Audrey Martin is twenty four years old. She was born in Morocco, raised in Italy, and over the past few years has been living around the world. She visited more than fifty countries so far, lived for two years in Portugal, spent over a year traveling across Asia between Japan, Indonesia and Thailand, and is currently living in South Korea, where she now been based for over two years.
Her journey has been far from conventional. She left school very early to start working, and during her teenage years she struggled deeply with her relationship with food and her body. Obesity runs strongly in her family — her parents, grandparents, uncles and even her brother all struggled with it — and growing up this created a very unhealthy perception of weight and appearance for her.
At the age of 14, she developed anorexia, which later turned into binge eating and bulimia. For years, the number on the scale completely controlled her life. The scale became her biggest enemy, and she entered a very toxic cycle where the only thing that mattered was becoming smaller and smaller, no matter the cost.
At 19, she slowly began rebuilding a healthier relationship with herself. She started studying nutrition, going to therapy, and approaching fitness in a healthier and more sustainable way. She first started going to the gym with a personal trainer because she was too intimidated to go alone, but after almost a year she found confidence in herself and began training independently.
Over time, she discovered more and more sports and slowly fell in love with movement itself. What once came from fear eventually became passion. Today, she genuinely cannot imagine her life without physical activity. Sport is no longer punishment for her — it’s therapy, balance, happiness and freedom.
Her hobbies today are almost entirely sports-related. She does boxing, swimming, running, weight training, golf, tennis, surfing and many other activities. What used to be her biggest enemy has now become her best friend.
One of the main messages she tries to share through her social media is that a healthy body is not necessarily an extremely thin body. She believes that we give far too much importance to the number on the scale, and she knows personally how dangerous that mindset can become. She tries to show people — especially women — that you do not have to weigh 48 or 50 kilos to be beautiful, healthy or fit. A woman can weigh more and still be slim, athletic and healthy.
Another important part of about her is adventure and exploration. Her travels are often very unconventional — from the Arctic and ice baths in freezing temperatures to the Amazon rainforest, remote jungles and indigenous tribes. She often travels alone, and she is constantly searching for experiences that push her outside her comfort zone. She has also done activities such as skydiving and extreme outdoor adventures.
She believes what makes her personality and content unique is the contrast between the two sides of her: a very adventurous, strong and fearless side combined with a very feminine aesthetic. She loves taking care of herself, her appearance and her femininity, while also embracing strength, discipline, sports and adventure.
Today, through traveling, sports and personal growth, she tries to inspire people to build a healthier relationship with them, both physically and mentally.
Women Fitness President Ms. Namita Nayyar catches up with Audrey Martin an exceptionally talented and accomplished a Global content creator – featuring authentic content about travel, health, lifestyle, and personal growth. Here she talks about her personal journey, content creation, travel, beauty, fitness routines, and future aspirations.
Namita Nayyar:
You were born in Morocco, raised in Italy, and have since lived in Portugal and now South Korea. How has each of these places shaped your sense of identity? Do you feel more Moroccan, Italian, or simply “a citizen of the world”?
Audrey Martin:
I feel more like a citizen of the world than anything else. Morocco, Italy, Portugal and South Korea all shaped different parts of me because they are the countries where I spent the most important years of my life. But honestly, every time I travel, I discover something new about myself. Every culture changes me a little.
Italy is still the country I emotionally identify with the most because it raised me. It’s where I grew up, went to school, learned the language and built my personality. Italy gave me my emotional side, my love for beauty, food and human connection.
At the same time, I have very strong Moroccan roots because of the environment and values I was raised with at home. Morocco taught me family connection, warmth and resilience.
Portugal was the place where I matured emotionally. It taught me how to slow down and understand that life doesn’t always need to move so fast.
And then there is South Korea, which became the place where I unexpectedly felt at home. I originally arrived there only planning to stay a short period during a difficult phase of my life, but I completely fell in love with the culture, the atmosphere, the people and the feeling of safety and structure I found there.
I also fell in love with the Korean language, which I started learning so I could communicate with my boyfriend’s parents and have basic conversations at supermarkets, taxis, restaurants etc… I speak five languages and languages have always fascinated me, but Korean feels especially emotional and poetic to me. Concepts like “인연 – Inyeon” the idea of invisible destiny connecting people through life, really touched me. Or also like “윤슬 – Yoonseul” The shimmering, sparkling ripples of water created by the reflection of sunlight or moonlight, these words are unique, romantic, poetic and pure and korean language is full of words like that.
Arabic too!
Over time, Korea slowly became part of my identity as well, and shaped my personality.
Namita Nayyar:
After over two years in South Korea, what has kept you there longer than other countries? Are there aspects of Korean culture (beauty, fitness, discipline) that resonate with your personal journey?
