Healthy Spirits: New Arrivals

1. Oskar Blues Dale's Pale Ale
2. Oskar Blues Ten Fidy
3. Oskar Blues Mama's Little Yella Pils
4. Oskar Blues Old Chub
5. Rubicon IPA
6. Bruery Mischief is back!
7. Bruery Orchard White is back!
8. Brewdog 5AM Saint 4 packs
9. Baladin Nora

GLASSWARE!

1. Gouden carolus
2. Weihenstephaner (Mug and Vitus Chalice)

3. Lucifer Chalices are back!

FYI: There will be a few cool things from Dogfish Head coming in tomorrow afternoon. There will be more information posted on the blog/facebook/twitter tomorrow afternoon.

cheers,

dave hauslein

beer manager

415-255-0610

Fast Post

Back posted from Wednesday evening... ecto is finally working!!!

All Over Yoga launches Monday 8/30!! The launch was delayed with my car accident (and, um, a boy), but I'm back and ready to get this movement started! Check out alloveryoga.com Monday for photos, contests, stories and lots of great things.

It's way past my bedtime so we're going to make this a beautiful post with very few sleepy words. Ready? Go!

Everyone, meet Cliff. We went to Ethos.

Vegan, organic chocolate cake at Austin's Coffee.

Post-yoga lunch with Katy at Dandelion.

Good night :)

New Batch of Temptation on the shelves!

Hey all,

We are happy to announce the arrival of the latest batch of Russian River Temptation in the new 375ml format. Served ice cold on a hot day like today with it's beautifully refreshing acidity, sounds like heaven right about now.

Come and get it

Nate

Mildly Addicted

After blogging or tweeting about my day full of crazy workouts I often bite my lip waiting for someone to call be obsessed with exercise. It's the one thing I have been scared to hear because I didn't know how I'd respond.

I have the kindest, most supportive readers so the closest I've gotten to that was this comment on the conversational Movement post:

"I started to read your blog a little while ago and I have definitely noticed a change in the content and direction of your blog (which has probably coincided with many changes in you!). While I admire your dedication to fitness it seems to border on obsessional at times, your blog seemed a lot more "balanced" and "healthy" before, when you were blogging about lots of different things, not how many different workouts you've managed to cram into your day."

No big deal if someone thinks I'm a little off-balanced, but this comment did spark some thought and conversation about exercise addiction- what it means and how much is too much.

My exercise habits have certainly changed. Just a year ago I would run 5 miles or take a bike ride and be perfectly satisfied for the day. I was a healthy, normal exerciser.

Then I started to run marathons, fell in love with yoga and met the Ironman. Things changed!

Now I work out a lot because I need to be prepared for some big goals (a full Ironman in October and a 50-mi. ultra marathon in December).

Also, when I see a free block of time in my schedule I think of what other activity I can fit in there. Sweating is just what I like to do most. Running clears my thoughts, cycling tires me out, swimming settles my mind and yoga balances my body.

I should probably mention that fitness is more possible for me thanks to my lack of other things. I haven't had cable in years and even stopped watching shows online earlier this year. Up until recently (woop woop!) I was single.

So as I was justifying my workouts to myself and proclaiming how balanced I really am, a friend made a good point. She said:

"Of course you're mildly obsessed. Would you reach huge goals if you weren't?"

Don't you want your doctor to be mildly obsessed with medicine?

Shouldn't parents be mildly obsessed with parenting?

Maybe an Ironman should also be mildly obsessed with exercise.

Exercise addiction can be a real problem, but not everyone who exercises for hours a day has a problem. I'm working on being proud of my fitness level and future goals, even if they are extreme to some people.

Something to think about :)

Have you ever felt too addicted to exercise? How do you find your healthy balance?

Healthy Spirits: BEER OF THE MONTH CLUB SEPTEMBER 2010

cheers,

dave hauslein

beer manager

415-255-0610

Now ready for pick-up!

