It's actually unsettlingly easy to accomplish, and ramps up with exponential effectiveness. The main thing is that it's as close as a console player can get to doing things a PC player can mod in easily, such as setting allies to essential or making unarmed weapons that don't suck.
Otherwise your best bet is Heavy Armor (Iron Fist) + Khajiit Race + Daedric Gauntlets (with Fortify Unarmed) + Ring (with Fortify Unarmed). It's not competitive with max (legit) smithing, but it would be enough to get you through an adept-level run with minimal trouble.