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"January is the month that many of us make new health resolutions for the year, so I was interested to read the list of &amp;quot;most searched health questions&amp;quot; so far this month that the folks at Yahoo! sent over. Some of the questions were obvious (weight loss), but others, like &amp;quot;how do I get rid of my man boobs?&amp;quot; were a bit out of left field. However, just in case you&amp;#039;re wondering the answers to any of these burning questions, save yourself a search. Here are some resources/answers I pulled together for each one:  1. How to lose weight quickly? (Searches on Yahoo! this month for &amp;quot;how to lose weight quickly&amp;quot; are up 305%) Unfortunately, if you want to lose weight and keep it off, slow and steady is the way to go. We&amp;#039;re big supporters of the sane and healthy form of weight loss (1-2 pounds per week) here at WD. Gathering support in your journey can help you stay on track and accountable. Check out the online resource, SparkPeople, to connect with other like-minded people as well as recruit virtual cheerleaders. If you prefer face to face contact, search for your local Take Off Pounds Sensibly (TOPS) chapter and attend a meeting. (Read one woman&amp;#039;s impressive TOPS success story here.) If you can&amp;#039;t let go of the quick factor, at least do it in a healthy way with Joy Bauer&amp;#039;s day-after detox plan for recovering after an overindulgence.  2. How many calories to lose weight? 3,500 calories = 1 pound. So, generally, in order to lose a pound a week you&amp;#039;ll need to reduce your calories by that much (via diet changes or exercise burn). However, weight loss is an individual thing depending on your height, weight, age, metabolism, etc. so it&amp;#039;s hard to say what will work for everyone. Try using an online calculator to figure out how many calories you need to lose or maintain weight. Here are a few good tools: RealAge, Mayo Clinic and Active.com. 3. How to quit smoking? (Searches on Yahoo! for &amp;quot;how to quit smoking&amp;quot; are up 137% this month) Quitting may seem like an impossible task, but here&amp;#039;s an encouraging fact that I learned while writing this article: 40 million people in the U.S. have managed to quit smoking and there are more ex-smokers in the U.S. than current smokers! If you need a new strategy, consider this: a recent study found that smokers who received supportive text messages were nearly twice as likely to quit in a six-month period as those who didn&amp;#039;t. Quitjuice.com will send you motivational stop-smoking messages every day via email, text or voicemail ($7.95 per month) or you can ask a friend to be your daily texting buddy. Check out How to Stop Smoking \u2014 Today! for a wealth of further research, resources and suggestions.  4. How to gain weight fast? This answer, for most people, is quite simple: Eat more and move less.  5. How much should I weigh? The standard for assessment is BMI (Body Mass Index), but you should know that there are some who argue against using this measurement across the board (due to issues like the fact that it doesn&amp;#039;t account for muscle mass). Still, it can give you an approximate idea as to where you fall in terms of recommended body weight. Try one of these online BMI calculators: National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, Centers for Disease Control, and American Council on Exercise.  6. How to lose belly fat? Spot-reducing is tough, but the good news is that as you lose weight, you typically lose fat all over. One thing that may help reduce tummy fat: vigorous exercise. A Duke University study found that high amounts of vigorous activity (the equivalent of jogging a total of 20 miles per week) reduced subcutaneous (the kind of fat that builds up right below the skin) and visceral (the type that lives deeper inside your body around organs like the liver) abdominal fat for study participants. And here&amp;#039;s the kicker: this reduction in fat happened without changes in calorie intake.  7. How do you get Hepatitis C? According to the Mayo Clinic, Hepatitis C is an infection caused by a virus that attacks the liver and leads to inflammation. It is passed along through contact with contaminated blood (most commonly through needles shared during illegal drug use).  8. When is the best time to shave a face? I went to an expert for this one and asked D&amp;#039;Anne Kleinsmith, MD, a dermatologist in Bloomfield, Michigan to weigh in. Here&amp;#039;s her take: &amp;quot;The best time to shave a face is when the skin is warm and wet. This could be right after a shower or after a hot wash cloth is used (just like those old barber shop scenes in the movies). This will soften and lift the hairs. After the skin has become warm and moist, a shaving cream should be applied and left on for a minute. (Don&amp;#039;t use soap - this can leave a residue on the razor blade, dulling the edge.) Shaving should be in the direction of the hair growth to prevent ingrown hairs. If you miss a few doing this, shave across the grain to get a closer shave.&amp;quot; 9. How to get rid of man boobs? See Question #1.  10. What is the dash diet? DASH stands for &amp;quot;Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension.&amp;quot; It&amp;#039;s a diet recommended for people with high blood pressure (hypertension) or prehypertension because it&amp;#039;s low in sodium and based on fruits, veggies, low-fat dairy and whole grains. Yet, it may be very beneficial for the general public as U.S. News &amp;amp;amp; World Report recently ranked it #1 for overall diet in their &amp;quot;best diets&amp;quot; review. Go here for more info.  11. How effective is the morning after pill? &amp;quot;The data has shown that the common regimen (one or two-dose progestin only pills) prevents at least 74% of expected pregnancies,&amp;quot; says Jessica Shepherd, MD, OB/GYN, Director and Assistant Professor of Minimally Invasive Gynecology at the University of Illinois at Chicago. And remember: although it can be used up to 120 hours after unprotected sex, the most effective time frame is within 72 hours. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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