It is year six 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
Seven 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 the summer of 2024 I went on My Big Eurail Adventure and it’s tough travelling in places where the meal choices are mainly pizza, sandwiches, pasta, and french fries. It’s summertime so there are all kinds of ice cream options available.
At least I chose a sundae with fruit in it. The above photo is from a ice cream shop at a sidewalk cafe in Linz, Austria.
When I could, I went to grocery stores and bought bagged salads and yogurt. It was particularly tough in Linz because I arrived late afternoon on Saturday. I headed to a grocery store just after 6pm to buy salad and yogurt only to discover they closed at 6pm and were closed on Sundays. Same story with all grocery shops in this town.
Yup, it’s tough when you come from a 24/7 society.
It also might not have been a wise decision to tackle Slattery’s chocolate challenge!
I spent a couple more months in England and slowly the pounds began to creep back on and the jeans feel a little tighter.
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.
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 Five of Maintaining a Healthier Lifestyle, I was housesitting in London, England.
Let’s fast forward to 2025. Any guesses where I am?
Well… I’ve been on Vancouver Island, Canada for a few months.
Over the past year I’ve been housesitting a few areas of London, England and then back to Canada, housesitting in Toronto and Kingston, Ontario. And then back to British Columbia for a few house sits.
Housesitting is all 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!
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 most months my expenses are much higher than what little money comes in. That which 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.
But 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 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 2024 there was a health scare with him and I was freaking out, thousands of miles away from my baby. It turns out he was in the early stage of pneumonia, it was caught in time, treated, and he steadily improved over the following days.
Veterinary bill? $1,600.
Yikes!
The joys of horse ownership.
Unfortunately that nagging cough just wouldn’t go away resulting in trying different meds. It is suspected an allergy to something, possibly the hay. So it might not have been pneumonia at all.
Cajun’s health scare made me realize how much I miss him which made me reevaluate my travel plans in 2025. This is why I decided to buy that car and become a nomad in BC. Of course, that meant his cough now cleared up. No more coughing – yay!
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. So far so good. Other than a 17 day gap inbetween housesits in late September/early October, I’ve filled in my house sitting card for the balance of 2025.
Second on my list is seeing more of the world. I’d like to housesit in Australia and actually a homeowner did contact me in May, 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 for 2027 and from there I can visit Bali, Thailand and other countries in that region where the cost of living is low.
My big travel plans for the end of 2025 and a few months into 2026 is South America! Yeah! My adventure of a lifetime is to visit Macchu Pichu in Peru and the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador and it’s all coming together for me. I will be spending time in other countries in South America, too. 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. Well I sure didn’t meet that goal when I bought a car! Generally, I do lead a minimalist lifestyle. If I buy a new item of clothing, I get rid of something. Another big purchase I made was a larger backpack which I believe will be more suitable to my South America travels so I can leave my suitcase behind with a friend. I am reevaluating how I’ll be transporting all my worldly possessions because that darned suitcase is getting heavier and heavier. At least the car makes it easier to transport my stuff.
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 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.
I recently cashed out an RRSP (Registered Retirement Savings Plan) that was through my last employer in order to fund my South America trip. It’s not that much money, not nearly enough to cover all my expenses, but every little bit helps.
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 an international housesitter and volunteering.
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, 2025.
[…] recently published Year Six of Maintaining a Healthier Lifestyle and thought it would be helpful to my readers to revisit how I went about losing weight and keeping […]