The Unexpected Health Benefits of a Move Overseas
By Jim Santos: InternationalLiving.com
When my wife Rita and I moved to Salinas, Ecuador, all we were really looking for was a nice climate. After years of shivering through snowy Maryland winters, followed by hot and humid summers, we wanted to live somewhere that is comfortable year-round.
We found this on Ecuador’s Pacific coast. In almost four years here, we’ve never seen a morning colder than 66 F, nor a summer day hotter than 98 F. It seldom rains, and most of the year we are perfectly comfortable in sandals and shorts.
We knew that we would spend less money, as well. We traded property taxes of $5,000 a year for a tax bill of $279. Our condo maintenance fees in Maryland were $1,000 a month; in Salinas, just $197. And since we shop at the local mercado (market) for most day-to-day needs, our grocery bills also dropped.
But we didn’t expect that living overseas would improve our health.
In 2012, when we first started thinking about living overseas, I was morbidly obese. I weighed 319 pounds at one point. I took two different medications a day for Type 2 diabetes, and another for high blood pressure.
We were reasonably active and health conscious; we took walks once or twice a week, we took ballroom dancing classes, and we did try to eat healthily. But it can be hard to lose weight and get into a healthier routine in the States. Our lives always seemed busy. We drove everywhere we went, even short distances, because we had to be here or there quickly. Rain and snow also made it difficult to have a regular exercise routine.
As for healthy eating, in the States that can get expensive. Each week during the roughly six months the local farmers’ markets were open, we would make a run (in the car, of course) for fresh produce. We’d end up with 15 to 20 pounds of whatever was available that week. This normally cost us $50 to $65. Next, I’d stop by the neighborhood icehouse for fresh seafood. I’d buy some shrimp, maybe some oysters and filets of the day’s catch, and spend another $50.
Despite our best efforts, my weight and general health were, at best, holding constant. My diabetes was under control with the medication, but my doctor told me that, within a few years, I’d need to start taking daily insulin injections.
Moving to Ecuador changed everything. After a few months, I’d lost 25 pounds. By the end of the first year, I was down another 10 pounds, and I had to reduce the dosages on my diabetes medications to prevent getting sugar lows. By the second year, I’d lost enough weight to move from the “morbidly obese” category down to just “obese.” And I’d stopped taking one of the diabetes medications completely.
So what happened?
I underestimated the effects of a good climate and not owning a vehicle. Just living our normal lives, we were walking between two and four miles a day. This close to the equator, our days and nights are 12 hours long all year round.
This has a surprisingly calming effect; I found that I was keeping more regular hours and sleeping better.
Most importantly, I had not considered the huge impact fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, and seafood was going to have on our lives. But we found in Ecuador that the produce is not only cheaper—here I can’t carry more than $20 worth of fruits and veggies—but the quality is much better.
And the growing season lasts all year. We now have access to tropical fruits and new kinds of vegetables, beans, and grains that provide us with more nutritional value.
My doctor in the States summed it up nicely when I saw him after our first year in Ecuador. I expressed my surprise at the changes since my last visit, but he just nodded and said, “Yes, we eat crap here in the U.S.”
He told me that he worked with Doctors Without Borders in Central and South America, and that he noticed changes in his own health during those stints. In the U.S., processed foods just make up most of the normal diet. Produce is sprayed with chemicals and shipped out to market; the main concern is sales volume and shelf presentation, rather than nutritional value.
Animals are force-fed high fat food that’s not their natural diet, pumped full of steroids, and then dosed with antibiotics to prevent diseases caused by the bad diet and steroids.
I don’t mean to say that, if you move overseas, you’ll automatically become healthy. You do have to be willing to make some changes yourself. For example, we choose to eat most meals at home. We also have embraced and enjoyed the local foods, and the variety of new items available.
After I lost the first 80 pounds, I decided to commit myself to a long-term goal. A year ago, Rita and I set a target that would have been impossible back when I weighed 319 pounds. We decided to try to hike the Inca Trail through the Andes mountains of Peru.
To prepare for this, we started taking two three-mile walks a day. Again, the weather in Salinas made this possible to do regularly. Soon we were adding longer scenic hikes to our routine.
The results? I have now lost 117 pounds since we moved to Salinas. I am no longer even obese; I now qualify as simply “overweight.” I no longer take any medication for diabetes, and soon I’ll stop the blood pressure medication, as well.
All the tools you need to make a lifechanging difference in your health are waiting for you overseas. I’m living proof that life abroad can give you the change of lifestyle and environment that makes better health a real possibility.
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