Healthy Spirits: New Arrivals

1. Dogfish Head Theobroma
2. Wandering Aengus Dry Oaked Cider
3. Wandering Aengus Wickson Crabapple Cider
4. Reel Ales Monkfish Tripel
5. Fish Tale Organic IPA
6. Anchor Humming Ale
7. Sierra Nevada Tumbler Autumn Brown Ale
8. Chimay Blue Magnums
9. Chimay/Duvel/Russian River/Chouffe glassware!


cheers,

dave hauslein
beer manager
415-255-0610

Healthy Spirits: New Arrivals

1. Ellezelloise Hercule Stout
2. Drie Fonteinen Gueuze 11.2oz (Dec. 2009 bottle date)

***FYI: Tomorrow afternoon we are expecting a small delivery of Dogfish Head Theobroma!


cheers,

dave hauslein
beer manager
415-255-0610

Hanging at Austin’s

Let me introduce you to Austin’s Coffee & Film- my newest favorite place on the planet. Comfy couches, live music, delicious coffee, , open 27/7, a very vegan-friendly menu, vegan cakes and cookies and a fun staff… what more is there to ask for?

The inside is a funky mix with diner-style booths, movie theater seats and mix-matched couches and chairs. It is a good place to dine with friends mid-afternoon or to sip an iced coffee at one of their open mic nights in the evening.

My friend Alex and I visited for their vegan carrot cake and vegan donut after an indulgent lunch at Ethos Vegan Kitchen. Yes, it was a delicious day!

Their pastries come in fresh from a local vegan bakery. The donut was perfect! A definite threat to any Dunkin’ Donuts.The carrot cake? Best I’ve had, hands down. The cream cheese icing was rich and full of flavor. The cake was full of spices and raisins. It was perfection down to the last bite!

Before heading out Alex and I had a fun time checking out the decorative bricks all over Austin’s walls. Some of these made me blush!

I’m not kidding when I say I’m addicted. I was back at Austin’s a few hours later for their hip-hop open mic night with different friends! We drank iced coffee and beers (not me!) and played… Pretty Pretty Princess while enjoying the local hip-hop scene? Haha, yep.

_________

I’m sure most of you know I work at the lululemon athletica Orlando Outlet. I’ve been with the company for eight months now and have loved every minute. This company is just as focused on helping its guests and employees live healthier and happier lives as it is selling the world’s best black stretchy pants.

Most stores are always on the lookout for great people, but I wanted to share quickly that lululemon athletica is hiring managers in South Florida! You can find out more about working for this amazing company here.

All Over Yoga Sneak Peek: Emily's Story

I'm alive, I'm alive!

I hate taking several days off blogging. healthy ashley is in a transition period right now as it is being completely revamped! But don't worry- I've been happily busy with family, friends and lots and lots of yoga :-)

I have a fun Salutation Nation recap for you as well as a post that is sure to bring on lots of interesting discussion.

Now I wanted to share with you Emily's story. This is just one of the stories you'll see on AllOverYoga.com when it launches Monday.

Emily began writing to me at the beginning of All Over Yoga. She thanked me for inspiring her to practice yoga because yoga was doing so much good in her life. Honestly, Emily's story was a catalyst for me to move AOY from photos and blog posts to a site of it's own.

Check out her story and you'll see why :)

Not all girls with eating disorders are stick thin, emaciated, and could break at the touch. I was sturdy, always. Sickness isn't always marked by weight, but by behaviors. I've had an eating disorder since I was eight. I spent sixteen years restricting, bingeing, purging, abusing diet pills, laxatives, exercise, and anything else I could get my hands on.

Sometimes, I think being a normal-weight girl with an eating disorder is harder. No one can tell behind the smiles and eyes, just how much pain you're actually in. I've had countless friends shrug off my struggle, dismiss me as an attention seeker, and my parents tell me that if I just stopped eating junk, I could lose weight. I've had people at my job make snide comments about dieting to me, and I've felt suffocated in conversations that triggered me. There were only two periods in my life when people were aware that my behaviors were supremely unhealthy. But those aside, no one thinks twice when I decline a dinner invitation, leave a restaurant early, or exclaim that "I absolutely HAVE to workout forever today."

