Roula: [00:00:00] Landing in the hospital have changed your life. 

Angela: Yes. 

Roula: How did it all

Angela: happen? How did it all happen? This was actually a progress over a very long time and it sneaked in. And if you would have asked me at the time, I would have said I have no problems, even though I was in the hospital laying in a bed, not being able to get up.

Angela: And I still said, I'm fine. How did it happen? Being in a abusive relationship, being in a job, I. really didn't care for, wanted to present an image in my social environment towards my family, my friends, that I'm a person who can do everything I can manage. I didn't want to show weakness or being vulnerable.

Angela: I just [00:01:00] kept pushing, pushing, pushing. And the only thing I was able to control was actually my food. And my outlet was exercising, which I did way too much in excess. So the hospital event was actually Taking my bike and my boyfriend at the time took me to a mountain bike ride and decided to climb up a mountain, which was way, way, way too much.

Angela: And, I felt going up that mountain, how my, yeah, my heart was pumping all the way up to my neck. Like I was, having a hard time. And I just focused on the front wheel of my bike. I said, I can do this. I can do this until I actually felt my lung burning, literally burning. And it got just warm around my nose.

Angela: I had nose bleeding. And that's the last thing I remembered. And then I passed out and I woke up in the hospital. So I totally collapsed on the way up [00:02:00] to that mountain. And it was because my body was just, Exhausted. I was overtrained, malnourished, and just my body said I had enough and gave up. And that's how I ended up in the hospital.

Angela: Yeah. 

Roula: What did the doctors tell you at that time? Did they explain the reason? 

Angela: That was a very good question. Actually they didn't want me to step on a scale. And they were so focused on my body weight, which I did not understand at that I was just literally skin and bones and very, very thin, very, very thin.

Angela: And, the doctors were more, more concerned about my mental wellbeing. Like if I'm depressed or. Burned out or what was going on in that regard. My body, they just kept me on infusions and just said I have to gain [00:03:00] weight. My body needed to recover. So, and my lung got a hit, my kidney was off, like my blood work was all off, like they were major.

Angela: issues going on, but nothing, long term damage what my body could not, yeah, recover from. So, but they wanted just me to, to rest and let my body build again. And how did you take it? How did I take, I did not take it well. I just wanted to get out of the hospital. I thought they're all crazy. I have no problems, and I just actually wanted to go back to my normal life, and I ignored, and I was very stubborn at the time, I didn't want to hear it, I ignored it.

Angela: I refused to actually go to a retreat. They said I need to go to a retreat and get help. And my parents actually supported [00:04:00] me. They were amazing at the time. And they said, no, you just take a long term vacation on your own with nobody. And you just clear your head and think about what you want to do in the future.

Angela: Have you done that? Did 

Roula: you 

Angela: go 

Roula: on vacation? 

Angela: Where did 

Roula: you go? 

Angela: I did go to Florida. I just sat at the ocean a lot. 

Roula: Thinking? 

Angela: Just thinking about what I, what I need to do. Like I, I hit a wall and I knew at that point, That my parents were right and I need to change. I have to do something different because this can't be my life.

Angela: Can't be that I'm constantly, anxious, depressed, tired. I had a, it's so funny too, how harsh it can be when you have, food problems. How [00:05:00] harsh your conversations are with yourself. Like, I wasn't nice to myself. I would never talk to a friend like this, how I talk to myself. Why can I not get a grip on this?

Angela: What a loser I am. Why can I not just eat normally and have a normal life. Why do I gain weight instantly if I just look at food? I don't want to be overweight. I, I constantly beat myself up about everything. It was a very harsh time and it was not even that you could see this from the outside. It was all internally.

Angela: It was all in my head going over and over and over things again and again and again. Crazy. Yeah, so I took the time out and I was just thinking and I never thought I have time. You know how that goes. You never have time for something important. You're like, Oh, I will do this one day, one day I will.

Angela: But [00:06:00] this time I literally took the time and thought about my life and, let my brain just brainstorm and go every like kind of direction and see what felt good at the time. Why did you choose Florida? We always had a connection to Florida. Well, I don't know. It's to be honest with you as a child I just wanted to go to Orlando and see like Mickey Mouse and yeah the the whole American dream kind of thing and my parents picked Florida because it was tropic.

Angela: It was nice weather and it was always Like a country, what fascinated me, like the United States could have been any state. It was Florida because it was warm, just nice weather. Yeah. 

Roula: And you're there every day going to the beach, sitting at the beach. Can [00:07:00] you take me with you in one of this sitting there, where's your mind going?

Roula: Do you have a vivid memory of that time? 

Angela: Yes, it's so interesting. The forest gives you peace and I grew up in Germany and I was a lot as a kid in the forest playing and it's a very peaceful place. The ocean gives you energy. If you ever look for energy from nature, go to the water, go to the ocean.

Angela: And I remember the waves. You know, the beach and I was just watching the waves and the sunset. I was sun gazing a lot at the time, literally enjoying the sun and watching the sun going down. And this was a time where. You have that energy from the sun, and you're connected to mother earth, [00:08:00] and you have the wave coming in, which gave you energy and actually let you think, like the waves were coming in that's how ideas came in.

Angela: What if this, what if that, like I let my brain just go in any direction. kind of like direction and ideas. And it's so again, energizing and very, very spiritual. Like it's a good place to start. I highly recommend it. I feel it 

Roula: with you. Have you started with letting go of things or getting inspired for things?

Roula: How was your process? 

Angela: I have a very hard time with letting go of things. So I was more inspired, more inspired to try new things. The letting go comes automatically because the more inspired you get for new things, you need to make space for new things. And so you have to let go of the old things will hold you [00:09:00]back.

Angela: And that just comes with the flow. But I got inspired to try new things. Yeah. What have you started with there, other than reflecting on your life? I actually started with working out. I was skinny. I was, there was nothing left of me. And I actually decided at that moment that I want to start building muscle.

