Okay, welcome back to the podcast everyone. In this episode we have special guest Meri
Abbado. Growing up in Split and eventually moving to the US, Mary is an accomplished
bodybuilder and the only Croatian IFBB master bikini in the world, as well as the master
bikini world champion 2022. And she'll be competing in the Master Olympia this summer.
In this episode, we're going to learn more about her bodybuilding and her Croatian heritage.
Meri, thanks for coming on the podcast. Hi, thank you for having me. Of course, I appreciate
you taking the time. You know, I want to talk, I want to learn a little bit more about you
and your upbringing. I know that you grew up in Split. Can you talk sort of a little
bit about that and about your upbringing? Well, growing up in Split was amazing time.
Those were 1970s and then 1980s as a teenager. I think those were the best time to be child
and grow up in then former Yugoslavia. And growing up was very simple, but a lot of fun.
As kids, we didn't have too much responsibilities. Our responsibility was only to go to school
and bring good grades. And parents were just, if you know anything about Croatian parents,
you know, they are very protective and sometimes overprotective and cater to their kids. So
as kids, we just went to school and after school, have a lunch, do our homework. And
rest of the day was just for playing with the friends in the neighborhood. In the evening,
come home when your mom calls you for dinner before a cartoon. And that was about it. In
summertime when school was off, it was all day having fun being on the beach, hanging
out with friends. Basically, very happy, carefree childhood. I always remember fondly that period
of my life. It was great. Yeah, I mean, it's so fun for me to be in Split and to be there,
you know, for the summer and everything. I can only imagine growing up as a kid.
It was great. You know, we didn't have all the technology that kids have today. It was
just you and your bunch of your friends and you will invent games. We didn't have much,
you know, we didn't spend much time watching television either because there was not much
program for kids at that time. I remember during the week, there was only cartoon at
7.15 until 7.30 before news. And every child in Croatia will then sit in front of television
and watch that cartoon. So we all watched the same thing. We all did the same thing.
On Sunday, there was a little children's program in the morning and that was about it. Rest
of the time you were on your own. And it was so much fun because we had to be creative
and come up with games, usually, you know, most of the time, you know, cowboys and Indians.
And after with girls playing the dolls and just going to the beach and enjoying, you
know, nature and everything that that area could offer. So it was great.
Yeah, well, definitely a much simpler time than today with all the technology and everything.
It's different. But I know also you grew up with there's a lot of famous athletes that
came from, you know, that area around your time as well. I know you wanted to talk a
little about that. Yeah. Well, as you know, that area is very, it's full of talent, especially
athletic talent. So in mid 80s, like 84 to 89, when I was in junior and senior high school,
there were a lot of new talented kids that caught the eye of international scouts like
Tony Kukoc, Dino Raja. They were, we all knew each other because we all kind of grew up
together, went to school together. I met Dino and Tony through my high school friend, Nenad
Vidica, who was another great basketball player and played all over Europe. So I remember
those times when they were just young teenagers, 16, 17 years old, and going to tournament
all over Europe. And nobody really thought at that time about what's going to happen
and or knew what's going to happen. But everyone was just happy to be doing something, you
know, then Goran Ivanishvich, he was a couple of years younger than us. I used to see him
all the time at Fyrulë tennis court practicing. Robert Yarny, he went to high school with
me. He was then just starting to play soccer with junior or high-dook, but eventually he
became one of the greatest soccer player, Croatian soccer player. And so many others,
I mean, Split Produce, so many world-class water polo players. I have one of my best
friends until today. She was a great handball player playing all over Europe and she was
twice European champion. And I mean, on and on and on. There were so many of them that
it was absolutely normal to have all these people around you and have your high school
friend going to world championship and coming back with the gold. So very interesting time.
And I never really pay attention much to that. None of us, we thought it was normal. But
now looking back and knowing better, I just realized how tremendous talent was coming
out from that small area. And those teenagers didn't even know what's going to happen in
a few years that they're going to become those huge international stars and play for NBA
and go winning world championships and Olympics. It's amazing. It's unbelievable to think that
so much talent came from a small area. Yeah, that's incredible. That's still happening.
