Like, it always says, “If you want to be healthy, you do what healthy people do.” Right? So someone looks at me online, and they’re like, “Oh, well, she looks healthy. And she can exercise and she has an eight year old. So I can do that too.” (Lesley: Right) Right? So, I think …

Lesley Logan 15:30
… because if you can see it, you can be it. Right? So, yeah.

Natasha Caleel 16:08
Totally, yeah. And like I really evolved from that point of like, “Okay, we’re doing baby wearing exercises with your newborns.” To now like a more holistic health coaching type practice, because I’m not, I don’t have a newborn to do baby wearing exercises. Right? (Lesley and Natasha laughs)

Lesley Logan 16:24
I don’t know, do you just borrow people’s newborns for that? You’re like …

Yeah exactly, let me borrow your baby, “Here’s my baby on loan.”

You go, “I have a potato sack, you’ll have a baby.” (Lesley and Natasha laughs)

Natasha Caleel 16:35
Yeah, like totally, it just got to the point where I was like, “Okay, I’m so not into that anymore. Like I need to (Lesley: Well …) shift and grow.

Lesley Logan 16:40
I also think like, at some point, maybe also, you know, you’re used to babies crying all the time. And then you kind of get to the point where you don’t have babies crying all the time. And they’re like, (Natasha: Right) “Oh, they’re crying all the time.” (Natasha and Lesley laughs)

Natasha Caleel 16:52
I know. Well, the nice thing is, is I still see a couple in person, people who like to bring their babies in and I get my total baby fix. You know, I’m like, “Okay, this is great. I can take the pictures and send them home.”

Lesley Logan 17:04
Yes, that’s exactly it. I love the idea of like, a moment, like, we’ll just borrow that. (Natasha: Yes. Will do borrow that.) So, okay, um, how, what are some things that you’ve done in, in your life when you, like, do do things? Like, are you a manifester or a journaler? Did you like how do you make, how do you take your busy life with a child and like make things happen that are maybe outside of your expertise or your knowledge in the moment? Right?

Natasha Caleel 17:30
Oh, gosh, yeah, good question because I am not particularly a journaler. I’ve never been into that, but very much into manifesting. And I remember when I first moved to Santa Barbara, I know you’ve been to Santa Barbara. (Lesley: It’s beautiful.) So beautiful homes … I’ve been to so many beautiful homes there. I’m just like, “Oh my gosh, like how?” (Lesley: Yeah) So I remember when I first started working in town, and I was going to people’s houses, I would look around and be like, “Oh my gosh, like, who are these people? And how do they live here?” (Natasha laughs)

Lesley Logan 17:59
Right? (Natasha: And I made it my mission.) I know from LA … I would go to people’s house. And I’m like, “How did they buy this house? But how?” (Lesley laughs)

Natasha Caleel 17:59
Yes. It like, just crazy, right? And that became very much my mission of like, “Alright, I’m going to make it. I’m going to figure out how to make this work.” And it was really messy. And there’s lots of ups and downs. And I’ve had a lot of setbacks in my life. But now I’ve been here 10 years. And I’m finally at a point where I’m like, “I’m comfortable in Santa Barbara and this is where I live. And this is the life that I’m living.” And if you would ask me 10 years ago, I’d be like, “oh, yeah, no way.” Right?

Lesley Logan 18:33
That’s so cool. That is so so like, instead of like going, “Oh, this could never happen to me. And like maybe not like no way.” But like, you, you saw these places and opportunities is like permission like that… (Natasha: Absolutely) That’s really cool. How … I mean, that’s hard, right? That’s like, it’s like … (Natasha: It’s so hard, yeah) On the days, like were their days that you didn’t give yourself that permission. Like how did you catch yourself? Like, you know what I mean? Like, is there …

Natasha Caleel 19:02
Well you thought you very much fall into. So I went through a period where I got divorced. And that was obviously tough, both mentally, financially, everything. And so during that time, it was really hard to not play the victim. And to not I was still working, I’m still going to people’s houses, watching people live their fabulous lives, while I was completely struggling. So it was really hard for me to not be like, “Well, it’s because they’re lucky. Like they didn’t have hard things happen to them.” But then you realize everyone actually has hard things happen to them. It’s just a matter of overcoming that and working through it and not getting put in that mindset of like, “Why me?” (Lesley: Yeah) So I find being able to break out of that and being able to be like, “Okay, you know what, this was an opportunity for growth. This was a chance to reinvent myself to make decisions for myself. So no longer basing my decisions on other people in my life.” And that’s what really helped me overcome that and get to the point where I’m like, “Alright, I still have the same vision. I still have the same goal. I’m gonna make it work. And then it’s just a matter of taking a different way to get there.” So,