Audrey Martin:
What kept me in South Korea longer than anywhere else was honestly the balance I felt there.
I connected deeply with the Korean mentality: discipline, consistency, ambition and self-improvement. Korean people work incredibly hard and take both health and self-care seriously, and that environment motivated me a lot personally.
Living there also changed my relationship with beauty and health. Before moving to Korea, I never cared much about skincare or aesthetic treatments, but Korea introduced me to a more preventive and balanced approach to self-care.
I also loved everyday life there — the food culture, the safety, the respect people have toward others and the feeling that everyone is quietly trying to improve themselves.
Korean cuisine also fit my lifestyle naturally because meals are usually balanced and built around vegetables, rice, soups, fermented foods, fish, tofu and lighter ingredients. And of course, another huge reason why Korea became so important to me is that my boyfriend is Korean, so emotionally the country became even more meaningful over time.
Namita Nayyar:
Having lived in Portugal for two years and traveled through Asia extensively, what is one daily habit or perspective you’ve adopted from each country you’ve called home?
Audrey Martin:
Every country I lived in left something inside me that still shapes my daily life today. Morocco taught me the importance of family and emotional connection. Even today, no matter where I am, I still call my mother and brothers almost every day.
Italy taught me quality and appreciation for food. Italians grow up understanding that food is not just fuel — it’s culture, emotion and care. Portugal taught me how to slow down and enjoy life more peacefully instead of constantly rushing.
South Korea taught me discipline and consistency. Living there pushed me to become more organized, more focused and more attentive to my health and routines. Korea also changed my relationship with friendship because, before moving there, I honestly never felt like I had truly deep friendships outside family or relationships. There, I experienced genuine loyalty and emotional support from people in a way I hadn’t before.
Namita Nayyar:
You’ve spoken about how obesity runs strongly in your family. At 14, when you developed anorexia, what was the trigger that made you want to go in the complete opposite direction from your family’s body type?
Audrey Martin:
The main trigger when I was 14 was honestly the toxic environment around body image that I grew up in. There was a lot of body shaming inside my family, especially directed toward my younger brother. Ironically, many of the people criticizing him were struggling with weight themselves.
At the same time, I had a very thin neighbor who constantly told me that one day I would “become like my family.” Those comments stayed in my head and slowly created a deep fear of becoming overweight.
At that age, social media and beauty standards also started affecting me heavily. I began associating thinness with success, beauty and acceptance.
Eventually, that fear pushed me completely to the opposite extreme and became the beginning of my eating disorder.
Namita Nayyar:
You’re eating disorder evolved from anorexia into binge eating and bulimia. Can you describe what that toxic cycle looked like on a typical day during your darkest period? What role did the scale play in your self-worth?
Audrey Martin:
During the darkest period of my eating disorder, my entire life revolved around food, guilt and the scale.
At 180 cm tall, I dropped to around 54–55 kg and physically I could barely function anymore. I was weak, exhausted and emotionally completely disconnected from myself.
Eventually I tried to start eating more because my body physically couldn’t continue that way anymore, but instead of healing, I fell into a cycle of restriction, binge eating and purging.
For months, I would heavily restrict food for four or five days and then suddenly completely lose control during binge episodes. I remember eating huge amounts of rusks covered in Nutella and then forcing myself to throw up afterward because I felt overwhelming guilt.
At the same time, I was obsessively doing cardio, especially jump rope, because I believed I constantly needed to “burn” what I ate. I even had photos of Victoria’s Secret models taped to my wall while training because I wanted to make myself feel guilty if I stopped. My self-worth depended entirely on the scale. If the number dropped, I felt valuable. If the number increased, even slightly, I felt like a failure.
Namita Nayyar:
At 19, you began rebuilding your relationship with yourself. What was the specific turning point – a person, a moment of health crisis, or a realization – that made you seek therapy and nutrition studies?
Audrey Martin:
Around 19 years old, something inside me slowly started changing. I became fascinated by nutrition, yoga and understanding the science behind the body instead of constantly fighting against it.
Until that point, my relationship with food and exercise had always been based on fear, guilt and punishment. But the more I studied nutrition and health, the more I realized how unhealthy my mindset actually was.
The biggest realization understood that food was not my enemy. Food was fuel. It was what allowed the body to function, heal, build muscle, recover and stay healthy.
At the same time, my self-esteem was still very low because after years of restriction I had gained weight again, and mentally I struggled to accept my body. That’s when I decided to start approaching fitness seriously instead of emotionally.
I hired a personal trainer for the first time and slowly started learning how training actually worked. Then I became obsessed — in a healthy way — with understanding nutrition, biomechanics, muscle growth and the science behind fitness.
That period completely changed my life because it transformed movement from punishment into something empowering.
Full Interview is Continued on Next Page
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