Body & Soul by Bethany Hamilton

Have you heard of Bethany Hamilton?  Bethany Hamilton is a professional surfer but not just any professional surfer.  Bethany survived a shark attack and lived to not only tell about it but also to become a professional athlete and positive roll model to young girls.  In a time when some girls look up to Miley, Bethany is a Christian roll model who exemplifies hard work and healthy living.  You can see Bethany’s story in the movie Soul Surfer.

In Bethany’s latest book, Body & Soul:  A Girl’s Guide to a Fit, Fun, and Fabulous Life – $19.99 (page 10), she gives us a little tidbit about her experience.

On October 31, 2003, a shark attacked me while I was surfing off the north shore of Kauai.  I lost over 60 percent of my blood and almost lost my life.

It is truly a miracle that she is alive!  After losing her arm, Bethany could have decided that she was done with surfing; however, she went on to become a professional surfer with only one arm.  Isn’t that amazing?!

Bethany uses her experience and her love and closeness with God to help encourage girls to look at themselves as a gift from God.  To glorify God in everyday life.  She also encourages girls to live a healthy lifestyle.  A life filled with exercise and healthy eating.  She doesn’t do this from a “preachy” position but speaks as a friend.  In reading this book, it is almost as if she is right here speaking.  

Most books that encourage healthy living kind of leave you hanging but not Body & Soul.  Bethany is right here along the way to encourage and give a plan.  Honestly, it is difficult to start a new path in life when there is no direction!  Bethany provides that direction in this book.  She has the plan.  Bethany includes directions and pictures for different exercises for girls to try and do.  She also includes ideas for drinks (non-alcoholic of course) and food portions along with recipes.

One of the things I really like in this book is the personal touch from Bethany.  There are some multimedia items in this book.  With the free HarperCollins Unbound app, you can scan the page when you see a specific icon to see multimedia and interactive content.  The icon was on a page with a certain recipe, and when I scanned the page, I found a video of Bethany showing how to make the recipe.

My daughter has enjoyed reading this book, and I hope that she will try some of Bethany’s recommendations.  

Do you have a young girl in your life who would benefit from this book?  Family Christian would love to give one of my readers their very own copy of this book.  To enter, just read the rules below.  

WINNER

Let’s make this an easy entry giveaway:  

• Mandatory Entry:  Comment below with who you think would benefit from this book.  (No names.  Just comment with the girl’s relationship to you, like “daughter”, “niece”, etc.)
• Optional Entry:  Follow Bethany Hamilton on Twitter and leave a separate comment telling me you followed Family Christian and what your Twitter handle is. 
• Optional Entry:  Follow on Family Christian on Twitter and leave a separate comment telling me you followed Bethany Hamilton and what your Twitter handle is.
• Optional Entry:  Follow HarperCollins on Twitter and leave a separate comment telling me you followed HarperCollins and what your Twitter handle is.

Rules:  Giveaway starts at 12:00 am Eastern on January 23, 2015 and ends at 11:59 pm Eastern on February 4, 2015. Open to U.S. residents 18 years old and older.  Shipping to U.S. only.  No purchase is necessary to win. Void where prohibited. Odds of winning depend on the number of entries collected. The winner will be chosen by Random.org and will have 48 hours to respond after being contacted by email.  Please make sure to use a valid email address.  Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Google+ do not endorse this, nor sponsor this giveaway. Nor are Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Google+ affiliated with this giveaway in any way.  Additional rules here.