Lesley Logan 20:05
Yeah, I think that’s… Thank you for sharing that because I do think that is, that is that, the well there’s attention that we get if there’s a “why me” (Natasha: Yes) as an attention that we can get as as and not to say that anytime you’re like, “Oh my God, this happened to me” that you’re playing a victim role like bad things … (Natasha: No, of course not.) that is the consistency like how long are you playing the record of (Natasha: Right) that issue that happened to you versus like, if it you know, like, are you healing through it or are you staying in it? Because you get there’s a different sort of attention you get. So I love that you catch yourself and then and then (Natasha: Yeah) take a moment and realize like, actually, like we’re all, we’re all dealing with obstacles every single day. And it’s really, it really is a muscle that mindset of like getting over it or seeing it as an opportunity or going, “How do I like handle this right now?” You know, so

Natasha Caleel 20:53
Oh, absolutely. And I feel too when you’re looking at just your growth as a person, that you can never really move on to the next step until you heal from those things that happen. So I spent a lot of time, a lot of time kind of introspec… (Lesley: Yeah, intropec… introspective.) (Natasha laughs) (Lesley: Yeah … we’re good.) Yeah, you know, I’m talking about. So I spent a lot of time focusing on that, and focusing on what I needed to do to heal myself so that I could become the person that I knew I could be.

Lesley Logan 21:24
Yeah. Well, and that just made me think of like, well you just said, “You can’t move on to the next step until you heal where you’re at.” Right? And like, (Natasha: Yes. Absolutely) that’s just like, such in line with, like, the work that you do with the women that you’re with, like, even if they’re not coming to you now. Because now you’re working with people with young kids if those (Natasha: Right) women didn’t heal, (Natasha: Yes) from the pregnancy, it’s like they get to like, start off (Natasha: You don’t skip ahead.) Yeah, there’s no, there’s no skipping. (Lesley and Natasha laughs)

Natasha Caleel 21:51
Totally, you can just like, you know, that TikTok where it’s like, “Can we skip to the good part?” Yeah … (Lesley: Yeah) it doesn’t work.

Lesley Logan 21:56
It doesn’t work. No, no, especially with our bodies, like they do require, they require (Natasha: Absolutely) steps. So they require that foundation. So I think that is a an interesting thing that you can take into your life. So when you’re working with women, and they have tried to skip a step, or they’ve been told that they can skip a step, because a lot of people, you know, think, “Oh, I’ll just work out doing what I did before. Like, I don’t need to go and do the pre postnatal thing. Everything was fine.” Like maybe they had (Natasha: Right) some amazing genetic trait. No diathesis problems, you know (Natasha: Yeah. Yes, exactly.) … though, women who were like born with like a net, everything was good. Even they can’t skip a step. Even there is … there’s a healing that has to happen. Right? So what is it, what do you do with them?

Natasha Caleel 22:41
No. That’s a great question. I find so once again, there is maybe I’ve worked with hundreds of women. And I say maybe 1% of people are like, “Yes, six weeks postpartum, I feel great. There’s nothing wrong with me. I can get right back to my exercises.” Because the bottom line is when you work with a professional who’s really looking at your movement patterns and looking at the imbalances between muscles and different weaknesses, you can always find something. (Lesley: Yeah) There’s always something to improve on. Like one of my clients said the other day, she’s like, “Will I ever be like perfect? Will I ever get to the point where everything is balanced?” I’m like, “No,” because even me every day I’m like, “Oh, yeah, this glutes a little weaker. I should work on that.”