The best is when my friends laugh as I say, "I'm never eating again" after a meal. Usually they think I'm just dramatic. They don't know that I mean I really don't ever want to touch another morsel of food again.

I can’t even say I remember what started this whole mess in the first place anymore. I just know I was in the fourth grade when I thought it was a fantastic idea to skip lunch. It wasn’t a particularly bad day, or anything. I just know my packed lunch was suddenly unappealing. And so it began...

Initially, my eating disorder was in fits and phases. A few months here & there, a year in middle school. In high school it reared its ugly head my sophomore year and stayed until I was a senior. I hoped I was done with it. However, in college, it came back with a vengeance, and became an unwelcome roommate for many years.

As I finished college, and had no direction as to what came next, my eating disorder just got worse. In college, I had used restriction and exercise as my two modes of control, however, once back in my parent’s house I began experimenting with diet pills, diuretics, and laxatives, and began down a road of bulimia.

The summer I turned 23, I was out to lunch with friends at our local Whole Foods. I had been following some crazy regimen consisting primarily of protein shakes and power bars, and decided that day to have a salad. When I felt compelled to purge after a SALAD, I knew I needed help. Without telling my family (who believed i needed to lose weight) I found myself an outpatient treatment team and got help until I moved for graduate school that fall.

I transitioned to a new city that fall (2008), and convinced myself I’d leave my eating disorder home. However, by January I was miserable. I had convinced myself I needed bariatric surgery (I was nowhere close to qualifying) and made an appointment for a consultation with a doctor. When my mom found out, it caused a whole lot of tension. I found myself a proper treatment team in my city the following week. After that, things seemed to start getting better! I was able to be behavior free for six full months and complete the first year of my masters!!!

Last September, I got busy, and my meal plan, self care, and any ability I had to put recovery as a priority fell to the wayside quickly as I began my internship, the next round of classes, and a rigorous job. With little time to complete my school work, I started to look for control in the only way I knew, and without ever really realizing it, bulimia was back. It quickly spiraled out of control, yet I refused to believe that. I refused to go to a residential program when urged to in January by my treatment team. It wasn’t until March, after a rock-bottom week, and realizing that I was losing all of my friends, that I knew it was time to do something.

With the support of my team, my mom and my friends from back home, I took six weeks off of school and started a day treatment program. I didn’t like it, or get along with the director, so I left and decided to try and finish the school year. As soon as classes ended, I found a new program, at night, that I clicked with instantly.

Despite my strong connection and gratitude for this program, my anxiety was still soaring. I didn’t know how to manage the feelings arising from treatment, or days without my eating disorder. I felt lost, alone and confused. I had always done yoga but never with any consistency. One night at treatment, I stood in the hallway talking to one of the caseworkers, tears streaming down my face. It had been a particularly rough night, and I felt like things would never get better. I had been using skills all evening but nothing could alleviate my feelings. She asked me if I needed to go to the emergency room. I shook my head violently no. That was the worst idea ever. Then, she suggested yoga. I didn’t think yoga could do anything for me, but I sure as hell didn’t want to be hospitalized, so I nodded through the sobs.

Slowly, as I pedaled my feet in downward dog, I felt things shift and my tears start to slow down. As I did vinyasa after vinyasa, focusing on the poses I always loved the most (pigeon, tree, wheel, & hip openers), my breathing returned to normal and I found silence in the chaos.

The next day, Ashley blogged, challenging us all to 30 days of yoga, and I decided to take her up on the offer. Still slightly skeptical, I figured I had nothing to lose but bulimia and that wouldn’t be half bad. I started small: ten minutes a day, in my living room or on my porch. I was hesitant, and often my inner critic got the best of me and I was distracted, frustrated and hesitant. However, I was also excited. I remembered that I had enjoyed hot yoga a few years back when I lived at home, and began to research studios in my area. I found one, and excitedly called my treatment team to ask if i had medical clearance to practice in the 100 degree heat.

