I have 40-inch hips and really need to get them down. I'm totally motivated and ready to get the weight off. What are the best exercises and how often should I be doing them?

Kay

As you very well know, Kay, you're not alone. Hips and thighs are probably the number one problem area for women (for men it's the love handles).

There is one, and it applies to all three of you and everyone else reading this column: There is no such thing as spot reducing! I can give you 57 varieties of leg exercises and they won't do the trick by themselves. Why? Because when we lose fat, we lose it from all over our bodies. If you store more fat in a particular area, that's the last place you'll lose it from. To lose fat and tone up, we have to increase our overall caloric output while slightly reducing our caloric intake. I've already told you about leg exercises you can do and given you some guidelines for cardiovascular exercise to help burn more calories. What more can you possibly do? The answer is simple . . . upper-body weight training.

Do bench presses and flies for your chest; one arm dumbbell rows or lat pull downs for your back; overhead presses and lateral raises for your shoulder; and curls for your biceps, and tricep push-downs or kickbacks for the backs of your arms.

The physical act of performing upper-body resistance exercises will obviously burn a few more calories while you're exercising. But over time, if you increase the lean mass of your upper-body as well as your lower-body, you can increase your resting metabolism.

This means you'll burn more calories throughout the day, even at rest. Don't worry about getting muscular -- you're body sculpting, not body building. Do your weight training two to three times per week, with at least a day off in between workouts.

No matter where our "problem areas" are, improving them always comes down to overall fat reduction. Total body conditioning is the way to do it!

Post your questions and comments on the Fit by Friday message board!