If you want to get in shape and lose weight, you need to set timelines and deadlines. If you make your goal random and seemingly never-ending, you won’t be able to see the finish line and motivate yourself to succeed. This is why selecting a block of time, in this case six weeks, is a good way to structure and define your goals. Here are twenty ways to get in shape in 6 weeks:

1. Set specific goals for your 6 week period. To get in shape in six weeks, you need to be able to define what ‘in shape’ means for you. If you simply want to lose weight, then you need to define your goals by new lifestyle changes. If you are a runner, perhaps you want to set distance or time goals. If you play sports, perhaps you set some other goal related to your activity. If you are lifting weights, perhaps you want to make goals related to strength gains. Whatever your activity or motivation, you need to define your health goals in these terms.
2. Get a system to guide you. There are tons of resources out there, so take your pick. I recommend The Diet Solution – click this link for their free vid.
3. You may find it easier to set fitness goals than actual outcome goals, given that the time period is so short. For instance, you may want to say “I”ll work out 4 times a week on these days and I’ll eat this many calories a day.” Doing this will lead you to more long term success because you’ll build habits that stick. If you don’t meet your ‘weight goals’ or ‘athletic goals,’ you may get discouraged, but you’ll be guaranteed to meet ‘action goals’ if you actually go out and do them.
4. Let’s talk about weight first. If you want to get in shape in six weeks, and by ‘in shape’ you mean lose weight for some event or other deadline, approximate about 1.5 pounds per week of weight loss. This will translate into around 10 pounds of fat lost during this period, quite a respectable amount. This will translate into 10 pounds x 3500 calories/pound = 35000 calories. Six weeks translates to 42 days, and 35000/42 = 833 calories or so. Thus, you’ll need to burn 833 calories per day due to changes made in diet and exercise.
5. This above example is what we mean, specifically, about setting your goal. Put numbers on whatever you need to do so that you can have actual benchmarks to reach during the six weeks and at the end of the 42 day period.
6. As for the ways to actually get in shape in 6 weeks, let’s begin with diet. How many calories you eat will depend on your goals (weight loss, maintenance, or weight/muscle gain), so we can’t give you an exact amount here. We can give you some general guidelines, though, including:
7. Eat 5 to 6 meals throughout the day in small meals or snacks. Try to eat a similar amount of calories at each meal to ensure even blood sugar levels and thus hunger levels. Eat protein at every meal when you can to help control hunger. This will keep your metabolism burning consistently, helping you to burn calories, gain muscle, recover from workouts, and the like.
8. Drink plenty of water throughout the day – it’s an important ingredient regardless of your getting in shape goals. Kill sugary drinks that only add calories to your diet and give you nothing else in return. Switch to diet drinks if you need a good bridge beverage.
9. Make sure you eat plenty of fruits and vegetables to get the vitamins, minerals, and nutrients your body needs. It’s not simply enough to lose weight or become more athletic. Your body needs certain pieces too to obtain true overall health.
10. Get plenty of sleep. This will help you recover from workouts, and you’ll burn calories during your sleep. If you are tired, you’ll tend to eat more to compensate. Also, if you are tired, you will find it harder to exercise, and you will not expend as much energy through the day, lowering the calories you burn.
11. Exercise is obviously an important ingredient in this equation. For you to lose weight, gain weight, or just generally get in shape, you’ll need to exercise. The particular kinds of exercises, the volume, and the frequency you do will depend on the goals that you define above, but we can give you some general guidelines:
12. Intensity is key. Workouts are better if they are shorter and more intense than if they are longer and less intense.
13. Your body needs to be constantly challenged. During these six weeks, your body may begin to get used to certain exercises, routines, and weights, so make sure you change things up often to keep your body guessing and to keep the gains coming.
14. Make sure you give your body the rest it needs to fully recover from workouts. Recuperation and renewal is just as important as the exercises itself, as this is where the growth occurs.
15. The activities you can do to get in shape are only limited by your imagination. Don’t stick yourself in a gym if you hate it, as there are plenty of things to do outside and in other areas. Even walking a mall is a great way to get exercise and have fun doing it!
16. Add strength training to your workout schedule. This will build muscle mass, causing you to get stronger and burn more calories. This will be the foundation upon which you build all of your fitness, so don’t skip this step.
17. Set fitness goals by slowly increasing the difficulty. For instance, if you use a treadmill, increase the ‘speed’ at which you run by .1 mph each session. This will slowly cause you to get stronger and more adaptable.
18. Don’t ignore calisthenics. You could get into great shape in 6 weeks simply by doing pushups, pullups, situps, jumping jacks, and the like! You don’t necessarily need fancy equipment, gyms, and trainers to get the job done.
19. Don’t give up! Persistence is key. You see the finish line, so sprint towards it, and enjoy the rewards at the end.
20. Set your next 6 weeks goal. Fitness and health is a life long journey, not something that you “only” do for this six weeks.

You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.