MY STORY

Growing up on a small island in Malaysia I was active and did every sport under the sun. Sounds like I was set up for success from the start but I was unhappy with my body, borderline overweight and had a bad relationship with food from a very young age. Almost as a way of hiding my food binges on junk food which weren’t much of a feature in my family kitchen growing up my involvement in sports was almost a way of validating my behaviour. Straight through my teens I was always that one person who would avoid pool parties at all costs because I didn’t want to be seen in a bikini let alone have my peers staring at me.

When I was 18, I took a leap of faith. I went against my parents wishes and submitted an application to be in the running for Miss Universe Malaysia. Little did I know that that one decision would change my whole life’s trajectory in ways I didn’t think possible - I won the whole competition. It was from that point I knew that this was it, time to be the better version of myself that I knew I could be. Low self confidence had always plagued me and I was up for the ultimate challenge - to be someone that others would look up to not only because I looked healthy and strong, but because I exuded a confidence that they would love themselves. I dedicated my time to getting myself fit, I didn’t enjoy the gym at first, or know what I was doing but  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. The only problem was I didn’t have anyone guiding me or educating me on the correct way to go about things. The result? I looked great on stage at Miss Universe but I literally ran myself into the ground trying to get there- I was under eating, overtraining and experienced amenorrhea for 3 years all due to the stress I had put on my body in the aim of looking good in a bikini. The following year I moved to Melbourne and stacked ALL the weight I had lost and more back on in a short period of time and despite doing what worked for me in the past to lose weight, I couldn’t shift any of it.

This is when my lightbulb moment occurred - it was time to get some proper help. I joined a proper strength and conditioning gym and learnt from a coach how to fuel my body properly, train to become stronger, and understand the importance of rest & recovery. 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 in 3 physique competitions so far and am aiming to achieving a pro card in the near future.

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 a health & fitness professional, where I can use my passion and  enthusiasm to promote health, fitness and wellbeing. I hope that with my online coaching & social media platforms I’ll be able to educate others on how they too can live a healthy and sustainable lifestyle!