Two Percent with Michael Easter

**Become a Member of Two Percent at TWOPCT.com**Today’s episode is about the power of traditions. Michael tells a story about a ridiculous family holiday tradition, what he gained from it, and the lessons he learned after it faded.Holiday traditions improve our mental and physical health, forge important social bonds and trust, and teach us critical lessons about being human.But traditions come and go, and when we lose them we lose an important mechanism to be a better person.Today we’re diving into a brilliant scientific work on traditions—why traditions make us and mend us, and how we can build them. We’ll cover:* Reasons why traditions are so powerful for human wellbeing.* Why traditions die (6 reasons).* Why you should create new traditions when old ones die. * Three rules you must follow to create a successful new tradition.To get full access to all our podcast episodes, please become a Member at TWOPCT.com. Members get back far more than the cost of Membership.

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The Expedition covers the most worthwhile and impactful ideas Michael discovered in the last month.This month, we’re covering:* A book I’m rereading that makes me LOL to the point of oxygen deprivation.* Numbers on:* How more exercise reduces your risk of death.* The percentage of people who stay healthy while on vacation.* Gen Z’s thoughts on social media and smartphones.* The rise of flip phones.* The government’s ability to keep our food safe.* How many gift card dollars go unused.* Changes in 100-mile run world records.* Will social media become like dying shopping malls? I doubt it. A response to a viral Substack post.* How to run a faster race: The scientific prescription. * The greatest lentil soup recipe of all time (from Tamar Haspel).* The downsides of optimization: A case study from the NBA that applies to your life, work, and health.* Do seed oils cause cancer? An astute analysis of the research.

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This is a free preview of a paid episode. Members get full access. To hear more, visit TWOPCT.com.Michael is giving responses to the top 15 comments on Two Percents posts over the last three months.Magic happens in the comments, where additional information, insight, and inspiration comes to light. It can help us all live better, think differently, and more.Michael will highlight some of the best comments and questions and given extra information you can use to live better.He’ll cover:* Why asking better questions can improve your health and fitness.* Why weight language sucks.* A case study on the benefits of being SUPERMEDIUM.* A problem with lab-based and home VO2 testing.* A food to eat that may decrease microplastics in your body.* A walking prescription.* My wife the insane walker’s favorite walking gear.* Ozempic noise.* The case for joining a wellness cult.* Exactly how aging people should strength train.* A sign to look for that shows you have a good doctor.* How to pull of rucking/walking video meetings.* A better way to frame and change bad habits.* The nutritional differences between conventional and organic eggs.* Wise words about the realities of parenting.

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Today we’re talking about the limits of diet and exercise with Dr. Adam Cifu.Adam is one of our nation’s top thinkers about medicine and how to provide more effective medical care. He recently wrote a post for Sensible Medicine called “Coming Out Against the Healthy Lifestyle.” It criticizes what he calls “the cult of the healthy lifestyle,” and investigates the limits of diet and exercise. Michael and Adam cover:* Why Adam wrote the post and the rise of the cult of the healthy lifestyle.* The benefits, realities, and limits of adopting healthy lifestyle changes.* How believing that all of health boils down to a better diet and exercise can lead patients to wrongly believe they are responsible for all of their health issues.* Why criticism of modern medicine is on the rise.* How “medical reversal” highlights the need for evidence-based medical practices.* The rise of longevity and why many longevity practices often lack robust evidence.* Why personalized healthcare is essential for effective treatment.* Problems with over-medicalization.* How finding the right doctor can be a challenging process.* The Sensible Medicine Substack and how it aims to promote thoughtful healthcare discussions.

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Today’s episode is the second annual Two Percent Gear Not Stuff holiday gift guide. It features Gear, Not Stuff you can give to or request from others. We’re featuring seven categories of gear: health, fitness, travel, nutrition, adventure, pets, and, naturally, requisite Two Percent gear mentions.The rules:* Each item’s description must be brief-ish.* Each item must be something I’ve used or had recommended to me by someone I trust. No filler, all killer type stuff.* I’ll call out items under $100* Go to TWOPCT.com for links to all items. Happy holidays. For full access to the episode, become a Member at TWOPCT.com.

