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Of the hundreds of questions I get each year from readers of my column, the most frequent are about weight loss, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and bone loss.

Here are some recent hot topics.

Q: How do I lose fat along with weight?

A: A combination of diet and exercise.

In a study of 52 obese men in the Annals of Internal Medicine, exercisers lost more abdominal fat (4.2 pounds) than dieters (3.3 pounds). Exercisers also did not lose muscle mass the way dieters did and got the benefit of improved cardiovascular fitness.

While it is true that cutting back on the number of calories consumed promotes faster weight lost than does simple increases in exercise, those who were successful in keeping it off over the long term engaged in a program of both calorie reduction and increased activity.

A program such as Weight Watchers can help you get started, as can meeting with a registered dietitian, who can calculate your metabolism and guide you toward a calorically reasonable diet. As for exercise, pick activities that you like and will do. It can be a simple as taking a 20- to 30-minute walk every day or as complex as training for a marathon. Hiring a fitness trainer, even for just a few sessions, can also be helpful.

-More information: weightwatchers.com;

Q: I have high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Can exercise help?

A: High blood pressure has been called “the silent killer” because its ill effects are often not apparent until it is so high that you feel dizzy, have blurred vision and headaches or have a stroke or heart attack.

Fortunately, lifestyle changes can dramatically improve blood pressure. The National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure recommends the following:

1. Lose weight. Systolic pressure drops about 1 point for every 2 pounds shed.

2. A DASH diet (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) rich in vegetables, fruits and low-fat dairy foods can lower blood pressure 8 to 14 points.

3. Exercise daily. Thirty minutes a day of brisk aerobic activity can lower systolic pressure 4 to 9 points.

4. Limit sodium. By eating no more than 2,400 mg a day (with a goal of only 1,500mg/day) systolic pressure can drop 2 to 8 points.

5. Limit alcohol. If you drink, have no more than two drinks a day for men, one for women. This can lower systolic pressure by 2 to 4 points.

It is never advisable to self-treat hypertension, so other than the lifestyle changes listed above, maintain medical oversight. Exercise is no exception because it must be employed gradually and gently, increasing in duration and intensity over time.

High cholesterol can be from lifestyle, genetics, or a combination of the two.

Weight loss and eating better are key components in improving cholesterol.

Exercise at a moderate intensity for at least 30 minutes most days of the week. Take a brisk walk on your lunch break or take the stairs instead of the elevator. Little things like this really do add up.

Eat more lean meat and fish, avoid fried foods, switch to skimmed and fat-free dairy items, and bump up the high-fiber foods like fruit, vegetables and grains.

-More information: “The DASH Diet for

Q: I was told I am losing bone density; what can I do?

A: The odds of women in America getting osteoporosis are 1-in-3, according to Miriam E. Nelson, a women’s health expert and an associate professor at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University.

For bones to remain strong and healthy, they must be stressed. And the type of stress I am referring to is weight-bearing exercise, not project deadlines and traffic jams. Bones love walking, jogging, dancing, working out on weightlifting equipment and lifting free weights.

Most of these activities can be done in or from the home and do not involve the investment of much money. For walking, be sure to purchase good shoes.

When weightlifting, learn proper form and start with easy weights that allow you two sets of 12-15 repetitions before tiring. This will give your connective tissue (especially around your joints) a chance to adapt to your new activity. By using a scale of 1 to 5 (with “1” lifting a banana and “5” lifting a giant box of kitty litter), strive to get to level “4” where two sets of eight repetitions is all you can do (and still maintain proper form). If you already have osteoporosis, increase your weights slowly. Also, cans of soup and bags of beans, while convenient and can be used in a pinch, are not really designed for the task. Dumbbells are inexpensive..

-More information: “Strong Women, Strong Bones,”

Q: No matter what I do my belly still protrudes. How can I get flatter abdominals?

A: Sometimes it seems that no matter how hard we work and diet, pockets of fat remain. The truly maddening part of all this is that we seem to be designed this way. Fat cells contain fatty acids, which got into the cell from eating. Eat too many calories, the fat cells fill up; cut back on the calories and bump up the exercise, the fat cells empty out.

On the surface of each fat cell is either a high distribution of alpha or beta-receptors. The alpha-receptors slow fat utilization; beta-receptors speed it up. These receptors are genetically determined, usually by gender. Women tend to have more alpha-receptors on the lower body, back and legs, men on the midsection and chest area.

Pamela M. Peeke, a physician, scientist and author,” recommends weightlifting as a way to pummel the “pooch.” Doing cardiovascular exercise and crunches is good, but nothing builds and maintains muscle mass like good old strength training. Increasing total muscle mass, maintaining a sensible caloric intake and performing 20-30 minutes of cardiovascular exercising a minimum of four days a week seems to be the best course.

-More information: “Body for Life for Women,” (Rodale, 2005, $27) and “Fight Fat After Forty,”by Pamela Peeke, M.D. (Penguin Group, 2000, $14)