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Theosis Medical

Lifestyle medicine — the 20%

Holwey’s Handy Health Hacks

Through the years I have unfortunately figured out I am indeed human, and all the nutrition knowledge in the world doesn’t stop McDonald’s fries and a Big Mac with extra special sauce from becoming a must-have after a 12-hour shift. I’ve been lean, I’ve been dad bod, I’ve been somewhere in between saying “I’ll start back up tomorrow” while downing a cream-filled Krispy Kreme delight. Life is hard and I’m in it with you all. Still, it’s because of this that I know how important it is to find a way to make healthfulness sustainable in a hectic life.

I have trial-and-errored a lot of this over the years. I steal what works and discard what does not. I have fallen off the wagon many a time myself — busy shifts, hotels, kids, the whole Tuesday.

What survived is the minimum effective dose: a short list of moves that cut through the noise of nutrition science so you can navigate daily life and still move toward being healthier. Not a 12-week program. Not a personality. How I eat, most days.

I did not invent these. I have stolen a lot of them from people smarter than me that I love to follow and learn from. I consider myself a curator of evidence-based nutritional truth more than an author — and it all still follows the data as it comes. I use them on myself. Do them at least 80% of the time. The other 20% is what keeps you sane — so this never has to be a “diet.”

General education, not a personal treatment plan. If you have a medical condition — kidneys, pregnancy, disordered eating, anything your clinician is already following — talk with them before you overhaul how you eat.

In a rush? TL;DR The short list.

Why do we care about protein? The short nerd version.

Pick a hack

A 10,000 BC brain in a 2026 food world: hunter-gatherers on one side, delivery and drive-through on the other.Read this first01Why Eating Healthy Feels So HardAncient survival biology. Modern food abundance. This is not a character flaw.
A path forward: pick a calorie target, eat protein first, spend the rest, keep walking.02Where to StartEasy daily calorie calculations based on your goalsCalorie drinks on one side, water, coffee, and tea on the other.03Don't Drink CaloriesIf it has calories and you can sip it, skip it. Hunger does not count a drink as a meal.A gram of protein per pound: protein foods circling a person on the scale.04One Gram Per PoundReference: Alex Hormozi, Dr. Ted Naiman, and the protein-first crowdEat about 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight — goal weight is fine if you have a lot to lose. Individuals over 60 years old may need even more.The protein × 10 trick: ten protein units on one side of the scale versus the calories on the other.05The Protein × 10 TrickStolen from Dr. Ted NaimanThe front of the bag is advertising. Two numbers on the back tell you if it is actually a good option.Drive-through hack: extra meat, no bun, skip the fries, diet drink.06Fast Food HacksLet’s be honest, you are going to eat out. The frequency in which you do is directly correlated to the number of children under your care. Trust me, it’s science.Protein staples on the counter — what is in the house becomes what you eat.07Regular Food HacksStolen from Alex HormoziKeep these in the house so the right choice is an easy choice.Simple training that actually happens: push, pull, squat, walk, and a hill.08Exercise HacksThe 20% of exercise most of us will actually do.A clock between an empty plate and a protein meal — the eating window.09Intermittent Fasting Hacks16:8, OMAD, 5:2, and the rest — pick a clock you can keepLooking closer: organs, muscle, mitochondria, molecules.10Nutritional Nerd OutMechanisms. How stuff actually works. Pick a topic — no need to scroll for days. Compulsory if you are me.A tablet opening into the videos worth watching.11Helpful VideosHere is a repository for the videos I think are helpful for being successful in health education and management. I may have used them elsewhere already but will consolidate them all here if I can.Books opening into the science behind how we eat, move, and live.12Reading List, Stolen With LoveTwo books from Dr. Ted Naiman. I am the middleman, not the author.