By: Michelle Ronholm   Date: 2/16/10

Olympic fever is setting in. In fact, on my dining room table right now is the Sports Illustrated Olympic Preview and the Washington Post Vancouver Games edition. Every time I log onto the Internet, I'm taken directly to the official Olympic homepage (the hockey section, of course!)

Olympic athletes a serious trainers. Proper nutrition and a customized fitness regimen are key to keeping them in competitive shape. But what about those of us who aren't competitive athletes, but have still harbored dreams of Olympic podiums and Wheaties box covers?

Getting out and playing can be a great way to burn calories. Here are just a few ways to play the Games and get a little exercise to boot.

NOTE: The calorie estimates are taken from www.webMD.com and are calculated for a woman who is 5' 2" and weighs approximately 120 pounds. (Yes, I just admitted that.) Calorie estimates will vary depending on gender, height, weight and level of exertion.

Hockey
Of course I'm going to start with hockey, because I'm a huge hockey fan. You don't have to be Russian great Alex Ovechkin to get a good work out playing hockey. If you're in a cold-weather region and own a pair of skates, grab some friends and hit the pond. Or check out your local ice rink for pick-up hockey or stick-and-puck action.

Play hockey for an hour and you could burn 436 calories.

Ice Skating
Let's just keep it on ice a little longer. Hit your local rink, rent a pair of skates and have a blast! You don't have to be American figure skater Evan Lysacek or ice dancers Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto to enjoy the benefits of skating.

An hour of recreational ice skating can burn 382 calories.
If you like speed, competitive speed skating can burn as much as 818 calories and hour.

Skiing
Hit the slopes if you can! If Olympic downhill skiier, Lindsey Vonn can battle through a shin injury during the Games, can't we make it through a skiing lesson? And for those of us in the Washington, DC area, cross-country skiing is available at our back door.

Cross-country skiing at 2.5 mph can burn about 382 calories and hour.
An hour of light downhill skiing can burn around 273 calories.

Sled Riding
Do you like the speed and energy of skeleton, bobsledding and luge? Channel Noelle Pikus-Pace in your own skeleton race! Grab a sled and hit the nearest (safest) hill. You don't have to be a kid to have a blast sled riding.

One hour of sled riding can burn 374 calories.

Curling
I can't possibly right a post about the Olympics without including a shout out to curling. Don't be fooled by the slow pace of this one. Check out your local ice rink for curling lessons!

An hour of curling can burn as much as 218 calories

Competitive Snow Shoveling
So here I am, writing about the Olympics and thinking of all the calories I can burn if I just get out there and play. But I live in the Washington, DC metro area, so most of my time lately has been spent shoveling my way out of our fourth snowstorm this winter.

Shoveling for one hour burns about 264 calories.

The number of calories you burn may be different from what I would burn with these activities. To get an estimate based on your height and weight, you can check out WebMD's calorie-counter.

What's your favorite Olympic sport to get out and play?