10 Calorie Burning Activities for Fall

Fall is my favorite season. I love the chill in the air (which I fondly call "sweatshirt weather"), football, and the changing colors of the leaves. While it starts to get chilly in the fall, it is still a wonderful time of the year to get outside and add some physical activity to your day. Here is a list of 10 activities I enjoy in the fall, and each one has the potential to burn calories. Enjoy!

Calorie Burning Activity #1: Rake Leaves

You have to get the leaves raked, anyway, so why not have some fun with it? Make it a game with the kids. Take turns raking the leaves and jumping in to the pile to mess it all up. Repeat as desired. You can even put the leaves in an orange or black trash bag and put them out as Halloween decorations. Most kids love to mess up the piles of leaves, so you'll definitely get the whole family to burn off some calories.

Calorie Burning Activity #2: Go Hiking

Fall is a wonderful time of year to go hiking. It's not so hot to make a long hike miserable, and with the leaves changing colors and falling, you can't beat the scenery.

Calorie Burning Activity #3: Pick Apples

Many orchards offer all-day activities, including the chance to pick and take home your own apples. This provides a good opportunity to walk around, get some exercise, and learn about a working apple orchard.

Calorie Burning Activity #4: Play Flag Football

Gather up your family, friends, and neighbors and organize a friendly game of flag or touch football. If you want to take out more aggression, you can always play tackle football instead. All you need is a football and a good sense of humor.

Calorie Burning Activity #5: Visit Haunted Houses

If you don't mind spending a few bucks, you could walk around a series of haunted houses. The walking alone will burn off calories, and if you scare easily, you'll get your heart rate up and ready for more exercise.

Calorie Burning Activity #6: Walk through a Corn Maze

Visit a farm advertising a corn maze. Most corn mazes are long and have many paths, so you can walk around for a long time. It isn't expensive to visit a corn maze, and the exercise is great. Depending on the facility, you may also be able to visit a pumpkin patch or take a hay ride while you're there. Visit this website to see a comprehensive directory of corn mazes around the U.S. http://www.cornmazedir.com/

Calorie Burning Activity #7: Go Jogging

Fall is a great time for jogging. It's not so hot outside, which provides a good opportunity for trying out a new route instead of just running to the same old place.

Calorie Burning Activity #8: Play at the Park

It's still warm enough to play at the park during fall, so make sure the kids get it out of their systems before they're stuck indoors all winter.

Calorie Burning Activity #9: Take a Walking Tour

Many cities provide guided walking tours of various neighborhoods, historical districts, and local attractions. Not only does a walking tour help to burn calories, but also provides an opportunity to learn about the city in which you live.

Calorie Burning Activity #10: Dance

When it gets too cold outside to enjoy outdoor activities, come back inside for your workout. You don't have to do anything too challenging to burn off lots of calories. One of my favorite activities is to dance around the house. I connect my iPod to the surround sound and dance around while my poor dog wonders what the heck I'm doing. If you want to learn how to dance well, you could take lessons (which would also burn those calories).