Angela: That I want to get back on track and I want to be a strong person. I don't want to be weak anymore. And for me, building muscle The muscle and having that physique of strength, also goes together with a strong mindset that was in my head at that moment. So I said, okay, I need to go to the gym. I need to work out.

Angela: That was one of the things. And then of course, so funny too, at that moment, I didn't want to get a coach [00:10:00] in nutrition. I just wanted to learn how to eat correctly. So I decided I want to go to a nutrition school. I want to learn it. I don't want to get a coach who tells me how to do it. I want to learn how to do this correctly.

Angela: So that was another thing I decided on this vacation that I'm going to a nutrition school and I want to be a nutritionist to know how to do the right things for the body. I wanted to understand this whole chemistry, how this works. And that was another decision what I made on that vacation. That's 

Roula: like a big decision.

Roula: You know, I find it fascinating. You have a strong will and strong, you're a strong person in your brain, in your head, where you are. A lot of insecurity dragged you down the path of being having issues with eating, losing weight. As you said, you were like skin and [00:11:00] bone. And then the same strength you have made you decide I'm going to have a freaking nutrition course and know what am I putting in my mouth and making my body feel.

Roula: I find it fascinating. 

Angela: Thank you. Well, for me, it was always, I'm, I'm a Taurus. I'm born in May, so the Taurus is a grounded ox, but if I walk, I walk, and if there is a wall, I walk through the wall, and that's just how, how I am, and I can't overdo, or I want to always test where the limits are. I'm a person, I go all in, and I want to see how far I can go, and yeah, that can be a good thing, can be a bad thing, and Yeah.

Angela: So I, I have a strong mindset just in general. 

Roula: And how old were you when, when this change [00:12:00] happened, when you like hit rock bottom and had to travel to Florida to reflect? 

Angela: In my early twenties. Yeah. 

Roula: Really? The age where it's now or never feeling when you're doing something, right? 

Angela: And it's interesting because I had a very good career in banking at an early age.

Angela: I got into management very young and in the bank I worked for, there were only two women in management and I was one of them. So I was one of the youngest and I was a woman in management and you can imagine it wasn't easy. So I was used to a lot of pressure and yeah, it taught me a lot. It taught me a lot.

Angela: But again, it was not, it was something I can do, but it was not my authentic self. It was not what, what my passion was. That was not what I was meant to do. [00:13:00]

Roula: Nutrition on the other side. You took it on. Have you done the course while you are in Florida? 

Angela: No, I actually went back to Germany. I stayed in banking and I did the nutrition course in college, like a university, in, in the evening classes.

Angela: Like I was working and studying full time at the same time. Like it was not easy, but I was so fascinated. It was so interesting. And for me, this whole, like, just even digestion, how it works with protein, carbs, and fats, and what the organs are doing. This whole process is amazing. And understanding it opened the doors for creating complete yeah, like structuring my body, creating sculpting.

Angela: That was so much fun because now I knew what [00:14:00] to do. And I was actually studying. Journaling everything I ate and then I was measuring my body and I was writing down how I felt. So I have journals since I'm 20 years old with writing down what I eat and how I look. So I can tell you exactly, oh, if I want to create a certain look in a certain period of time, I need to pull this out and I have to put this in and I have to drink so and so much water and Yeah, you just learned it by, or I learned it by doing it.

Angela: If I understood you 

Roula: correctly, you're doing the course and you're practicing it on yourself. That's correct. That's what I did. Yep. Yeah. Like go in hand in hand. Were you feeling good in your body and in your health around that time? 

Angela: Yes, oh my gosh the, the peace of mind of knowing what you're doing [00:15:00] or doing something with a certain outcome you're expecting to happen gives you so much peace because you plan it.

Angela: You're prepared and there is no guessing anymore. The guesswork was the one thing I think what got me in trouble. I felt all over the place. I didn't know how much food do I really need? What kind of food do I need? And so I started to cut down more and more and more until there's nothing left to cut down.

Angela: And I lived on lettuce leaves and water. You know what I'm saying? So not knowing what I was doing and having This is the other thing, I got bombarded because I was looking for answers with so many different opinions and, and like options, everybody brought out a different diet and I didn't know where to turn to or what's the right thing to do.

Angela: So I tried them all. You know what I'm saying? Ask me, oh my gosh, it's like an [00:16:00]endless list of diets I did and the yo yo effects behind it. And then when I studied it, and I had the science. the proven science, how the body works and what it does and what food is and what food is for in the body. It changes the whole game.

Roula: I'm sure we're going to talk about this later. My reflection on what you're saying is that in these days with social media and online courses, and we see a lot. on YouTube what we should eat. But I think we are still struggling in knowing how do we do this? We say eggs are good, avocado are good, but when are they good and how do we use them and when do I eat them?

Roula: We are still struggling with this. I've talked about myself personally. I know what healthy food is, but I don't know which one, what level, the [00:17:00] balance I should make. We are still trying to find this way. I remember when I was younger, my neighbors, they were older and they were all every day on kind of diet in the 80s and early 90s.

Roula: Diet was like such a hip thing. Today, food, healthy food is a hip thing, but I don't, we're using it as. As a random as back then the diet, I'm sure 

Angela: we're going to talk about this later. Yeah, yeah, of course. It's very interesting with food in general, what happened. And there is such a imbalance of, how, how active we should be and how much food we really need.

Angela: And what really food is. In the United States, we have so much, I call it Franken food, like modified [00:18:00] food where we think it's good for us, but it's not even real food anymore. It's so highly processed. It's so modified. It's, full of chemicals that the body can't even use it. You know what I'm saying?

Angela: It's harmful. And the healthy food, what you just said, that's a good direction. Good. But even finding healthy food is a challenge nowadays. How 

Roula: about that? True. Yeah. Yeah. Either too scary because we don't know where it's made, what's in it, or too expensive because it's organic and only rich people can afford it.

Roula: In a way, it is. 

Angela: Yep. Yeah, there are some hurdles or some things and, yeah, it's, it's a challenge that by itself, cleaning the food up. Yes, 

Roula: we're getting into this. I want to go back to your nutrition journey. So you're [00:19:00] doing the course, practicing, applying it on yourself. And where did you go from there?