I got bloodwork & vital signs done and my doctor made a deal with me- I could go, but only if I was completely compliant for 24 hours before hand. If I was to use any behavior, I wouldn’t be able to go.

It was a goal, and something I COULD achieve. For the first time in months I found myself having behavior free days, and skipping off to yoga. Knowing that I had EARNED the privilege of classes made it that much sweeter. I did crow for the first time, and was overjoyed. I was behavior free at work so that I could make the 6:30pm sunday class. I looked forward to yoga.

I wish I could say that I found yoga and suddenly was bulimia free. If only! Its still very much a work in progress. But yoga has become vital to my treatment. It was the first thing that broke through my wall, gave me something to work for that was exciting and positive. Its helped me significantly reduce certain behaviors. Its become my go to in program when groups get hard- all the case managers know that when I can’t calm down, that asking me to find my yoga playlist & a mat is the best way to help me get grounded. I’ve found a permanent space on my bedroom floor for a yoga mat, and spend the last ten minutes of most days on it.

There are so many things I want to be able to do on the mat- more twists and binds, and tons of balancing poses. I dream of getting myself into headstands and side crow. I know that the way to do this is consistency, and the way to be consistent, is through being healthy. I’m looking forward to the day that I can say that I held side crow, because I know that it will be about much more than yoga- it will be about my journey to healthy, too!

Healthy Spirits: New Arrivals

1. Porterhouse Oyster Stout (Ireland)
2. Caracole Amber
3. Caracole Saxo
4. Caracole Nostradamus
5, De Proef/Terrapin Signature Series "Monstre Rouge"
6. DEUS Brut Des Flandres
7. Marin Brewing Triple Dipsea
8. Marin Brewing Star Brew Wheat Wine
9. Oskar Blue Ten Fidy is back!
10. Tripel Karmeliet Glassware

***We are down to the last few bottles of Russian River Temptation. If you need some for your cellar you might want to grab it soon!

cheers,

dave hauslein
beer manager
415-255-0610

HEALTHY SPIRITS: THE NEW STUFF

1. Fifty Fifty Brewing Company-Concentrated Evil-Belgian Dark Strong Ale brewed with raisins and brown sugar.

2. Alesmith Speedway Stout

cheers,

dave hauslein

beer manager

415-255-0610

Movement

In most areas of my life I'm pretty open on the blog. I cry during some workouts, I poop a lot before big races and I tell you all when I quit my big-girl job and break up with my boyfriend of four years.

But in the past three months I've been quiet about the single version of healthy ashley. I haven't shown you the boys behind the dinners... and I haven't contributed my opinion to a hot Twitter conversation I began last week. But now, for the sake of being real and open and honest, I'm sharing a part of me I've kept hidden.

In the middle of a 15-mi. run I tweeted:

OPINION: If you're highly physically active, would you date/be with someone who isn't active at all but is everything else you want? Why?

The responses were all over the place and made me challenge my own thought process on the issue.

@RunRettaRun yes! my hubby is active @ his job but beyond that, not @ all. he also smokes. ...keeps it interesting :o)

@torontogirlwest I would! As long as that person was willing to try things with me once in a while....

@SurvivorRunner Um I already am;-) Despite his lack of athlete-ness he highly respects mine, + he is the love of my life.

@dorrybird we've bonded in the midst of awesome physical challenges - rock climbing, cliff jumping, biking, hiking...

@bricklyr: @healthyashley You described my marriage! I'd rather be with a great guy who needs some motivation than a fit jackass.

@RunSleepRinseRp ...a significant lifestyle diff. Hubs is active & it def helps me keep it up when my motivation is down!

@Merrberruns I wouldnt... I did once and our relationship suffered. hardcore.

