Joan MacDonald, a 73-year-old Canadian woman, decided that it's never too late to live the life you want. Having struggled with various health issues for the last couple of decades, she took matters into her own hands and decided to better herself. The results, shared by her daughter on the Internet, were inspirational for aging women everywhere...
Doctor's Orders
Joan struggled with managing her blood pressure for years. As she got older, she was busy raising her children and grandchildren, and as most mothers do, she forgot to make time for herself. Her health, unfortunately, began to suffer, and her doctors told her she had to make a change...
A Years-Long Journey
Serious about getting her life back on track, Joan and her daughter set up a fitness Instagram account in order to keep herself accountable. She was determined to lose weight and manage her health and serve as an inspiration for other women in their golden years who needed some motivation...
A Whole New Outlook
Joan's journey took her three years. She lost nearly 70 pounds thanks to the help of her yoga and fitness instructor daughter, Lauren. The two devised a very specific workout tailored towards older bodies, and it worked like a dream. Joan stuck with the regimen because she was tired of feeling so poorly. The results were shocking...
Slow Beginnings
Like any weight loss plan, Joan knew the results wouldn't be immediate. Despite the fact that she felt like her progress was going slow, she wasn't discouraged to stop. Lauren had seen the effect that her mother's negative body image had taken on her mental health and did anything she could to be reassuring...
Steady Results
As months passed, Joan began to see real results. With Lauren's help, they documented all of her progress on Joan's fitness account. Slowly but surely, they began to gain lots of followers and the supportive comments quickly rolled in after that. Joan was touched to see that she was actually serving as an inspiration to other people her age...
Fitness Is For Everyone
Joan stated in the past that she'd hated getting her picture taken. She had very low self-esteem and she figured that just came with the territory of aging. However, she read about various famous women who were close to her in age and she found inspiration in their own healthy lifestyles, so she figured if they could do it, why couldn't she?
Pushing Through the Pain
Aside from high blood pressure, Joan also struggled with arthritis and vertigo. However, she was determined to continue her weight loss journey and she wouldn't let those things stop her. She and Lauren went to the gym every day and safely exercised together...
One Day At a Time
When she'd nearly reached her goal, Joan couldn't believe how good she felt. She knew that her weight loss journey wouldn't be perfect, and she let herself make mistakes along the way. It took over a year, but she focused on things one day at a time. The bigger picture was less about her appearance and more about her health, but she was thrilled with the all-around results...
Medication-Free
One of Joan's main goals was to get off of her blood pressure, arthritis, and vertigo medications. She'd become a fan of physical and holistic healing methods, and when she hit her weight loss goal, her doctor cleared her to care for herself drug-free. Her blood pressure levels were the healthiest they'd been in decades so the doctor felt comfortable with that diagnosis...
A Complete Change
Lauren was so happy with her mother's progress. She saw a complete turnaround in her physical and mental wellbeing. She hadn't seen Joan act this positive in years. She was so proud of her mother for sticking with their routine and for finally putting herself first...
An Inspirational Story
When she looked back at old photos of herself, Joan couldn't believe the person she used to be. She looked noticeably less happy in old photos, at least in the few that she could find. Now, she'd gained enough confidence to happily pose for family photos again...
How She Did It
At first, Joan was very intimidated by the thought of going to the gym. She was easily the oldest person there at any given time, but her daughter went with her and encouraged her to ignore anyone who might have anything negative to say. It was admirable of Joan to put in the work and show up to the gym at all...
Diligent Results
Joan was a fan of cardio and weight training, and sure enough, the results were reflective of her dedicated training. She was nearly as toned as her daughter Lauren was, and the two made quite the workout team. Eventually, people would approach them and actually ask for tips...
Joan's Account Blew Up
Once people caught on to Joan's Instagram account, she gained nearly 415,000 followers! She didn't realize she'd have that much influence on social media, but people of all ages found her story inspiring. She was truly a one in a million story at 73 years old...
