RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

You don't need an expensive gym membership to get your G in GTL on. Here's FIVE simple ways to get extra activity in throughout your day.

1) Walking with extra weight like carrying a book bag with something heavy in it or a bottle of detergent in your hands going up & down the steps at home.

2) Park farther from the entrance of your destination.

3) Pace the floor instead of sitting. We spend a lot of our life waiting for appointments or talking on the phone. Don't just sit around, GET UP!

4) Take up hiking. Hiking outdoors is a great way to burn stress, enjoy the outdoors, and get some exercise. A GORGEOUS place to go is www.chicago-botanic.org/

5) Yard work in the hot sun is a great way to burn calories. Raking leaves, mowing grass, pulling weeds, planting flowers are all good exercise to work up a sweat. No yard? You must have an elderly family member/neighbor that needs help.See More

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

If you want flawless skin, it's not just about what you shouldn't eat but what you should eat. Add the following to your daily nutrition to help cure & prevent complexion woes.

1) Foods high in ZINC (almonds, baked beans, beef, chickpeas, oysters, pumpkin seeds) reduce inflammation to shrink bumps, and it also slows sebum production to reduce shine and prevent more breakouts from forming.

2) Foods high in CAROTENOIDS (mango, cantaloupe, carrots, spinach, sweet potatoes, tomatoes) attack blemishes in three ways: reducing inflammation, encouraging cell turnover (aka natural exfoliations) and strengthening your skin’s defense against bacteria.

3) Foods high in FIBER (everything that is 100% whole wheat grain). Eating unhealthy carbs (white bread, cookies, pastries) signals the pancreas to send out a surge of insulin. This triggers a hormone-level change in your body that increases oil production and tells cells to multiply, all of which jams pores. Whole grains helps your body absorb and burn carbs more slowly, which keeps blood sugar and insulin levels steady.See More

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

Do you have a gym membership, but you don't go? You're paying what people in the fitness industry call the "fat tax." If feeling & looking better is not motivation enough, think about all the money you're wasting by not going. Even if it's doing just 30mins of core or some cardio on a machine, GO TODAY!

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

How much junk food did you take in this weekend? Not only do treats add calories & fat to your daily tally, but they also cause your body to store more fat. Junk food stimulates a gene that makes your body store excess fat, causing you to gain weight over time. Stop that sweet craving with berries or an orange. They’re high in vitamin C, which helps you sizzle up to 30% more fat during exercise.

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

If you're exercising and want to see fast results there are three BASIC supplements you should be taking: MULTI-VITAMIN, WHEY ISOLATE PROTEIN, and GLUTAMINE.

1) MULTI-VITAMIN because we don't get enough essential vitamins & minerals from our foods. All the processing it goes through before getting to the store, and when we cook our food it releases most of it's vitamins & minerals.

2) WHEY ISOLATE PROTEIN because it's the highest quality of protein and when we take it after exercise it will help build LEAN (NOT bulky) muscle tissue which helps us burn more calories all day long. Take it after you do cardio and/or weight training. Without it, your muscles will just recover/repair and NOT build any more.

3) GLUTAMINE because it's an amino acid (what protein is made of) that when we mix it with our after exercise protein will help reduce soreness. Reducing soreness = our muscles recover & rebuild faster = we can exercise more = faster results.

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

Two simple ways to get rid of your cellulite: Cellulite is fat deposits under the skin, so the more saturated/trans fat (bad fat) you eat the more cellulite you'll have. Next is your exercise. You need to be doing cardio properly (25mins of high/low intensity intervals every 60sec) to burn fat & not energy/muscle. Also, weight training burns 4x more cal than cardio.

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

Does life have you STRESSED OUT? If so, you’re likely to sleep less/eat more, which affects your thyroid, a gland that produces hormones which regulate metabolism (how fast you burn calories). If your thyroid’s not producing enough hormones it can slow your metabolism, leading to weight gain, depression and fatigue. Take a 10-15min break for yourself daily to breathe, relax, and clear your mind, to keep thyroid and metabolism humming at optimal levels.

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

How much sleep do you get at night? Not sleeping enough causes decreased levels of growth hormones that aid in muscle recovery/building & it increases levels of the hormone cortisol which causes body fat gain. Lack of sleep also leads to increased stress & exhaustion during your day. If you can't get enough each night, try to catch up with a nap during the day/weekends.

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

Drinking tea has some great health benefits. Bottled tea contains very low levels of antioxidants; so boil some water and brew your own at home to get all the antioxidant benefits at a fraction of the cost.

1) GREEN TEA increases mental acuity and protects against heart disease; Choose one with NO caffeine and just add a twist of lemon to help absorb the antioxidants into your bloodstream.

2) MINT TEA settles the stomach and alleviates gas.

3) GINGER TEA soothes digestion and fires up your energy

4) CHAMOMILE TEA calms the nervous system and relaxes the muscles; drink an hour before bedtime to get a good night's rest.

5) TAO TEA is a set of healing bagged teas for internal cleansing, calming your emotions, and promoting balance.

Add a twist of lemon, a sprig of mint, rosemary, or a handful of fresh basil for an aromatic flavor burst. To add sweetness, use a little pure honey, agave nectar, or a stick of cinnamon.

