An Interview with Angelina Friedland, Bodybuilder

Firstly, I would like to thank you for this opportunity for an interview. Secondly, I love telling my story, as it might inspire some young people. I was born in a beautiful land, Sicily, surrounded by a lot of sun, sea, and heat. However, I decided to leave Sicily without thinking of coming back at the age of 18 when I went abroad to seek my fortune. And I was lucky enough to find it.

Unlike many of my fellow countrymen, I had no reason to leave, as I had everything, but I understood this later. What pushed me toward new discoveries was my adventurous spirit. I wanted to see with my own eyes what was out there. Furthermore, that same spirit later led me to discover the world, including Hawaii, Polynesia, Australia, Bahamas, Thailand, Mexico, Florida, and Indonesia. Therefore, I feel at home up until the Cook Islands, which is in another part of the world.

Still, I was not satisfied with the superficial journey. In order to discover my true dimension, I acquired the PADI scuba diving certificate so I can continue pursuing my dream of digging deeper and deeper into the sea in my natural element. Most probably, this is the most apparent memory of my homeland Sicily. Yet, my homeland has also given me a temperament heart vehemently the intransigence to abuses.

One August night at the exit from a disco in Bali, I stretched out my fist with a straight, sharp, and fulminating right and hit a drunk Australian surfer who stretched out his hands. The blow started naturally alone among the many onlookers.
I saw a former American boxer, who told me, “You have this sport in your DNA,” and he was right. I stopped in Philadelphia for two months, and I learned this for myself. I was in some smelly gyms like my home, facilitated by the language (I speak English and French). But everyone was friendly, so I was encouraged by this.

When I returned to Italy, I started more controlled nutrition. Oh my God, how much I loved chocolates and ice creams. Still, I went for the scheduled workouts, healthy lifestyle, and diet.

I obtained the Certificate as a Federal Boxing Coach from the Italian Boxing Federation, so I was one of the first and rare women to teach this fascinating and unique sport. Boxing was a great school of life since it taught me to get up every time life threw me a low blow, a bit like the boxer on the mat getting back up.

One day I was leafing through a sports magazine. It was 1997, and I saw a photo of a female bodybuilding champion. Therefore, I was so fascinated to see that sculpted physique that I decided to start training with weights. After that, I had my first competition in 2000 at Mister Universe IBFA, and I won third place.

In those days, the only female categories were either bodybuilding, so very muscular, or fitness. As a result, I never came in the first place because I wasn’t very muscular. I had the bikini shape, even when this category didn’t exist yet.

I was astonished to become an IBFF Pro. It was a dream come true for me, something that I could never imagine. Most importantly, without a coach or a team, I went alone to the European Championships in Avellino (Italy) in 2016. As a result, that same day, I won Miss Fitness, Miss Fitness Over 40, and Overall Woman, and I got my Pro Card.

After that, only two weeks later, I went to the World Championship in Koper, where I arrived in second place as a bikini model. I was delighted as I competed with 16 beautiful girls much younger than me. Therefore, it was a big win for me.

Dion and I go to the gym together for three training days and one rest. We train for about two and a half hours. He trains very hard and does at least 50 sets. However, my workout depends on whether I compete now or not. After that, we work the rest of the day, and I prepare the meals for us.

My training varies according to my goal. Therefore, if I have a competition soon, I do two workouts a day: cardio and weights. But, if I do not have to do any competition, I do weight training and cardio at the end of the workout with a lot of stretching. During the alternating periods, I also do a lot of yoga and acrobatics.

I am always motivated because I still like to go to the gym and want to work out. It is a massive part of my lifestyle. In other words, I would not be able to imagine my day without the gym; it makes me feel good and gives me balance.

Bodybuilding taught me to follow the rules that I set for myself. In other words, it taught me discipline, how to be patient, and how to improve my character. Moreover, I have built my personality to become stronger and overcome my limits each day.

I love it when I am around people, and I like that people look at me. Also, I like that both my husband and I inspire people, as we can prove that age is just a number.

This is a good question. Unfortunately, my constitution is not tiny, so to be fit, I have to take in very few calories. Therefore, my diet is about 1,200 calories with very few carbohydrates, and five protein snacks with 50g of carbohydrates in competition. Sadly, this is how it is.

Mr. Friedlander was a gift from the world of bodybuilding. Therefore, if I hadn’t practiced this sport, we would never have met, and it would have been a significant loss to me because Dion is a wonderful man.

He is a man who teaches me many things every day and loves me. We have known each other for five years. After 13 weeks, he wanted to marry me. We have been married for two years, two happy years. The secret of our happiness is that we love the same things, especially the gym and healthy food.

I am a very active and very dynamic woman. I like to be busy, and I manage to combine everything. In other words, I train, take care of the house and my baby husband Dion, cook, shop, and do whatever I like. So yes, I can.

My message is to love each other and to take care of your body. It would be best to take care of your spiritual life by meditating and exploring spiritual paths. After all, a healthy mind in a healthy body is essential to growing old. All of us must age, but if you love yourself and take care of your body, you will age better.