Healthier All Around
Joan transformed her diet as well as including regular exercise into her life. Along with regular cardio, yoga, and weight training, she also committed to eating completely clean. That was another popular feature on her Instagram that followers loved to ask her about...
Improved Mental Health
A physical transformation goes hand in hand with a mental one. Everyone in Joan's life could see the positive changes she'd undergone. Her daily outlook on life had greatly improved and she was finding joy in new hobbies and activities that her body image had previously kept her from doing...
A Routine Becomes a Lifestyle
Eventually, Joan stopped looking at her workout routine as a chore and more as her everyday life. She truly enjoyed spending time at the gym or doing yoga routines outside when the weather was nice. She felt like she was thirty years younger, and she was so grateful she hadn't given up...
A Reason To Get Active Every Day
Joan quickly became an advocate for daily physical activity and encouraged her children and grandchildren to get outside with her whenever they could. When possible, she chose to ride her bike or walk instead of drive. That was one easy way to get active without a gym membership...
A Picture of Health
Along with clean eating, she decided to start growing her own vegetables and practice farm-to-table methods. She'd gone completely vegetarian and had always wanted to grow her own garden, and that was another reason for her to get outside. She felt like she had a new lease on life...
A Brand Representative
Eventually, various athletic wear brands like Lululemon and Aerie, who advocate for diversity and inclusivity in their marketing, picked up on Joan's story. They loved her dedication to health and fitness and were proud of her journey. They asked if she would rep some of their clothing for ads, and she of course agreed...
A Recognizable Face
Joan quickly became famous within the online health and fitness community, and she loved to meet up with fellow bloggers whenever she could. She might have had several years over them, but she shared their dedication all the same. Her following was only continuing to grow...
A Maternal Figure
Eventually, Joan's followers began to seek out advice from her like a grandmother or a mother. She was flattered to serve as such an inspiration to others, and she never would have dreamed her weight loss journey would have ended like this. Her recurring piece of advice was to always take things one day at a time and take health and happiness seriously...
"Train With Joan"
Eventually, Joan expanded past Instagram and launched her own website: Train With Joan. The tagline was, "If I can do it, You can do it." She retold her story there and even uploaded exercise videos for others to follow along with her.
Staying Accountable
Joan also credits her success to various mobile meal tracking apps. Being able to calculate calories in real-time made it easier on Joan to keep herself accountable and eat only what her nutritionist had advised. The apps also challenged her to get creative with her meals and make new healthy recipes...
Local Celebrities
Joan and her daughter had even been featured on local news shows to talk about her weight loss journey. She had a huge local following, and she spoke to advocate about health and fitness in old age and to not forget to take care of yourself while you're busy taking care of others. People really took her advice to heart...
Full of Compliments
Joan knows that she lost the weight and turned her life around for herself, but she of course loves all the compliments she gets from young people about her progress. And who wouldn't? She inpsires younger people who never would have thought to continue a rigorous workout routine into old age...
Successes All Around
Along with meeting her fitness goals, Joan has also expanded her hobby list. She learned Spanish during this year of growth, became certified to teach yoga, and became pretty tech savvy. She ran her website and Instagram all on her own and she was proud of the personal growth she'd made. All of these new hobbies made her so happy...
Friends For Life
Joan loved the gym in her hometown, and the other regular members there were always happy to see her. Everyone helped keep each other accountable, and they'd all formed a deep bond. They spent time together outside of the gym and became lifelong friends...
An Open Book
Joan's website is very open about detailing every step of her journey. It serves as a resource for people of all ages who need to get their exercise routine back on track. She also recommends various workout routines and recipes...
Never Looking Back
Since the start of her journey, Joan hasn't missed a single day of her old life. She is happier, healthier, and more present with friends and family than she ever was before. Take a lesson from her and put your health and happiness at the forefront and make a change if there's something you're unhappy about!