It is year seven of maintaining a healthier lifestyle!
See where it all began. On July 29, 2019 I wrote a post called A Year to a Healthier Lifestyle. That was the one year mark of working towards a healthier lifestyle and tracking my weight.
Portion control and willpower
Eight years ago a doctor read off the results of my blood work and noticed my blood sugar levels were getting towards the high end of the normal range. She cautioned that I don’t want to cross into diabetes territory and suggested losing weight would help keep the blood sugar in check. Portion control and willpower was her advice.
Yeah, right. Easier said than done. Willpower and portion control is a daily battle for me, that I don’t feel like I’m winning.
It’s not easy. I’m a compulsive over eater. I would keep shoveling food in if I could get away with it. I keep reminding myself I’ve got to keep my blood sugar levels down because I don’t want diabetes. This is something I can control. Especially since fear is a great motivator for losing weight.
For the most part that works.
My ideal weight is 110 pounds and I managed to get there and below a couple of times. Once there, I decided staying within 3 pounds one way or the other would be realistic. And ideally, staying on the lower side of those 3 pounds would be the way to go.
And tough as hell to maintain!
Losing weight is not easy. Keeping the weight off is not easy. About 80% to 90% of people who lose weight gain it back.
Why?
Metabolism, genetics, and behavior play a huge role.
Only 20% of people are able to maintain their weight loss after one year. Within two years people will regain 70% of their lost weight. Yikes!
It was really hard work for me to lose weight. I couldn’t let that go to waste now, could I?
It’s not easy…
Daily weigh in and falling off the wagon
I’ve pretty much quit it with the daily weigh ins. But that’s because I don’t travel with a scale! Or don’t always have one available where I’m staying.
In November, 2025 I began My Great South American Adventure. It’s summertime in these countries, and even when I came back into the Northern Hemisphere, I was still near the Equator in hot countries. Ice cream was my downfall. Soft serve ice cream cones for $1. Banana splits for the equivalent of $5 Canadian dollars or less? Oh man, you bet on hot days!
Talk about an avalanche of whipping cream, hunh?
In Cusco there are several women set up on sidewalks selling avocado sandwiches for about $1, maybe a little less. The trouble is the police move them along so it’s not easy finding them, but when I did – lunch for a buck!
Many hotels in Peru and other places in Latin America include breakfast. It might not be much of a breakfast – toast and jam or cereal – but it’s better than nothing and one less meal to buy. I also took advantage of markets where I could buy fresh fruits.
Now, you have to be very careful with fruit in South America. I only bought fruit that could be peeled and eaten like bananas and mangos. As much as I wanted grapes, they can’t be washed in contaminated tap water.
Same thing with vendors selling pre-cut fruit as shown in the photo above – the containers beside the lady making my avocado sandwich. It’s unknown what basic hygiene was followed in its preparation. It looked good, but no thanks to tourist tummy.
If I had a place with a fridge, either in my room or a communal kitchen, I bought yogurt. But honestly, sometimes it was cheaper to eat out than buy groceries at the store.
Unfortunately a few pounds began to creep back on and the jeans feel a little tighter. I’d like to lose about 8 to 10 pounds. I’ll do it!
It’s getting back on track, and trying not to beat myself up about it.
Keep an eye on my YouTube channel to see if I succeed.
Click here to read more about my adventures in Peru.
A healthier lifestyle is not all about weight loss
As the years pass, I don’t really want to dwell too much on my weight loss. And sure, I’m pleased that I’ve been able to keep it off and maintain the weight loss. It’s all part of my journey and I don’t want to gloss over how tough it is not always getting to eat what I want.
There are other ways in our lives to maintain a healthier lifestyle, and this annual post is my round up of what I’ve been doing to stay healthy.
International housesitter
Last year when I wrote Year Six of Maintaining a Healthier Lifestyle, I was housesitting in Vancouver Island, Canada. Two years ago I was housesitting in London, England. Three years ago – also housesitting in London, England! This year I’m near Vancouver, BC.
Over the past year I’ve been housesitting only in British Columbia, Canada plus travelling in South America and volunteering at a dog rescue near Cancun, Mexico for a couple of months.
Housesitting and volunteering are part of keeping myself financially healthy because I don’t have the stress of paying rent or a mortgage. Very important on a low income to keep the expenses down!
However, as you may have guessed, I spent a lot of money on my travels around Latin America this past year. Now I need to recover financially and build up my reserves again.
Finances
My biggest concern these days is still my finances. And how my bank account is dwindling fast! I have a very low income and when I was travelling in Latin America, almost every month my expenses were much higher than what little money comes in. That means I’m dipping into my savings.
Travel expenses are huge. Whenever I move – whether it’s by plane, train, car, bus, or ferry – it costs money. So I try to stay put as much as possible. Normally I only accept long term housesits, but I make an exception in the UK where it’s relatively inexpensive to get around. Especially if I stay in the London area or within a two hour train ride from London.
