Together Counts Encourages Us To Stay Active This Fall Season #TogetherCounts

 I have always been very active and enjoy being on-the-go all the time. Now that I have a family, we are even more busy pretty much all the time! The fall is one of my favorite seasons because there is so much to do. We live up in the mountains, so the fall is when our little town gets busy and and we have a blast.

I want my children to be happy, healthy and active, which is exactly what Together Counts, a nationwide program, inspires others to do, too! The Together Counts principle is Energy Balance. This means you balance the amount of calories eaten in foods with the calories you burn from exercising and staying active. No sitting indoors watching tv when we can be outdoors enjoying nature.

Together Counts is the first kind of coalition bringing together almost 200 retailers, food/beverage manufacturers, restaurants, sporting goods and many other businesses. You can check out their website for some amazing resources, both local and nationwide. There is even a service locator feature that helps you find nearby businesses and activities encouraging physical activity, health and nutrition, food and recipes and much more!

Here are a few fun fall activities for your family:

1. Go for a hike. We live up in the mountains and have many state parks and trails nearby. Search online for local trails. You can be outdoors, enjoy the weather and get some exercise.

Beautiful fall weather in the mountains while hiking!

2. Go fishing! We are far from master fishermen, but we still enjoy it. The kids get their little reels and love trying to fling them in the water. Honestly, we have never caught anything, but that's ok! They have more fun splashing in the creek.

3. Ride bicycles as a family. You can ride around your neighborhood or go to a local/state park. Many have fun bicycle trails and, in the fall, the scenery is so pretty!

Having a great time picking apples!

4. Go to a fall festival. Many states and cities celebrate annually with a fall festival. Take a stroll around, look at all the arts and crafts and enjoy what the festival has to offer. Stay away from junk food and look for the local produce. We have an Apple Festival every year and our local apples are absolutely delicious!

5. Go apple or pumpkin picking. This year we went to an apple house to pick apples. I had no idea just how much exercise we would get while walking around the fields. There were thousands of trees with different types of apples. We walked for miles and we were having so much fun, it really didn't even seem like work. Then we rewarded ourselves by making caramel apples. Yum!

There are so many things I love about fall, including all of the healthy recipes that go perfectly with fall weather. Vegetable soup is one of my favorite things to make and is perfect on a cold, windy day. I also enjoy making vegetarian chili for the family in the fall. My husband likes his a little spicy to warm him up.

How do you stay active during the fall season? 

Click Here to see how you can help win your child's school a $30,000 grant with the Find Your Balance Challenge. There are several other prizes, too!

Be sure to join the Together Counts Twitter party next Wednesday, October 17th from 8-9PM EST with the hashtag #TogetherCounts. We hope to see you there. 

Also keep up with all the latest news from Together Counts by following via Facebook, their blog and Pinterest!

Disclosure: This post was written for Together Counts in conjunction with Resourceful Mommy Media. All opinions written are my own.