I read recently that you can lose weight by sleeping. Finally, an exercise program I can get behind. No waiting for the treadmill at the gym and no exposure to people who really should have thrown away those track shorts from the '70s.

But if a good snooze can help with excess poundage, I got to wondering what my favorite personal exercise regimen could do.

Somehow, in the past few months, I've managed to lose about six pounds. This has happened before, and they usually refuse to stay lost. It's as if they have tracking chips implanted in them, like the ones you can get for your pet, and -- boing! -- they're back home. So far, however, they're still wandering the streets.

The only thing to which I can credit this lagniappe is my new concentration on physical activity while viewing Atlantic Coast Conference basketball. Specifically, Tar Heel basketball.

Done properly, my hoops routine can work all those things that fitness experts say I should work. Upper body. Heart rate. Increased lung capacity. There are more fitness opportunities when attending games in person, but there is a home version, too. And I don't have to wear goofy clothes. Wait -- I do wear goofy clothes. But no track shorts.

The plan occurred to me while I was walking up the many steps to seats at the Dean Dome. It was like a StairMaster, but more entertaining. And it offered a benefit to not being wealthy (no easy-to-reach courtside seats).

I found other similarities to the gym. Fist-pumping the air after a great dunk was similar to the motion of the rear-delt weight machine. Leaning forward to yell worked the lower back.

Aerobic possibilities occur before the game even begins. Before the tipoff, the arena plays "Jump Around," a hip-hop song by House of Pain. For two to three minutes, the students attending bob up and down like vertical pinballs. Their knees are less than half as old as mine, but I figured I could still get in a little jumping and add some arm flailing for good measure. The result is a jumping jack-like motion -- surely, a lot of calories vaporized.

I advise wearing good athletic shoes for the jump-around. I developed a slight knee ache when wearing old shoes. So it must be exercise: I had a sports injury.

All the fitness folks say that every little bit counts. Being an energetic fan certainly can't hurt.

"The worst thing for fans to do, for many reasons, is stay in their seats," says Dianne Ward, a professor in the department of nutrition of the School of Public Health at UNC-CH. "Standing, sitting, standing, sitting, every time you'll get a little shift of that weight. Like we say, ELMo: Every little move, it makes a difference.

"It might be good for all of us [UNC fans], going into bikini season, if the Heels go the Final Four."

Some might say not to sit at all during games, because standing burns more calories than sitting (before you get excited, only marginally more, Ward says). She says fans could up the calorie burning during halftime by trying to circle the arena by the end of the break instead of sitting in their seats. Without stopping for nachos.

In-person game viewing offers unique fat-burning opportunities, including:

* Working to clean up language when a mom with a small child sits nearby.

* Imitating Mick Jagger's strut when the pep band plays "Satisfaction." (There ought to be extra credit for complete disregard for personal dignity.)

I offer a home version of the routine as well. It lacks the pseudo-StairMaster, unless your TV room is in the basement, but offers substitutes, such as pacing out of the room and around the house when the team blows a 15-point lead, the score is tied and you just can't watch. A friend of mine does that, and she lost 60 pounds.

OK, so she haunts the gym, but she also paces during games like those old Olympic speedwalkers. You decide which approach did the trick.

Other parts of the home exercise regimen:

* Using the sofa as a trampoline.

* Flinging food-related projectiles at the TV to protest fouls.

* Running into the cul-de-sac after a big win to scream at no one in particular. (Extra credit if the temperature is below freezing.)

* Performing an obnoxious victory dance when the team beats a big rival. (Extra credit if opposing fans are present, since you'll have to run very fast afterward.)

Ward suggests that fans at home could get a brisk half-mile walk in during halftime -- a walk in the opposite direction of the snacks, which are more of a danger for me at home. My snacks are much better than the arena's.

When I worked in the office of this fine publication, a co-worker and I wagered on the Duke-Carolina basketball games for several seasons. The prize: hot dogs from the Roast Grill in downtown Raleigh. We'd end up dealing with point spreads and going double or nothing on into the tournaments, to the point where I'd have to check his math. One year, during a downturn for the Tar Heels, I ended up owing him 12 dogs somehow.

No amount of jumping or Mick-mimicking can erase that many hot dogs. I can only hope that, wherever he is, my Dukie friend isn't wearing track shorts.

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