Welcome to the positive corner of the internet. Every weekday, we help you make sense of the complex world of wellness by analyzing the headlines, simplifying the latest research, and providing quick tips designed to help you stay healthier in under 5 minutes. If you were forwarded this message, you can get the free daily email here.
Today’s Health Upgrade
Why “try harder” doesn’t work (and what to do instead)
How to protect against a hidden source of stress
Eat your way to lower blood pressure
Recipe of the week
Mindset
Want To Exercise Consistently? Self-Control And Willpower Are Not The Answer
Most people think the secret to getting healthy is having more discipline. More grit. More “I just need to try harder.”
But an analysis of thousands of people suggests the truth is very different, and much more encouraging.
The most significant driver of better health isn’t stronger willpower. It’s creating a more supportive environment.
Researchers analyzed dozens of studies to see how much “trait self-control” — your natural “willpower setting” — actually predicts healthier habits in exercise, eating, and sleep. The results? Self-control did help, but the effect was modest. And not at all where you might expect.
Across all three areas, sleep showed the strongest link to self-control, eating showed a moderate connection, and exercise came in dead last. That’s right: the behavior people blame on “I just don’t have the discipline” is the one least dependent on discipline.
The researchers found that exercise consistency relied more on habit formation, enjoyment, environment, and social support than raw willpower.
Meanwhile, sleep behaviors — like shutting down your phone at night or sticking to a bedtime — showed the most significant benefit from higher self-control, likely because they require resisting temptations that keep us up.
The scientists believe self-control works best for avoiding temptations (late-night scrolling, overeating) rather than initiating positive behaviors (going to the gym, cooking veggies). And because modern life creates a thousand temptations a day, relying on willpower alone is like trying to carry water in your hands.
The good news: you don’t need to change who you are; you need to change what’s around you. If you want to make healthy living feel easier, here are a few places to start:
Design your environment: Pack your gym bag the night before. Keep snacks out of sight. Set your phone to bedtime mode.
Build habits, not heroic bursts: Same workout time, same sleep routine, same simple meals. Consistency beats intensity.
Fix sleep first: Better sleep makes every other behavior easier, and this study shows it’s where self-control helps most.
Remove decisions: Pre-plan workouts and meals to reduce daily friction.
Make it enjoyable: The more you like the behavior, the less willpower it requires.
To feel more disciplined, find ways to make the healthy choice the easier choice.
Together With DeleteMe
The Stress Threat You Might Overlook
You do a lot to lower the stress in your life. You train to clear your mind. You sleep to reset your system. You even take steps to limit the nonstop noise of the world.
But there’s one source of stress your brain keeps carrying, even if you don’t realize it.
Your personal information is scattered across the internet, and your nervous system treats that uncertainty as a threat.
We learned this the hard way when someone in our community reached out after a scammer used their publicly available data to impersonate them. The emotional toll lasted long after the bank resolved the issue.
Here’s the part most people don’t know: Hundreds of data brokers legally collect your name, address, phone number, relatives’ names, and more. Once it’s out there, it spreads. And your brain has to live with the risk of what might happen next.
If recovery is about giving your mind and body fewer threats to worry about, this is one you can eliminate overnight.
That’s why we trust DeleteMe. They find and remove your personal information from hundreds of data broker sites, then continue scanning and deleting all year. Their privacy report shows exactly what they found, so you can see the hidden load disappear.
DeleteMe privacy advisors (real people!) are available for custom requests and help when you need it. And unlike other services, DeleteMe verifies your data is on data broker sites before submitting removal requests, reducing the risk of unnecessary data exposure. That’s why DeleteMe was recently named the #1 data-removal service by Wirecutter, and why we use it for Pump Club employees.
It’s like finally removing a weight you didn’t realize you were carrying. Protect your peace of mind. Check out DeleteMe and use code PUMPCLUB for 20% off.
Foods Are Super
The Everyday Foods That Lower High Blood Pressure
If your doctor has ever told you that your blood pressure is “a little high,” you probably heard the usual advice: eat less salt, lose some weight, maybe move more. All important. But there’s another side of the story that doesn’t get as much attention and also helps.
