The REBOOT Protocol, in plain terms
The six daily basics I coach in this order, why each one matters, and the first action I would give a desk-based team.
REBOOT is the name we use for the six daily basics underneath every plan I write. It isn't a program, and it isn't a protocol in the clinical sense. It is the short list I check when somebody tells me they are tired, stuck, or not seeing the change they expected.
Every topic I teach runs the same four steps: why it matters, what the evidence says, one action, what to expect. Here is REBOOT in that format, in the order I coach it.
R — Rest
Why it matters. Sleep is where training is absorbed and appetite is settled. Short sleep changes what food looks like the next day: more of it, and faster.
What the evidence says. The CDC's guidance is seven or more hours for adults, and its survey data has found roughly one in three adults reporting they usually get less than that.
The first action. A fixed wake time, seven days a week, before anything else. Bedtime follows a fixed wake time. It does not work the other way around.
E — Exercise
Why it matters. For a desk-based team, the point of training isn't appearance. It's whether someone can carry their own energy through a long day and a longer quarter.
What the evidence says. The standard is 150 minutes of moderate activity a week plus two days of strength work. Strength is the part most office programs skip, and it is the part that changes how a body handles a chair.
The first action. Two 25-minute strength sessions a week, same days, booked like a meeting. Not five. Two, kept for a month, beats five attempted in the first week.
B — Body Fuel
Why it matters. Most of what I see in offices isn't a bad diet. It's a badly timed one: nothing until eleven, a large lunch, a collapse at three, then a big evening meal.
What the evidence says. Protein at each meal and steady fiber intake is the simplest defensible baseline. Water is part of fuel, not a separate topic.
The first action. Build lunch around a palm-sized portion of protein and add one vegetable. That's it. No tracking app, no elimination list.
O — Outdoor light
Why it matters. Morning daylight is the strongest signal your body has for setting its clock. Ten minutes outside in the morning does more for sleep than an hour of screens off at night.
What the evidence says. Light exposure in the morning anchors circadian rhythm, and evening light delays it. The direction of that effect is consistent, and you can demonstrate it on yourself in a week.
The first action. The Vitamin D Walk: 10 to 15 minutes outside before the first meeting of the day, in daylight, without headphones if you can manage it. We run it as a group session because a standing appointment beats a good intention.
O — Oxygen
Why it matters. People hold their breath at a screen. Shoulders rise, breathing goes shallow, and by mid-afternoon the body reads as stressed even when nothing is wrong.
What the evidence says. Slow breathing around six breaths a minute raises vagal tone and lowers arousal within a few minutes. It's the fastest lever a person has during a workday.
The first action. Two minutes before the meeting that usually leaves you flat. Four counts in, six counts out, through the nose. It works in a car, a hallway or a stairwell, which is why people keep doing it.
T — Temperance, Team, Truth
Three words, because they belong together.
Temperance, or moderation. Not abstinence. The person who can have two drinks and stop, or eat the cake and move on, has a different relationship with the thing than someone who can't. The action is to name the one habit where "none" has never worked, and pick a limit you could actually keep for a month.
Team, or support from the people around you. Behavior spreads within groups. If one person on a team starts walking at lunch, others join within weeks. The action is to recruit one person rather than announce a plan.
Truth, or an honest look at where you stand. This is why we do InBody scans, and why I have the same conversation in every first session: the number that surprises people is usually not the one they were worried about. The action is to get one measurement you trust, write it down, and stop guessing.
Why the order matters
I run REBOOT in that sequence for a practical reason: each item makes the next one easier. Better sleep makes training tolerable, training makes appetite steadier, daylight makes sleep come more easily, breathing gets you through the three o'clock dip, and the last one keeps the whole thing honest instead of performative.
You don't need all six at once. Pick the one you are furthest from and hold it for a month. That is the whole method: one specific change, kept long enough to become unremarkable.