Roula: The course ended at a certain point. 

Angela: Yeah, I got my degree in nutrition and I actually never practiced in Germany a nutritionist. I used it just to improve my health and to be stable. I wanted to have an environment, a framework where I felt safe. That was very important to me at that point. And I really focused, I mean, I was in my twenties.

Angela: Very vain. I just focused on myself at that time. I just wanted to look a certain way. I want to create that way. And that's all I did. So I got really into bodybuilding and into the sport and I got really good at this. And yeah, I did some small [00:20:00] competitions in Germany, but nothing major, like, yeah, I got into competing, but it just fascinated me how you can create a body like this.

Angela: So that's what I was became my, my hobby and my passion. And yeah. 

Roula: But then you ended up by being Miss Universe. and bodybuilding. 

Angela: Not, not planned. Yeah, that was, that's another story. Okay. Again, if you don't live your authentic life, and I cannot emphasize this enough. If you're not true, And if you are trying to pretend and live a life what everybody else expects you from you to do you hit a wall again.

Angela: And that's what happened with me. It was just I was burned out from my work. My relationship didn't get any better. It got [00:21:00] worse. And at one point I said, if I continue doing this, it's I, I will die. Like this was to a point where it was so unhealthy. And I mean, I had insomnia, didn't sleep at all.

Angela: I was always under stress. Like I said, okay, again, I said, this is not good. Let's do. What I always wanted to do, I wanted to learn English. So I quit my job. I broke up with my boyfriend and I came to the States with two suitcases and I signed up for English as a second language at a school. And that's how I started.

Angela: It was in Florida again. It was an international college. So I had a student visa and then I loved it so much. I just, to be honest with you, I not only loved the country, but I loved being. not known. You know, like I was a white sheet of paper. Nobody knew [00:22:00] me, nobody knew, oh she is the daughter of so and so, and she was the person in the bank, or she was the girlfriend of this guy, or I was just Angela.

Angela: And Angela started fresh, so that was a big thing for me at that point. And I was actually overweight, I was hiding. I was pretty big, big t shirts. Yeah, I didn't want to be seen. I just wanted to learn English. Very interesting. Again, food problem. Not good, but it was this breakdown where I was hiding and hiding behind, a fat body.

Angela: That's what I did. I was not obese or anything, but I was just bigger. I was not, not anywhere close to be a bodybuilder by any means. far away from it. But I was always active in training. But you know what I'm saying, I just had a lot of body fat. So, [00:23:00] but this doesn't go very far with me. I don't like it.

Angela: I don't like the feeling of it. But anyway, so in that school, I found peace. I got my my routine down, liked it so much. And then I didn't want to go back to Germany. Thinking about, oh gosh, what is going to happen there. I go back to my same routine. It's like going back to where I was, was like, no, I don't want to go backwards.

Angela: I want to move forward. So I literally drove down one time, like the one street where I always used to get home or to my condo. And there was a bank, and I just stopped at the bank, and the first person I saw at the bank, I asked for an internship, and this guy was the president of the bank. He was just walking, I think to the bathroom or something, or getting coffee, and I just stopped the man and introduced myself and said, Hey, do you have an internship?

Angela: I want to stay. And He was impressed and we had a good [00:24:00] conversation and he gave me a position as a personal banker in that bank and gave me an internship. So I'm telling you if something is meant to be, it will happen. It will happen. But also you have the courage. Things can be meant to be. Be brave.

Angela: Yeah. Be brave. One advice I would give anybody like very important. I have a lot of fears. I do, but I just take my fear into the backseat of the car, so to speak, and I do it anyway. I go on the ride. Just even if you're fearful, get out of your comfort zone and do it anyway. Do it. Just do it. It's the action.

Angela: And that's what happened with me. So I got the internship at the bank. Again, banking. I should, there should be red flags. Hello, Angela. Banking again. What are you doing? But that was my mindset. That's what [00:25:00] I was. Used to do, I was able to do, you know, like this is my degree, so I just started there. 

Roula: It it's a way different Because your priority was to find a way to stay longer in Florida, right?

Roula: Correct. And this is your skill. You knew. You actually played on it. Well, can you imagine the job you hated opened new doors for you? Exactly. Yeah. 

Angela: It's, it's not fascinating. Like how it all works out. It's very interesting. Yeah. Yep. And, the president of this bank supported me so much. Like he loved the bodybuilding thing.

Angela: But what happened was I talked to my immigration lawyer and I said, Hey, How can I stay? And she's like, well, you can't. There's no way that you can stay in the bank because there's so many bankers. There's no way you get a work permit. You have to go back to Germany, except you have [00:26:00] special skills. I said, well, special skills.

Angela: I do have special skills, but not in banking. I can do bodybuilding really well. And she's like, okay, if you can get a world champion title for the United States, you can get a green card. Was she sarcastic? I thought so too. She was very serious about this. And I had to actually like, what? Like ask twice.

Angela: And she's like, yeah, can you do this? I said, well, I can try. I mean, what do you say? I'm still like. What do you say? I don't know. So I said, Okay, I give it a shot. And I competed in natural bodybuilding in the group of Miss physique, the different classes, like Miss bikini Miss figure, and I was in Miss physique, I was like, you were overweight.

Angela: At that point, yeah, I was not in shape. No, I [00:27:00] was not in shape. But, yeah, I mean, I think my, my immigration lawyer thought I'm crazy, saying that I want to compete in bodybuilding and she was like, Can you do this? I said, Yeah, I think I can. So I pulled out all my old journals, what I had from back in the days, I got a gym membership.

Angela: And I got really, really, really serious about this. And for me, and in that moment, and everybody's different, but what I did was I switched from one day to the other. It was like, boom, you know, like cold turkey from one day to the other. You don't smoke from one day to the other. My diet was clean and I was working out like a machine one day to the other.

