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Success Stories
See how these men and women changed their bodies and minds, plus discover their nutrition and exercise tips.
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Teresa Kneeshaw: Determination to Succeed
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Reader Model Teresa Kneeshaw from Winnipeg, Manitoba, felt stuck on a fat-loss roller coaster. From her peak of 160 pounds, Teresa had dieted and exercised her way to 124 pounds. She even won a title in her first bodybuilding contest.
"I was very satisfied with my accomplishment and decided that was good enough for me," says Teresa, the project officer for Manitoba’s Department of Education and Youth. "But soon enough my weight had skyrocketed to 150 pounds."
Determined to try again, Teresa resolved that she would succeed with her fat-loss before she turned 40, which was four months away.
Gaining control
"I did great for a couple of days with my nutrition and workout schedule," she says, "only to get sidetracked and go off my fitness regimen." After continuing on this cycle for more than a month, Teresa’s life changed when a good friend, Marcel Perreault, who trained her for the bodybuilding contest, called and told Teresa about the Body-for-LIFE Challenge, a nutrition, supplementation and training program.
"His timing was perfect," Teresa says. "I was feeling stressed at work and at home, and I didn’t have a social life. I hated the way I looked and felt. My self-confidence and self-esteem were gone. I could not understand how and why this was happening to me."
Completing the 12-week Challenge proved to be what Teresa needed to regain control of her life. At that time her body fat was 25.6 percent. Her goal was to achieve 12 to 14 percent body fat and, in general, "to be in the best shape of my life for my 40th birthday."
After only six weeks into the Challenge, a body-fat caliper test revealed that Teresa’s body fat was half of what it had been: 12.7 percent. Although she had gained 10 pounds of muscle after finishing the Challenge, the scale showed only a 4-pound fat loss. "I finally realized and accepted the fact that scales mean nothing," Teresa says. "Go by the way your body looks and how your clothes fit."
Staying on track
To stay motivated and on track, Teresa placed her "before" picture in a prominent place so she was constantly reminded of where she was coming from and where she needed to go. And she succeeded. "I never once missed a workout or went off my nutrition regimen," Teresa says proudly. When she was invited to events such as parties or business lunches, Teresa brought her own food. The response from others was positive. "To my surprise, people started becoming interested in what I was doing, and the healthy lifestyle, which I was living, became the topic of conversation."
Today, Teresa’s average body fat range is between 12 and 14 percent, and her dress size has dropped from a size 12/14 to a size 4/6. But her goal has not changed. "I am determined to continue living a healthy lifestyle," Teresa says. "I find myself providing a lot of advice and counsel to people who are interested in making a lifestyle change. And after all these years, my husband has decided to lead a healthier lifestyle."
So far her husband has lost 23 pounds, and he comes to the gym with her as her new training partner.
The biggest reward
"I will be 44 years old this May, and I look and feel better than I did when I was a 20-year-old!", Teresa says. "I have surpassed my original goal for almost four years. To me, that’s the greatest reward anyone can ask for." In addition, people are constantly commenting on her body transformation. "They tell me that they have placed a picture of me on their fridge for inspiration and motivation." Teresa credits her husband for his support and encouragement. "He helped me with my meal preparation daily, such as preparing chicken breasts or fish, washing and chopping broccoli and cauliflower, and draining tins of tuna." Teresa also received tremendous support from her trainer Marcel Perreault, and his wife.
Looking back
Reflecting on her recipe for success, Teresa believes she would not have been able to achieve her goals without continued use of supplements and healthy eating. "I take a multivitamin and a mineral supplement, 1,000 milligrams of vitamin C, 1,000 milligrams of calcium, 400 milligrams of chromium and a B complex vitamin on a daily basis." In addition, Teresa drinks a minimum of 10 cups of water a day and strives to eat foods that are lower on the glycemic index.
Teresa’s workout schedule
Teresa works out with weights Monday through Friday, with her cardio performed early in the morning. She does ab exercises after every workout. "I also do different exercises so my body doesn’t get used to the same muscle area being worked," Teresa says. For each exercise she does four sets of 10 to 12 reps. For variety, she’ll do two sets of 25 reps for each exercise.
Cardio
40 minutes of cardio on an elliptical cross-trainer five times a week; occasional 45-minutes of cardio on treadmill
Upper body
Monday: Chest
Barbell bench presses
Barbell incline presses
Cable crossovers
Pec dec machine
Tuesday: Back
Wide-grip lat pull-downs to the back of the neck
Wide-grip lat pull-downs to the front
Seated cable rows
One-arm dumbbell rows
Wednesday: Legs
Leg extensions
Lying leg curls
Barbell squats
Leg presses
Straight leg deadlifts
Thursday: Arms
Triceps pushdowns
Triceps extensions with a straight bar
Triceps kickbacks
Biceps curls
Alternate dumbbell curls
Hammer curls
Friday: Shoulders
Machine dumbbell presses
Machine lateral raises
Upright cable rows
Lower body
Friday: Calves
Seated calf raises
Standing calf raises
Abs (two to three abdominal exercises of three sets each after every workout with reps done to the point of failure)
Floor crunches
Decline crunches
Obliques (one leg up on knee, and touch opposite elbow to knee)
Machine crunches
Hanging knee raises
Teresa’s nutrition plan
6:45 a.m. Breakfast
Omelet made with egg whites, broccoli, mushrooms, green onion, fat-free cheese and salsa
Nutrition shake
1/2 a slice of homemade cinnamon bread (made in Teresa’s bread maker with no added fat or sugar)
10:30 a.m. Snack
Dry-curd cottage cheese mixed with 1 tablespoon of fat-free vanilla or lemon yogurt and some chocolate protein powder, topped with half a chopped apple or other fruit and sprinkled with bran flakes
Half a protein bar
1 p.m. Lunch
Parboiled rice, broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms, white onion, tuna (or chicken breast or other fish)
1/2 chopped tomato
Fruit, such as an orange
3:30 p.m. Snack
Half a protein bar
Dry-curd cottage cheese recipe
7 p.m. Dinner
Chicken breast or baked potato topped with low-fat cottage cheese, green onion and salsa
A large tossed salad with red onion, broccoli and cauliflower toped with fat-free salad dressing
9 p.m. Snack
Three to four cut-up pieces of a protein bar
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