Lesley Logan 23:19
I mean, I broke my right leg. My left (Natasha: Yes, yeah) my left glute is the, is my weak one. Broke my right leg. So I thought, “Oh, guess what? I can do the … (Natasha: … that left glute.) my right glute. And like to sit on the toilet. It’s like a left pis… like pistol squat. Getting up … (Natasha: Yeah, yeah) and I was like, “This left glute is gonna be so strong.” It’s still so freakin’ weak. And it was the working like for 8 weeks. (Natasha and Lesley laughs) (Natasha: What the heck?) Yeah and I’m a professional and I know how to do it. And my right (Natasha: Totally) leg still dominant. (Lesley laughs)

Natasha Caleel 23:47
Yep. No, I feel that. So that’s what I work on with people is really looking at what do we need to focus on? And what do we need to not focus on so much. So I find a lot of the postpartum programs are very much into like, “Don’t do this, don’t do that. You’re not allowed to do this.” And there’s all these rules around what you can’t do. And sometimes it’s not that you can’t do things, you just need to do them properly. So, (Lesley: Right) So that’s what it’s really teaching people how to get to know their body, how to see when their breathing is not working for them when their muscles are not coordinated when they do have those like left side or right side dominant type patterns. And then working on the core exercises and building up endurance and all those other things that we work into people’s programs to make it so that in six months or however long it takes, they can go back to the exercise class that they’re doing, or they can go back to CrossFit or whatever they love to do. And be like, “I feel strong enough to do this. And I’m not going to hurt myself.”

Lesley Logan 24:41
Yes, that is what cool, because well that creates confidence. Right? (Natasha: Absolutely) And you know, I think if we have confidence on one area, it’s easier for us to have confidence in another area. And so giving women that confidence that they can go back to CrossFit or go to do these other things (Natasha: Yes) and work but yeah, it’s true. I mean, there is no such thing as perfect. It’s such a contextual thing. And like, even like you might have a day where like, everything is aligned and everything is working out, and then I find that then I just trip on a sidewalk and like, do you know, you don’t (Natasha: Totally) stepped wrong. And then all of a sudden, it’s like, “Up, everything’s off again.” (Lesley laughs) (Natasha: Yeah. Yeah) (Natasha laughs) So Natasha, what are you like what is something that you’re working on right now that’s maybe outside of your comfort zone or that, like you’re trying to like, tell yourself like, “you can do this,” even though maybe you don’t have evidence for it yet? Is there anything that you’re doing right now …

Natasha Caleel 25:29
Oh, my gosh. So I have been, I have to admit, I’ve been in a major, like self growth type time of my life at the moment. Because more I’m trying to find ways I’m like, “Okay, who am I outside of being a mom and being a business owner?” Like, “What else can I do?” Right? I can’t just work out all the time. And it can’t just be a mom all the time. So I’ve been cycling through different hobbies to try to figure out what is going to stick? (Lesley: That’s fun) Um, yeah, so I was doing tennis lessons for a while. And I have to say, I don’t know if I’ll ever be good at tennis. (Natasha laughs)

Lesley Logan 26:04
Anything with hand, eye coordination, I just (Natasha: Yeah) I aspire, I look at it. I’m like, “Look at that. That looks …” I mean, like, “look at their legs, tennis legs (Natasha: Yes) love.”

Natasha Caleel 26:09
… I looked like I should be able to play tennis. Like I really liked (Lesley: Yeah) people look at me and they’re like, “Oh, she looks athletic. She should play. It’s bad. It’s like real bad.” So I might skip out on the tennis for a little bit. I might have to go down to pickleball. I feel like that’s more my speed.

Lesley Logan 26:25
People are obsessed with pickleball around here. (Natasha: Yes) And like it’s like pickleball season because it’s not too hot. And like the pickleball (Natasha: Yeah) thing is, like on top of a casino out here. And they’re like, “You have to come.” And I’m like, “I don’t even know if I have a hand eye coordination for that.” (Lesley laughs)

Natasha Caleel 26:38
Yeah. Like, it’s, it’s easier. It definitely is more fun. It’s more fun. So I was doing that and then recently, I started taking pottery lessons. So doing pottery on a wheel. And once again, something completely outside my comfort zone. Like we had to introduce ourselves the first class and they’re like, “So what do you do whenever …” I’m like, “I’m a personal trainer, and I’ve never touched clay before.” (Lesley: Yeah) (Natasha laughs) So they’re like, “Okay, great.” So that’s been really fun. It’s actually been like very meditative for me. So I spent three hours there. And it’s just like a time to not think about work and not think about anything else. So it’s been great.