Angela: I'm that type of person. Like if I go into a pool, I'm not going step and get slowly wet. I jump into the pool. And I'm done. I'm wet. Done. And that's how I approach things. So, that's how I did it with the diet. One day to the other, [00:28:00] I'm done. Clean eating. Measuring. That's it. So, what I did was Yeah, I worked.

Angela: I ate. I worked out. I slept and repeated it day in day out. Like that's what I did. And I saw my transformation. I saw the change. I saw again how my energy changed, how my mindset changed, how I was all of a sudden in a flow. Everything fell into place. It was all perfect. The transformation was like clockwork.

Angela: I mean, boy, my body was so happy. To do this. And I felt really, really good. And that showed in my first competition, Miss Florida. I had such a blast. And I was so nervous competing in the Miss Florida show. But how did 

Roula: you subscribe? Like, how it [00:29:00] works? Can you, as an individual, just go and write your name and say what to do?

Angela: Good question. So there is I just knew from Germany, I was IFBB, International Federation of Bodybuilding. That's where I competed in Germany. And I know you have to be a member in the association. So I, called up the association and ask what I need to do to be able to compete in a bodybuilding show.

Angela: And they said, I have to be a member. And I can sign up for any bodybuilding show, to qualify for the next one. And then they sent me all the bodybuilding shows, what would take place in the United States. And I can pick and choose. So let's say if I would have not won Miss Florida, I could have gone to another state and try out if I can make it to Miss USA.

Angela: Because you [00:30:00] start out in the state where you're living in, so that's the first step. And you can start with smaller shows, but at the time there was no smaller show to practice, I just had to do the Miss Florida. That was the next one. And to be honest with you, I didn't have a lot of money at the time because I was an intern.

Angela: I made 400 a month. Huh. Yeah. So it's all very little. There was not a lot of extra room. So I could not spend a lot of money on competitions, signing up fees and getting the spray tan and all that stuff. So you just wait.

Roula: Okay. So everyone. All the other ladies were shiny and brown, and you were not. 

Angela: Oh, no, no, I, I spray tanned, but I was only able to do it for small, like for this show, I couldn't do it every weekend and try different [00:31:00] shows and see how it goes. Like I had to be on point at the Miss Florida, because I wasn't able to afford any other show.

Angela: So, oh no, I was spray tanned. Yep. I had everything ready and I did my show and I had a blast. I loved it so much. Why? Yeah, it's a funny thing. I love the week before a show. The one week before a show is the peak week. That's where you do the fine tuning. That's where you get ready in your mind. You practice your posing routine for months.

Angela: That's what I did. I don't know. I don't know if they do, but I do. I, I practice it for months. So you do it 

Roula: was in front of the, in front of the 

Angela: mirror. I went to the gym in the morning, early in the morning, I put my bikini on and I went into the aerobic room. I played my music and I practiced my [00:32:00] routine.

Angela: Every morning a couple times I practiced my posing routines for the pre judging because that's where you get compared to the others. So they're mandatory poses, you have to hit like front double bicep. side chest, whatever, like, that's what I did. I practiced that every day. But with the music, if you would have played the music in the middle of the night, I would have jumped out of my bed and I would have done this routine.

Angela: That's how much I practiced it. What 

Roula: was your music? What, what made turned you on for the competition? 

Angela: Okay. Well, I like slow songs where I have nice transitions. So, the, the song I used was from Michael W. Smith, Here She Stands. That was my posing song and it's about the American flag. still standing after the terror attack of September 11th.

Angela: A [00:33:00] very patriotic song, very emotional, and everybody knew that song in the States. So, yeah. 

Roula: Which year was it? Were you competing? 2009. Okay. So that was the song that you would wake up at night and start doing your routine. 

Angela: That's right. That was my song. Yeah. Here she stands. Yep. And a beautiful song. I love it so much, but, yeah, so I, I practice that every time, but the week before that's when you focus on.

Angela: more deposing and you rest a little bit more. You don't really work out that much. You get everything ready for the trip. You prepare the meals. For the day before the competition and off the competition because everything has to be just right I wanted to enjoy the show and not worry about how to find my food [00:34:00] or anything I want everything ready and just right you know you prep Like you have a backup plan, what if my bikini rips and like little things, but I always got into this.

Angela: Like this was my, my final week and I just enjoy that so much. And that's where you see a lot of changes too, because you're so lean and there's no body fat. And then every day you look a little bit more crisp and a little bit better. And yeah, it's just at the end dramatic changes where you're like, whoa, I didn't see that one last yesterday or something like, yeah, that's, that's the fun part.

Angela: I mean, sorry, can you repeat what you said? You prep for that one day, like that one day you want to look your best. So we do whatever you can for that one moment. You know what I'm saying? So yeah, you really, you don't care about the food that much because the excitement of the show is there. Yeah. [00:35:00]

Roula: And how's the atmosphere over there?

Roula: How are the competing ladies together? Is there a friendship or the competition is high? 

Angela: Very interesting. The bigger the show got them, it was not as friendly at the beginning. I mean, I remember the Miss Florida show. There were so many competitors that didn't even have a music. And they didn't even know what to do.

Angela: And it was one had a panic attack behind stage and didn't want to go on stage and be like come on You can do it and and the bigger the shows got and the more international it became the less friendship. I mean, you were talking backstage, but everybody is so focused to get ready and you're in your little camps, you know, like everybody is in there with their teams and stuff.

Angela: So you don't really, hang out with other competitors afterwards. It's [00:36:00] different. Who was your team? Yeah, well, there was not really a team. I, I, I went by myself and, well, I, to be honest with you, that was a fun thing, retro perspective when I look at it because I was so naive. I just packed my stuff.

Angela: I had everything, like my cooler with my food, I had my blanket and my pillow to rest, I had my little suitcase with all the competition stuff, what I need backstage, and that was it. And I, backstage, I rested most of the time. I just put my feet up. I did not want to get stressed. I didn't want to get into, I mean, backstage, it's a crazy house.

