If you don’t follow @trainwithjoan on Instagram you are missing out on one of the most inspiring midlife women we have seen! At 73, her feed is full of weight lifting videos, healthy meals and yoga poses. But what is so inspiring about Joan is her total transformation in her 70’s, proving that its never too late to start exercising!
Changing Your Life at 70
At around 70, Joan admits she felt angry and easily upset. She was frustrated and disheartened because she didn’t like who she was. She found it so hard to accept that she didn’t let people take photos of her, even though she couldn’t seem to find a way to change. Having tried to lose weight in the past to be healthier, it never seemed to stick. It wasn’t until her daughter, who luckily enough was a weight trainer, saw that she was struggling up the stairs and found out she was on heart medication that she staged an intervention to get her to take care of herself.
“I remember she made up a little chant for me to help me get out of my head, and into my heart. I love to sing, and the words of the chant were: “My life, my body, is a gift to the Lord”. We sang it over and over again, and I cried. For me, it really helped me tap into something greater than myself.”
By coming to accept herself and where she was, she was able to shift her mind set. She recognised that she had become her own worse enemy and she has lost her faith in her own ability to look after herself. By accepting this, she was able to focus on changing for the better. She felt it was a duty she owed to force greater than her.
Complete Body Transformation
Joan started lifting weights and getting fit, she dropped from 15 stone to 10 and a half in just 10 months! She learned how to make better-balanced meals and although she admits that she wasn’t perfect, she was always consistent. Her life has improved so much since she made her dramatic transformation – she eats more, has more energy, more balance and a more positive outlook. She is stronger as well, able to do sets of unassisted pull-ups and lift heavy weights!
Joan transformed her body completely in her 70’s. Sometimes we look at celebrities or athletes and think what they have isn’t achievable, but Joan has shown us that it is possible at any age even if you didn’t win the genetic lottery! Whilst some people would be taking a slow approach to exercise at that age, favouring gentle walks, she went all in and completely changed her body.
She did this with a coach (her daughter) and learned the real skill behind training like this such as when to lift, when to recover, how hard, and when to stop. But she has proved that with determination and hard work, transformation is possible!
As her Instagram profile states: You can’t turn back the clock but you can wind it up again!