Lesley Logan 27:13
That sounds really cool. That (Natasha: Yeah) actually that sounds like up my speed. Although, I think I could do it. I think I could do that. When we go to Cambodia, we have retreaters, who will be like, “Oh, there’s a potte… pottery class, you can make pottery. (Natasha: Yeah) Have you gone yet?” I’m like, “No, I have not done that one yet.” But I hear people love it (Natasha: I’ll skip that one.) I hear people love it. So that… But I love that you’re like, you’re like trying on hobbies. We had … (Natasha: Yes) That’s actually funny. We had on a guest, his name is Thor. And he was a stay at home dad and then his daughter off to college. And like he’s like, “Um, because when you introduce yourself, people, I wonder what you do? And now I don’t actually …”

Natasha Caleel 27:47
I don’t know. Yeah. (Natasha and Lesley laughs)

Lesley Logan 27:50
“I don’t have a job anymore.” And so he’s like, a, he’s like, tried on different identities. So like, I love that this is becoming like a theme. (Natasha: Yeah) My people like giving themselves permission to just like, “Just try something you’re not good at … your comfort zone.” But it’s true, especially like, you started your business around the same time that you had your child and like, that requires a lot of time, but it sounds like maybe she’s in school more. Maybe you have more free time (Natasha: Oh, totally) and you’re going, “Oh, what do I do now?”

Natasha Caleel 28:16
Yeah, it’s and well and it’s such like this is what I said to my husband, I was like, “It’s really weird, because it’s almost like we have like early empty nester syndrome, because we only have our kids half the time. So we actually have a lot of time where it’s just us at home. And my default is to work more.” So if I have free time, I’m going to do more work. And that’s not great. And obviously, we know that it’s not good for your overall sanity and mental health. (Lesley: It doesn’t make your business better either. ) No, it actually worse, because then you’re just spreading yourself too thin. So that’s kind of where that came from, where I’m like, “Okay, if we don’t have our kids half the time, like we can’t just sit around and stare at each other.” So like, “What are we going to do instead?” Right?

Lesley Logan 28:55
That is cool. That is so (Natasha: Yeah) I love that. So you are early… Well, because you because you mentioned you have a partner now and like so you guys have kids at the same time and then your kids leave at the same time? (Natasha: Yeah. So we did…) Brilliant. Everyone get listening (Natasha: every second weekend.) Brilliant. (Natasha and Lesley laughs)

Natasha Caleel 29:10
I would like to take credit for that. I totally organized it because otherwise we would have like two kids or one kid or it was just kind of crazy. (Lesley: Yeah) So I’m like, “We need some order here like this is not working.”

Lesley Logan 29:21
I have a friend that she has, she had two and he had two and then they had (Natasha: Yeah) one together and so sometimes they had five kids and sometimes they (Natasha: Oh my gosh) have one kid but they never had no kid. (Lesley and Natasha laughs)

Natasha Caleel 29:33
Yeah, yeah, I know. And like the non COVID times, we would actually take a lot of time to travel. So that was nice, because it was really working that when we didn’t have the kids that’s when we can travel. But now obviously we’re not traveling as much so that’s where all these hobbies and I know I’m totally that person that like picked up hobbies during COVID. I was making bread. I was doing all the things but it’s fine.

Lesley Logan 29:53
But also like again, those are it’s play and like ideas (Natasha: Yeah) really come from it and I what I’m like, ladies, if you’re listening like it cannot always be around about the partner or the kids or the job that has to … there has to be something that you’re doing to go, “Does this even bring me joy? (Natasha: Exactly) Does this even bring me joy?” (Natasha: Yes) And like, it sounds like what the pottery you’re getting lost in time. So like, that might be exactly what you need, you know, for now.

Natasha Caleel 30:17
Yes, (Lesley: Yeah) exactly for now. And also like, you know, I’m like, “I’ll do this for six weeks. If I like it, great. I’ll sign up for another six weeks. If not, I can say I learned how to do pottery, like, great.” (Natasha laughs)

Lesley Logan 30:27
Yeah, I just I hope everyone listens like that … like, there’s not one way to do anything. And like, it’s okay. (Natasha: Yeah) And like the curiosity that you’re having is like, really fun. And also better to do it now. And then when you are really empty nesters and you’re like, (Natasha: Yes, exactly.) “Wow, no clue who I’ve been for the last 18 years. Not a clue.” (Lesley laughs)

Natasha Caleel 30:45
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, you need to have your own identity for sure.

