Aussie bodybuilder credits sports with saving her life

A Queensland woman has credited bodybuilding with saving her life, after winning the WFF Pro Miss Universe title.

Teanna Born, who hails from Toowoomba, went through a grueling few months of training and intense meal planning, before nabbing herself the coveted title in Singapore in July.

The 24-year-old, who has made a name for herself in the competitive bodybuilding world, suffers with depression and deals with it by channeling all her energy into her fitness career.

“It runs in my family. It’s just something that I’ve always had to learn to look at differently and to use it as a tool instead of letting it consume my life,” Teanna told Yahoo7 Be.

Battling through depression

When it comes to bodybuilding, Teanna claims it’s ‘probably saved her life’.

“Getting endorphins and obviously looking better and feeling better is going to help as well. But just learning so much about yourself and pushing your limits,” she said about the sport.

Teanna’s love for bodybuilding all started when she was just 19-years-old and dating a fitness fanatic.

“I decided with him that I was going to do a show and try it out and I just fell in love with it since then,” she said.

“I would see the transformations of other people who have gone from doing shows and they it was just really inspiring how strong they would come out of it mentally.”

“Once I started to talk about it, it started other conversations and started to help other people.

“It’s kind of been my main driver and it’s really changed my perspective.”

Overcoming obstacles

Teanna also claims a former unhealthy relationship pushed her to excel at her sport.

“Hitting rock bottom, I used that pain to fuel everything,” she said.

“If that didn’t happen, I wouldn’t have done as good as I have.”

She took things to another level when she got coach Tory Thorton on board to help with her training and meal planning.

Now she eats six meals a day and when she’s coming up to competition time, she works out twice a day.

How often she eats and trains

“In the morning I would have eggs on toast which is pretty normal and then two or three hours later I’d have brown rice, chicken and veg and I’ll have that twice,” Teanna explained.

“Then my pre-workout meal would be white basmati rice and chicken and another one post-workout.

“For dinner, I would have steak and avocado.”

While it might seem like a lot of food, Teanna said it’s only 1,400 calories and she uses most of that up when she works out.

As for cheat meals, the 24-year-old likes to keep them as clean as possible, but did admit that she chowed down on a massive burger in Singapore after winning the title.

What’s next?

Now, after winning the WFF Pro Miss Universe title., Teanna has her sights set on the WFF Australian National Titles in October. If she wins that, she’ll fly to California to appear in the world titles.

She’s also going into her own fitness venture with a fellow athlete, which will centre around training, mindset and nutrition programs for women.

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