I spent many of my summer vacations as a little girl visiting SeaWorld. I loved it so much that I almost pursued marine biology. The thought of riding Shamu was and still is more enticing to me than flying or any other magical act. So, bringing my family of four to SeaWorld last week was a no-brainer. This time, though, not only was I in search of fun ... I decided to dissect the park and find out how it fared in the healthy living department. Could we leave more fit than when we arrived?

I've done this experiment before at other major theme parks and vacation destinations and these are the things I look for.

• Is there an opportunity to be physically active?
• Is healthy food readily available?
• Will I and other guests be inspired to do and be better?
• Is the vacation fun?

Here, I focus on physical activity.

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When my body isn't moving so much, my mind goes to a bit of a blue place. I'm not quite there, but I feel myself getting close. Ironically, this week my body has traveled thousands of miles and I've seen my favorite blue place in the world -- the Pacific Ocean.

As most of us know, traveling usually means our health suffers a bit due to lack of exercise, increased stress and the subsequent effect on our mental state of both. I travel from my home in the mid-Atlantic to my native California at least twice a year. I am writing from my mother's home in the Los Angeles area right now. Before heading home a week from tomorrow, we will have traveled by air and navigated airports for more than 12 hours and spent almost 20 hours in cars in order to visit family and friends on opposite ends of the state. So much movement, so little exercise.

Thankfully, visiting the loved ones we live so far away from keeps my mind a bit happier during these sedentary vacation days. And I do try to adhere to some of the common tips for maintaining good health and fitness while traveling, such as making good food choices and drinking lots of water. I also follow certain prevention guidelines.

When I get home, I'll run through the neighborhood, hop on my bike or swim laps at the rec center in an effort to kick those endorphins back into high gear and then some. I'll certainly have to in order to heal the little bit of homesickness and heartsickness that's sure to crop up after leaving so many loved ones behind.

I've been drenched this summer. About a million hours so far racing around water parks, pounding out cannonball after cannonball with my children and running laps in pools with clients striving to become more fit. I just thought I'd give credit to the one thing that's allowing me to get through it all and keep coming back for more: my pool shoes.

I tell you, they're ugly, fugly, and completely unflattering with my brown polka dotted bikini. They are, in fact, the only thing keeping me from tapping out of summer fun though. I realized this yesterday as I went to work at my client's lap pool and forgot them. Oh man! Every step I took was more excruciating than the last. It was dreadful. I also had a rotten experience a bit back when I hit Disney's Typhoon Lagoon without my fancy footwear. Between the heat, the concrete, and the sand ... my feet took quite a beating.

So! If you too, are working out in the water this summer and want to take it up a notch ... protect those tootsies and get yourself some pool shoes. They're one of the most functional fitness tools I've used all summer!

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I live in the mid-west, so surfing just isn't an option. But a friend of mine lives on the coast in California and she talks about going out surfing as casually as I would mention going for a walk. Surfing seems like such an exotic and adventurous sport to me, I can't imagine it being the norm. But, oh what a life that would be.

While, I've never surfed myself, I'll admit to being a bit enthralled with the activity. It's somehow surpassed mere sport and become an out and out lifestyle for some. In addition to all of it's other perks, surfing is incredibly physically demanding. You need leg and core strength as well as balance to succeed at the activity.

If you're lucky enough to live in an area where surfing is an option, check out these 11 reasons why women should learn to surf. If you haven't hit the waves before, sign up for lessons. When you're riding the waves, know that there's one writer stuck in the mid-west who's longing to be you!

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The Environmental Health Perspectives journal recently published a paper claiming that certain ingredients in sunscreen are killing coral reefs. National Geographic, among others, picked up on it, and now beach-goers the world over are worried that the sunscreen they use to protect their skin is damaging coral reefs.

The Beauty Brains were asked about this last week, and they broke the issue down into an easy-to-understand format, explaining exactly what the concern was (certain chemicals found in sunscreen can cause bleaching in the reefs). The fact is that, yes, there are chemicals found in sunscreens that are detrimental to the environment, but the quantities listed in the paper failed to take a number of factors into account, such as those same chemicals being present in pollution as well as in sunscreen.

Their final opinion was that sunscreen use is not likely as big a culprit in the death of coral reefs as the paper indicates. However, if you're concerned because you swim near reefs (or just because you don't want to use sunscreen that could be damaging to the environment), you can look for natural sunscreens, or look out for the ingredients The Beauty Brains list as problematic.

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One of the elements I miss most about Southern California since moving to Northern Virginia almost three years ago is the ocean: it's proximity to where I live, visiting it often, seeing the sun set in it, driving Highway 1 with the windows down and smelling it, surfing and swimming in it, everything.

I remember when years ago I'd break up my long and traffic-clogged commute between a newspaper in Thousand Oaks and my apartment in Los Angeles by taking a detour and following Kanan Road from the 101 freeway to Malibu and having a cocktail on the sand at Paradise Cove. Just looking at the ocean relieved my stress from the work day more than any cocktail could. Breathing the air, smelling the salt, feeling the breeze, watching the waves, basking in the sun. It was heavenly and I'd continue my drive home a happier person.

