1. Mostly cook your own meals, eat mostly vegetables, fruits, nuts, some dairy (milk, cheese), maybe rice, and meat. Learn to use various spices so even if you cook bell pepper and onion and chicken three days in a row, it all tastes different. This requires < 30 minutes a day to cook and eat and clean (if single) and ~30 minutes a week to shop. Meals cost < $5/person/meal.
2. Walk or cycle everywhere you can, take the stairs and not the elevator (though if in a high-rise this may not be as reasonable). You have to think, not just act, this is a time to do that.
3. Don't skip exercising. Look into HIIT if you're truly time constrained, it's about the best bang-for-the-time exercise approach out there. Focus on bodyweight if you don't have time for weightlifting or other exercises. For a couple years I pretty much just did crunches, pushups, squats, and dips for 10-20 minutes each day. I wasn't the fittest I've ever been, but I wasn't bad off. Your back will thank you, too.
4. Sleep well, getting too little sleep is a surefire way to exhaust yourself and ruin your ability to make critical decisions.
5. Drink primarily water, for caffeinated drinks avoid sugar.
The food and exercise take up < 1 hour a day. Walking and cycling can actually save you time if the alternative is a short drive + parking. And you can always think while doing these activities. If you have underlying health issues that impact any of this, find alternatives or consult a doctor, don't let illness and injury persist if they can be resolved.
Additionally I have invested in a small home gym setup (bench, adjustable dumbbells, and a yoga mat) and followed Matt Might's least-resistance philosophy approach to muscle building [1].
The first sentence of the thread makes me wonder if the low-hanging fruit (or "biohack") in this case, is to get away from this situation.
It's boring, but stay hydrated!
If you are sensitive to being hyper/attention deficit with caffeine but still feel like you need it consider taking it with l-theanine.
If you find yourself relying on caffine and you want more control, stop drinking coffee or soda and take pills/measured powder doeses. It's taboo, but you want to isolate it from the conditioning of the ritual/taste/mouth feel. If it turns out you really want those things there are ways to get them that are healthier and often they are just as powerful as the drug itself.
Be intentional with your daily habits. It doesn't matter what you do, but daily rituals have a lot of power over establishing your attitude and mindset. Be mindful of what your habits cause in you, and change them if you don't like it.
Caffeine and other addictive stimulants will require escalating dosage with time. You can quit every few months to partially reset that. Returns diminish and if you find yourself here, rethink your life.
By default, if you feel weary rest for a few minutes then re-evaulate. If you never let the endorphins wear off you never know how badly you have hurt/worn out yourself. This goes for a lot of things, take a few minutes sit and be mindful to see what your body needs.
Keep up your core strength. You need it for everything and it saves your back.
If you take a hard spill/fall. STAY DOWN for a few minutes if it is safe, until your heart rate falls down and you can actually take an inventory of your body without endorphins running through it. This will consistently result in injuries being less severe. You can do a lot of extra damage to yourself while endorphins are painkilling you.
Additionally, grip strength training has helped me a lot preventing wrist RSI.
#2 get your hormones checked, testosterone/estrogen, tsh, etc. These gradually decrease with age, and imbalance is bad. This is more "controversial" but TRT treatment works, is proven with several studies and there is a big big line between supplementing Testosterone vs abusing it - something like 100-250mg injected a week is therapy levels while 500-1gram a week is not and considered "abuse."
#3 patterns and patterns. Your health is within your control, going for convenience can be harmful and also "expensive" vs having meals prepped, gym/workout time scheduled and having your body checked for preventable or treatable disorders. A pinch of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Also, take a fiber supplement. The gut- brain connection is a real thing and a little fiber can go a long way to making you feel great
Dehydrated brains make bad decisions.
Strawberries are 5 calories each. Eat them instead of whichever processed carb snack you usually eat.
... can also use it while driving.
- Changing my food environment to be more health-focused. I.E. don’t have sweets and alcohol at home.
- Using a meal prep service. Something like Blue Apron, or a health-focused community cook where I picked up weekly meals.