@jessicabalances yes..i don't think it's a good idea for couples to do every single thing together-exercise time = u time!

@EuniceFood4Fit if they're supportive, maybe..being active is a big part of my life, i'd want some1 i can share that w/

@leannahamill I couldn't do it (I've tried.) Nothing worse than "I don't want to go [insert outdoor activity here]".

@superrsana yes! The make AWESOME pillows when you are sore and tired ;)

@MirandasJeans you could motivate them to make a change. I wasn't active until 2 years ago & my hubby always has been.

@dorrybird don't think I could! I love to spend my time being active and I think the relationship could potentially suffer

@CarrotsNCake My husband and I talk about this all of the time. I probably wouldn't.

@steff_says yes! i don't require that a partner love all of the things i love. ....more than shared interests.

@EvanFMFF Yes because there's more to a person than any one thing.

I surely had my opinions, but I didn't post my own thoughts on the subject. You see, I was dating someone who didn't exercise (and didn't want to). I posted this question in hope that your answers would somehow give me the magical answer.

Could I, healthy ashley... who lives and breathes fitness... stay with someone who didn't share or quite understand that passion? Could I really stop seeing a great guy because of exercise?

Well, yes. And I soon after did. Sure, there was more to the situation, but this difference was the catalyst.

Lance* was harder to end than all the others. He was hysterical, passionate and one heck of a kisser. We had an absolute blast together. And he left a vegan cupcake on my doorstep for an "after-run treat." Seriously, who says goodbye to a cupcake fairiy?!

But he wasn't physically active.

To most people this wouldn't be anything out of the ordinary; but for someone who's ideal day consists of five hours of strenuous activity, this is significant.

Initially I tried to justify the difference. At least he supports me in what I do. Maybe one day we'll go for a bike ride together. It's just exercise.

But then I realized no- it isn't just exercise to me. I live to feel my lungs expand during a run… to feel my fingertips push through the water in the pool… to explore, feel, breathe and take it all in. It's my own approach to life.

Lance didn't understand that. Most people don't understand that. And that's okay. But, in a relationship, I need more.

I committed to not settling in a relationship and so far have held true to that. In all my dating ventures I have been blown away by how many things are important to me and nonexistent in these potential partners.

Now we can add physically active to the list. And so I move on.

So, chime in: If you're highly physically active, would you date/be with someone who isn't active at all but is everything else you want? Why?

*names have been changed

Oh yeah, the Ironman!

I know, I know. All Over Yoga has kind of taken over my time and this blog. But I have a little thing called an Ironman coming up in 2.5 months and I don’t have a training plan. Umm, yeah. Oh, and there’s a 50-mile race five weeks after that!

So, I’m going to get my butt down from down dog and talk about my other training, too!

I’ve been maintaining my training with long runs on the weekend and several swims and bike rides throughout the week. Honestly I’ve been so focused on yoga that I’ve let my triathlon workouts slide. Ooops! You can see all my workouts here.

To fuel my workouts I’ve been eating at great restaurants with even better friends. I love plenty of non-vegan restaurants, but it’s hard to go to a “regular” restaurant when we have so many great vegetarian places here in Orlando! Ryan and I recently visited Dandelion Commnitea Cafe for their iced tea and Native Mama Mix- a budget-friendly mix of quinoa with toppings and dressing of your choice.

I chose corn, broccoli and garbanzo beans as my toppings and green goddess as my dressing. This would be so easy to make at home!

Of course I’ve been eating plenty of Ethos Vegan Kitchen!

Ethos is by far the most indulgent vegan food in Orlando. It’s the best place to take the biggest vegan skeptics! I enjoyed some shortbread cookies… and my old favorite, the “What’s the Dilly Philly"?” sandwich! Can’t beat the best ;)

I’ll leave you with a shot of the beautiful Lake Eola. The 1-mile loop around the lake and I have a date in the morning. Ten miles is on the agenda!

Do you have any tips for an Ironman training plan? :)