Lesley Logan 30:49
Agreed. 100% agree. Okay, Natasha. So this has been really fun. I’m just really love your honesty and like all the different things you’ve given people permission on. If anyone is like, “Okay, she sounds cool. She sounds up my alley. I didn’t actually, I skipped a step. How do I go back?” How do people find you, follow you, get to know you?

Natasha Caleel 31:07
Oh, great question. So I’m very active on Instagram. You can find me on Instagram at @fitmamasb like Santa Barbara. And you can also check out the website, same thing fitmamasb.com. That’s where you’ll find my online programs. Definitely watching my stories, you’ll get to know me a little behind the scenes of who I am and what our life looks like over here. My husband is also quite fit and healthy. So we’re all about living the Fit Life and (Lesley laughs) promoting that. If you do want to try out my mini course I have a free mini course called Living the Fit Life. It’s on the website. It’s fitmamasb course/promo. You can download that.

Lesley Logan 31:44
Perfect. We’ll put all those things in the show notes below, you like easily click the links, everyone. I think that’s, you know, it’s, I think it’d be, I think it’s really important that people can see behind the scenes and they can see your family and they can see that you’re living the life that you’re telling, like you practice what you preach. And like that I find is if anyone’s listening, like I find it when I feel out of alignment. It’s because either like I stopped doing something for me that I’m telling people to do for them, you know, like that. So I I do love Instagram and stories for that because it does kind of keep me on like, “Oh, if I’m going to tell people to take care of themselves first I showed them (Natasha: Yeah) that I’m doing the same thing.” I’m doing it.

Natasha Caleel 32:19
And also and also showing them that it’s not perfect all the time. Right? Like there’s some days where don’t get me wrong. I’m also lying in bed and eating cookies. Like that’s just what happens. (Lesley: I know.) But you know 80% of the time we’re living the Fit Life. (Lesley: Right) We’re doing it. So

Lesley Logan 32:32
Isn’t that the rule 80 20 or some like that … (Natasha: Yeah, exactly.) No, I hear you. I wanted to take a picture today. Housekeeper hadn’t come yet. And also like I had like a reformer in the kitchen and (Natasha: Oh, my God) the wunda chair in the living room and I was like, “So this is this is a hot mess. And this is kind (Natasha: Yeah) of how life is. Pretty much when Rosie isn’t here (Lesley and Natasha laughs) (Natasha: Totally) Bless Brad for letting like Pilates come and just like live around the house.

Natasha Caleel 32:57
You live around the Pilates equipment?

Lesley Logan 32:59
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Even even though we got a bigger place, somehow it still, it still (Natasha: It takes over.) So okay, before I let you go, Natasha, you’ve already mentioned some amazing things. But we love to like give people some BE IT action items. So bold, executable, intrinsic or targeted steps that they can do to be it till they see it. What do you have for us?

Natasha Caleel 33:18
Alright, so one thing that I tell all my clients when they tell me they do not have time to do their core exercises. I’m all about timers, because we can easily set a timer for 10 minutes, do 10 minutes of core exercises and move on with our day without even noticing. So think of how much time you’ll spend sitting scrolling Instagram or on TikTok or whatever you’re doing. You can set a timer for 10 minutes, get it done. Get it over with and check that box. So I’m also like a huge to-do list person. I actually like retro actively write my to-do list. So …

Lesley Logan 33:49
Oh, so you read it afterwards and then check it all off.

Natasha Caleel 33:52
Yeah, cuz then I feel better about it. So like getting those small wins.

Lesley Logan 33:55
You like, “Look at all the things I did.” (Lesley and Natasha laughs) (Natasha: Yeah) That’s so funny. We’re gonna combine that with like Hilary Hartlings ta-da list. She makes everything (Natasha: Yeah) ta-da. Ta-da! So you’re just like, it’s a total ta-da list. You’re not even writing the to-do. I love it.

Natasha Caleel 34:09
Yeah, no, I’m like, like, it’s hilarious to me because I’ll catch myself doing it. I’m like, “Oh, well, I’ll start with a to-do list of things that I need to do. And then I start reading all the things I already did just like in the cross them.” (Lesley: Genius) Like it feels so good.

