Go fly a kite and other interesting ways to burn 100 calories

We here at thatsfit.com periodically post blogs on how to torch calories, as well as the importance of more out than in to lose weight (and keep it off). Generally those posts involve things like walking your dog, taking the stairs or visiting a colleague instead of calling rather than the every day ho-hum of jogging or doing sit ups. Today I've discovered another list of how-to options for burning calories, and reading it was almost as fun as some of the list's offerings.

This list, titled "100 Ways to Cut 100 Calories," compiled by Women's Health, offers a fresher approach to burning calories. While everything on the list may not be realistic (check out the one for slathering on lip balm) it's at least humorous, and does remind us that everything we do burns calories and can be put to use in our fight against the fat.

For example, as mentioned in the title of this post, you can fly a kite for twenty minutes to burn off 100 calories. That sounds both realistic and fun. If the kite gets away from you and you have to chase it down that might afford you some additional calories torched.

I also liked the one about doing the Polka "for real" for twenty three minutes. Is it that hard? I've never attempted the Polka but am now tempted to do so just to see if I could do it for twenty three minutes. In the great scheme of things, after all, twenty three minutes is nuthin'.

Speaking of the Polka, the list advises one can do the Polka "missionary-style" for 67 minutes. That's a euphemism for something else, of course, the act of which has long been known to burn lots of calories.

Some were a little bizarre, even for my tastes, such as milking a cow for thirty four minutes. I live in New York City , and don't there are too many cows around to afford me the opportunity to milk them just for the sake of fitness.

Speaking of cows, our old feel-good stand-by yoga makes an appearance: do the cow, cat and downward dog poses thirteen times, holding each pose for thirty seconds.

Some sounded even more monotonous than regular exercise, such as bouncing a ball on your knee 600 times or playing Chopsticks for 41 minutes straight. Yaow!

My favorite option on the list would have to be slathering on lip balm 765 times. Since I'm obsessive when it comes to lip balm I normally slather it on only 764 times, so one more time ought to do it.

Ultimately the list is a lot of fun and reminds us to make fitness fun too. I loved reading it and can't wait to try out some of the options listed...especially the one about the lip balm. Enjoy!