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Thirty french fries have 300 calories, and it would take a 150-pound person 45 minutes of mowing the lawn with a power mower to burn them off.

For a 175-pound person, it would take 39 minutes, and a 200-pound person could consider those calories gone in 34.5 minutes.

Any activity that takes energy burns calories. This includes everything that we do - from lying on the couch watching television to jogging around the block. But the number of calories spent depends on a person's weight and muscle mass.

Jennifer Wheeler, a personal trainer at Gold's Gym on Washington Road, said the more you move every day the more calories you burn.

``If you can just get a little more exercise, those extra few minutes add up,'' she said.

Generally, the less you weigh, the harder you'll have to work to burn calories. It takes fewer calories to move a body around. A body with more lean muscle mass burns more calories because it requires more to maintain it, Ms. Wheeler said.

According to the Kinsey Institute's 1991 New Report on Sex, a passionate kiss burns 6.4 calories per minute. A French kiss uses all 34 of the facial muscles.

To use 100 calories, a 150-pound person could watch television for 84 minutes, grocery shop for 36.5 minutes, wash windows for 28 minutes, play golf (with golf cart) for 24 minutes, shoot basketball for 18.5 minutes, or jog 5 mph (a 12-minute mile) for 10.5 minutes.

A pound of fat contains 3,500 calories. So to gain or lose a pound a week, a person must burn off an extra 500 calories a day, totaling 3,500 after seven days.

To burn 500 extra calories a day, a 150-pound woman could jog or play tennis for 52 minutes; a 200-pound man would need a 40-minute workout.

If exercising is not for you, try cutting 500 calories a day from your diet.

Combining exercise with a lower caloric intake achieves even greater weight loss.

Burning calories

Here are estimates for the calories expended during a variety of activities. Totals are for a 150-pound person exercising for one hour. The number of calories burned will change with more or less effort.

• Sleeping: 45 calories
• Typing on the computer: 107 calories
• Playing cards: 107 calories
• Folding clothes: 142 calories
• Grocery shopping: 164 calories
• Playing miniature golf: 207
• Flying a kite: 207
• Picking strawberries: 207
• Bowling: 216 calories
• Walking slowly: 240 calories
• Golfing (riding cart): 252
• Stretching: 272 calories
• Fishing: 272 calories
• Horseback riding: 272 calories
• Swimming, 25 yards/minute: 275 calories
• Ballroom dancing (polka, folk): 285 calories
• Playing drums: 285 calories
• Playing with children, moderate: 288
• Dancing, general: 306 calories
• Walking, moderate pace: 320 calories
• Washing the car: 324 calories
• Gardening: 333 calories
• River rafting: 333 calories
• Bicycling, stationary: 340 calories
• Kayaking: 340 calories
• Painting a house, exterior: 360
• Dancing, fast: 375 calories
• Golf (walking): 396
• Stair-master, treadmill: 409 calories
• Weightlifting, vigorous: 409 calories
• Stair step machine, moderate: 432
• Walking, brisk pace: 440 calories
• Hiking with a light backpack: 461 calories
• Aerobics, high impact: 477 calories
• Canoeing, moderate: 477 calories
• Ice skating, general: 477 calories
• Tennis: 477 calories
• Soccer, casual: 477 calories
• Rowing machine, moderate: 504 calories
• Moving, carrying boxes: 504 calories
• Ice hockey: 545 calories
• Rowing machine, vigorous: 612
• Soccer, competitive: 681 calories
• Karate: 681 calories
• Running 6 mph, (10-minute mile): 705 calories

Reach Lisa M. Lohr at (706) 823-3332 or lisalohr@augustachronicle.com.

Sources: Tufts University Health and Nutrition Letter, American Heart Association, Prevention Magazine, The Fitness Jumpsite and HealthCentral.com.

Virgil Kimmey (left), a 10th-degree black belt who has taught martial arts for 40 years, is turning his North Augusta classes over to Frank Beall, one of his students. JEFF JANOWSKI/STAFF

When Frank Beall took over the North Augusta martial-arts program six months ago, he knew he had some big shoes to fill.

He knew because he replaced Virgil Kimmey, the man who taught Mr. Beall every thing he knows about the martial arts.

``I'm just striving to match the mind-set and capabilities he possesses,'' said Mr. Beall, who began learning from Mr. Kimmey eight years ago and now has a second-degree black belt in U.S. Tai.

Mr. Beall has a long way to go, though. Mr. Kimmey, 78, holds a 10th-degree black belt in U.S. Tai, which he achieved at age 65.

When Mr. Beall, 25, took over, he took over a once-distinguished program from a distinguished teacher.

Mr. Kimmey started the North Augusta program in 1972 and educated more than 25,000 students there, said Bob Brooks, director of Parks, Recreation and Leisure Services.

``He's a man that represents stability, character and honesty,'' Mr. Brooks said. ``Virgil Kimmey is a cornerstone in North Augusta.''

Throughout his tenure with North Augusta's parks and recreation department, Mr. Kimmey's classes were consistently booked.

``What you didn't learn at other schools you learned at mine,'' Mr. Kimmey said. He taught Kenpo, which is influenced by several different schools.

Mr. Kimmey said he would still be teaching large classes if his health hadn't failed him in 1997.

Mr. Beall, though, is still learning from the champ. The student and teacher still spar. And Mr. Kimmey, whose posture remains that of a champion, can still duck and jab with the best.

The men share a father-and-son relationship marked by mutual respect. ``I'm continually learning from Mr. Kimmey,'' said Mr. Beall, who added that he visits Mr. Kimmey and his wife of 32-years, Maria, once a week.

``He'll rebuild a strong martial-arts program in North Augusta,'' Mr. Kimmey said of his protege.

Mr. Kimmey estimates that he has educated more than 40,000 people, including more than a dozen black belts in the North Augusta and Aiken areas during more than 40 years of teaching.

Mr. Kimmey's students include military, law enforcement and civilians throughout the area and as far away as Europe. His reasons for teaching, though, are simple.

``I love people,'' he said. ``I love kids. That's why I've always done it.''

Mr. Kimmey is one of only two men from South Carolina to be inducted into the Yudansha Hall of Fame in Los Angeles, an honor reserved for only the finest martial artists, he said.

The accolades don't end there. He's a member of the Aiken County Hall of Fame at the University of South Carolina Aiken and a nine-time champion at the American International martial-arts tournament held in Columbia, where he never lost a match.

``He comes from a different time,'' Mr. Beall said. ``He made it through life with a fifth-grade education, but that never slowed him down. You can't teach that mentality.''

Mr. Beall said his main goal is taking the program back to the level at which it once flourished. Once-full classes of 42 have dropped to 25, he said.

``I want this program to do for my students what Mr. Kimmey did for me,'' Mr. Beall said, referring to the confidence he gained. ``In a way, it would be to honor him.''

Mr. Brooks said he believes that Mr. Beall will be successful.

``We miss seeing Kimmey's smiling face and hearing his jokes,'' Mr. Brooks said. ``On the other hand, Frank has come in and has many of those same characteristics. I think with time Frank will have the classes Virgil did.''

Reach Josh Gelinas at (706) 823-3218.