Lesley Logan 34:20
But genius because we’re so focused on the things we didn’t do. But if you never even wrote the things you did do. (Natasha: Yeah, you’re fine. Yeah) Yeah. I, we love a timer. We have a time cube at our house. (Natasha: Oh, perfect) And (Natasha: Yeah) Brad has his own, I have my own and like we’ve been known to be on airplanes with our time cubes out. (Natasha: Yeah, yeah) You know, cuz it’s like, “Okay, I’ve got like, I got a six hour flight. I got to work on these three things.” And so I set the timer, and like, (Natasha: That’s so smart.) it go off in the ariplane… (Lesley laughs)

Natasha Caleel 34:47
Oh my God. Yeah. They were like, “Who are these weirdos?” (Lesley and Natasha laughs)

Lesley Logan 34:50
They’re like, “Oh my God.” But they have studies y’all that show that time cubes are like actually (Natasha: It’s huge.) It’s huge. It’s huge. It’s huge. So I love that you set a timer. I love that you are like, just do 10 minutes. Like it’s gonna be something. I’m big fan because we have a 15 minute workout that we want people to do because it’s like, if …

Natasha Caleel 35:09
Yes. I saw that I love it.

Lesley Logan 35:10
Okay, but like, thank you. I’m so excited about it. But like, imagine like how good you’re gonna feel if you just did 15 minutes, like …

Natasha Caleel 35:18
Well, and the thing is, most people if they do 15 minutes, they’re probably going to do more. (Lesley: Yeah) Right? (Lesley: Yeah) So if you can do 15 minutes, you can stop there and feel super accomplished. Or you can be like, “Oh, well now I’m kind of in the mood. I’m already my workout clothes. I’m going to go for a walk.” (Lesley: Yeah, exactly.) I like, I love it. I think it’s the perfect amount of time to get started and just do something.

Lesley Logan 35:36
Well, and you’re and I did it because like when we moved here I was there’s, there’s so much to unpack, there’s so much work to do. (Natasha: Oh yeah) Working from home doesn’t mean it’s easy to work out at home. So (Natasha: No) total human being over here. And I was like, “You have to go into your room, my Pilates room for 15 minutes every day. Like you just have to because this is a very expensive room. It’s taking up a lot of space. So if you’re (Natasha: Yes) not going to use it.” So that’s kind of like where the impetus was. But I love that step. It’s so fun. I can’t wait to hear what Brad’s take on it is because he’s when here is this time cube is gonna be obsessed. He’s gonna probably bring us time cube to the …

Natasha Caleel 36:12
I love it. Yeah, bring it next week, please.

Lesley Logan 36:15
Yeah, he’ll bring it to … (Lesley laughs) He’ll bring it to LA when we see each other. (Natasha: Yeah, it’s so cool.) Thank you for being here. Thank you for being so generous with your time and your information. I think you know, you just gave so many women so much permission to be imperfect and to really like not be afraid to actually like heal before you take the next step. And so if you have questions about that, please check out Natasha in the show notes below. She’s at @natashasb on Instagram. I’m sure you can DM her there if you need any questions answered. And how are you to use these tips in your life. Please screenshot it. Tag Natasha, tag the @be_it_pod and let us know how this affected you. We want to hear it and until next time, Be It Till You See It.

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Lesley Logan
That’s all I’ve got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It podcast! One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate this show and leave a review. And, follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to podcasts. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the @be_it_pod on Instagram! I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us help others to BE IT TILL YOU SEE IT. Have an awesome day!

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Lesley Logan
‘Be It Till You See It’ is a production of ‘As The Crows Fly Media’.

Brad Crowell
It’s written, produced, filmed and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan and me, Brad Crowell. Our Associate Producer is Amanda Frattarelli.

Lesley Logan
Kevin Perez at Disenyo handles all of our audio editing.

Brad Crowell
Our theme music is by Ali at APEX Production Music. And our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.

Lesley Logan
Special thanks to our designer Jaira Mandal for creating all of our visuals (which you can’t see because this is a podcast) and our digital producer, Jay Pedroso for editing all video each week so you can.

Brad Crowell
And to Angelina Herico for transcribing each of our episodes so you can find them on our website. And, finally to Meridith Crowell for keeping us all on point and on time.