There are people who try various ways to lose weight, like counting calories. This can involve counting the calories in everything, even the calories in a Banana. There is no right or wrong way as long as it is healthy for you and as long as you are losing the weight you want.  Some people try one of the commercial programs.  Other people try just cutting out junk food from their daily eating schedule.  Some try protein shake recipes.  And others try substituting their normal alcoholic beverages for low calorie alcoholic drinks and that is what we will be talking about here.  Many people who are trying to lose weight think that all alcoholic drinks spell calories.  This is not entirely true.  There are many alcoholic drinks that are loaded with calories but there are still some of your favorites that are low in calories. 

If you love mixed drinks, then Sangria, Apple Martini Sour, Mudslides, Gin and Tonic and Vodka and Diet Coke are all delicious and low in calories.  If you are a beer person, make note that regular beer contains 150 to 190 calories, light beer has 95 to 125 calories and ultra light beer contains 65 to 95 calories.  If you enjoy wine instead, white wine and champagne has the lowest calories in comparison to red wine. Just keep in mind that you will need some Potassium rich foods to offset the drop in your electrolyte levels.

Here are a few drink recipes that are easy to make and low in calories.  A Moscow Mule uses one ounce of vodka, 3 ounces of ginger ale and juice from ½ a lime.  Add ingredients to a cocktail shaker and shake well.  Serve chilled.  Gin and Tonic is easy to make by using 2 ounces gin, 6 ounces diet tonic water and 2 fresh lime slices.  Mix ingredients well.  Add a couple of ice cubes to a glass and serve.

Keep up with the latest in health and fitness over at crazyfatloss.org.

Almost everyone is familiar with a full body workout that you might push through for at least one hour or so, and while it might have its benefits, it might not suit some people for various reasons. For those of you who aren’t aware of either, a full-body workout is one where you work on all the muscle groups in one workout by using compound exercises but a split workout is where you focus on one or two muscle groups per workout.

While both have their pros and cons, perhaps the most important thing to remember is where you are at with your fitness levels. [WARNING: Don’t try a split workout if you haven’t been working out for some time now.]

So, here are a few benefits of a split workout routine:

Benefit #1: More stimulation for each muscle group

While a full body workout involves training all muscle groups, a split workout can help you work on each muscle group, therefore with greater effectiveness. Usually, people focus on two muscle groups per workout.

Benefit #2: Details

With the ability to focus on two muscle groups only, you will be able to focus on details such as the different heads and subdivisions of each muscle group and how you work on them which won’t be possible if you explore a full body workout.

Benefit #3: Time Management

While a full body workout might require you to spend at least an hour with all muscle groups, focusing on two muscle groups a day will only require 30 minutes or so. This means that you get to plan your schedule better, and most of all, you feel fresh after a workout and ready to meet the day, almost every day.

Benefit #4: Avoid overtraining & injury

Since you only focus on two muscle groups, it will ensure that there won’t be any overtraining thus reducing the risk of injury, which is perhaps one of the best things that a person who is serious about exercising will be glad to hear.

While exercise might be the ideal solution for weight loss especially for those who aren’t dangerously obese, there is another solution that exists for those who have no choice but to lose weight soon, and they call it lap band surgery.

But there are recent questions that have come up in the form of whether or not this surgery carries more risks than benefits, and here are a few reasons why it seems to be a good idea to opt for this kind of surgery after checking in with a doctor first:

Benefit #1: Minimally Invasive & Reversible

Not only is this type of surgery a reversible one, there is no cutting or stapling with this type of procedure. Interestingly, all that one needs to do if you want to reverse the process is to remove the band from the stomach. In addition, you will just have to readjust and fill the band instead of going through another surgical procedure just in case the patient does not find results with this kind of a surgery.

Benefit #2: Safer even though weight loss is slower

As opposed to the gastric bypass surgery, the statistics involved with this kind of surgery clearly indicates that it is much safer in terms of mortalities and even the number of cases that have to deal with complications after the surgery is complete. If that’s not enough, your stay at the hospital is for a very short time while the recovery period is quick as well.

Benefit #3: Improvement in health

In most cases, people who opt for this kind of procedure will enjoy an overall improvement in health while seeing symptoms such as cholesterol, blood pressure, asthma, diabetes, and arthritis improve.