All you need to stay fit is a little time

A regular half-hour is all you need to maintain proper weight, get your blood flowing and improve health, according to the Society for Vascular Surgery, which forwarded us a list of calories burned by various winter sports from Livestrong.com.

In one hour, a 155- to 160-pound person can burn:

• 511 calories cross-country skiing.
• 365 calories downhill skiing.
• 563 calories playing ice hockey.
• 511 calories ice skating.
• 400 calories shoveling snow.

No snow or ice? How about burning:

• 281 calories bicycling.
• 329 calories carrying golf clubs.
• 211 calories walking the dog.

"Winter sports burn calories, increase your heart rate, and keep your blood flowing at a healthy rate," said Dr. Anil Hingorani, a member of the Society for Vascular Surgery.

Inactivity leads to 250,000 deaths a year, according to the medical journal Circulation. Those not physically fit are 4.5 times more likely to die prematurely than fit people.

-- Meredith Cohn, The Baltimore Sun