A new-year abrazo (then laugh your fat ass off)

The last year has ended—probably after chowing too many sweets—and now’s the time for that darn New Year’s resolution to shed those holiday pounds.

Damn, why is this so hard?

Maybe because exercise can be ugly, though working out doesn’t have to involve a grungy sweatshirt, faded yoga pants, four-year-old New Balance shoes and a smelly gym. It can be a passionate abrazo between two people, with sexy outfits and tantalizing background music. No, I’m not talking about a sex tape; take a tango lesson at

Tango by the River. It’s like Dancing With the Stars, minus the “I’m a D-list actor trying to catapult my career” stigma.

Laughing burns calories, too. OK, so maybe only scant calories disappear with each chuckle, but

Suzanne Westenhoefer can help shed pounds. Stories about her sister’s obsession with The Passion of the Christ and her girlfriend’s Herculean thighs usually work. And no one is off-limits.

But if part of your New Year’s resolution is to save some bucks,

ComedySportz Sacramento offers a laugh workout for a little cheaper. It’s kind of like the TV show Whose Line Is It Anyway?, where two teams battle for points and laughs and audience members participate by offering wild suggestions. But you may want to do a few sit-ups before the show, to get them into tip-top laughing condition.