Angela: They run around like crazy. Everybody's looking for something. They're trying [00:37:00] to, Pump themselves up. I mean, I don't know what it's done. You know, you're not going to put on any muscle in that moment, you know, I think it's just to cover the nerves, but I was just listening to my music again and going through my head what I'm going to do on stage.

Angela: I, I saw myself on that stage and what I'm going to do and how to present. And to be honest with you, you work. Part for that moment and you want to really enjoy and embrace that moment. You want to shine on that stage and you want to bring it all. And I did not want to dim my light and get stressed about things which are not important.

Angela: So it became a very small world backstage. It was my little corner. I was hanging out there. I just made sure that everything was okay, that my shape was good. I didn't want to ruin it with too much water drinking or anything, but it was [00:38:00] all planned out and I just waited for my time to get on that stage.

Angela: Yeah. Now is the 

Roula: time. 

Angela: Take me 

Roula: out on 

Angela: the stage. Yes, in the morning, when I had the pre judging, you get everybody wears a black bikini. So we are all in line and we get compared. And the first call out basically gives you a hint. where you're going to be. And if you get called out first, that means that they like you the most.

Angela: So, yeah, I got called out first, which I couldn't believe, but we were such a big group. So we came in different groups, like at the Miss Universe. So I didn't know if it was just my group or what they were thinking because there were so many competitors. So yeah, I got called out. And I did my posing routine hitting like the mandatory poses [00:39:00] got compared with the others and then you know they switch them around and it's a long time you stand on stage and the lights hit you it gets really hot and it's exhausting because you're always engaging the muscle the whole time you're posing you're never relaxed on stage.

Angela: You are squeezing every muscle you have to look the best and even if you're in the back row and you're not in the front row where the judges look at you they still look back and want to see hey is she posing how does she look you know you always you are ready on stage you're ready you do not just hang out there for fun like you're competing at that moment and that's what I did so that was in the morning I was tired already But you have so much adrenaline going and energy because I mean, okay, at the Miss Universe when I was there, I was like, Oh my God, I just want to make it to the finals to be able [00:40:00] to wear my bikini at night because that's the bikini where all the bling is, where you can show your routine, where you can, you know, like have some fun on stage.

Angela: Like, this is the fun part. For the audience, you know, you have a little, like I said, routine and it's fun with music. In the morning, it's just black bikinis and you make turn, turn, turn. It's more for the judges and there is not really a lot of like audience. Like it's more the trainers, coaches, family, friends, you know, it's not a big crowd, but in the evening.

Angela: No one is 

Roula: there for you. All eyes on you, but no one knows you. 

Angela: Correct. Nobody. Yeah. Yeah. Nobody knew me at that point, but they remember me. But yeah, true. So what happened was after preaching arrested, and then they bring out the list of the top [00:41:00] 10 competitors. And it was like crazy. Everybody was looking and I'm like, I just wait when everybody's gone.

Angela: And I look by myself. Like, I just don't even want to get to the crowd and look at this list. And then I'll see if I go back to the hotel or if I get ready for the evening. So I was top 10. 

Angela: I go and look at the list and I'm on the top 10, so I'm like, oh my goodness. Okay, time to get out the nice bikini and I can compete and I can show my routine. So the evening, it was an old theater in California in like Los Angels, huge theater, chock full with people.

Angela: I mean, amazing. I was just peeking out from behind and I'm like, oh, wow, this is. Big. This was in Los Angeles? The Miss Universe show was in. Oh, so 

Roula: this what you're describing is Miss Universe, not Miss Florida. [00:42:00]

Angela: Miss Florida was in Fort Myers, and then Miss USA was in Los Angeles as well. And then the Miss Universe, I was lucky, was in Los Angeles as well.

Angela: This year, I was just very lucky I didn't have to leave to a crazy continent. Yeah. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. If you're in the flow, it all works out. Like it literally was, that was the one of the few years. Sometimes it's in Australia or in Greece or always different. That year it was Los Angeles. So.

Angela: Fantastic. Yeah. All right. Sorry. Go ahead. Okay. So yeah, I did my routine and again, it was such a, Such a good time on stage. I had so much fun. I couldn't stop smiling. I did my thing. And then you line up the top ten competitors and then they call out who placed tenth, who placed ninth, eighth. seven. I'm still [00:43:00] standing there.

Angela: Six, five. I'm like, oh my god, I'm in the top five. That is awesome. So that was my goal, to be honest with you. Top five at the Miss Universe. That would have been great. And yeah, they announced place fourth. third place. I'm like, oh my gosh, I'm still standing there. Then I got really nervous. I'm like, I, I'm losing it.

Angela: Like I can't even wait. And they made it, you know, it's a show. So they took forever. I remember this on stage forever to announce the second place winner. So when they did, you can literally see me checking my number and like, oh my God, I just won Miss Universe. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. I'm first place. Could not believe it.

Angela: Could not believe it. And yeah, that changed my life again. You won Miss Universe. Yes, I did.

Roula: That's what I wanted. [00:44:00] Yep. Please tell me, how did you go to your lawyer? What was the conversation with your lawyer that here I am, I'm Miss Universe. So? 

Angela: Yep. It was actually interesting because I got my green card in four weeks, like very quickly. Because, in order to compete for Miss Universe, I had to be U.

Angela: S. Not citizen, but U. S. resident. To compete for the United States. So when I won Miss USA, my lawyer actually filed all the papers as it's literally called extraordinary alien. That's what it's called. And 

Roula: you 

Angela: are an 

Roula: extraordinary alien. 

Angela: Well, thank you. It's funny. I don't know about that, but that was the [00:45:00] official title.

Angela: So that's what I was. And I got my green card in four weeks so I can represent the United States at the Miss Universe show. So I had to win Miss Universe for the United States. So thank you. Yep. 

Roula: That's how it went. The reaction of the lawyer. Did she or he Expect a few that you're gonna was where this. 

Angela: No, no, no, she was so excited.

Angela: She just started out at the time as an immigration lawyer and I think she just took on every case she could, even though it looked in her eyes as like. impossible, like a lost case. Like, well, I'm just giving it a shot because I need customers. That's how we found each other. And she was amazing. Like she did so well with my paperwork and how she put it together.

