Ohm at home.

In the winter, there are plenty of flu bugs. Why is it so much harder to catch the exercise bug? Maybe because it's icky and icy out, and working out at home can be as appearing as cleaning your room. What you need to do is make physical activity fun. "It takes work," explains Joe M, personal training manager at New York's Equinox Fitness Clubs. "Just remind yourself that it's worth it. When you're active, you're healthier, happier, more energetic, less stressed, have higher self-esteem and you sleep better." OK, that's the pep talk. Here's the advice: Many public schools and YMCAs have free or affordable indoor swimming year-round. Even small towns have dance schools and exercise classes. If you want to try things at home, put on your lave tunes and do sit-ups, push-ups and arm lifts using household items (try liter-size plastic bottles filled with water). Check out fit teen.com for safe how-to's. Or buy a few fun fitness tapes, like D's Hip-Hop Routines City Style or MTV Yoga (amazon.com). Sure, you're busy, but you only need to squeeze in 15 to 20 minutes of exercise two to three times a week. That's a piece of cake (don't eat it until after you exercise, though).

I have to get my tonsils taken out, and I'm totally scared. My mom says it will hurt for about a week after the surgery. I don't want to miss school and basketball practice. Can you help put my mind at ease?

Yes, you'll have to take it easy for up to a week--you'll be tired and have a sore throat. Be sure to stock up on cool videos and your favorite ice cream. Safe and routine, having tonsils removed is the most common surgical procedure done on kids. Matter of fact, about 286,000 children get their tonsils removed every year. Tonsils are pink blobs of lymphoid tissue located on both sides of the back of your throat. (They are not the hanging flaps in the center--those are the uvula.) Usually, tonsils need to be taken out when they are too large and give you breathing or sleeping problems, explains Dr. Charles Wibbelsman, author of The Teenage Body Book. Sometimes, though, doctors decide to remove them after you've had chronic episodes of tonsillitis (tonsil infections). If that's the case, you're probably sick of missing school and taking antibiotics anyway. The surgery will solve the prob, and you'll be back in action in no time flat.

Is it best to sleep on two pillows or one? And on my back, side or stomach?

There's no wrong way to get your zzz's. However you sleep best, stick with it, explains Dr. David Gozal, director of the Pediatric Sleep Center at Kosair Children's Hospital and University of Louisville Medical Center. The goal is to make your spine mostly straight and aligned while you rest. If it's not, you'll wake up with aches and pains. As for pillows, you'll have a straighter spine if you only use one. "But it's no problem to ase two if it feels good," Dr. Gozal adds. Instead of worrying about how you get shut-eye, try to get more of it. "Kids don't get enough sleep," Dr. Gozal explains. "It is a major problem."