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Today’s Health Upgrade
Best of the best
The 10-year diet study
A bonus from Santa
Toxins in your kitchen
The surprising power of one minute
Arnold’s Podcast
Want more stories from Arnold? Every day, Arnold’s Pump Club Podcast opens with a story, perspective, and wisdom from Arnold that you won’t find in the newsletter. And, you’ll hear a recap of the day’s items. You can subscribe on Apple, Spotify, Google, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
From Arnold: Best of the Best…
About 360 days ago, I sent an email that had more of an impact than I imagined. Back then, I wrote:
More than fifty years ago, I was selling workout pamphlets and trying to convince people to go to the gym. We have come a long way, but people still struggle with their health as confusion and misinformation run the internet.
I put together a small team of the most trustworthy and knowledgeable people in fitness and nutrition to pull together the news, tips, and inspiration you need to make sense of it all. Adam Bornstein is one of the most trusted names in fitness, and Daniel Ketchell has been my right-hand man for more than 15 years and has a pulse for people, stories, and news that matters.
My goal for this email is simple: more transparency and less BS. Consider this your filter for what matters. I’ll be checking in here to provide guidance, motivation, and challenges, but you’re in good hands with Adam and Daniel. Let this daily dose of information help you improve each day.
A year later, and we haven’t missed an email. What started as a small village became more than 600,000 daily subscribers and nearly 4 million downloads of our daily podcast. We have created the positive corner of the internet, and I love this village. But we’re just getting started, and I’m excited about what we have planned for this newsletter, the podcast, and our app.
Some of you have been here from the beginning. But many more of you joined at some point along the way. As we look ahead to 2024 and close the doors on 2023, we wanted to spend the year's final week sharing some of the most popular stories, tips, and lessons.
If it’s your first time seeing these, we hope they help you as much as everyone else. And if you’ve seen them before, we hope they are a powerful reminder that helps you put in the reps, stay focused, and become the best version of yourself.
The 10-Year Diet Study
Many diet books and experts will try to convince you that there’s one “best” diet. But that’s a game you can’t win, and a big reason so many people struggle with their weight.
If you want to leave the dieting hamster wheel, stop looking for a magic pill. A 10-year study examined more than 17,000 people and found that a few eating habits can make a big difference.
Regardless of genetics, these eating behaviors led to less body fat, more muscle, and better overall health. The healthy habits include:
Eating more than 400 grams of fruits and vegetables per day. This is about three pieces of fruit and two cups of vegetables)
Keeping total dietary fat to less than 30% of your total daily calories (if you’re following a 2,000-calorie diet, this means you could eat up to 65 grams of fat per day)
Limiting saturated fat to 10 percent (or less) of your daily caloric intake
Keeping sugar to less than 10 percent of your daily total calories
Eating 25 grams (or more) of fiber each day
Consuming more than 3500mg of potassium (potassium is found in many foods including potatoes, avocado, bananas and oranges, green veggies, dairy, cashews, beans and lentils, and salmon)
These diet recommendations provide good guidance without telling you exactly what to eat. Even if you don’t follow all the suggestions, doing a few of them can help you build better habits. And that’s a great reminder that the best diet is the one that you can follow. So don’t overthink the need for one eating style; instead, focus on the bigger picture categories.
An Extra Gift From Santa
What you do this week might determine if your resolutions are successful rather than stressful. Research suggests that a little preparation can help turn your goals into plans that are more likely to succeed.
If you’re trying to lose weight or improve your diet, the planning you do this week can make sure you start 2024 with more momentum.
We know that finding time to cook can be a struggle, so we asked Trifecta to offer special pricing on their ready-to-eat meals.
Trifecta ships you vacuum-sealed meals that you can keep in your refrigerator for ten days when you need something delicious and healthy. You can pick your own meals or choose a curated selection from their chefs. Deliveries arrive Friday or Saturday to get you ready for the next week, and you can skip a week anytime you need to. That means, if you buy this week, you can enjoy the last week of 2023 and have your healthy meals ready and waiting once the new year starts.
Trifecta is an effective solution to help you move toward better eating without all the stress and anxiety. They can help you build a healthier eating routine. Having healthy food in your house that can be ready in less than 2 minutes makes eating healthy feel easier, and that can make all the difference in keeping you on track.
We’ve tried Trifecta’s meals, and they are legitimately delicious and designed by a two-Michelin Star Chef Mario Limaduran. They can adjust to fit any diet, and you can even order protein, veggies, and carbs by weight like you would at a grocery store deli.
You can prepare to succeed and get 50% OFF + 1 pound of Free Salmon in every order for LIFE to turn your resolutions into results.
So get your salmon for life, use that 50% offer, and know you’ve done the work to ensure 2024 goes the way you want.
(Note: The discount and the salmon for life will appear when you reach the checkout window, but not before. Once you customize your meals and press “next,” you’ll see 50% removed from the total price. If you don’t see it, use the code “pumpclub” at checkout.)
Toxins In Your Kitchen?
Your stove is under some serious heat. Recent research from Stanford scientists suggests that gas stoves emit more air pollutants than previously believed. The EPA and World Health Organization suggest that prolonged exposure to these substances could be linked to various health conditions and increase the likelihood of asthma in children.
If a kitchen renovation is not on your to-do list, don’t worry. A few simple adjustments could keep your kitchen safe. The key to reducing your risk is improving the ventilation in your kitchen. And a little DIY touch is all you need.
Stanford researchers suggest that many risks can be reduced or eliminated by cooking on the back burners, running the stove fan when you cook, opening windows or doors, or using your range hood (if you have one).
The Surprising Power of One Minute
It’s not as tasty as a bag of chips, but there’s a snack that is incredibly good for your health. And it will only take one minute of your time.
Exercise snacks — short bursts of movement lasting as little as one minute — can improve your cardiovascular health, build strength, and prevent disease.
A study on more than 25,000 people found that dedicating just 1 to 2 minutes of high-intensity exercise (or about the time it takes to watch a video on your Instagram feed) can be a life-extending decision.
Researchers tracked participants over seven years, and the results even surprised us. Those who performed 3 to 4 bouts of those intense bursts of physical activity (think sprinting up the stairs) resulted in up to a 40 percent reduction in death from all causes and up to a 49 percent reduction in death from cardiovascular disease.
We love the gym. But you can still improve your health if you can’t get there. Set aside a minute — a few times daily — and get your heart rate up. The benefits will add up.
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Publisher: Arnold Schwarzenegger
Editors-in-chief: Adam Bornstein and Daniel Ketchell
