Caris Rhodes was crowned Miss Australia at the Nationals. Here, she tells us her story.
My name is Caris Rhodes and I’m 25 years of age, from Perth, Western Australia. I have always been involved in sports, participating in basketball, gymnastics and netball as a child. When I turned 18 I decided to give soccer a go. I loved playing and I loved the social side of it too. This, however, turned into more social drinking than soccer being played! I gained lots of unhealthy habits, as well as 10 kilos of fat, and I became very unhappy with my body and myself.
I was introduced to Antony Romeo from Bodyworks for training and nutrition advice, to see if I could change things around. My first bio-impedance test came back at a whopping 31 per cent body fat, weighing in at 59 kg. After seeing these results, I was determined to make lifestyle changes, and become a healthier, happier young woman. I started going to the gym four days a week and eating clean — and I loved the way I was feeling, not to mention the results I gained. After some time, I got myself down to 49 kg and 9.5 per cent body fat, with abs to match!
I loved this lifestyle change so much, I decided to join up at the AIF and completed my personal training qualification. After learning more about the body, training and nutrition, I started to experiment at the gym more, trying out different exercises and split programs. As I went along, others started to ask me if I was training to ‘compete’. I had no idea what they were talking about, and never knew there were bodybuilding competitions or federations locally. I decided to go and watch my first competition in May 2011. I was amazed at the physiques and applauded the dedication and work of everyone that got on stage. And that was it; I decided I wanted to compete.
I then met my partner in my last class at the AIF, who had a few friends who had competed before. After gaining all their information, I started looking for a posing class, and came across Brad and Loretta McMillan from Pure Fitness. I went along to the classes fortnightly, started dieting, and before I knew it, I was up for my first Sports Model comp. I did not place in my first comp, and my stage confidence really let me down. But I was determined to come back and improve.
My next goal was Figure, and I was going to compete in May 2012. I needed to put on muscle, build shape, and had lots of hard training, cardio and dieting in front of me. As a mid-goal, I competed in IFBB Sports Model in March and my stage confidence went up, and I placed second! I was stoked and couldn’t wait to see what I brought to the stage in May and registered for WFF Figure Class 2.
I had my routine, bikini and different kind of posing all sorted. Competition day came, and I WON! I loved the carb up, the challenge and the high of being on stage; I decided to follow it up with Nationals, to gain more experience, not expecting to place. There was a tough line up and it was an honour to be on stage with such physiques! Much to my surprise I was crowned as Miss Australia in my division. I was speechless.
I met so many wonderful people and had so much fun competing, also picking up a sponsorship. I am now enjoying an ‘off-season’ and working towards improvements for my next competition in May. I hope along the way I can inspire more women and men to live an active, healthy lifestyle and help anyone in there fitness/competing journeys.