I'm not the first to practice or suggest visiting the ocean or another body of water as a means of stress relief. Nor am I the first to start or suggest imagining such a visit. I find both methods highly successful, even if they leave me with a sad case of nostalgia.

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Eating fish is good for you. Is it good for the environment too? Not always. But a growing number of aquariums and fish conversation programs are offering "guilt-free" guides to help you make the best choices when it comes to buying fish and other seafood.

Fish that are abundant, well-managed, fished, or farmed make the guilt-free list. According to the National Seafood Guide 2007, published by the Monterey Bay Aquarium, here are some of the keepers:

Arctic Char (farmed)
Bay Scallops (farmed)
Catfish (farmed)
Clams (farmed)
Mussels and Oysters (farmed)
Pacific Halibut
Rainbow Trout (farmed)
Salmon (Alaska wild)
Spiny Lobster (U.S.)
Striped Bass (farmed or wild)
Tilipia (U.S.)

Now this list is not exhaustive. You can find more information here. You'll also get a peek at fish that are both high in omega-3 fatty acids and low in environmental contaminants -- like anchovies, oysters, and sardines.

Note: Young children, pregnant women, and anyone who wishes to watch their mercury consumption should always avoid seafood with high mercury levels -- such as shark, swordfish, king mackerel, and tilefish.

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Although jellyfish stings aren't exactly a regular occurrence at the beach unfortunately they're not completely uncommon either, and knowing the best way to treat one could save you or some poor member of your family a lot of suffering. So what's the best remedy for the misery of a jellyfish attack? Vinegar. Straight up, in-your-kitchen-cabinet vinegar should stop the injection and spread of the poison and provide some relief for the pain.

On the flip side remedies you don't want to use (and that in some cases can even make things worse) include rinsing the area with fresh water, rubbing alcohol, ammonia, meat tenderizer, and (yuck) urine.

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During summertime, I love spending my days on the water, and since I'm pretty far from the ocean, it's lakes and pools for me. But here's a reason to avoid the water: Recreational Water Illnesses. Basically, RCIs are any sort of condition you can develop from swimming. Such as? Swimmer's ear -- where water trapped in the ear canal breaks down protective barriers, allowing all sort of gross germies (technical term: bacteria, parasites, etc) to enter your ear and set up a house. Ewwwww! Another common one? Swimmer's itch--rash-like symtoms that result from being exposed to parasites in the water. Double ewwww!

How to avoid RCIs? Other than not swimming? Shower after swimming, fully dry out your ears, don't swallow water and see your doctor is something seems awry.

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If you're headed to a lake or ocean this summer for boating and swimming fun, or if you're lucky enough to live near the water all year round, there's a concern that's bigger now than ever before: Recreational Water Illness (RWI). Caused by bacteria and other microscopic organisms in the water of lakes, oceans, pools, and hot tubs, the usual symptoms of RWI are diarrhea, rashes, and swimmer's ear (although it can exhibit in other ways).

Even chlorinated pools can harbor microorganisms for several days before they die, so everybody is at risk of RWI if they spend any time in the water. The good news? RWI is fairly easy to prevent by simply never swallowing water, by drying your ears out immediately after you get out, and by taking a quick shower before and after swimming.

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I just returned from a short beach vacation with my family and had a little epiphany. As I walked along the gorgeous coast on a perfectly clear day with a bright sunshine, fluffy clouds and lovely breeze I thought about what a wonderful gift the ocean is. The enjoyment one could have on a day like that is endless.

With fitness never far from my mind it made me a tad sad to think that anyone would feel stress at such a beautiful place. So many people work so hard to 'prepare' for swimsuits. I understand that, because it's nice to feel proud of your physical accomplishments. What I'd hope though, is that all of the folks who don't adore their bodies can just let it go for the day.

We are NOT our bodies. We are great minds, big hearts, and helpful friends. We are entitled to just forget about flat abs and just have fun. So please do that. Next time you're fortunate enough to visit the beach enjoy yourself. Pretend that no ones watching! The people that are with you would prefer to have unrestrained fun with you, and the people you don't know don't count anyway!

Are the oceans about to run out of fish in less than 50 years? According to an international team of ecologists and economists -- an interesting bunch to get together really -- this prediction is based on the loss of different species of fish due to overfishing, pollution and climate change among other factors.

The loss of certain fish species was the main goal of the study by Boris Worm, PhD, of Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Along with colleagues in the U.K., U.S., Sweden, and Panama, the research team analyzed several kinds of data pertaining to the current state of the fishing industry. -- was an effort to understand what this loss of ocean species might mean to the world. Worm released the study recently by stating that "I was shocked and disturbed by how consistent these trends are -- beyond anything we suspected."

Nicola Beaumont, Ph.D., of the Plymouth Marine Laboratory in Britain added that "This isn't predicted to happen. This is happening now."

Perhaps we should all be looking for supplemental ways to get out Omega-3 EFAs in about four decades.

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