Angela: Like, and she was super excited and supportive. I mean, [00:46:00] One of the, like, people I always remember at the time, like, helping me so much because she's like, oh my god, you won Miss Florida, you qualified for Team USA, just kept going. Like, I want to get this Case like I want to make it a success case like you better get going and I make sure you get your green card Like it was it was teamwork like we I don't help each other in that regard.

Angela: It was funny. She was amazing and yeah, i'm very grateful for her she did great and I had the green card when I went to miss, universe, but Yeah, I need to prove that I was like You qualified to keep the green card, so to speak. And I had to, yeah, compete at the Miss Universe show. And could you keep the green card after the Miss Universe?

Angela: What's [00:47:00] your future from 

Roula: there? 

Angela: So I got my green card after five years I applied for U. S. citizenship and I became U. S. citizen, yeah. 

Roula: Were you competing in these five years? Was that what, how you're working? 

Angela: What, what happened was, okay, after winning Miss Universe, I said, okay, I'm done with banking. Done.

Angela: This is it. I can't go back to banking again and hit my head against the wall. I'm so good at this and I can help others to compete. So I can, I can train people to get in shape because I know how it's done. I did it so many times by myself on myself. So I got my personal training license. And I started out as a personal trainer.

Angela: I had no clients and trust me, I went through the ringer getting [00:48:00] people. And I spend a lot, a lot, a lot of hours at the gym. I built up a huge client base. I worked, I'm not kidding you, from 5. 30 in the morning. I had my first client at 5. 30 in the morning and I worked until like 8 PM. Training one client after the other, after the other, after the other.

Angela: I had days, I'm not, I had days where I had 24 clients a day. Crazy. Crazy amount. And I just got so much experience by training so many people. I train young, I trained young people, old people, male, female, people with strokes, with MS, with Parkinson's, with all kinds of limitations. And I trained obese people.

Angela: I trained people with hip replacements, knee replacements. [00:49:00] I. You're like your lawyer, taking on anyone who wants training. But that's the point, you know, it's like, it's a funny thing. I had competitors too, but I was so fascinated. By being able to help people and get them to their next level and improving their life.

Angela: And it was so rewarding to me. And it was amazing to me what a body can do. If you have the right guidance, if you have the right mindset, and, there is not really a no what you have to accept. You can do whatever you want if, if you do it the right way if you have support. And if you work on it, it's never, again, it's never easy.

Angela: It's hard. And I understand that because I did a lot of hard things in my life, but I [00:50:00]chose them and I knew they're going to be hard. And I made the conscious decision that I want to do this no matter what. And that mindset helped me in my career, but it helps also my clients, because if I decide to work with a person, they have my full support and I know this is, if there would be one plan, what works for all, trust me, I would love to pull that piece of paper out and say, here, you have it and go for it.

Angela: No, everybody's different. Everybody reacts differently to food, to diets, to training, and, people give up too easily and trainers give up too easily. And if there is not one way, there is another way what will work for you. And what we have to do is have open communication. support each other, helping each other.

Angela: Like you tell me [00:51:00] what's going on so I can help you and make adjustments. So we are a team and then we find the solution for you. If your diet, your diet will always be different than my diet. My workouts will be different than your workouts, but you know what I'm saying? This journey of transformation or improvement of whatever it is you want to improve, that fascinated me.

Angela: So I shifted and this is. Also, in my 20s, I have to say it was all about how I looked and now it's more about bringing health, to clients, helping others. And I just do my thing and I maintain, and my life is so structured and grounded and I have my peace so I can help others, you know, it changed a lot.

Roula: What you're describing when, when we expect something [00:52:00] in our training or nutrition, we go to the expert and we expect them. And I'm saying this truly, not hypothetically. We expect them to know what we need from the first try, from the first go. What you're describing is having an open mind and give opportunity to the coach or to the nutrition to spar with the client.

Roula: With a person who needs help to find out what works best. Because it's true, we give up quickly when something doesn't work after a 

Angela: week. Oh yeah, and you know what the funny thing is too? What worked for you in your 20s doesn't work for you in your 30s, doesn't work for you in your 40s, doesn't work for you in your 50s.

Angela: You change see now we can't just continue doing the same thing. So it's not even. Every person is different. It's even like during [00:53:00] our aging time, we are different. So there always have to be adjustments. And that's the fun part, actually, of my work, finding the right solution, the adjustment, and, playing with it.

Angela: And when, this is the same thing, when I map out. When I have a consultation, I map out a plan what we're going to do or how we get from A to B. It's a straight line. That's how I describe it. Very easy and everybody is like, Oh, sure. Yeah, that's what we'll do. It's never a straight line. Life gets lively. And we have stop signs, detours, hiccups.

Angela: It goes sometimes we go a little bit off road. And it didn't work out how we planned it. And the Christmas and birthday parties came in the way and we went off the diet and it's okay. This is what I learned too. It's okay. Be gentle but go [00:54:00] right back on track. Get right back on to what we planned and let your body do what it's supposed to do.

Angela: Don't I have so many clients I call it the what the heck effect. Have you ever heard of it? No, tell me about it. So they do so well and then they have like, like I said, a birthday party or some holiday and they're sitting there and they look at something sweet or whatever they shouldn't have and then they take a bite and they're actually okay but they had the bite and then they get another bite and then they literally think in their head now I screwed up my diet anyway, what the heck?

Angela: Let's go for it. And then all of a sudden we forget everything And we have this food frenzy Not for one meal not for a day. It's [00:55:00] like this whole weekend of craziness or a whole vacation We are on a cruise ship and then on the first day we're like, ah, what the heck? That's not gonna work on the cruise ship and then we eat for 14 days like crazy Well, that's a problem.

Angela: You know, if you have a meal, what is not like ideal, don't say what the heck, just okay. That meal was not perfect. Doesn't have to be perfect all the time. It's okay. But then the next day, be sensible and eat your normal clean food. 

