Angela Martindale – The Ultimate Transformation Muse

Angela Martindale’s

Incredible Life Story

Interview by Dawn Allcot and Nadine Christine Hamdan

I was born with a port-wine stain, a birthmark that covers my entire face, inside my ears, throat, roof of my mouth and my hairline. It wasn’t the ideal of what you would define as “a pretty little girl”. Doctors told my parents I would die from my condition. Because I was so loved by my parents, family and sisters I never considered myself different from anyone else. I was four years old when I was first made aware of my birthmark; a little boy pointed to me, then turned to his mom, and stated, “Look Mom, she’s ugly.” Undaunted, I asked the little boy if he would play with me.

It was around Middle School that the kids started being really mean and the bullying began. It prompted me to asked my mother if I could wear make-up to cover my birthmark, and she wouldn’t even consider it until I was in seventh grade. You can imagine the excitement of a young teenager experimenting with make-up. For me it was an amazing time, even though the make-up like pancake mix. For the kids in school, it was just another opportunity to poke fun at me. Thank goodness the makeup industry evolved as I did and I found Estee’ Lauder Daily wear Stay in place make up. I can work out, swim and sweat and it doesn’t move. This gave me motivation to help girls redefine “beauty” as a motivational speaker.

Instead of retreating into a shell as many children who are bullied do, I worked hard to stand out in positive ways. I excelled in school with honors; I was a gymnast, a skier, a diver and an ice skater. I insisted people would notice me, not my birthmark.

Even though I acted like an athlete and considered myself one, in reality I was quite ill.

I spent most of my childhood with a host of mysterious symptoms: severe stomach cramps, chronic fatigue, asthma, bronchial ammonia, sinus issues, headaches, allergies and more. Some doctors blamed my birthmark; others admitted they had no idea. I became a human pin cushion as doctors ran batteries of tests. They pumped me full of antibiotics, which wreaked havoc with my immune system and, often, made me even sicker. ‘I’m an athlete’, I kept thinking. ‘Athletes do not get sick like this’! So much misdiagnosis and ignorance on the part of the doctors and years later I would discover that it could have all been prevented.

While I fancied myself an athlete, my diet was better suited for a couch potato. TV dinners, Wonder bread, Coke and ice cream sandwiches along with other rapidly-burning carbs that cause blood sugar spikes. Taco bell, Arbys, fast food, and pizza, Dairy products. Potatoes and pasta. And that was the “healthy” stuff. We always had “snacks” like Twinkies, candy, and cupcakes after school. Nearly everything I ate was toxic.

Turning the Corner

They say that when the student is ready the teacher appears. By the time I was in high school, I was definitely ready for a teacher who would give me the answers I needed. I had a massage therapist who suggested my health problems might be related to my diet.

Remember, this was before the Internet and before nutrition advice graced the cover of every magazine. In retrospect, my teacher’s suggestion was so obvious, but even teams of medical doctors didn’t think to ask! “What is she eating?”

I eliminated milk, dairy products and all processed foods from my diet, adding fruits, vegetables, salads and lean meats and poultry. I replaced sugary carbonated beverages with water. In short, I began eating like an athlete. And I started feel better. My immune system got stronger, and my symptoms gradually disappeared. I’d found the key… and I had only the vaguest hint of how it would transform my life.

Discovering the Truth through Education

I always had the mindset of an athlete. Now I was eating like one, too. The third step was to surround myself with mentors, other athletes who could help me on my journey.

If I think of my life as a butterfly, I was growing stronger inside my cocoon. But I wasn’t resting and waiting. I was working hard and learning everything I could.

When I was 18, I became a certified personal trainer and trained with the bodybuilders at the gym. Although I wasn’t interested in competing as a bodybuilder or bulking up, I respected their knowledge of the body, their determination and will. They taught me everything they knew about becoming stronger, fitter and healthier. I started lifting and training and found a new love.

I wanted to help individuals understand their bodies; I majored in kinesiology, biomechanics and exercise science, meanwhile reading everything I could on health, wellness and nutrition. I attended the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in New York City and became a nutritionist.

I also became a master trainer for Yoga Fit and traveled all over the world. I lived off the land in Maui at an Ashram, traveled Europe, and learned how to make healthy fish tacos in Mexico. It was a beautiful, spiritual life and I relished every moment. Then I settled in Los Angeles to become a trainer and yoga instructor for some of the biggest celebrities and models in the business. It takes some people years, or even decades, to find their passion. I discovered mine in the first quarter of my life. I am truly blessed.

The Setback

Maybe it was the demons from my past, a deep-ceded lack of confidence lingering from childhood bullying, or maybe it was just the folly of youth, but I got swept away by the proverbial “wrong man.” He was good-looking and charming and, caught up in a rush of endorphins, I followed him to New York and we married within nine weeks. On the tenth week of our whirlwind romance, he became emotionally, physically and mentally abusive. This kind of abuse is more common than you think. It (he) hit me so hard personally, emotionally, and physically. My light and life force dwindled. I felt like a failure. My internal monologue echoed all the negative things he said to me. I was living Julia Roberts’ life in “Sleeping with the Enemy.” Who is the real abuser here? I asked myself. What is this horrible self-talk doing to you? I was terrified.

From all my training and study and my experience as a lifestyle coach, I knew I wasn’t the names he was calling me, but I had to get out before I started to believe it. I took off, taking up residence in one of New York City’s most exclusive stairwells with just a backpack and $ 50 in my pocket. Truly I was devastated to the core of my being.

