My Life Changes Since Moving Downtown
It has been about 3 weeks since I moved into Toronto from my old suburb life in Mississauga. Other than the geographical changes, I have made plenty of other life changes. The first thing is about my car. I just don’t use it! I go to hockey once and week and I go and visit my folks once on the weekend. That’s it. Otherwise, it stays parked. I have my monthly Metro Pass for the TTC and I take the bus, streetcar or train everywhere! It is so much cheaper than paying for gas! This allows me to be a little more “random” with my plans. I can tie one on and go hard at the bar and not have to worry about my car being parked in a lot or having to take a taxi out of the city. That leads to my another change - I am going out a lot more! The funny thing is, I am spending less money. I think this has to do with the fact that I can have people over for drinks and we can head to a bar at any time we want. We don’t have to think about getting into the city - we are already here! It also doesn’t take long to get home, so I don’t NEED to buy food when I am out. Although…that still happens sometimes. Another change that is good for me is that I am eating MUCH healthier - including a lot more fruits and veggies. I have to give some credit to my roomy on this one. It is much easier to cook for two people. I am lazy when just preparing meals for myself. Having someone else in the house to eat the food allows us to prepare proper side dishes. It also encourages us to make some healthy choices for our meals. Although, our nacho binge couldn’t have been considered healthy. The last change, but the largest change for me has been the morning workouts! Yes, something for the last decade I have been against - claiming it went against every fiber in my body. I was wrong. With a shorter commute I found myself waking up way too early. I don’t sleep too much anyways, so if I wake up two hours before I need to leave for work then I might as well do something. A 5 minute walk to the gym has me making use of that time. I have to admit that I absolutely love it. It is so nice to not have to worry about working out interrupting my evening plans. On top of this, there are some side benefits. Here is some information from AskMen.com on the benefits of the morning workout…
burn more fat
Enough fluff already. I know that all you really care about is whether morning training will help you shed pounds quicker. The answer is “yes,” morning training has been proven efficient for weight loss.
The reason is simple: Training in the morning will help “jump-start” your metabolism and keep it elevated for up to 24 hours, thus burning more calories throughout the day.
Again, don’t expect miracles. Training in the morning alone won’t make you thin overnight. You’ll need to carry out a good training routine, maintain a healthy, low-fat diet, and acquire good sleeping habits.
More specifically, the key to losing weight is to carry out a cardiovascular routine first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. If you’re feeling a little weak, sip a small cup of black coffee or a glass of orange juice. It will help you get started.
say good-bye, blubber
Now, here’s why cardio training in the morning is a great way to blast fat:
Your levels of muscle and liver glycogen (also called stored carbohydrates) are normally very low when you wake up first thing in the morning. With depleted glycogen and lower blood sugar, you’ll give your body the perfect environment to burn fat instead of carbohydrates.
Carbohydrates or glycogen are your body’s primary and preferred source of energy. When they’re low, your body will tap into your secondary energy reserve, which is your body fat. The idea here is similar to when the engine taps into the car’s reserve tank because it’s low on fuel.
Obviously, your body is way more complex than your car’s gas tank. It always burns up a combination of carbohydrates and fat. However, the less carbohydrates you have, the more fat your body will burn.
