Hey, lovelies!
I recently had the opportunity to have a truly amazing guest on my podcast.
Joan McDonald is making waves in the fitness world and turning the perception of who can be fit and healthy on its head. Why?
Because Joan is a 74-year-old woman who has transformed her life over the past few years by embracing fitness and a healthier way of eating.
Joan’s journey began in her 70’s. If that doesn’t prove that it’s never too late to try something new, I don’t know what does!
Joan McDonald’s Fitness Journey Begins
So where did it all start?
In the doctor’s office. Joan had just come from a checkup with troubling news: her health was deteriorating rapidly.
Joan was already on medication for high blood pressure, acid reflux, and cholesterol. Her kidneys were failing, and she had to make a choice between upping her medication dosages or changing something!
Luckily, Joan isn’t one to back down from a challenge, and when her daughter Michelle threw the gauntlet down, Joan was ready.
My daughter challenged me to something about my health.
It was my choice to go on with the added weight and the anger I had within me, that I wasn’t doing anything with.
Joan McDonald
Read on for some fascinating insights from this fitness diva in my interview below!
What was the start of your fitness journey like?
Joan: I had to learn a new way of exercising and how to eat properly with five small meals a day. I had to put pictures of myself out there with weight and measurements. Everything was thrown at me at once!
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What kept you going?
I’m a person who when I make up my mind about something I want to get it done, so there was no turning back once I started.
I was frustrated most of the time because I couldn’t figure out my macros, putting it down, where to do it, how to do it, make my meals. My husband would make fun of me because it took longer to weigh my food than eat it! It would be cold by the time I was done!
It took months to learn how to do it, and how to do it in a timely manner. It’s very challenging, but if you want it you have to persevere!
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What does your fitness routine look like?
I’m a morning person, so I’d sooner get my workout done in the morning.
I block out so much time in the morning to work out, then the rest of the day is mine. I would work out early in the morning, it took me about two hours to get through my routine I did 4 days a week, with very little cardio in the beginning.
But cardio was necessary because getting warmed up is major.
If you don’t warm up and go in cold turkey, you’re going to end up injuring yourself.
In the beginning, one day was just cardio, about 10 minutes of cardio to warm up. Otherwise, you’re going to pull muscles or get injuries. Now I work out 5 days a week and do cardio 15- 30 minutes an hour. One day is just an hour of cardio.
How did your diet change?
I eat a balanced food plan made of carbs, proteins, fat. Five meals a day. Before and after my workout I eat my biggest meals, and I have no starches in the last meal of the day!
My daughter figured it out for me, with a scale that uses body type and weight to figure out how you’re going to eat.
I just look at the before and after pictures. I don’t wanna go back. That keeps me going. I just keep looking at the before and after pictures, that’s something that will resonate with me forever.”
Joan McDonald
I also take supplements, fish oil, collagen, and amino acids. Collagen hasn’t been proven to do anything taking it orally, but it won’t harm anything either!
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Did your progress in the first few months match up with your expectations?
I told my daughter as long as it comes off, I don’t care if it’s a pound a week. If it’s slower that’s better, then my body can adjust.
In the first month, I lost 46 pounds. I lost more than they expected me to lose!
I didn’t have any expectations. I’m a person who won’t say I can’t do it until I’ve tried. If I hurt a part of my body or can’t do it, I would let my daughter know – so we could adjust the workout.
I never stopped what I was doing completely, just changed the way I was doing things.
There’s always pain, you can’t get away from it when you’re trying to change your body.
Joan McDonald
What helped you along the way to keep you motivated?
Getting compliments from people! At the gym, the guys and girls would say “you’ve changed, you’ve lost a lot of weight and you’re beginning to get some definition.”
I started in January and by the Fall I was able to get off all my medications (with my doctor’s help). I have kidney failure and my kidneys were stable, not deteriorating anymore, and even improving which is very very rare!
By that fall I had 55 pounds off! Maybe the weight didn’t change all that much in the last few months before fall, but I could see the difference in my body. Everything was getting tighter.
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What advice would you give to someone who is just starting out at the beginning of their fitness journey?
You don’t jump in at the top, you start slow and move up in phases to what you can handle.
I would never tell someone to start with a 50-pound weight – that will discourage it. Start with a light weight, and if it feels too light move up.
You should be able to feel it. You should feel your muscles working.
Try to learn about your own body. You know what you can do and what you can’t do. At least try to do something a little more than what you have been doing.
If you’ve never done exercises before and don’t have access to a gym, get exercise bands. You can stretch with them and use resistance. If you want weights, and you don’t have dumbbells, use cans of paint!
You can improvise equipment. Soup cans or cans of beans. Just something that’s giving you resistance.
Go slow but go steady. Be consistent. You can’t just do one day and skip.
Tell yourself you want results, so you’re going to do it. Put one change in your life every day!
Joan McDonald
Hear the entire conversation with Joan on the Not Basic Blonde podcast, and find out more about her on her website!
