RIO Fitness Chicago® Exercise & Nutrition Blog

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

"The longest journey still requires the first step to be taken." (Lao-tzu)

If you want to lose body fat & tone up, start small. Make short-term attainable goals, acheive them, and build from there. Here are some easy, small steps you can start making today:

1) Eat a hot non-cream based soup or a hot beverage like uncaffeinated tea before a meal. You can't eat hot soups or drink hot tea fast, which gives your digestive tract time to send fullness signals out to your brain before you begin the next course.

2) Don't eat heavily just before bed. Taking in sweet, high-fat foods right before bedtime decreases calorie burning and increases fat storage during sleep.

3) Live like a big city person. People who live in cities weigh less than those who live in the suburbs because of incidental walking to grab lunch or run an errand. If you don't live/work in the city, you can mimic the effect by parking a few blocks away from the drugstore/dry cleaner/post office or using the stairs instead of the elevator to get to your job/classroom.

4) If you can stomach it, try a chili pepper-laced appetizer right before your meal. It will act as an appetite suppressant for the next course.