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Childhood obesity has more than doubled since the 1990s and 20 percent of kids are now obese. This is why the new administration wants to overhaul school lunches to make them healthier.This will help—but removing recess and unsupervised play is also a big factor in our kids’ weight and health crisis.Not to mention, recess and unstructured play are powerful beyond just weight. They influence learning, mental health, social development, and physical health.Michael explains the power of recess and unsupervised play, debates about exercise and weight loss for kids, and much more.

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Today Michael is speaking with Tamar Haspel one of his favorite, no-BS thinkers about food, nutrition, and health.Tamar is the author of To Boldly Grow (a hilarious, info-packed book I loved) and a food, nutrition, and health columnist for The Washington Post.Tamar is also a serial killer of food myths and misconceptions—a sharp thinker who understands the science of what we eat and can put it in context of everyday life.* Tamar and Michael cover:* The truth about eggs and why expensive, locally-farmed eggs taste the same as cheap, mass-produced ones.* Understanding obesity and the food environment* The realities of being overweight (particularly as a woman)* Why we know less about nutrition than we think, and how that should guide our food choices. Think: Hedge your bets.* The truth about organic food—myths about it, it’s costs and benefits.* Diet soda and whether it’s unhealthy.* How to navigate the modern food environment. * Whether exercise is good for weight loss.* Whether government subsidies around corn and soy led to the rise in obesity.* Food dyes and the new administration’s push to remove them. Will it matter?* Is red meat good or bad for you?* Are plant-based meats a viable alternative to real meat? What are their health effects?* The benefits of lentils and Tamar’s epic recipe to help you eat more lentils (which, she argues, are a food we should all be eating).* Ozempic and Tamar’s thoughts on it.* Tamar’s journey growing her own food, and what she learned from it.* A few quick words on hunting. Become a Member at TWOPCT.com

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It’s the first Friday of the month. This means it’s time for Burn the Ships, Two Percent’s monthly, highly effective workout.This month, we’re combining some of my favorite exercises into a total-body thresher to end the year on a high, sweaty note.This workout is particularly great at building fitness you can—um—actually use. It’ll help you move, breathe, look, and live better.The workout is adaptable no matter your fitness level or schedule. You’ll select the number of rounds of the workout you’d like to do. This way anyone and everyone can burn the ships.Like last month’s workout, you can do this workout nearly anywhere. It also requires little equipment.Become a Member of Two Percent to get full details and video of the workout. TWOPCT.com

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Michael’s first job was acting as Fitness Editor for Men’s Health magazine.In that role, he spoke to the world’s top athletes to its greatest health scientists and athletic trainers.When these experts sent an exercise or workout, Michael had to test it to ensure it would work for Men’s Health readers. He vetted hundreds and hundreds of exercises.And he’s kept all the best exercises in a file ever since.Two Percent is running a new monthly series that goes into the file and releases Michael’s favorite exercises of all time.We’ll feature one exercise that works wonders for anyone who has a body and uses it. That is to say, you.

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Friday was the biggest Black Friday of all time, and Americans bought more stuff than ever. We spend $1.2 trillion each year on stuff we don’t need.When we own too much, we’re often guided into “minimalism.” But minimalism comes with its own set of problems.We’re dropping some unreleased material from my book Scarcity Brain that explains:* The three types of buyers (which are you?).* Why people really buy in excess.* Why minimalism can be an opposite expression of the same problem as buying way too much.* The underlying reason people hoard or minimize.* A 4-question purchasing framework that will help you buy items you actually need—items that improve your life—and forgo those you don’t need.Asking these deeper questions about why we buy or get rid of things leads to the best outcomes. It leads to larger shifts in our happiness and finances, and allow us to accomplish much more with our resources, time, and this ride we call life.

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