RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

1lb of body fat = 3500cal. Every day our goal should be to burn 400cal with intense exercise (7 days x 400cal = 2800cal); then burn the remaining 700cal daily by walking everywhere, always taking the stairs instead of elevators/escalators, carrying groceries/laundry, etc.

Also, for every 1lb of fat we lose we take 4lbs of pressure off of our knees. Lastly, never say, "I want to lose weight." Our goal should never be to lose weight (muscle or water) which is easy to do & a short term solution. It should always be to lose body fat which is the long term, healthier solution.

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

From Halloween thru New Years people tend to gain 5-20 body fat lbs. Don't let Turkey Day tomorrow do that to you. Here's FIVE simple things you can do tomorrow to not wreck your waistline but still enjoy yourself.

1) If you must try everything, use SMALL plates.

2) To reduce the bloat from all the high sodium foods, every three hours after the meal have a high potassium snack (bananas, unsalted beans, dried/unsweetened apricots, unsweetened raisins, spinach, squash)..

3) Every three hours before the meal and every three hours after eat something SMALL to keep your metabolism fast. Especially after, most people stop eating, which slows down how fast burn calories = more fat gain.

4) To prevent overeating in the first place, have a huge drink of water (20oz) before the meal.

5) Limit the consumption of any drink that is not water, especially alcohol, because all those calories + food calories = major body fat gain.

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

RIGHT NOW is the time to start getting in-shape for Summer 2013! Start by doing simple things like parking further from your destinations & walking, ALWAYS taking the stairs instead of elevators/escalators, drinking ONLY water daily, do an activity that makes you sweat & raises heart rate for 25mins daily (doesn't have to a continuos 25, can be 5min in morning, 5min at lunch, etc.), and cook healthy food at home/bring healthy food from home to work instead of eating out (saves your waistline & $ too). Do something TODAY to spark the change that come Summer '13 will be the healthiest & sexiest you!

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

Getting/staying in-shape is all science. You have to know your body & how it functions. First step is identifying what body type you are. See the pic attached to see what you are & how you should be exercising.

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip: 

Do you drink 5-hour energy? The U.S. FDA has just announced a link to it causing thirteen deaths over the last four years. If you want to NATURALLY improve your energy levels: 

1) Get enough sleep every night. 

2) Take a soft-gel multi-vitamin after breakfast daily. 

3) Eat something SMALL every 3hrs to keep your metabolism going. 

4) Take a B12 & Iron supplement daily. 

Eliminate energy drinks & caffeine from your life, if you want to prolong it!

US regulators report possible link between caffeine shot, deaths | Yahoo! Health

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

Unfortunately, eating healthier can SOMETIMES be more expensive than junk food. To combat the cost, buying fruits/veggies when they're in season or buying them frozen is less expensive. See the picture for a chart of when certain fruits/veggies are in season.

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip: 

Diets DO NOT work! They're short term solutions to long term problems. Know what works if you do it every day? These TEN tips! 

1) Calculate your own specific daily calorie limit & start staying within it daily. 

2) 

Eat something SMALL every three hours. 

3) Avoid bad saturated/trans fats and start eating more poly & mono unsaturated fats/Omega-3 good fats. 

4) Eat high glycemic carbs (ex: bread/pasta/rice/oat) ONLY after you exercise. No exercise = you don't have them. Eat low glycemic carbs (ex: fruits/veggies) the rest of the day because they digest slowly. 

5) Every time you eat have a lean protein food & consume a whey isolate protein (ex: ISOPURE) after every time you exercise (weights & cardio). 

6) Don't drink alcohol. 

7) Limit sodium intake to no more than 1200mg/day. 

8) Drink 80-120oz of water daily. 

9) Limit sugar consumption because excess sugar is turned into body fat & so do "sugar free" foods/drinks.

10) Get enough sleep every night.

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

Looking & feeling your best is NOT doing a 4-12wk exercise routine and/or "weight loss diet" and then stopping. IT'S AN EVERY DAY LIFESTYLE CHANGE. To be in the best shape of your life & be the healthiest you've ever been, you need to change the way you live DAILY (eating, drinking, sleeping, physical activity, stress management, etc.).

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

If you want something bad enough you'll make time for it. THERE IS NO EXCUSE to not exercise at least 30mins a day, especially since the BEST way to exercise HIGH INTENSITY INTERVAL TRAINING only takes 30mins. If you really evaluate your day you'll see you spend a lot of time wasted (TV, Facebook/Twitter, Internet, eating & drinking bad out). Ask yourself, how bad do you want to look and feel your best and what are you willing to sacrifice to get there?

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

"Some exercise is better than doing nothing." Yes & no. If we want to see faster lean & tone results, we have to be doing HIGH INTENSITY INTERVAL TRAINING for BOTH cardio & strength training. HIIT is taking your heart rate towards your max HR for 30-60sec, then dropping it for 30-60sec. This makes your resting HR between 120-140, and in this zone is where we burn the most calories from fat. Best news of all, when we do HIIT, exercise should only last a max of 30mins. Everybody can take 30mins out of their day for their health! Google/YouTube HIIT for more info.

RIO Fitness Chicago® Tip:

Do you always feel tired, moody, low energy, achy, weak hair/nails, or always getting sick? All are symptoms of poor daily nutritional habits. If we treat our body's like a trash can, we can't expect to feel like anything but garbage.

Instead eat a SMALL meal/snack (2-300cal) every 3hrs, eat healthy fats loaded with omega-3s and essential fatty acids, eat more low glycemic carbs like fruits/veggies instead of high glycemic (bread/pasta/rice/oat), every time you eat have a LEAN protein (white meat, fish, eggs, unsalted/raw nuts, unsalted beans, organic Greek yogurt, almond butter, quinoa), and drink water ALL DAY.