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

Chemicals in our plastic containers and other dishware may leach into our foods/drinks. This can disrupt hormone/reproductive system function and prevent body fat loss because these chemicals mimic estrogen. Five simple steps to avoid eating/drinking PLASTIC unintentionally:

1) KNOW THE CODE. Look on the bottom of your plastic to find the recycling symbol (a number between 1 and 7 enclosed in a triangle of arrows). 1, 2, 4 and 5 are considered to be the safest. 3, 6, and 7 leach chemicals that may be harmful.

2) DO NOT HEAT PLASTIC IN THE MICROWAVE. Heat can increase the rate at which chemicals like BPA leach from plastic. Containers labeled "microwave safe" have been tested by the U.S. FDA and found to leach extremely small amounts.

3) IF IT SAY ONCE USE, USE IT ONCE. Plastic breaks down over time and some aren't designed to withstand heating and cooling.

4) WASH BY HAND. Only put plastics into the dishwasher if they have a dishwasher safe label. If you want to be extra-cautious, wash all plastics by hand. In the dishwasher, plastics are exposed to detergents and heat, which may accelerate the leaching of BPA from food containers.

5) DO NOT FREEZE PLASTIC. Only put plastics in the freezer if they have a freezer-safe label. Freezer temperatures can cause plastics to deteriorate, which increases the leaching of chemicals into the food.

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

Protein is the best nutrient for jumpstarting your metabolism (how fast you burn calories), squashing your appetite, and helping you eat less at meals (body fat loss = consuming less calories than you burn). Have a LEAN protein (white meat, fish, eggs, beans, unsalted/raw nuts) with every meal! Since protein leaves you feeling more full, if you start in the morning, you'll eat less throughout the day. A perfect breakfast instead of cereal/bagel would be two eggs scrambled with cherry tomatoes & 1/2cup fresh strawberries on the side.

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

With the recent temperature drop here in Chicago, many people are suffering with a cold/allergies. Taking just 15milligrams of ZINC a day (amount found in a multivitamin) will motivate your immune cells to produce more of a protein that fights off bacterial infections.

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

Stuck in a rut and can't find the motivation to get your exercise & healthy eating going again? Two SIMPLE things you can do are:

1) In the morning before you consume any calories, do just 25mins of cardio. Do high/low intensity intervals every 60sec for just 25mins. Doing cardio as soon as you wake up before consuming any calories, will make your body use your fat (which is stored energy) for a fuel source to do the exercise.

2) Have breakfast every day! When we sleep, our body knows to slow down our metabolism (how fast we burn calories); and when we skip breakfast it continues to stay slow. This is bad because we're now burning calories at a slower rate; and now when we get to lunch we're starving and more apt to making bad choices & over consuming calories which leads to body fat gain.

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

Can't lose those last ten pounds? It may be because you're eating too much PLASTIC. Chances are you’re among 93% of Americans with detectable levels of bisphenol-A (BPA), and that you’re also among the 75% with detectable levels of phthalates. Both are synthetic chemicals found in plastics that mimic estrogen. These plastic-based chemicals trick our bodies into storing fat and not building/retaining muscle. Decreasing your exposure will maximize your chances both of losing unwanted flab & of building lean muscle mass.

Here’s how to decrease exposure:

1) Never heat food in plastic containers or put plastic items in the dishwasher, which can damage them and increase BPA leaching.

2) Avoid buying fatty foods like meats that are packaged in plastic wrap because EDCs are stored in fatty tissue. The plastic wrap used at the supermarket is mostly PVC, whereas the plastic wrap you buy to wrap things at home is increasingly made from polyethylene.

3) Cut down on canned goods by choosing tuna in a pouch over canned tuna. Eden Organic, is one of the only companies that doesn’t have BPA in its cans.

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

The BEST fat burner is NOT Hydroxycut or any other artificial stimulant which can harm you (liver/kidney damage or irregular heartbeat), it's a WHEY ISOLATE PROTEIN. With a whey isolate protein after you exercise (weight training AND cardio), you'll build more LEAN muscle tissue. The more lean muscle tissue you have, the more calories your muscles will burn a day.

**The only way to lose body fat is to burn more calories than you consume,** so the more lean muscle tissue you have the faster you will burn body fat. **Women should choose a low calorie/low fat/zero carb/zero sugar protein like ISOPURE Zero Carb.**

If you're wondering why you're not seeing results as fast, it's probably because you don't have protein post-exercise. Without protein after exercise, your muscle fibers just tear apart & repair, they don't build any more muscle tissue. Whey Isolate is the highest quality of protein there is, so start taking it, and watch how much quicker you'll see results!

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

Now that Summer is over, are losing your motivation to exercise for that Summer body? Be careful how much time you take off, because as hard as it was to make progress, it'll be easy to lose it.

1) After two weeks off:
We already start to see a decline in muscular and cardiovascular fitness levels. At this point, it's safe to jump back in at the same intensity you were at before the break. Cardio levels decrease faster than strength (the magic of muscle memory). To take advantage of this, during busy work weeks, do just one set of five strength exercises.

2) More than two weeks off:
The longer that is taken off, the more we need to scale back volume and intensity of exercise once we come back to it. To jumpstart your routine at this point, and to preserve heart/lung strength and prevent waistline creep, do 5 to 7 days of 20 minutes of cardio.

3) A break from exercise can be good:
If you've been going all-out, exercising HARD for months, you probably need a training vacay. This allows your muscles to recover fully so you can continue making strides whether you're training for a race or trying to lose those last stubborn ten pounds.