Like the caterpillar trying to burst through the cocoon too early, I was not quite equipped to face life this way … but I’d come this far. I was no longer “the girl with the birthmark” or an abused wife. I was (and AM) Angela Martindale, and I was taking my life back.

From Small Steps to Full Speed Ahead

I moved back home to Utah. I knew I had to start working out again, but I couldn’t afford a gym membership, so I began to run the bleachers at my local high school. I started cooking for people, and began re-building my clientele from scratch, in a new state and far from my previous business bases of either New York or L.A. I was making it happen.

I started with that high school staircase, but soon I was working with a famous Top Fuel race car driver. I taught him how to harness his breath, his core energy, and how to derive greater strength, stamina and reflexes from the right foods. He became unstoppable on the track, and, as word spread, other race car drivers, plus their wives and children, came to me, along with other professional athletes. I had emerged from the cocoon, spread my wings, and was ready to fly. As a result, I became even better equipped to help others on their own personal transformational journey.

The Real Ultimate Transformation

I first conceived of The Ultimate Transformation as a business idea and life improvement program while I was in college. Not only did it pay my tuition, it became the basis for my health and wellness coaching. It is still at the core of everything I teach.

Working with all five aspects of your life; physical, emotional, physiological, mental, and spiritual we are able to make lasting changes.

I believe The Ultimate Transformation is so effective because it addresses a common thread: This body is the only one you’ve got. I want people to understand that lasting change comes with hard work, determination and education. There is no “quick fix” for good health and nutrition. Even in this instant gratification society, the answer does not lie in a single pill or a diet shake. Lasting change comes with making the right choices.

That doesn’t mean it has to be difficult; small changes yield big results. If you introduce one good habit, every day, you’ll transform your life in just a few weeks. [Please see Angela’s Top Tips for Transformation, for easy ways to get started improving your health today!]

Meals that Transform, my food delivery service of all-natural, organic, healthy meals, makes it even easier to make the right choices. It delivers 3,200 meals a week to Park City and the greater Salt Lake City area, with high demand to start franchising around the country. Celebrities fly into Salt Lake City and stay in hotels while I consult with them, feed them and train their minds and bodies into optimum health.

Meals That Transform works because I base meal plans around an individual’s specific needs and goals.

Your body is a machine. It needs fuel. If you don’t give it the right fuel, it won’t run properly. It will break down, leading to everything from heart disease to diabetes, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, depression…. Any number of syndromes and illnesses stem from improper nutrition. We are walking around dehydrated and malnourished in the greatest country in the world … and there’s no reason for it.

I know I’m not the only person who’s faced challenges in life. But I also know that we all have the choice to turn things around, no matter how bad it is. I did it. I’ve been through abusive relationships, business betrayals, bullying, you name it. I walked away from everything in my life with nothing but a backpack of clothes and $ 50, and my determination to turn my life around.

Now I am in a healthy, supportive marriage with to the most beautiful man in the world, who is caring and loving. I have a wonderful business that allows me to transform lives every day.

Do I still have moments that bring me down? Of course. I handle them better because I am healthy — physically, emotionally and spiritually. I can get through anything.

My motto is BE, DO, HAVE. You can BE whomever you wish, DO whatever you like and HAVE whatever you desire.

Hard work, giving back, respecting yourself and others and believing you can achieve your dreams are the keys to manifesting the life you want. I am living proof.

If I had just one more wish, it would be that everyone could experience Transforming their mind, body, being and life without any doubt that it’s possible.

Angela’s 12: Top Tips to Transform Your Life

Choose to change just one thing in your life today. Continue it until you have it down and then move to the next step. Small steps transform.

1. Wake up every morning and have 2 glasses of water.

2. Eat breakfast within 30 minutes of waking (try my power packed protein shake. www.mealsthattransform.com/products)

3. Move your body and sweat at least 3 times a week, 20 minutes per day … and more if you can manage it.

4. Listen to your body. Stop eating when you’re full. Go to sleep when you’re tired. Be in tune with how you feel, what gives you energy and what makes you happy.

5. Try something different. Yoga, meditation, or tai chi classes to get more in tune with yourself (go to www.iamangelamartindale.com for a Chi Yoga Flow workout for all levels)

6. Wake up a few minutes earlier and stretch

7. Replace coffee and soda with herbal tea and water

8. Replace your carb-laden breakfast of cereal, doughnuts or a bagel with oatmeal and egg whites

9. Replace sugary or salty afternoon snacks with Transform Vanilla Cranberry Power butter (www.mealsthattransform.com/products) and apples for an instant boost without the starch and sugars, or choose an OM Bar, www.mealsthattrasnform.com/products an all-natural raw snack with a list of ingredients you can actually pronounce!

10. Manage your time and make choices that serve YOU.

11. Replace negative self-talk with positive thoughts and affirmations

12. Remind yourself that you are worthy to BE, DO and HAVE anything you can imagine, then DREAM BIG!

Angela Martindale’s Philosophy

Angela says:

“I AM” are the two most powerful words anyone can say.

I AM Powerful.

I AM Beautiful.

I AM Loved.

I AM Abundant.

I AM Capable.

Repeat those words, and any other positive attributes that resonate with you, to yourself. Write them on sticky notes (Picture of IAM sticky notes) and post them around your home and office. Feel their positive energy. It is within you, it is within everyone, to BE, DO and HAVE all that you can imagine.

Connect with Angela at http://iamangelamartindale.com