healthy

The name itself leads you to believe it's a healthy drink. Some people might even think of it as a way to get their daily dose of vitamins.

But is it?

The marketing makes you think it's healthy for you. But the Coca-Cola company that produces Vitaminwater has been sued for making "deceptive and unsubstantiated" claims for it.

In fact...

"In response to a recent lawsuit against Coca-Cola filed by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), Coke's attorneys replied in court briefings that, '...no consumer could reasonably be misled into thinking vitaminwater was a healthy beverage.' "

Read the article here.

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!

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

Food in your local grocery store may be trucked in from thousands of miles away. So that it keeps that "fresh" look, it's often picked before it's ripe or it may be treated with chemicals or irradiated to keep it from ripening before it gets to the store.

When you buy from your local farmer's market, you get fresh, locally grown food, much of it picked that very same day.

While it's ideal to buy organic, even from the farmer's market, often you'll find vendors who are not certified but who do not use the chemicals and pesticides used on the food trucked in from great distances. These foods, though not organic, are a much better choice than the non-organic choices in your grocery store.

Of course, organic is always best, but when it's not practical for you, make sure you check for the low pesticide foods that are safe to buy non organic.

Click here to watch a video on farmer's markets and find a farmer's market in your area.

Learn more about healthy eating here.

1 cup filtered water
2/3 cup raw sunflower seeds
1/2 teaspoon Celtic Sea Salt
1 thin slice fresh onion
1 clove fresh garlic
1 heaping teaspoon Italian Herbs
3 tablespoons raw, unfiltered, apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (optional)

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until creamy and smooth.
Chill at least 30 minutes before serving.

This is great with all kinds of raw veggies and is a healthy alternative to Ranch dressing. It can also be used as a salad dressing.

Adapted from Sunny Salad Dressing in The Guilt-Free Gourmet: A Vegan Cookbook & Lifestyle Resource Manual

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.

1/2 head of cabbage, grated or shredded
1 carrot, shredded
1/2 of a medium zucchini, shredded
1/2 of a small onion, finely chopped (optional)
2-3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon raw, unfiltered apple cider vinegar, or to taste
Celtic Sea salt to taste

Vegetables can be grated, shredded or chopped in a food processor. This makes it really quick to prepare.

Mix all ingredients. Refrigerate for 30 minutes before serving.

Most mayonnaise on the market is made from soy, canola or safflower oil. None of these are healthy oils. Mayonnaise made from extra virgin olive oil is very expensive. This is a great alternative to using mayonnaise on your coleslaw and it tastes great!

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? :)