Roula: Vacation is not through what happens to us. We go on vacation and we allow ourselves.

Roula: to just let it go in the name of the vacation. We come back feeling fat and guilty. So the memories of the vacation become destroying our mental state. 

Angela: Oh, and this is [00:56:00] not like, yeah I want to say something rare. It's all the time. And I try to put. Things in place with my clients. So they have a safe environment.

Angela: They have a framework. They know what to do on vacation, on trips, on holidays, on parties. We practice that. What if that happens? What are you going to do? And that gives them a food freedom because they know, okay, this is the framework I'm living in. And that's my food freedom inside of it. And it's very helpful.

Angela: Okay. 

Roula: I want to, I want you to take me with you now in a game. We're going to do a small game. Okay. All right. So I'm turning the page.

Roula: The game is we're gonna go in the [00:57:00] range of ages, starting from 20, finishing at 70. Of course it can be beyond 70, but you tell me what's beyond 70. So let's take it from 20 to 70. And for each decade, Give me two tips. What are the two tips for this decade that is, that should be people mindful of it, or maybe get inspired by it?

Roula: Okay. All right. All right. 

Angela: 20s. Okay. 20s. In the 20s, you should have a workout routine in place already training your mind to be active. Very, very important. The routine should be ingrained. It should get, it should become automatically like [00:58:00] brushing your teeth. You should not have any emotional attachment to a workout.

Angela: You should just do it. This is something what you need to do. In your twenties, what I see, my 20 year olds are not active enough. And you have to create a base. which you can build on in your 30s, 40s, 56, what's to come. You want to have a healthy muscle tissue from the get go. So in your twenties, that's where you build a foundation, which I wish some clients would have had from the get go.

Angela: And again, same thing with the nutrition, really educate yourself, knowing what are good sources. That's important. Like having the knowledge of clean food and being able to, to read food labels, [00:59:00] like know your food. So that's in the twenties, thirties, thirties. Okay. Ah, thirties gets interesting.

Angela: Thirties. I would say pick up strength training in your twenties. You can do any workout. I would say to be active. You play tennis, you do Pilates, you do yoga, you do whatever you want to do. In your 30s, it's a non negotiable to lift weights. You want to lift weights because in your 30s, you start actually losing muscle mass one percent per year.

Angela: That's when it starts. Very important. I, the important thing with muscle is the muscle is the organ of longevity. The muscle is going to the more healthy the muscle is and the more muscle you have, the [01:00:00] better are all the other things in your body. The muscle communicates with your bones, for example.

Angela: So if you don't have strong, healthy muscle, your bone get damaged. brittle. They're not strong either. So if the porosis shows up later on, you know what I'm saying? So if your muscle is not healthy, Your hormone levels are not healthy. Your endocrine system is compromised because the muscle signals to the endocrine system.

Angela: Metabolism. If the muscle is not healthy and if you don't have enough muscle, your metabolism gets down slower. Same thing with mindset, cognitive function, depression, anxiety. The more you train your muscle, the better all that is. So, In your 30s pick up some weights and lift weights because you want to again create that foundation for later on you do not want to lose [01:01:00] muscle you want to build the muscle and I'm not talking about being a bulky bodybuilder because every woman is afraid of being a bulky bodybuilder.

Angela: It's not what I'm talking about. a toned body, but I want you to have resistance training. And if it's only on body weight, what is resistance? Doing a push up, for example, holding a plank. That's what I'm talking about. You want to have resistance training in your 30s. Now in your 30s as well, I like you to focus on your protein intake.

Angela: So make sure that you have a balanced diet with a protein forward approach. So you make sure you have enough protein in your diet.

Angela: Forties. Okay. Now it gets interesting in your forties. In your forties. I would actually depend, okay. Depending, but let's say you did strength training. I wanted [01:02:00] to actually incorporate some, lengthening and stretching exercises with the strength training because the strength training shortens and tightens you up.

Angela: And I want you to actually be more flexible and be able to train, have full range of motion, the mobility, like incorporate mobility training in your forties with the strength training. So we add a little bit more, the older we get, the more we have to do, by the way, just saying, I know. And it's the hardest.

Angela: Yep. But, but if you're not doing those things and you have a hard time carrying your groceries or playing with your kids, or then we, we get older playing with our grandkids or not doing our hobbies. Or if we even gain so much weight that we don't fit in our clothes anymore, or we have a hard time [01:03:00] breathing and our joints are hurting.

Angela: So is that hard to, I would say yes. Yep. So I pick pick your heart on this one. And in your 40s, I would actually recommend adding for women creatine as a supplement, because the creatine just helps you to maintain the muscle and it's a wonderful, easy, safe. supplement to add into your diet. No crazy loading, no nothing.

Angela: Just have like your three to five grams per day. Same time every day, nothing major, but just add that to your diet to keep the muscle. It helps you to, to keep the muscle and building it instead of breaking it down. This one scares 

Roula: me. 50s.

Angela: The 50s. Oh, there's no difference. That's it. We're on the [01:04:00] same road.

Angela: 50s again. What I want you to take care, like in the 50s, you have the strength training, you do your mobility training, you have a high protein diet. The other thing I want you to. to focus on in the 50s is sleep. Really focus on your sleep. Sleep hygiene. We get away with a lot. But the sleep gives you the recovery, gives you rejuvenation, regeneration, clean up, brain digestion, cells, all the cells in general, and we don't, take care of our sleep patterns, circadian rhythms.

Angela: the right temperature when we sleep, and it's major. And the older we get, the more we have to take care of sleep. It's always important. The earlier you start with [01:05:00] sleep as well, but I can tell in our fifties, with menopause, hot flashes, all that good stuff, the sleep is interrupted. And I would focus when we do all those, things.

Angela: To be honest with you, the more you strength train and the cleaner your diet is, the less problems you have in your fifties. But I see that the sleep is always a big concern or a problem. And if you don't sleep, you're more inflamed. You're not recovering. You can't work out. You're not eating clean because sleep deprived.

