Wingate won the Ms Fit Body division at the WNBF/INBF World Championships in New York last month.

Her victory means Wingate can compete against professionals next year, having taken up the sport in 2007.

"Weight training came from the need to do something for myself outside of work and being a mother; my husband (David Wingate) did martial arts at the time and I had no intention of competing," Wingate said.

"It's mind-blowing - an incredible feeling to win a world championship.

"I stuck to a strict training regimen for 12 months."

Wingate trained an hour a day for nine months before working out three times a day in the three months before the world championships.

She had won at Asia-Pacific and NSW level before pursuing international glory.

Wingate and her family returned from the United States late last month after a well-earned holiday.