Ashane Gordon-Morrison eyes new bodybuilding goal in 2025
Published:Wednesday | January 1, 2025 | 12:07 AMAinsworth Morris/Staff Reporter
While many indulged in festive treats during the Christmas season, Ashane Gordon-Morrison, the Jamaica Bodybuilding and Fitness Association’s (JABBFA) female sportswoman of the year, stuck to her fish-only diet.
“Truth is, I really only eat fish. I’ve been on a fish-only diet, and it’s not that I wouldn’t eat chicken or I wouldn’t eat beef or I wouldn’t eat anything else, but I’ve [been] on a fish diet for the last five years, simply because I got tired of having chicken breasts. I did everything with chicken breast enuh, and I feel like if curry and coconut milk cannot fix it, it cannot be fixed,” Gordon-Morrison, who is a 44-year-old fitness instructor, told Lifestyle.
“So, I said, ‘You know what, let me get rid of eating chicken breasts’. I find that I don’t miss the chicken, because I’ve gotten used to it, so for Christmas, I did not do anything outside of the norm and that’s because I did not want to pay for the consequences of my actions’,” she added.
Gordon-Morrison told The Gleaner she advises people to enjoy festivities like Christmas or Easter but not to overindulge beyond recommended portions.
“A lot of us overdo it. If we actually stick to the portions and make healthier choices in the festive season we’ll still be okay. A lot think that this weight gain will hit you early January. No, it’s going to hit you late January into February. I also believe if you are working out and you are training hard, and your diet doesn’t match up, you’re really wasting your time.”
Gordon-Morrison’s fitness journey began with mandatory exercises at Titchfield High School as part of the track team. However, she began taking bodybuilding and competing seriously in 2016 after being repeatedly asked why she didn’t enter competitions, given her physique and build.
“That asking kept following everywhere I went, so I said, ‘Let me give it a shot in December 2018. Doing bodybuilding competitively isn’t easy, because when I go into prep mode, there are some days when I have to train twice a day. I have be meal prepping and training my clients, but it all comes down to time management,” she said.
Over the years, she progressed from competing as a novice in women’s physique – where she won – to claiming victory in the senior championship, starting with the JABBFA competition in September 2019.
Between 2019 and 2022, she also engaged in activities in women’s physique, and got a shot at body fitness.
Gordon-Morrison has competed at the Central America and Caribbean (CAC) Bodybuilding and Fitness Championship three times. She placed first in the Dominican Republic in 2020, fifth and sixth in El Salvador in 2021, and second and fourth in Barbados in 2022. In 2023, she participated in the inaugural Roger Boyce Classic in Barbados, earning third place, and placed second in 2024.
“I think my roughest year was last year, because it saw me doing three competitions starting in the Roger Boyce Classic, and then Miami Grand Prix in August and I placed fourth and then I took a break and then went straight into prep [for] JABBFA nationals in September,”
As an amateur, Gordon-Morrison said that in 2025, “...I am hoping and praying that I’ll get another shot at becoming pro, because I believe in destiny and nothing will happen before it’s time, so the next show I am eyeing is the Roger Boyce Classic. This will be my third time. That will be from May 9 to 12. That’s a personal goal that I become pro, and if that doesn’t happen at the Roger Boyce, I’ll keep going, and if it’s to happen, it will happen,” she said.
Before committing to a healthy lifestyle, Gordon-Morrison said she would consistently take medication for her migraines, and now with daily exercise, she takes them far less.
“I think some thing that persons don’t talk about much is that work out helps you mentally. I really think it’s the most underutilised stress medication. I can have a bad day and go into the gym and just put on my headset, zone out and be fine,” she explained.
As a mother of two teenage boys, Gordon-Morrison credits exercise with helping her develop discipline and “balance everyday life.” She has been a gym instructor and professional trainer since 2017, after working as a phlebotomist and nurse until 2013. She then began pursuing a bachelor’s degree in logistics at the Caribbean Maritime University.
Nursing remains her first love, and she shared that she may return to it in the future.
“Time will tell. I don’t think we’re ever too old to pursue our dreams,” she added.