Keep track of the latest in diet and fitness Twitter trends and opinions with this weekly post. Not only will AOL Health's Twitter alias Healthpop and That's_Fit ask fitness-related questions and share the best reponses with you, we'll scour the Twittersphere for the latest buzz on everything from good eats to exercise routines gone bad.

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This week we wanted to know your creative ways to burn calories. You offered up these gems via Twitter:

There's been all kinds of stories circulating around lately on what a ridiculously huge amount of calories Olympic athlete Michael Phelps consumes every day while still managing to be totally ripped and toned. Talk about efficient calorie-burning! But you don't have to be on a crazy athletic training schedule and headed for the Olympics to learn how to burn calories better (although that certainly helps, I'm sure!), just try these 5 tips:

• Eat breakfast
• Tune in to your body's hunger cues
• Drink plenty of water
• Encourage healthy bacteria (take probiotics, eat yogurt)
  
• Go heavy on the spices (cayenne pepper, paprika, chili peppers)

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Want to be the best calorie-burning machine you can be? Just follow these five tips from Natural Health:

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It's hard to find the time to exercise, so being as efficient as possible is important to all of us. If you could burn more calories in the same amount of exercise time just by taking a break in the middle, would you do it? Because that's what recent research in Japan found -- people get a calorie-burning and fat-metabolizing boost when they take a 20 minute break in the middle of a one hour workout session, as compared to working out for one hour straight without a break.

Although it does add 20 minutes to the overall workout time I have no problem putting my feet up and catching my breath -- and I'm sure I can find something I can cross off my to-do list during that down time, like paying a few bills or something.

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It turns out that all that energy we use to heat and cool our house is energy that we aren't using to heat and cool our bodies; and it's making us fatter. A recent report published in the International Journal of Obesity shows that weight problems are just as likely to be caused by air conditioning, lack of sleep, a decrease in the number of smokers (smoking suppresses appetite), new medicines and other environmental causes.

That's right, being hot or cool is somewhat uncomfortable and stressful for our bodies which, in turn, increases or decreases our body temperature ... and burns calories. The extremes, of course, produce shivering and sweating, but milder energy use occurs as well as we move above or below 72 degrees.

That's not to say that diet and exercise aren't important, it just means that there is evidence linking obesity to other equally plausible factors in our advancing society -- and more research still needs to be done.

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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.

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Snacks and snacking usually get a pretty bad rap, but it's really just because of the food most people pick to snack on. The truth is that snacking can be really good for you, and for your diet. Snacking between meals can help hold off hunger pains so you don't end up binging, it boosts your metabolism to help you burn more calories, and it gives you more energy so it's easier to get moving and exercising. Just make sure you pick healthy snack foods, and not potato chips and ice cream, or you'll cancel out the positive benefits.

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Are you the type of person who can't sit still? The type of person who, when forced to sit still, must tap your feet, twirl your hair, bob your head to the music or do something, anything to ward off the monotony? I used to be but years of slaving away at a desk has changed that a bit -- sitting still isn't really a big deal anymore. Too bad because according to this, people who fidget can burn up to 500 more calories a day than people who don't.

So tap those fingers -- it's good for you! Just don't do it too loudly -- it might not impress your co-workers.

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Skiing is a great way to enjoy the winter weather, a great way to socialize with friends, and a great way to burn calories. But, with the downhill version especially, it is also not something that you can just run out and do some weekend without any advance planning.

Skiing requires a lot more equipment than some other sports, like running or yoga. And you'll need to take a serious look at investing in a few lessons -- just to make sure you're safely able to stop and don't go careening down the hill like in some movie (only potentially without the happy ending). The author of this article also relates skiing to sprinting, in that the calorie burn is short-lived compared to the total time spent. It's probably best as a supplement to an already solid fitness routine, as opposed to your sole means of exercise.

Other pros? Skiing is a fast sport to learn (the basics at least), and you don't have to be a ripped fitness buff to enjoy it.

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Those who are trying to lose weight know that it all boils down to one thing: burning calories, preferably more than you consume. So you should always be looking at ways to increase your calorie burn. Here's some help from the fitness pro at eDiets. He has a number of suggestions that can all easily be worked into your day-to-day routine. Walking is a big one -- try to work walking into your routine no matter what you do. For example, take a walk at lunch instead of sitting around and gabbing with co-workers.

Other solutions? Do a 10-minute workout each day -- it may not seem like much but it can make a difference over time. Or, double up when going up the stairs -- it's the same as doing a series of lunges.

Will you commit to some of these activities?

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