Gain Weight

I have spinal stenosis. My lower spine doesn't hurt, but I have no mobility. I'm 80 years old and in good health otherwise. I do exercises each morning like marching and bending my knees. I would like to know what other exercises I could do. Spinal stenosis -- the narrowing of the spinal canal -- can squeeze the nerve roots in the spine or the spinal cord itself. This pinching can weaken the lower body and cause numbness and / or severe leg pain. While it's good news that you are pain-free, physical therapist Jennifer Kline of Physiotherapy Associates in Lutherville strongly recommends meeting with a trainer or physical therapist to begin a flexibility program.

I am 16 years old and weigh 130 pounds. Is it safe to lose 15 pounds?Without knowing how tall you are and whether you have finished maturing physically, it is impossible for us to give you specific advice about whether losing 15 pounds is healthy for you.As teen-agers go through puberty (mature physically), they go through a period of rapid growth during which they get taller as well as gain weight. Their bones become more dense, which also contributes to weight gain. If you are still in this period of rapid growth, we would not recommend your losing weight at this time.

Coaches and managers had long tried to get him to lose weight. His already slim wife went through a rigorous diet clinic with him for moral support. And fans offered their own brand of "encouragement," heckling him from the stands for being "a fat pig."But as any overweight person can tell you, no one can lose the weight for you. Nor can the motivation to lose weight come from the outside, be it well-meaning or mean-spirited or something in between."You get used to it after a while," Orioles pitcher Sid Fernandez says of the weight-baiting that has followed him through much of his life.

The only hints that Jacqueline Pressey suffers from lupus are the elbow-length white satin gloves and broad-brimmed straw hat she wears outdoors.If she didn't wear the protective clothing, a red bumpy rash would develop on her face and her hands would swell so severely that she could not comb her two daughters' hair.But after two years of adhering to a strict diet that stresses vegetables, noncitrus fruits and vitamins, the 33-year-old Elkridge woman no longer relies on medication and has returned teaching aerobics -- an activity she thought she would never do again.

Between the 18th and 25th mile of a marathon, runners often "hit the wall." Their legs start to stiffen and hurt, and they find it very difficult to finish the race.The old theory was that a runner "hits the wall" when his leg muscles run out of stored muscle sugar, called glycogen. Muscles store glycogen inside of their cells. During exercise, glycogen is used for energy. When leg muscles run out of their stored glycogen, the muscles hurt and feel stiff.Tim Noakes, a researcher at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, found that bicycle racers do not "hit the wall" when they use up their muscle glycogen.

It's quite a shock to meet Michael Chiklis.One expects a roly-poly guy in his late 30s. After all, that's what he plays on ABC's "The Commish." Mr. Chiklis stars in the detective series as Tony Scali, a warmhearted New York police commissioner with two kids who is losing his hair and could stand to shed a few pounds.The fact of the matter is, the blue-eyed Massachusetts native is just 29. Mr. Chiklis has lost 40 pounds by working out and eliminating fat from his diet. After the first season of "The Commish," Mr. Chiklis says, he made up his mind to lose the excess poundage.

Do you believe that you can't gain weight on a high carbohydrate diet?This modern nutrition idea becomes myth-information when carried to extremes.Recently, the Gatorade Sports Science Institute sponsored a discussion among four experts in the area of exercise, weight control and nutrition.Their responses were based on research which suggests that, while there are many advantages to a high carbohydrate diet, too much of even that good thing will result in unwanted weight gain.William D. McArdle, textbook author and professor of health and physical education at Queens College of the City University of New York, summed it up this way: " . . . it is much more efficient to store calories from dietary fat as body fat than to store an excess of carbohydrates as fat. . . . However, I still think it should be stressed that excess calories, regardless of the source, will ultimately be stored as fat."

Smokers who want to kick the habit should not let the fear of gaining weight stop them. Researchers have found that most ex-smokers gain weight quickly, but after two years they tend to lose about half of what they gained."

It's time to turn a cool shoulder. Some of the newest dresses, sweaters and shirts are designed to leave this part of the anatomy on display."It's the most sensual part of a woman's body," says Donna Karan. Some might disagree with the designer, though no one could miss the provocative aspects of her new dresses and sweaters that have cutout shoulders, but high turtlenecks and long sleeves.There are lots of other daytime designs that feature extra-wide necklines, which have a tendency to slip off one shoulder in a degage manner.

Q: My 14-year-old daughter is not showing any signs of going into puberty. I think it's because she's tall and thin. Are there certain foods she should eat to help her gain weight?A: You've probably noticed that there is considerable variation in physical development among your daughter's friends. Some enter puberty as early as 9 or 10 while others may just be starting at 13. In general, most experts believe a teen-age girl should display visible signs of puberty by age 14.It may be that your daughter's body shape accounts for her lack of development.