Angela: You always tend to eat more sugar. The cravings kick in because the hormones are off. So taking care of the sleep gives you a big advantage in that regard. And you have so many more benefits and again, better function overall. And this 

Roula: applies to all genders, except for the hormonal. [01:06:00] Help or 

Angela: related to I would say everybody.

Angela: Yeah, sleep. I mean, of course, women deal with the hormones, but yeah, that's like it's 

Roula: easier 

Angela: in our 60s and 70s. Okay, by now, you're so in a routine, to be honest with you, if you can maintain, and again, that's the time to where you want to adjust your protein intake. You want to increase the protein intake with every decade.

Angela: You get away with a plant based vegan diet and very little protein in your 20s. You do not in your 60s. Absolutely not. And, you want to trigger muscle protein synthesis. Big word. But what that means is you want to have enough protein in a meal to actually use [01:07:00] it to build muscle and to regenerate, to rebuild, to heal.

Angela: And the older we get, the less receptive we are with the protein. So it has to be a robust protein intake to actually trigger that, to actually be able to use the protein to build muscle. So with every decade, you actually change the macros, meaning not the calories. You're not eating more. but you eat more protein and less carbs and fats the older you get.

Angela: And that's major. It gives you a huge benefit, huge benefit. 

Roula: Amazing. When you were describing the 30s, I want to, it just dawned on me that maybe women don't do it this much, but men do it a lot. Like when they look at the muscles in the mirror and they feel all pumped up and self confident, do you recommend that you, that we all do this?[01:08:00]

Roula: Admire our muscles in the mirror and thank you. 

Angela: To be honest with you, we all should love ourselves. We should look in the mirror and be happy what we are seeing. That's what I wish for. Admiring, I mean, it's always good to look good. Whatever that means. It's all, everybody is different. But I want you to take care of your muscle health and, you should carry a healthy, like, body composition.

Angela: Meaning you, you have to have some body fat. not be completely without it, but it should be in a healthy ratio. You can't be overweight and carrying too much fat and especially visceral fat, organ fat, very dangerous. So we are talking about not only aesthetics, we're talking about health. So very important [01:09:00] and I think it goes together.

Angela: It's so funny. That's the same. If somebody comes to me and says, I want to lose body fat to look a certain way. Or if somebody says, I want to lose body fat to. Get rid of my diabetes or my high blood pressure or my cholesterol or my hormone imbalance. It's the same plan. That is the same. The good look like the aesthetic comes with wanting the health benefits.

Angela: It's the same thing. It goes together. So that's the beauty of it. Amazing. Thank 

Roula: you so much for this good, motivating advice, actually. Oh, you're very welcome. My pleasure. Amazing. So Angela, this is what you do now. You help people get to the best version of, of themselves one step at a time. Correct. [01:10:00] How do you, how do you find, how do you encourage people, your customers, your clients, to stay motivated and not give up because it is hard work, all of it?

Angela: Yes, it is. I always remind them why they started. I'm very clear about goal setting. Why do we do this? And I remind them when they hit a wall, remember why you started this. And then they, they need to speak it out. They need to tell me, Oh, I started it because I didn't want to be pre adiabatic anymore.

Angela: I said, Okay, so remember, and I also when they start journaling I want them to journal, I want them to write down the emotions, how they started out how it felt. getting up in the morning, how it felt during the day, how the energy [01:11:00] levels were. And I let them pull out the old journals. I said, read out how you felt that day.

Angela: And then how do you feel now? And, they forget. We all forget. We all forget. I like to take pictures before and after. And trust me, the before pictures are always the hardest one to get. Nobody wants to take before. And everybody's so glad they did. They, they can see where they coming from and what they accomplished.

Angela: I also like, depending on every client is different again, but I like to like them to write down a bad ass list, meaning write down all the things you accomplished in your life where you were a bad ass. Write down where you overcame big things and you saw the light at the end of the tunnel. Write them down, all the cool things you did.

Angela: And when you hit the wall and when you [01:12:00] don't see the motivation, pull out your badass list and read it. Read all the stuff you were able to do. And then we get back on track. 

Roula: It 

Angela: gives me hope for myself 

Roula: because I am in this phase where, okay. It's time for me to do something about it. It gives me hope. This is my last question for you.

Roula: Yeah. Okay. Never too late. So Angela, if you go back, if today you are going to sit at the same beach in Florida and reflect, where do you see yourself in the coming 

Angela: years? The coming years? Again, I see myself in Florida. But I would like to create a community where women can join and find a safe space.

Angela: That's why I call my company also House of Shape. I want to [01:13:00] create this house where everybody is welcome no matter what shape they're in. And we get, you know, all into shape and I want to have a support system. I like to, find powerful women who all chip in and work and help to create this community.

Angela: I think we need a lot of support and we have to help each other. And I see myself building that community and helping more women. And I enjoy it so much. Like this is really. What I do all day, all night. And yeah, that's, that's where I'm at right now. One more, one more. 

Roula: This one, actually, from the last time I wanted to interview you, it's on my mind.

Roula: Are you the real? [01:14:00] living reality of the American dream coming true?

Angela: I don't know about that, but it is my American dream. And, when I became Miss Universe, I was featured in a New York magazine and the title of the article was dream catcher. I was the dream catcher. Yeah, well, I came with nothing to the United States. two suitcases. It wasn't easy, but what I did, I worked hard and I enjoyed it.

Angela: every step of the journey. And I still do. And I made a good life here and I enjoyed a lot. So for me, that is my American dream. Yes. Thank you. 

Roula: This is, yeah, [01:15:00] I feel so much energy while it's time for me maybe to go to bed. 

Angela: So 

Roula: I know it's late, but I feel so much energy. Thank you so much for this lovely conversation.

Angela: Oh, you're very welcome. My pleasure. I feel your energy. You don't look tired at all.

Roula: Your secret is training. My secret is to ask everyone to wear red lipstick because you will always be 

Angela: happy. That's, that's so true. I totally agree. I love red lipstick.