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The Amazing Great-Grandmother – Achieving Your Dreams At Any Age
December 9, 2009
I love sharing inspiring stories about women who have overcome odds to do something incredible! My blog this week is about a great-grandmother from Everett, Washington who went from dangerously obese to not just getting in shape and turning her life around, but to actually setting world records in weightlifting. Her name is Winifred Pristell…and she’s 70 years old.
Winifred is a woman like most of us, a woman who spent a lot of time at her job working long hours, raising a family, and not eating healthy foods. According to an article in the HeraldNet by David Chircop, by the age of 47, “the 5-foot-5-inch-tall woman was dangerously obese, weighing 235 pounds – a body mass index of about 40. A body mass index of 25 is considered overweight; obesity starts at 30.”
Lack of exercise, poor eating habits, and drinking and smoking too much finally caused a turning point in Winifred’s life and she “remembers feeling as though she was dying.” So Winifred decided she was going to do something to change her life for the better.
She began by asking her daughter to take a walk with her. “I couldn’t walk but a block that first time,” Winifred said. But she kept at it every morning, walking a little bit more every day until she could walk three miles, five days a week.
She also tried out many other forms of exercise to find out what she liked, including aerobics, bike riding, and weight lifting. Winifred ended up enjoying weight lifting (free weights) so much that she joined a gym and got herself a personal trainer.
At the age of 60, Winifred began lifting weights competitively – and setting state, national, and world records. “At 68, Pristell set world records for her age in bench press, 176.2 pounds, and in dead lift, 270 pounds…, according to World Association of Bench Pressers & Deadlifters.”
How was it possible for Winifred to so drastically change her life?
- Her incredibly positive attitude: “She has no limitations. Mentally, physically, she just has a spirit about her, an attitude that she can do anything.”
- Her perseverance: Three days every week she is up at 5:30am and goes to the gym to lift weights. She has integrated exercise and healthy eating habits into her normal routine of life.
- Her belief in herself: Even though she has arthritis in her hands, feet, and back, Winifred believes she can overcome her challenges. “We are all dealing with something. If you let whatever you’re dealing with control your life, you have no quality of life.”
We can all learn wonderful lessons by looking around us for amazing women like Winifred. Winifred was facing difficult challenges (obesity, poor exercise and eating habits, arthritis) but she didn’t let that stop her from realizing her dreams. With a positive attitude, perseverance, and by believing in herself, she is achieving more than even she thought was possible. So can you!
~ Lisa Quast
Source: http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20090202/NEWS01/702029896
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