Joan MacDonald’s daughter was worried about her health. The 70-year-old, who stood at 5’3″, weighed 200 pounds after years of mindless snacking and was on blood pressure medication.
MacDonald told Business Insider that she bowled, and played darts and lob ball socially, but she wasn’t fit.
If she didn’t change, her daughter feared, she would end up in a nursing home.
Fast-forward eight years, and MacDonald is a 78-year-old fitness influencer with 1.9 million followers who can hip thrust 235 pounds.
MacDonald started her fitness journey with the help of her daughter, a bodybuilding coach who helped her improve her fitness and eating habits.
MacDonald started going to the gym five times a week, where she would do 15 minutes of cardio on a machine, followed by free weights.
Joan MacDonald
She also started eating five times a day — small meals before and after her morning workout as well as in the evening, and two protein smoothies.
After a year, MacDonald lost 45lb and would lose a further 35lbs in the following three years. Losing weight gradually, at around one to two pounds per week, is healthy and sustainable, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“I still have things I’m working on all the time. I’m not concerned about losing weight anymore — I figure I’m at a pretty good weight to be at my age — but I’ve been able to define my body,” she said.
Research shows it’s never too late to start looking after your health. One 2023 study published in the journal Preventive Medicine found that even 80-year-olds who continued to be active or became active were more likely to live longer than those who didn’t.
MacDonald shared some of her biggest tips for getting fit and losing weight at any age.
Getting fit involves changing your lifestyle
Joan MacDonald
“You can’t just follow a certain food plan for the week and then go crazy on the weekend. That doesn’t work,” MacDonald said. But “if you’re willing to change your lifestyle, and you’re willing to work hard, anybody can change what they look like.”
Personal trainer Will McLaren previously told BI that the hardest part of a fitness journey is getting started, but that after the first few weeks, “you will feel like a new person.”
It’s all about mindset
There was no spark of inspiration for MacDonald to get fit, she said: There was only her “will to do the changing.”
“You need to get your mind focused on what you really want. I knew I wanted to lose weight, but I wanted also to get strong,” she said.
She read a lot of books and articles on how to lose weight that helped to change her mindset, and followed other people on similar fitness journeys for inspiration.
BI previously reported on five red flags that a fitness influencer isn’t trustworthy.
Joan MacDonald
Don’t compare yourself to others
MacDonald said it’s important not to compare yourself to others because “you don’t know what shape they were in to begin with or how long they’ve been doing it.”
Instead, “compare yourself from what you were to what you are now,” she said.
“And don’t talk down to yourself. You are stronger than you think,” she said, adding: “There’s no such thing as you can’t. You’ve got to at least try.”
Have realistic expectations
If you’re not in your 20s, MacDonald said you shouldn’t think that working out is going to make you look like you’re 20 again. And if you lose a lot of weight, she said you have to expect that you might have loose skin.
But, she said, that shouldn’t stop you from working out.
“You can only do so much, so just try to get to where you really like how you look and how you feel,” she said, adding, “Be happy with who you are, and love yourself.”
