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- Although I was flooded with healthy living advice at work, staying healthy seemed impossible.
- Walking enough, battling stress, and avoiding sugar was a constant uphill battle in the US.
- Then, I moved to a small town in the UK, my acne cleared, and my stress and sweet tooth vanished.
As a health writer living in the United States, I was all too aware of the healthy habits we should adopt: stress less, walk more, spend time outside, and eat more whole foods.
Despite being inundated with healthy living advice at work, staying healthy in my personal life felt like navigating an impossible obstacle course.
Working out required me to drive to the gym or a running trail. The tempting convenience of the Culver’s or Chick-fil-a was enough to get me more than a few times after a busy workday.
Also, once I became self-employed, my work-life balance disappeared, and I avoided scheduling doctor’s appointments altogether because, even though I technically had healthcare, I had no idea how to use it or what it covered.
Uncertainty about healthcare, lack of work-life balance, and difficulty implementing healthy habits were part of the reasons I decided to leave the US and travel for three years.
During that time, I started dating a Brit who eventually suggested we try a five-month stint in his hometown in the UK Midlands.
I moved to the UK with my partner and transformed my health with minimal effort
At first, I dreaded the idea of moving to the UK, thinking it would be similar to my hometown in the US but with more rain.
Instead, it was an idyllic town built along a canal. We could walk to the grocery store which was full of fresh (and cheaper) produce. Multiple gyms were a ten-minute walk from our flat. And even on the rainiest English day, everyone said hi as they passed.
In that five-month trial period, I easily reached 10,000 steps a day, usually doing everyday tasks like buying coffee or visiting friends.
My acne, which ran rampant well past adolescence, cleared up, and my stress decreased even though my workload stayed the same.
Despite running the same business with the same US clients and hours, I found myself happier, healthier, and more clear-headed immediately after moving to the UK.
One day, my partner even commented on my lack of a sweet tooth. In the States, my sugar craving started in the morning and ran rampant until my post-dinner dessert.
Yet in England, that need for sugar almost entirely disappeared — barring the occasional sweet treat on the weekend, of course.
I returned to the US for a short stint and immediately fell back into old habits
After spending five months in the UK on a tourist visa, my partner and I submitted my visa application to reside there full-time. To do so, we first headed back to the United States for a visa appointment.
My family greeted us with my favorite American candies. The fast food was tastier than anything abroad, and my peaceful canal walk to the gym turned into a 15-minute car ride.
My sweet tooth reappeared, and I found it harder than ever to get my 10,000 steps a day.
Once the visa came through, we headed back to England and I embraced my UK lifestyle for good.
