Angela Martindale – The Ultimate Transformation Muse
Angela Martindale is the Creator of the Ultimate Transformation Lifestyle Series, President, Founder, and Creator of “Meals that Transform” and Creator of “CHIYOGAFLOW”.
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, the 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 makeup. I can work out, swim and sweat and it doesn’t move. This gave me the 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, Arby’s, 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.
Angela Martindale – 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 feeling 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.
Angela Martindale – 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.
Angela Martindale – 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.
Angela Martindale – 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.
Angela Martindale – 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.
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