Sensational Summer Strength Idea #7: Swim Like a Mermaid!

Imagine:  You dip underneath the aqua surface of the ocean into the royal blue depths with your hair flowing and your glistening tail gliding through the water.

If you’ve read The Tail of Emily Windsnap, then you surely have dreamed about the living a mermaid’s life.  Today, you can live (and swim) like a mermaid.

Perhaps you’ve heard about the phenomenon called mermaid fitness.  With a tail and a fin, your transformation into a mermaid is complete!  Bonus:  You get to become a mermaid without the awkwardness Emily Windsnap went through when she stepped into the water!

Another bonus:  You will get a fantastic workout!  Swimming with a mermaid tail forces your body to adapt to a new movement pattern.  It also utilizes your whole body—your upper and lower body, your glutes, and especially your core.  It is a great way to get someone in the water who doesn't like swimming.  Swimming with a mermaid tail is also super fun!

Here’s what you need to know:

You can buy a mermaid tail and fin from places like Fin Fun.  You put the tail on over your swimming suit and then you slip your feet into the fin (just like you would with flippers).  Then you pull the tail over the fin and you’re ready to go!  There are lots of gorgeous and shimmery color options with iridescence!  Check out finfunmermaid.com.

If you aren’t a strong swimmer, you’ll probably want to wear a flotation belt, too.  This makes sure you can safely have a fun time!

Check out this video of swimming with mermaid tails:

https://youtu.be/vTSmP73zCws

With a mermaid tail and fin, you can swim like a mermaid—and get a fantastic workout at the same time!  And maybe, just like Emily Windsnap, you’ll discover you are a mermaid, too!

Figure Skating Dress Inspiration

Wouldn't this color make a fantastic skating dress?

 

Spinning around ! Mao Asada of Japan competes during the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2016 #FigureSkating #FigureSkater #Skater #Skating #IceSkating #IceRink #rink #ice #sports #sport #fit #fun #fans #action #Figure #FigureSkating #skates #iceskates #SportPhotography #potd #motivation #passion #Asada #MaoAsada

A photo posted by ISUFigureSkating (@isufigureskating) on Jun 14, 2016 at 2:57am PDT

Chocolate Honey Peppermint Patties Recipe

Have you ever heard of whipped honey?  Its velvety, thick, and creamy texture is enjoyable right off the spoon.  But today is World Chocolate Day and we knew of a perfect recipe to share.  It combines unsweetened chocolate’s tartness with the whipped honey’s sweetness, tang, and texture.  You’ll love it!

Your body will love it, too—chocolate’s flavonols (a type of flavonoid and antioxidant) effect your vascular health, help remove environmental toxins, and help your body repair itself.  Unsweetened chocolate has zero grams of sugar as well!  Honey adds the sweetness to this recipe, but also contains many antioxidants and enzymes.  This chocolate and honey pairing is fantastic for your taste buds and the rest of your body!

Ingredients:

• 3 oz. of unsweetened chocolate baking squares (100% cacao)
• ¼ cup of whipped (creamed) honey (We used Breitsamer Honig Rapsflower Blossom Raw Honey)
• a drop of peppermint extract (optional)
• a chocolate candy mold

Directions:

1. Chop the chocolate into square size pieces and place in a microwaveable-safe bowl.
2. Microwave the chocolate for 30 seconds and stir.  Repeat until you can stir the solid chocolate completely into the melted chocolate.
3. Spoon the melted chocolate into the chocolate mold and use your spoon to brush the chocolate up onto the sides.  (Do not fill the molds completely, just coat the inside of the mold to make a shell—make sure you leave room for filling and a top layer of chocolate).
4. Refrigerate the chocolate in the mold until hardened.
5. If you are flavoring your honey with peppermint, pour a drop onto a spoon and mix into your honey.  Taste and add more as needed.  We preferred a main flavor of honey with an accent of mint.  If you would like it very minty, feel free to add more peppermint extract.  (Different peppermint extracts will be stronger and your taste testing is the best way to get the flavors spot on!)
6. Remove your chocolate mold from the refrigerator and place a dollop of honey in the center of each hardened chocolate shell.
7. Refrigerate for just a few minutes so the honey can firm up.
8. Top the chocolate shell and honey dollop with more of the melted chocolate so the honey is completely covered.  Once inverted this layer forms the base of the chocolates.
9. Refrigerate the chocolate mold until the chocolate is hardened.  Remove just before serving and pop the chocolates out of the mold.

Makes 10 chocolates.  Recipe adapted from National Honey Board.

Did you find that you BEE-came crazy for these chocolates?  Let us know how they turned out for you!