Growing up in a small country town there wasn’t much to do besides play weekend-netball and drink alcohol. So when I stopped playing sport, my weekends consisted of parties and far too much alcohol. After finishing high-school I moved away to go to University, which of course involved more parties, processed food and drinking… My health & fitness definitely wasn’t a priority in my early 20’s! Although I couldn’t see it at the time, I was unhappy with my body, very unfit and borderline overweight.
After a few years of this lifestyle, I decided that I needed to make some changes and took up running! I quickly found a strong interest in outdoor endurance running where I easily racked up 50+ km per week. I joined a local running group as the only female and pushed myself to run up to six days a week as training for long distance events.
Running became my escape, I loved it! Growing up I was never good at sports, but I was a good runner! I was quick, had good pace, completed several half marathons and loved the exhilarating feeling of setting a new record time. Not only did running help me lose the extra body fat I had accumulated at Uni, but it also instilled a competitive nature and love for putting the work in day in and day out to improve my performance.
However, it wasn’t long before my body started to break down from overtraining and repetitively pounding the pavement. Forced to take time off from shin splints and plantar fasciitis, I joined my local gym to fill in the time.
Although I didn’t enjoy the gym at first, or know what I was doing, I quickly found my competitive edge and that same exhilarating feeling from setting new records in the weights room! Only now I was full of energy, I felt strong and looked athletic. Instead of running myself into the ground (literally) I learnt how to fuel my body properly, train to become stronger, and understand the importance of rest & recovery. Soon after I gave up running completely to embark on a generic 12-week-challenge ran at my local gym.
As cliche as it sounds, I fell in love with the entire physical and mental transformation that I had gone through. Apart from building a body I didn’t think possible, the whole process instilled a strong level of discipline that crossed over into every other area of my life and naturally led to pursuing physique competitions. I’ve now competed at 10 different shows, both internationally & nationally, and hold the prestigious title as a WBFF Professional Bikini Athlete.
I have been unhealthy, overweight, underweight and everything in between. However, these experiences and lessons have taught me a lot about training, nutrition and maintaining work-life balance, to transform into the healthiest, strongest and happiest version of myself. I love the life that I have built as both a health & fitness professional and Professional Bikini Competitor, where I can use my passion and enthusiasm to promote women’s health, fitness and wellbeing. I hope to use both identities, along with my online coaching & social media platforms, to educate other women on how they too can live a healthy and sustainable lifestyle!
