Welcome to the positive corner of wellness. Here’s a daily digest designed to make you healthier in less than 5 minutes.
Today’s Health Upgrade
Arnold on Routines
Podcast we’re loving
Weekend challenge
A Word From Arnold
I’m a big believer in routines, but most people make them too complicated. Great routines are simple, and they have a solid structure that make your actions easy to repeat. Think of it like building a home. You need to start with a solid foundation and then build the rooms.
Here's an example of how to build a routine that works. Say you want to become a morning person. Start by waking up an hour early, and don’t worry about anything else. I would just work on getting up earlier until I could do it consistently.
The key thing about a routine is that you don't ask yourself, “Should I or shouldn't I?” You just do it. We don't ask ourselves, “Should I drink water? Should I shower every day?” You just do them. Those are the foundations.
Once waking up is easier, decide what you want to do with that extra time. If it’s exercise, commit to a certain number of days per week. But here's where people go wrong. You must be realistic! Pick a number that is doable, so exercising can become automatic. You want to make it easy to succeed and hard to fail. Once that happens, that’s when you start to achieve your goals, and you can build from there and add parts to your routine.
When you're doing my Big Challenge I shared earlier this week, I hope these tips help if you're struggling to create a new routine. To keep you accountable, I’d like you to look back at your first week of 2023. How are you doing on moving toward your goals? If you fell short, how can you adjust so that you can finish your routine every day until you don’t have to think about it?
If you did it all, congratulate yourself. If you're struggling, remember, don't beat yourself up. You don't need to be perfect, you just need to keep working at your goals!
I want to hear from you on Twitter or Instagram about what you’ve been doing to make a difference. I love seeing you take action, and your words might help spark someone else.
I’m looking forward to talking to some of you on FaceTime next month.
-Arnold
Podcast Episode We Recommend
There’s a lot of bad nutrition information on the internet. We do our best to simplify and clarify in these emails. But, these are designed to be short, quick, and actionable.
If you want a deeper dive into healthier living, we also want to help save you time and point you towards the best info on the Internet.
If you want to know more about burning fat and building muscle, you won’t find a much better interview than this discussion with Layne Norton on The Huberman Lab. It's long, but it gives a clear picture about what works, without all the BS.
Our favorite part: Layne's discussion about how your "baggage" of your former self (self-limiting beliefs and habits) limits the potential of who you can become. If you want to improve the future you, then you must let go of the parts of the person you no longer wish to be.
Weekend Challenge
You might not know it, but Arnold has a sweet tooth. One of his favorite treats is kaiserschmarrn, an Austrian treat that is a pancake-like pastry with raisins or apples. But, when Arnold wants to focus on his health, he’ll cut back on the added sugar.
This weekend, we recommend trying to go without any added sugar. You can still eat natural sugar, such as what you find in fruit. But remove added sugar by avoiding things like pastries, candies, and juices. If you can't do the whole weekend (maybe it's your birthday or you have a celebration), then do it for just one day. Remember, small wins add up.
Tell us how it goes, and tag us on social with #dailypumpchallenge. Arnold will be watching.
If you need extra motivation, here's Schnitzel getting a pump in!
Have a great weekend,
Arnold, Adam, and Daniel
