Q: How many calories do I need to consume in a day to maintain my current weight of 150 pounds?

A: It's simply a matter of math; here's the equation:

The first thing you need to do is determine your activity level. You are:

* Sedentary if you have a job or lifestyle that involves a lot of sitting and you exercise rarely, if ever.

* Active if your daily routine requires more activity than light walking; or you exercise aerobically for 45 to 60 minutes, three times every week.....

If menstruation is the "the curse," then menopause is with its potential for insomnia, hot flashes, depression and loss of sex drive might be called the super curse.

But a growing number of women are finding that big changes in lifestyle, diet and exercise, along with informed use of hormone replacements, can make this end of reproductivity is "the change" is a good sight more tolerable if still not actually a walk in the park.

"It is a big change, a burning away of what is not relevant in....

"French Women Don't Get Fat," I mean -- Mireille Guiliano's irresistibly titled book published last week by Alfred A. Knopf and already selling like butter-smothered, maple-syrup-laden hot cakes.

I felt like popping a wedge of gooey, dripping reblochon cheese into my mouth at the sight of the word "French," but instead I sat down and started reading. Seventy pages into the book, I scooped up a handful of organic baby carrots and resumed consuming some of the most common-sensical advice I've ever read or heard.

I don't do diet books. Don't read them, write about them....

Many turn to a variety of methods, including fad diets that limit carbohydrates, to lose weight.

As people began to explore nutritional options, Debbie Herbst, dietitian at McCune-Brooks Hospital, recommends limiting portion sizes and better food choices as a way to begin a healthy lifestyle.

"Fad diets do not work," Herbst said. "It's unrealistic to avoid a certain food group.

"It's just not healthy."

Herbst said in the short term, a person may experience a weight loss; however, long term problems may develop, especially with diets that focus on eating large amounts....

With the New Year approaching, let's not neglect beauty regimes. We speak to the experts to find out what our 2005 resolutions should be.

Charles Worthington, celebrity stylist

Charles, whose fans include Sophie Dahl, Jodie Kidd and Rosanna Arquette and whose haircare products are sold at Boots, says: "Get regular trims every six weeks to keep split ends at bay and your style in shape.

"You should also treat dehydrated, over-styled hair to a weekly deep intensive conditioning treatment. Wrap your hair in a warm towel while the....

Shops & boutique houses are bringing out their winter collections. Gear up to face this bitter winter with our skincare tips for this season to get a fresh , smooth and silky skin. Read on..

Winter often spells disaster for your skin. It looks rough and chapped, feels tight and drawn. What should be one of your greatest assets becomes one of your biggest beauty problems. You have to take extra care for your skin during this season and....

WOULDNT IT BE NICE TO HAVE SOFT, BLEMISH FREE SKIN WITHOUT SPENDING A FORTUNE ON TREATMENTS?GOOD HOUSEKEEPING EDITORS SAY IT CAN BE DONE, BUT FIRST YOU HAVE TO KNOW YOUR SKIN TYPE, AND FIND THE PRODUCT THATS RIGHT FOR YOU. THE MAIN THINGS THAT IRRITATE PEOPLE'S SKIN ARE OILS AND FRAGRANCES. AND PEOPLE WHO HAVE SENSITIVE SKIN LOOK FOR UNSCENTED BECAUSE OF THAT PROBLEM. BUT....

Maybe you're not the type to write them down. Maybe you just keep a running list in your head.

Here are my suggestions for resolutions culled from what I've learned in five years of covering fashion and beauty, and watching "Oprah" for years. Take what you can use. Remember, they're suggestions, not commandments.

HONOR YOUR BODY

My favorite T-shirt bears this motto: "Start a Revolution -- Stop Hating Your Body." If....

When it comes to discussing nutrition and healthy eating, however, those two words should vanish from a parent's vocabulary.

American households look a lot different than they did 30 years ago. Overall, households are smaller, more people are putting off getting married and families with one stay-at-home parent -- once the understood norm -- have been placed in a demographic of their own, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

In its recently released "America's Families and Living Arrangements: 2003" survey, the U.S. Census reports the average size of American households has decreased to 2.57 people in 2003 from 3.14 people in 1970.

Only 10 percent of households have 5 or more members compared with....

“Fragmented”, she replied when I asked her how she was feeling. She had bought into the common philosophy that being busy is somehow a virtue.

I’ve been there too. Most of us have. We buy into the notion that we must “be more”, “do more” and have more”. We find ourselves fragmented and stretched like a piece of worn out elastic.

Oh, there are seasons of life where busyness does prevail and we run. Yet when it becomes a constant way of life, and we run weary, we need to take action. Simplicity can be a....

Nicole Williams of Columbia probably isn’t quite as busy as Condoleezza Rice, a top adviser President Bush has named as the next secretary of state.

But when Williams decided to have something done about her fibroid tumors, she chose the same treatment Rice did recently: uterine artery embolization.

Though not for everyone, it’s an option for women who are too busy for tumors — and too busy for the hysterectomy that is the most common remedy for them.

“I couldn’t afford to be out of work for six weeks,” said Williams, a radiology support specialist....

Susie Porter’s definition of beauty requires no magic creams or special wardrobe. "For me, beauty is more of an inner confidence," she says. "It’s the ability to connect with people."

And like all fine things, beauty gets better with age. "I think older women have a greater degree of that true beauty," she says. "That inner confidence comes with life experiences."

She says it's something she first noticed when she entered....

Single career women are thinking ahead and storing their eggs for lifestyle rather than medical reasons.

The technology to remove healthy eggs and freeze them indefinitely has been available in Australia for about six months.

Queensland Fertility Group's Dr Warren DeAmbrosis said about 30 women had so far frozen their eggs.

The procedure is also used for medical reasons such as women undergoing cancer treatment or early menopause.

Now, though, that can't be our excuse to skip the gym after a grueling day at the office. Women can enter the sweet-smelling gym and take a mind-balancing pilates class, climb a mountain on the stationary bike, heave face-contorting weights and stretch fatigued muscles without ever having to lay eyes on men.

One avid exerciser who regularly takes advantage of aerobics classes and cardiovascular training in the women's-only....

Intro / Wall Roll-Down

Skip the nightcap. Turn off Leno. It's no surprise that 66% of Americans blame all their nighttime tossing and turning on stress, reports the Better Sleep Council. But there's a smarter, more effective way to relax after a tough day.

You can quiet your mind, release muscle tension, and beat stress with a few simple stretches. In a study at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, 86 healthy women who were having trouble sleeping needed 60% less sleep medication and fell asleep 30% faster when they stretched four times a....

Q Does weight come off all over your body including breasts?

A Women's breasts are made up of fatty tissue, and when you lose weight it comes off pretty evenly all over your body, including your breasts. "In women weight is generally lost from the boobs first, and the hips last," says exercise physiologist, Damien Kelly. "Unfortunately there is not a lot you can do to encourage....

The hopeful news is that many of the most threatening risk factors for heart disease are things we can do something about. It's just the opposite for breast cancer: Changing our diet or environment can only modestly reduce our risk of....

Mary Holguin said she felt a little like royalty over the weekend.

She was given flowers, allowed to sample expensive perfume and had her hair and make up done by stylists.

"It makes you feel good, even if it's just for a few hours," Holguin of Ivanhoe said.

Holguin was just one of an estimated 8,000 women who attended the 2-day What Women Want Expo at the Visalia Convention Center for a chance at a few hours of pampering.

The expo, which catered to women, offered them a variety of activities from shopping....