Granted some people are consistent, motivated fitness oriented individuals(like Maverick and Iceman), the rest of the universe may not be ready to look their best for the coming summer season. Well fret not; this guide will whip you into shape in 4-6 weeks. This is part 1 of 3 part series to get you looking your finest for the summer ladies and gents. That strapping young gent in the photo is a 1980’s Val Kilmer in a little known cinema-gem known as Top Gun.

Let’s start simple; you need to modify your diet. I’m not talking about eating celery sticks and drinking crystal light and nothing else for 8 weeks.

Step 1: Agua. (Also see H2 OH YEA! - why you need water)

Start drinking more water; begin by ingesting 16 oz of cold water upon waking. Studies have suggested that doing so immediately upon waking will create an immediate and significant boost to your metabolism for up to 90 minutes. Drinking more water DOESN’T mean you need to walk around with a 1 liter-1 gallon jug around the office and talk about how you bench pressed 100 lbs yesterday, nobody is impressed…not even your mom.

Step 2: Breakfast.

Eat a big healthy breakfast. Try to incorporate fruit, yogurt, and oats into your breakfast. Eating your breakfast not only jump starts your metabolism earlier (effectively beginning the calorie burning process earlier) but also actually ensures that you eat LESS during the day. People who eat full healthy breakfast meals are less likely to overeat during other meals of the day.

Step 3: Eat more often. Six…read it…six times a day.

Don’t give me that “I don’t have time to eat six times a day” story. If you work 9 to 5, it’s quite simple. Breakfast (meal 1), a 150-300 calorie snack consisting of protein and carbs, such as a protein bar (meal 2) around 10 am, lunch at 1(meal 3), a end of the day snack at 4:30(meal 4), a pre-workout protein shake/meal replacement shake/bar and/or dinner( Meal 5), a post work-out shake/meal replacement bar and/or dinner (meal 6). Naturally all the bars/shakes can be replaced with healthy foods such as meats, nuts, greens, veggies, fruits, brown rice, wheat bread, etc.

Step 4: Switch to diet soda, splenda in your coffee/tea, and cut out white breads.

Soda, coffee beverages (cream + sugar), and white breads all have highly processed crappy sugar. There is no reason to drink/eat that junk. If you don’t believe in fake sugar (splenda, sweet n’ low) then go with brown sugar in your coffee and stop drinking soda. In regards to white bread and white sugars, they both contain bleach…do you really want to be ingesting that? Switch to more fiber rich brown variants, wheat toast, brown rice, etc. If you have a sweet tooth, eat fruit. If the girls at work start saying that Diet Coke with Lime is for nancies just rip your t-shirt by flexing your bicep…they’ll know that Diet Coke with Lime is the bees-knee’s after that.

Step 5: Stop eating 2 hours before you go to bed.

When you are sleeping, your body goes into hibernation mode. Your metabolism, much like the rest of many internal processes slow down to a crawl so that your body may recuperate for the next day. As a result if you eat a fatty, heavy meal at 11pm, it will affect you significantly more than if you ate it at 5pm, so if you must eat fatty foods or calorie heavy unhealthy stuff, do so earlier in the day. Lost just ended the next season isn’t until 2010…you have no reason to stay up till 10pm eating wendy’s. If there is some show you can’t miss that’s late night DVR it or find a friend who has DVR and shamelessly use them for it. (Thanks, Mike)

Stay tuned for Part 2: The Workout!