I mean, for some reason, at that time, a lot of them came at the same time, I guess, maybe
country was opening more towards the West and international scouts start looking into
that area. But it's when you think about it, it's unbelievable. Yeah.
Well growing up with all those, you know, people who ended up to be world class, world
famous athletes, is that what sparked your interest in bodybuilding or did that come
about? Not at all. I discovered my talent 50 years later. No, not 50. But you know,
not at all. I was never athletic person. I not even in the school, in high school and
elementary school, I would just play regular sports as a part of PE, but was never ambitious
or competitive enough to join the team and be serious about anything, even though I always
consider myself to be athletic, but not in that way, you know, as an athlete or professional
athlete. So when this happened for me, I was surprised too that actually I have a talent
for something and that I actually enjoy it and that I stuck with it, you know, until
now. So not at all. I became, I started bodybuilding at age 45, which it's pretty late, even for
American standards. What's the, what's the usual age that people start in female bodybuilding
or in general bodybuilding? Earlier the better. We have, you know, girls who are just turning
18 and they're already, you know, starting to compete in the NPC, which is a amateur
league. And most of them are between, you know, in their twenties, early thirties. But
now last few years, this sport, especially female bodybuilding, a couple of divisions
like bikini division became really, really popular, especially with all this internet
and, you know, people posting their videos, fitness and exercises. It really took off
and not only with the young crowd, but with older women, 40 and up. I remember when I
started in 2016, master class, which are masters are 40 and plus, were good, but not as good
as today. They were kind of just starting to come out and the quality was not that great.
But last couple of years, actually last three, three, three, four years, it really took off.
It became so competitive and quality of athletes. It's just unbelievable that they can easily,
you know, stand next to girls who are in their twenties and, and be competitive and sometimes
even win against them. So that's the one of the reasons why IBB Pro League decided to
bring master Olympia back after 11 years, because it was canceled. I don't know, 11
years ago they tried and didn't work. So, but now with such a huge number of quality
athletes, they brought it back and we are going to have master Olympia in August in
Romania. And I was lucky enough to be chosen amongst 20 other bikini girls to compete for,
you know, for the title. So I'm so thrilled. I still can't believe that this is happening
because seven years ago when I was starting, that was never even a dream or ever crossed
my mind that I would be even professional athlete.
Well, what was your goal seven years ago, you know, when you first started, did you
want to compete right away or did you sort of build into that later?
No, I actually didn't know anything about bodybuilding at that time. And I stumbled
into competing by chance. It was one of those things, you know, you do something and then
it leads you to another thing and you just slowly progress. And for me, it was after
my divorce and especially my kids, you know, growing, leaving the house, going to college,
you kind of try to find a new identity. And I spent working out at home just for fun,
just to, you know, feel good about myself. I did it for about a year and I really liked
it. So I, at that time also, I started my fitness Facebook page, which became really
quickly popular. Today I have about 100,000 women following me and they are mostly from
a former Yugoslavia area because I speak and write in Croatian. So I was doing that and
because I was giving them advisors and showing them exercises, I kind of felt like I need
to educate myself a little bit more. So I got my license to be a person. I went to took
a course, became personal trainer and also at the same time, started working as a personal
trainer in LA fitness gym, where one of my managers, she used to compete. So she just
kind of mentioned it to me, like, well, you look good and you know, you should try you
to compete. Did you ever compete it? And I never even knew about that. It was completely,
that world for me was completely unknown. So she gave me a website to check. I looked
into it and more I was looking, more I liked it. And I say, you know what, let me enter
one competition just to see how it is and to motivate myself to be a little bit more
strict with my training and my diet. So I just prepared myself for 12 weeks, entered
the show and it pretty well. I took a third place on my first show, regional show, you
know, and I was so clueless at the time that I didn't even know how to pose on the stage.
I would look at girls in front of me, what they're doing and then just kind of wing it.
