CANADIAN PHYSIQUE ALLIANCE FALL ISSUE SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER | Page 86

2019 Muscle
Metamorphosis Award
winner, Christina
Rondeau, tells how
competing in her first
bodybuilding show led her
out of a life of addiction
and self-destruction.
Christina Rondeau expected she
would be dead before her eighteenth
birthday. An on-going struggle with a
severe eating disorder, drugs, and
self-harm compiled into a
destructive, habitual lifestyle. She
turned to something that would help
her in more ways than expected –
fitness. 
With a severe eating disorder
beginning at a young age, mixed with
hard drugs, and multiple suicide
attempts, Rondeau needed a change
or she would die. In 2014, she began
working out and noticed the
immediate benefits it offered. 
As a hyperactive person, Rondeau
learned the gym was a great outlet
for her energy. Casual attendance
turned into daily training. She had no
intention of competing at first, but
she explains it was not something
she chose.
“It’s a weird thing to say, but I don’t
think I chose bodybuilding, it chose
me,” says Rondeau.
At first, training was difficult
because she was weak. Rondeau
soon told her friends and family she
wanted to compete. They had many
opinions and concerns as she was
malnourished and unstable. 
“I get where they were coming from,”
says Rondeau. “I was very
underweight, I couldn’t stay clean, I
couldn’t get sober and I was self-
harming. I was not mentally in a place
to prepare for a competition.
“I held onto the fact that people were
doubting me and I wanted them to
see I could do anything I set my mind
too. I continued to work on myself. I
went to meetings. I had to get clean. I
had to gain a little bit more weight. I
trained twice a day, every single day. I
put my all into it.”
Rondeau says the gym
environment played a key role in
her success. Not only did she feel
a sense of community, but it
helped with her sobriety.  
“I was only familiar with people
using drugs, and people in high risk
situations. When I started going to
the gym, I made connections and
my whole circle shifted. Rather
than spending time with people
who were using and drinking, I was
spending time with people who are
training and bettering themselves.
I finally felt like I had a place where
I belonged.” 
After two years of training,
Rondeau saw the Muscle
Metamorphosis Award online
being offered at the TNT Muscle
Showdown and entered. This
award was created and offered by
LSR competition tanning service
provider, Muscle Metamorphosis
Inc. It focuses on the
transformation and achievement
of the individual. Not limited to a
specific look, the award is
intended to showcase an
individual’s ability to overcome
obstacles and their bravery in
sharing how they were able to
achieve not only their physical
transformation, but with their mind
and spirit as well. It is strictly
based on their story. For Rondeau,
this award is what brought her to
the stage.
In June 2019, Rondeau competed
in her first bodybuilding show at
the TNT Muscle Showdown in
Edmonton, Alta. In addition, she
received the Muscle
Metamorphosis Award after
sharing her story.