73-Year-Old Woman Defies Expectations and Becomes a True Fitness Goal

• Joan MacDonald got tired of being helpless and taking maintenance meds.
• Along with proper diet, she started lifting weights and doing yoga
• She spends at least five days a week at the gym.

For most people, getting old means less activity and taking it easy. This is not the case for Joan MacDonald, a septuagenarian from Ontario who defied expectations and transformed her body into something the younger ones can only dream of.

Three years ago, MacDonald was told by her doctor that her health was quickly deteriorating. She was on maintenance medicines for high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and acid reflux.

MacDonald decided to take her health in her hands and initiated a lifestyle change.

The doctor advised her that the dosages for her medicines will have to be increased unless she makes the effort to do a drastic lifestyle change.

Tired with taking multiple medications and feeling helpless with her health, MacDonald decided to make the change. She knew she had to do something different, she said. MacDonald’s mother went through the same thing and so she decided she didn’t want that kind of life.

With the help of her daughter Michelle, who has been pushing her mother to prioritize her health, MacDonald developed healthier habits.

Michelle, who is a competitive powerlifter, yogi, and an owner of a fitness club, made a workout program for her mother.

Soon MacDonald was doing walks for cardio strength and practicing yoga. She started lifting weights as well.

Her initial focus was to establish overall strength and endurance. She exercised as much as she could while still remaining on a safer level.

Eventually, she started going for more, spending two hours at the gym, five days a week.

With hard work and consistency, MacDonald built a body that can put people 10 years younger to shame.

“I just get my workout out of the way first thing in the morning,” MacDonald explained. “So, usually every day at about 7 a.m., I head to the gym, then I have the rest of the day to work on other things on my schedule.”

At present, MacDonald still spends at least five days at the gym, although her workout has changed over the past three years. She dedicates two of those days for cardio, using the tower or stationary bike.

Then and Now…

MacDonald didn’t just rely on exercise. She knows that her overall health also needs a change in diet. She said she was eating way less back then, but was eating the wrong kinds of food.

Now she eats more but still continues to lose weight and feel better overall .

Now MacDonald’s goals are less about losing weight but more on strength and power.

“I’ve been working on doing unassisted pull-ups,” she shared. “I was actually able to do a few just the other day, but I’d like to be able to do it like all the youngins. That’s my goal.”