So I really liked the whole experience. It was very professionally done. Top athletes
were competing in the IFBB Pro League section. So my boyfriend, when he saw that, he was
amazed because he thought I'm just going for some little show somewhere in some high school
and it's going to be like just, you know, disaster. But when he saw the quality and
when he saw the athletes who were competing there, he just loved it so much because he
used to do bodybuilding when he was in Marines. And he was the one who kind of pushed me to
continue, you know, to at least have a couple of more shows. And at that time I hired the
personal, I mean, I tried to hire the coach, which is very important, you know, if you
want to compete even in amateur league, doing it on your own is really not enough. And I
went from there. You know, once I start working with the coach, I already next competition
won my first class. And we did a couple of shows. I also again won my class and overall.
And at that time I was already qualified just by winning to go compete nationally. So one
year later, exactly, actually one year later from my first competition, I went to Pittsburgh
compete on national championship. And I not only won my pro card, but I won two pro cards
and I won overall. So I was completely stopped. And I just thought, Oh my God, I'm on top
of the world. And of course, once I start competing in a pro league, I realized that
that's a completely different story. And I will have to work much, much harder to get
to the point and catch up with the girls who were already competing in a pro league. So
that's how it started. It's just one thing led me to another. And I never planned or
expected to be in this sport for this long and this seriously, you know, so it was a
great, great, I mean, still great experience.
Sorry for the interruption, but this episode is sponsored by me and the book I wrote, All
Things Croatia from Los Angeles to the home. I talk about growing up in the Croatian diaspora
and ultimately moving to Croatia to further connect with my roots. It's available on Amazon
as an ebook if you want to check it out. Now back to the episode. Well, what what goes
into the competition as far as you know, what takes place? How does the competition work?
I've never really watched any, you know, bodybuilding competitions, what goes on during them? How
do they rank you? How does it work?
It's a very long process. You know, bodybuilding is 24 hours for it. You know, you believe
it's not just you train. And that's it. You really have to live bodybuilding, which means,
you know, what you eat, how much you rest, how much you train, everything takes in the
count and doesn't stop. There is no season. You know, we call it on and off season, but
that actually doesn't mean in off season, you don't do anything. You actually try to
train very hard. It's just that when you're off season, you're kind of building your physique.
And then when it's the on season, you are starting to get ready to compete and compete.
So usually my off season would be like six months when I'm building muscle. And then
next six months, I'm kind of slowly getting ready, leaning out and getting ready for a
show. And then you compete for maybe three, four months. So it used to be like six months
off, six months on. But this last year I took almost is going to be like 10, 11 months in
between my competitions. I competed last year at the world championship where I won. And
I just felt like I need to build more of my lower body. So we decided to take a long off
season to work on that. And just it happened that in middle of my off season, they announced
a comeback of master Olympia. So I was so happy because I was already working on improving
my physique for next year. And so usually once you decide on a show that you want to
do, probably around 12 to 16 weeks before show starts, you start with the really rigorous
training, not only training, but lifestyle, which means your social life is starting to
go to zero. There is no going out to restaurants, traveling and anything that will disturb your
routine. It has to kind of slowly stop. By the time you are like 10, six weeks away from
show, it's basically eat, sleep and train. On a show day, depends where you're going.
Sometimes competition is only one day. Sometimes it's two days. It's very stressful because
you usually travel in other states to compete. And with strict diets and very little water
on the day of competing, it is very stressful, not only on your body, but mentally and emotionally.
And on a day of competition, you just wake up early in the morning, do makeup and hair.
You do 10 one night before and just wait for your time to go on the stage. So we do all
of this basically 24 hours a day for a very long time, sometimes years, just for a few
minutes on the stage.
Yeah, that sounds crazy to me almost. But it's worth it.