When I headed to British Columbia, I knew I’d have to become a nomad on four wheels and bought another car. Ouch! Outlay some more cash to buy it and let’s not forgot all the other expenses that come along with car ownership: insurance, gas, maintenance, new tires… I did nab a good deal on a small SUV.
I don’t always have back to back housesits. Sometimes I’m hanging around between sits for a few days, a week, maybe longer. That means I’m spending money on a hotel or AirBnb. At least now I can sleep in the car if I have to. Yeah, car life is a thing.
Cajun
Can’t let one of these posts go by and not talk about my little guy.
Cajun is living the good life on a ranch with other retired horses.
In early 2026 he was having lameness issues again. X-rays show he now has arthritis in one of his front ankles (best way to describe for non-horsey people). This has meant pain medications and a cortisone injection. This is in addition to the arthritis that was discovered in his left hock (back knee for non-horsey people) a few years ago.
Kaching, kaching.
I estimate I’ve spent close to $2,000 on vet bills so far this year.
Yikes!
I want him to be comfortable and have a happy life.
The joys of horse ownership.
Loving animals is part of how I live a healthier lifestyle. And sometimes it costs a lot of money!
Goals
Part of maintaining a healthier lifestyle is to make goals and do what I can to make them happen. My goals haven’t changed too much from 2023, other than a little more wisdom that comes from long term travel. I’m just figuring it out as I go.
- Find long term housesits
- See more of the world
- Downsize my worldly possessions
- Increase my savings/investments
- Quit spending too much money
Let’s start with number one on my list. I rarely take on housesits of less than one month unless I’m filling in gaps between other housesits. 2026 has been a tough year. I committed to a couple of my recurring clients but they were short term sits, a couple of weeks. Which really screwed up things for me filling in the missing spots. Currently I’m coming to the end of a 5 week housesit. So things are looking up. I don’t know if people just aren’t taking vacations in 2026 or they’re not advertising or searching on the housesits sites that I’m on, but it seems like I’m scrambling.
Second on my list is seeing more of the world. I’d like to housesit in Australia and a homeowner there contacted me last year, but I was already booked. I’m not sure that sit would have worked out for me anyway. Loved the eccentric house, but it didn’t appear to be in a good location for transportation. I still want to get to Australia, maybe that’s a long range goal. From there I can visit Bali, Thailand and other countries in South East Asia where the cost of living is low.
My big travel plans for the end of 2026 and a few months into 2027 is England and Europe! Yeah! Stay tuned to my YouTube channel where I will be posting short videos of my adventures from time to time.
Let’s quickly touch on number three on my list – downsizing. Generally, I do lead a minimalist lifestyle. If I buy a new item of clothing, I get rid of something.
OK, let’s get back on track with the healthier lifestyle chat and tackle the last two items of my goals.
Increase savings/decrease spending
I decided to put numbers 4 and 5 on my list of goals under their own little subheading.
It all comes down to money. Making more. Spending less.
I’m retired. I don’t have a job bringing in income. Right now I have to rely on my investments increasing in value. And to bring in dividends so I can have some income. I don’t have a lot of money coming in. With my CPP (Canada Pension Plan) and dividends, I usually have a little over $1,000/month income. The months when a quarterly dividend is included, it might be closer to $1500. And yeah, that’s Canadian dollars. I’m just one of many low income seniors out there. I see news articles where some seniors are struggling on an income of $1700 a month, and I’m thinking well that’s more money than I have coming in.
I already figured out Canada is no country for old women, so that’s why I’m living my best life and enjoying a healthier lifestyle on the road.
So what am I spending my money on? Ha ha – mostly Cajun! Boarding a horse and vet costs ain’t cheap.
Travel is a big expense. Whenever I move around – airplanes, train, bus, ferry – it costs money.
Due to my upcoming travel plans, I plan to withdraw $4,000 from my Tangerine RRSP (Registered Retirement Savings Plan). It’s not that much money, but it will cover my airfare. I figure I can withdraw approximately $4,000 in 2027 and 2028 and that will be the end of that RRSP.
Simple living is a healthier lifestyle choice
Keeping my life simple is all part of living a healthier lifestyle.
When it comes to keeping my body healthy, I continue the course when it comes to portion control and eating healthy at least 80% of the time. I try to limit foods with salt, sugar, or deep fried. I’m doing a lot of housesitting and usually buy bagged salads, oatmeal, fresh fruit, yogurt, and granola bars to have on hand.
These days most of my exercise is walking 5 miles or so a day, depending on the weather.
I’m glad for my health. Staying healthy – body, mind, and financials – is my goal for another year of maintaining a healthier lifestyle.
I’ve been truly blessed this past year enjoying my life as a nomad, housesitter, and volunteer.
I am a citizen of the world.
Until next year’s update – stay well everyone. And thank you for reading The Lifestyle Digs!
xoxo
Published by Cheryl @ The Lifestyle Digs on July 29, 2026.
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