40 minutes = 275 calories

Remember romantic afternoons skating around the ice rink with your high-school beau? (Or maybe skating around after your would-be beau). If you didn't fall down too often, you would have burned yourself around 400 calories per hour while on the ice.

As well as helping you burn calories, skating is also a great exercise for improving blood circulation, muscle tone, posture, coordination, stamina and flexibility. And it's actually pretty relaxing - even therapeutic; the smooth slide of skates over ice loosens up the mind as well as the body.

If you've never tried ice skating before, or need a refresher course, it's a good idea to get a few lessons. This will also help you maximize the exercise benefits of skating, and avoid any bad techniques. In the meantime, keep these pointers in mind:

• Warm up and stretch all major muscle groups of the legs to increase flexibility and minimize injury. Do the same after you've finished skating.
  
• Wear warm, loose and comfortable clothing. Make sure you can move easily without losing body heat. Keep fingers and toes warm and dry with synthetic or wool socks and gloves.
• Ensure proper ankle support by wearing close-fitting skates that are at least a half size smaller than your regular shoes.

40 minutes = 180 calories (moderate pace)

If you don't like being outside in the bracing temperatures of mid-winter, snow and ice activities aren't likely to inspire you. Thank Jack Frost for malls!

For those of you who haven't heard of it, mall walking is not strolling around the mall, cup of Starbucks in one hand, chocolate muffin in the other, carrying out the next attack on your credit card. Mall walking involves a mall arranging to open its doors early for walkers to pace the byways, usually in a group, before the shops open. It's practically an official sport - there are clubs, t-shirts, mileage rewards, health check-ups, even guest speakers for this winter workout! It's a great way to exercise in winter without freezing your feet off. Not to mention the discount incentives the stores often provide for mall-walking club members.

Walking is without doubt one of the best forms of overall exercise for your body. Walking at a moderate-to-fast pace increases heart rate, builds muscular strength and helps with relaxation. Contact your local mall to see if they run a mall-walking program.

90-minute class = 400-500 calories

Bending your body at odd angles in a room heated to about 110°F is one way to warm up on a cold winter's day! Also known as Bikram Yoga, hot yoga was started in India by the yogi Bikram Choudhury of Calcutta. Bikram schools have now been established across the world.

A 90-minute Bikram yoga class burns approximately 400-500 calories. In contrast to the traditional yoga classes, the heat of hot yoga loosens muscles and increases the amount of calories burned during a standard yoga session of the same length. The heat also helps the entire body to relax, leading to a deeper stretch and helping to avoid injuries. Practitioners of hot yoga claim that regular practice will improve muscle tone, normalize weight, and help you enjoy vibrant good health and well-being.