Well, it's definitely worth it because bodybuilding teaches you a lot of things. I mean, I have
completely changed the way of thinking. And since I became involved with the bodybuilding,
you have to be super disciplined. You have to stick to a certain routine, which is very,
very boring to most people. You eat same things over and over again. And not too many people
can do that. It's very mental, not only physical. I would say that mental, it's even more mental
than physical because everyone can go to gym for one hour, couple of hours, whatever. And
you go home and then do whatever you want. But when you're a bodybuilder, you cannot
do that. It's like a very strict regime. You eat every three hours. You need to get enough
sleep, rest, because this is when your body is actually repairing and building. And as
you age, of course, that becomes more and more difficult. It takes more time to build
your muscle when you are older. It takes more time to recover when you are older. And I'm
amazed and respect every single person who does that and stick to that plan because it's
not easy.
Yeah, definitely. It doesn't sound like it's easy at all. I mentioned to me the other day,
Mary, that female bodybuilding can be misunderstood by some people. Can you talk about that a
little bit and what you meant by that?
Well, it's misunderstood by most people, especially in Croatia. I mean, because sport is not very
popular over there and especially female bodybuilding. When you say female bodybuilder in Croatia
or anywhere in the world, they automatically think about like bodybuilders, women, bodybuilding
category of women. What I mean by that, there are different divisions in female and male
bodybuilding competitions. It goes from bikini, which is very still feminine. And somebody
would say, okay, these people don't work really hard. It's just a little definition of muscle
and it's more like a fitness look. Then you have wellness, which are girls who have a
larger, heavier lower body. So they develop really big legs. Their legs are bigger than
upper body. Then you have figure and physique. And at the end you have a bodybuilder women.
So when you talk about bodybuilding, people usually always go and think about that division
and they don't like it because they don't like the overly masculine look on a woman.
And a lot of people believe that women should not lift the weights. This is now changing
a lot with this new divisions becoming so popular, especially bikini division and wellness.
Now everyone wants to compete. Everyone wants to be fitness model. And it became like almost
there is no person who on the internet, on Instagram, who doesn't post their pictures
from the gym and workouts. But if you are doing it professionally, it's not an easy
task. It's very demanding and I think one of the most difficult sports out there.
I'm sure definitely. It's good to hear that it's becoming more mainstream and more popular.
More people are doing it. Mary, I'm looking forward to your event, the Olympia in Romania
this August, this summer. That's going to be really awesome. I just have a couple of
quick very short questions for you as we wrap up here. Just three or four quick questions.
First one is, have you been back to Croatia lately or do you have any plans to go sometime
in the future? Last time I was there in winter of 2019, I
think 19 and then COVID happened and last couple of years, I'm just so busy with training
that I can't take time to go there. Most of my competitions are in the summertime. So
when I want to go to Croatia, I can't because I'm competing. And in the winter time, it's
very difficult to go there and it's cold. I kind of, you know, I was going there in
the winter time, but I love going to Croatia and I have been postponing it. I have friends,
very good friends from my childhood still there. And they're a little bit upset with
me because every year I tell them next summer, next summer, and I keep competing and competing.
So hopefully next summer or maybe this coming winter, we'll see. But definitely I have plans
to go there. I love going to Croatia. Awesome. Yeah. On that note, I have one more
Croatia related question and then one final question after that. What makes Croatia so
special? We have everything, you know, from great weather, from beautiful islands and
the sea, all that coast, Croatia, Dalmatia and the Croatian coast, it's beautiful, still
almost untouched and people can take a boat and go from island to island and feel like
they're somewhere far away where there's no people, you know. Then we have mountains,
we have beautiful national parks. I mean, we do have everything and food is good. People
are nice. I always hear only good things about tourists coming back from Croatia, especially
in the last few, last maybe 10 years when Croatia became an international destination.
Split had kind of completely changed. I'm amazed how much it changed from the time I
used to live there. So I think if you want to go anywhere in summer in Europe, Croatia
is must. Yeah, I agree. Definitely. Of course. And
split as well in Croatia is definitely a must. Especially with the young people. I hear a
lot from young people. They love to go to split and all those islands and party scenes.
So it seems like that's going to continue because more and more people have Croatia
on their bucket list. Definitely. Yeah. Well, Mary, it's been an honor
having you on the podcast. I appreciate you taking the time to come on and really looking
forward to the next competition from you. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. It was
great talking to you.