Eating foods rich in potassium is one of the most proven, practical ways to lower high blood pressure, especially if you eat a lot of sodium and not enough plants.
Decades of research have examined what happens when adults increase their potassium intake. Across more than 30 trials, people with hypertension who increased potassium by a moderate amount lowered their systolic blood pressure (the top number) by about 4-5 mmHg and their diastolic blood pressure by about 3 mmHg.
That might sound small, but that change from diet alone is linked to roughly a 7 to 10% lower risk of heart attacks and strokes.
The sweet spot isn’t megadoses. When researchers mapped out the dose-response, they found a U-shaped curve: going from today’s typical intake (around 2,000–2,500 mg per day) up to about 3,500–4,700 mg gave the biggest benefit. Pushing far beyond that didn’t help and can even backfire in people with kidney or heart issues.
Most of us eat too much sodium and not enough potassium. Potassium helps your kidneys flush out extra sodium, relaxes blood vessels, and supports your body’s natural blood pressure control. It doesn’t “force” your pressure down; it helps your system work the way it’s supposed to.
And potassium is hiding in many foods that are easy to add to your diet.
A baked potato with the skin has more potassium than three bananas.
White beans, lentils, and edamame are superfoods for blood pressure.
Spinach, Swiss chard, and beet greens pack big doses into small portions.
Try adding 2-3 potassium-rich foods a day. For example, a banana and yogurt at breakfast, a bean-and-greens salad at lunch, and a potato or edamame at dinner, while slowly dialing back salty, ultra-processed foods.
One important note: if you have kidney disease, heart failure, a history of high potassium, or take medications like ACE inhibitors, ARBs, or potassium-sparing diuretics, talk to your doctor before making significant changes.
You don’t have to overhaul your entire diet. Just start by upgrading one meal with a potassium powerhouse. Over time, those small choices can quietly nudge your blood pressure in the right direction.
Pump Up Your Diet
White Bean Garlic Smash with Lemon Greens
It tastes like something you’d get at a Mediterranean café. But surprisingly, the recipe uses cheap pantry staples, requires almost no chopping, and delivers a powerful potassium punch that helps your body flush sodium and relax blood vessels.
Ingredients (serves 2):
1 can white beans (drained and rinsed)
2 cups fresh spinach or Swiss chard
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tbsp olive oil
Zest + juice of ½ lemon
Salt + pepper to taste
Optional: red pepper flakes, grated Parmesan, or a drizzle of balsamic
Directions:
Warm the beans: Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to a pan over medium heat. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add beans and smash lightly with a fork. Cook 3-4 minutes until warm and creamy.
Wilt the greens: Add the spinach or chard right on top. Stir until just wilted (1-2 minutes).
Finish for flavor: Remove from heat. Add lemon zest, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes for a little heat.
Serve: Spoon into a bowl and top with a tiny sprinkle of Parmesan or a drizzle of balsamic.
Better Today
Take any of these tips from today’s email and put them into action:
1. Want To Exercise More Consistently? Don’t Emphasize Willpower. Focus on Environment.
A meta-analysis of dozens of studies found that exercise consistency relies more on environment design, habit formation, and enjoyment than raw self-control, making it the health behavior least dependent on willpower. The research suggests that instead of trying harder, you should make the healthy choice the easier choice by packing your gym bag the night before, removing daily decisions, and building routines you actually like.
2. Increasing Potassium In Your Diet Lowers Blood Pressure And Protects Your Heart
An analysis of more than 30 clinical trials found that people with hypertension who increased potassium intake lowered systolic blood pressure to the extent that it can lower the risk of heart attacks and strokes. Baked potato with skin, bananas, white beans, spinach, or edamame are examples of everyday foods that can help most people hit the 3,500-4,700 mg per day sweet spot.
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Publisher: Arnold Schwarzenegger
Editors-in-chief: Adam Bornstein and Daniel Ketchell
