I want to know how to lose the fat in my legs and reshape it. I've always had big legs and a small top, but I want to balance it out without putting more weight on top. What should I do?
--martha

What can I do to get rid of my large butt and thighs. I am a secretary and sit on them all day long every day. Please help!
--aidells

Well, there are two issues here. One is weight loss and fat reduction, and the other is leg training. I'll get to some leg exercises in a minute.

We all store fat in particular places on our bodies. Women tend to store it more on their hips and thighs, men around their middles. By the way, storing fat on the hips and thighs is healthier in terms of risk for cardiovascular disease.

If you reduce the overall amount of fat stored on your body, you will lose some from your hips and thighs as well. Aside from doing aerobic exercise four or five times a week for 45 minutes or more -- this frequency and duration are suggested goals to work to and by no means the amount of exercise you should start out doing -- do some upper-body weight training to help maintain and increase the amount of lean muscle you have on your frame. More muscle translates into a higher resting metabolism, making it easier to keep fat off once you lose it.

To kill two birds with one stone, select cardiovascular exercises that recruit the leg muscles to help shape your legs and also boost overall calorie burning. Swimming won't work as well as cycling, walking, in-line skating and running for burning calories and toning leg muscles. In-line skating is particularly good for working your gluteus (butt muscles) and so is using a stepper.

If you have access to a gym, the leg extension, leg curl and leg press machines are great for training your leg muscles. Also try the AB/AD machine, (abductor/adductor, the inner and outer thigh muscles). But don't think that spending 15 minutes doing a thousand reps each session will make your hips smaller. Use it as you would any other weight machine: one or two sets of 10-15 repetitions.

Squats and lunges can be done in the home or gym, and they're great for attacking those "problem areas." If you're working out in your own at home, an exercise video like The Firm or Kathy Smith's Great Buns and Thighs can make your workout a little less boring. A wide selection of videos can be purchased at Fitness Videos.

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