If a woman is active sexually and she is fertile (able to become pregnant) she needs to ask herself, "Do I want to become pregnant now?" If answer is "No," she must use some form of contraception (birth control). Sexually active people have a wide variety of methods which may be used to reduce possibility of pregnancy. The government estimates that there are 3.6 million unplanned pregnancies each year in United States. Approximately half of these pregnancies occurred because couple did not use any birth control, and other half happened because couple used birth control incorrectly.

Birth control methods are classified as to how fertility is reduced. There are behavioral methods, barrier methods, mechanical methods hormonal methods, and emergency contraception. Behavioral methods require no use of prescription or over-the-counter drugs. One behavioral method--abstinence--requires strong self-discipline. It means refraining from all sexual relations. Another behavioral method--periodic abstinence (sometimes called fertility awareness)--relies on physical signs within a woman related to her hormonal changes to prevent pregnancy. A woman avoids intercourse on those days on which she is most fertile.

Barrier methods provide a physical barrier between sperm and egg. These methods are most successful when used during each sexual encounter and include: male condoms, female condoms, diaphragms and cervical caps and a contraceptive sponge. Since most barrier methods are available over counter at many stores, they are easy to purchase and relatively inexpensive.

There are many ways to lose weight, but it is not always easy to keep weight off. The key to successful weight loss is making changes in your eating and physical activity habits that you can keep up for rest of your life. The information presented in this article may help put you on road to healthy habits.

Some of more common weight-related health problems include: diabetes, heart attack or stroke; high blood pressure; high cholesterol; gallbladder disease; some types of cancer; osteoarthritis (wearing away of joints and bone weakness); sleep apnea (interrupted breathing during sleep).

Health experts agree that you gain health benefits from even a small weight loss if: you are obese based on your body mass index (BMI); you are overweight based on your BMI and have weight-related health problems; or you have a waist that measures more than 40 inches if you are a man or more than 35 inches if you are a woman. A weight loss of 5 to 15 percent of body weight may improve your health and quality of life, and prevent some of above mentioned health problems. For a person who weighs 200 pounds, that means losing from 10 to 30 pounds.

YOur body weight is controlled by number of calories you eat and number of calories your body burns each day. To lose weight, you obviously need to burn more calories than you take in. You can do this by creating and following a plan for healthy eating as well as a plan for regular physical activity.

The average calories needed to maintain current weight are as follows: about 1,600 calories a day for an inactive woman; about 2,200 calories a day for inactive men and active women; about 2,800 calories a day for active men. If you truly want to lose weight and keep it off, you need to reduce your caloric intake and maximize number of calories used.