Get Fit!

Q. What exercises can a woman do to reduce hips and thighs?

A. Do aerobic activities that emphasize those areas (biking, rowing, stair climbing). The aerobic activity will help burn the unwanted fat, while stressing the specific areas mentioned, will tone and strengthen those muscles. Remember: you can not ‘spot reduce’, but you can spot tone.

Q. Sometimes I get light-headed during or right after strenuous exercise, and this is not while working out in the heat. Is this normal, or should I change what I'm doing?

A. No, you should not accept this as normal. You should decrease your work load and change what you are doing. 

Q. I’ve heard that eating breakfast speeds up your metabolism and makes you hungrier so that you can eat more at lunch. Is this true?

A. It’s true that not eating breakfast does cause metabolic changes that depress your appetite. However, skipping a meal also tends to make you overeat when you finally do eat. That’s especially true if you miss a couple of meals. Your best bet is to eat three regular meals each day.

Q. I’ve been thinking about changing to one of the new oat bran cereals. Which one has the most oat bran?

A. You have three good choices among dry cereals: ‘Health Valley Oat Bran O’s’ and 'Oat Bran Flakes, each with 15 grams of oat bran per ounce, and 'Kellogg’s’ Common Sense Oat Bran’, with 13 grams per ounce. If you’re Shooting for the maximum, try 'Quaker Oat Bran Hot Cereal'--the ‘champ’, with 28 grams per ounce.

*answers provided by the aerobics center. Send your questions to get fit, 
Today, the Dallas Morning News, P.O. Box 655237, Dallas, TX. 75265.