Today for Healthy Lifestyles, we did our last yoga class with Sarah. “Awwwwww,” said Dancing Jalapeño when he heard the news. Yes, our spectacular yoga instructor, Sarah, is moving on to another important job, helping people in a different capacity. But we had a great last class with her! We warmed ourselves up by working our muscle of the month, our glutes! After practicing good form when we do a squat, we did lunch and headed to the YMCA. “We worked on tree pose,” pointed out Puzzlemaster. We also practiced a number of other poses played a new game, and each got a chance to teach a yoga move ourselves! “I did some yoga,” shared Big D. We all did today. “It’s awesome,” added Wolfgirl. Agreed. Thank you so much, Sarah, for such a great experience doing yoga with you! Good luck with all your future endeavors and hopefully we see you again if you want to stop by the center!

Today for Healthy Lifestyles, we set out on a philanthropic mission to deliver flyers to local businesses promoting the Harvest of the Month! Sadly our efforts were thwarted by the rainfall. We were able to deliver a few flyers before the rain picked up enough for the group to unanimously decide to return to the center for lunch. Unfortunately we were far enough from the center at this point that we still had plenty of walking to do. We survived though! And nary a complaint! Thanks team! We all then settled in for some much deserved hot chocolate. Hopefully next time we volunteer the weather is more cooperative. 😊

Today for Healthy Lifestyles we had an official training day for the Hearty Party 5k coming up in February! We called it the Salmon Run, because our main objective was to walk by the salmon running in Whatcom Creek. We saw a lot of people fishing as we walked through Maritime Heritage Park, but they had to compete with the hungry seals and mischievous seagulls. It was quite a show! We hiked along the Whatcom Creek Trail, and by the time we returned to the center for lunch we had walked 2.94 miles! “I saw that fish jumping!” said 2 Lincoln 1. “It was a little rainy as we walked,” pointed out Raindrop, with a touch of understatement. Puzzlemaster noticed the bridge, the fish, and the seagulls. Yes, there was a lot to see on our rainy walk, and we’re getting closer to being ready for our 5k!

We finished off the day with Musical Chairs with a twist! Using medicine balls, we raced in circles grabbing the first ball when the music stopped. We practiced low squats by sitting on the balls. “We like that gym, I want to go back again. I like that gym” said Jalapeño Super Hero!

”I liked the running and jumping on the ladder, jump jumpy jump like a kangaroo” said Turkey.

It’s safe to say we will be back again! Thank You Josh and everyone at CrossFit Iron Industry!

Today we headed over to Cornwall Park to walk along the trails on this nice crisp fall day. We waited out the rain inside the Max Higbee Center before riding the bus over to our destination . It was a rather peaceful walk for everyone and we took our time hiking around the perimeter of the park. We strolled amongst the trees and saw several squirrels. “It’s a nice day,” said Superhero Jalapeño, who rarely lets the elements get to him. And it’s true, it turned out to be a pretty nice day out there. “I’m really good at getting in my steps,” shared Princess, who pointed out how she is tracking progress on her Apple Watch. “I especially liked the part of the day where we walked around the outside of the park and looked at the trees,” said Butterfly Bobby. Yes, we sure saw a number of good-looking trees. “We saw trees,” seconded Simba. When we returned to the center, the group chose to have an improvised dance party to Disney music! It helped burn even more calories and put most of us in a pretty good mood.

Happy Halloween! Today for Healthy Lifestyles we volunteered with the Downtown Bellingham Partnership! We passed out balloons to local businesses to mark which ones will be participating in the Downtown Trick-orTreating. It was such a hit that we went back for a second batch of balloons after lunch to do more volunteering! We also exercised our brains by learning some facts about Halloween and then did Halloween trivia! “Had a break from the Oompah Loompahs,” said Willy Wonka, who helped hand several balloons to friendly business owners. “I liked it,” said Halloween Jalapeño. A Happy Halloween indeed!

Today for Healthy Lifestyles, in honor of the World Series currently being played, we had a loosely themed workout, which centered less on baseball and more on the varied cultures of the international players. We talked a little about baseball, but then as we warmed up on our exercise balls we learned about where many of the players are from. Then we went to the library to find a workout video that fit our international theme. We voted and checked out a Zumba video, a Tai Chi video, and a belly dancing video. After lunch we watched and joined in the Zumba video! Then we practiced spitting sunflower seeds like baseball players. To finish off program, we worked out along with the Tai Chi video. “I helped pick out what we wanted to do,” pointed out Halloween Jalapeño. You sure did, and thanks for the input! Member input is always appreciated! Whether the Dodgers or the Astros win the World Series, we had fun today!

Today for Healthy Lifestyles, we did a unique workout: pumpkin weightlifting! We were so lucky to have tons of pumpkins donated by a community friend, Sakata Seed America, so members got to choose from a very, very wide assortment of shapes and sizes to lift and move. Before lunch we warmed up by carrying our pumpkins around the block in this beautiful weather. After lunch we got down to business and began our intense workout. We did step aerobics with our pumpkins, pumpkin passing, pumpkin push-ups, squats with pumpkins, pumpkin curls, pumpkin relay races, and much much more! All with our pumpkins, big and small, orange and otherwise! "Pumpkin party at Max Higbee," said Darth Vader 13. "I liked the relay races." Glad to hear. "I liked this. I do some of them," added Halloween Jalapeño. Good point Halloween Jalapeño. Since this workout was a bit more exhausting than some other activities, members were encouraged to take breaks. We didn't need the pumpkins smashing us, after all. "It was a hard workout," said Pumpkin, an aptly nicknamed member. It sure was. Great work everyone!

Today we tried something we'd never done before at Healthy Lifestyles! We went out to CrossFit Iron Industry to do a workout with Josh! Josh is the owner of the gym, and he was dying to have us come visit! He had a great workout prepared for us, and we all got our sweat on, big time! We learned how to do squats properly and about the importance of lifting safely. After warming up, he had us pushing a sled, jumping/stepping over bars, and lifting exercise balls! "I like that gym," said Superhero Jalapeño, adding "I liked to pick up the balls and put them over our shoulders. That's a good workout!" "Big muscles from the ball I carried," said Fred Meyer, showing off said muscles! My goodness, how big those muscles are! Josh also gave us a little tour and told us about everything they do at his gym! Thanks so much, Josh! "Let's do this again!" suggested Superhero Jalapeño. Great idea!

Today we avoided the rain by staying indoors for our monthly yoga class with Sarah at the YMCA! We started the day warming up on exercise balls at the center, watching the rain come down. After lunch we walked up to the Y and met with Sarah. Superhero Jalapeño said, "I like doing yoga." I think we all do! "That workout was very tiring," said Dumbledore 21, who added that she had fun. Lo and behold, the sun had come out by the time we left the Y. Thanks, Sarah!