Feature: Interview with Fitness Competitor & Sponsored Athlete, Missi Angelo

The Interview

1. Can you tell us something about yourself and what you do?

I come from Italian descent and the toughest part is balancing family home cooked meals that are carb heavy pasta, pizza and lasagna, and decadent desserts such as cannolis tiramisu and gelato. Clearly, these are not meals that I eat often now. In fact, I save them for when I am gathered with my family. As a result, I have grown to appreciate those family meals all the more. I will say that my decision to eat lean protein and minimize carbs was a dramatic shift and took a while for my family to accept. After seeing how I have shaped myself, my family is my greatest of supporters and is looking forward to me cooking something from my meal plan and sharing it with them over the holidays!

2. Are you a full time fitness professional?  Do you have another profession aside from being a fitness professional? How are you able to balance fitness with your career? Are you a family man?/mother? How are you able to manage?

I hold a full-time job in Corporate America. I choose fitness for my lifestyle and find it enables me to obtain the energy to balance the demands of my work and life goals. I start each morning with Cardio. It wakes me up and gets me focused on the day ahead. I like to do my weight training in the early evenings, which is also when I need that adrenaline boost in the day! It’s better than any coffee I have consumed.

I treat fitness as a professional off-the-clock pursuit simply out of pure enjoyment and to hold myself accountable to be the best version of me as I can for those important in my life and for my own happiness. Fitness has proven to be a great source of strength, not only physically, but mentally too.

3. How did you start training and what was your turning point?

For 12 years, my career had me living life out of a suitcase, chasing planes and sleeping in hotels. I indulged at every business meal, slept very little due to a never-ending inbox and reports with hard deadlines. Friends thought my life resembled that of a rock-star on tour and snarled at me when I shared my ‘road warrior’ headaches, because seemingly I lived the good life jetting from city to city and posh hotel to upscale dinning. Then I had a crash of reality hit me. Life was out of balance – I was a certified workaholic and earned myself an expensive first class trip to the hospital room. Basically, my body was fatigued and no amount of coffee or sugar binge could have cured my pathetic lethargy! It took more energy than I had effort to rise from the bed, shuffle across the hall to make breakfast, and keep my eyes open long enough to get ready for the day.

Ultimately, I took 3 months time off to rest up then, decided to take my skills and obtain a less demanding position that allowed me to be at home, eat properly, exercise daily, and regain my sense of self control. I am better served when I am in charge of myself and my choices.

4. What motivates you to do fitness?

I keep a copy of my hospital admittance slip framed and in view in my kitchen. It reminds me that one EXPENSIVE trip to the hospital is enough and my time, money, and energy is far better spent to ENSURE I won’t be returning there – ever! Life is truly precious and I choose to have the energy to live it healthy.

5. Do you compete for fitness? or do you have plans of competing  in the future?

Yes, I compete and enjoy the process and the personal challenges. It is not for everyone and certainly requires a great deal of focus and determination. I learn a lot about myself and of others in my life too, which some days continues to surprise me.

6. Do you have brands or business related to fitness? or do you see yourself having projects related to fitness?

I am just now getting immersed in the fitness community. The people I have met, the support and guidance I have been graced with, and the positive energy and encouragement is truly amazing and addictive. I know I am not the only one who got swallowed whole by their career and is in desperate need of finding away to make being healthy a priority.

I would love the opportunity to take what I have learned in my personal journey and share it with other Corporate working types because many are like I used to be and probably need to hear from someone OTHER than another Fitness professional how to break free and take responsibility for themselves. I can bet I would have a strong following of Executives who want more out of life than their corner office.

7. What training routines do you do to be able to maintain your physique? What does your training regimen look like?

In competition season, I do cardio 7 days a week, incorporate HIIT in my weightlifting workouts, and stretch every night before bed. Off-season, I do cardio and weight training 5 days a week and take Sundays off to give myself time to rest. I have a trainer who holds me accountable to obtaining results and pushes me to make continued changes to my physique.

8. What supplements do you take?

BCAAs, L-Glutamine, ISO Whey Protein, Fiber, Women’s Multivitamin, Omega 3 Fish Oil, Calcium, Ester-C.

9. What is your typical diet?

Nothing in my meal plan is too strange. I get the vast majority of my nutrition from whole foods.1 gallon of H2O a day for proper hydration and I eat 6 measured meals a day, 2.5 hours apart. Each meal has 4oz of lean protein, and a 1/2 cup of green vegetables.

The first meal in the AM and the meal that precedes my weight training routine also include 1/3 cup of clean carbs. I also allow myself one meal a week that gives into what my body is craving – it’s only human!

10. How does your discipline as a fitness professional influence your life as a whole?

I will attest that keeping a fitness regimen is not easy with a full time career, but like everything else, the choice to be healthy is something I hold high on the list in a world of competing priorities and commitments.

Besides just having more energy and a more positive outlook on life and living, I have been presented with opportunities that I would have never realized possible. For example, I absolutely love to write and aspire to become a published author, and recently I have been contacted by a few publications (such as NM Lifestyle Magazine) to provide content. I modeled fashion as a child, but I never thought in my wildest dreams I could do it as an adult because I am pretty short (5’1”). Fitness has changed that for me and it is a HUGE source of my excitement and commitment to myself to stay focused on my goals and live out my big dreams and see where it leads me.

12. What made you attend the FMI Conference? What are your top 3 take aways?

My trainer who I also give a ton of credit to for getting me on a set plan, suggested I attend because she loved my smile and my positive attitude. I trusted her enough to show me how to get my health on track, so I took her suggestion to heart, and had a great time meeting other inspiring fitness minded individuals, top notch photographers, and super smart business people with experience in the industry.

Top 3 takeaways: (1) The best stories reinforce values and what the target audience already believes in (2) The intellectual property rights for models is something to be negotiated ahead of the photo shoot (3) Sometimes not ‘posing’ for the camera is the best pose!

13. How would you like to be known in the fitness industry?

ENERGIZE LIFE! Simply put, I’d like to have a strong voice in the fitness industry that speaks to your every day working professional. My message is to find the time, find the energy, find the path to take charge of your own life and not let ‘the office’ dictate your schedule or how you live your life. We all have the same number of hours in a day and the same choices at the grocery store. Are you making good decisions that reinforce your goals? Often they don’t run in unison.

14.  Where can we find you on the internet?

Missi Angelo on FB, http://www.activewearusa.com/stay-active/Missi-Angelo, considering starting a blog since I have volumes of journals on my path to healthy energy! Currently (in process) in discussions to blog, or provide content for online media.