A True Thai Thanksgiving

This is a traditional Hmong costume worn for Tsa Hauv Toj, or Hmong New Year's, but it is also good for Thanksgiving because Hmong New Year's always comes in November or December. This year it is being celebrated at the Saint Paul River Centre from November 27th through the 29th (this Friday, Saturday and Sunday).

I have been giving some thought to the American custom of giving thanks on Thanksgiving. Usually I do not think about it until suddenly — without warning — someone at the table says, "this year I'd like to give thanks for..." and then it is my turn but I'm not sure what to say!

So this year I have thought a lot about it and I have decided that I am most grateful to Carla, my personal trainer, for making me healthier and giving me the energy to work 105 hours a week. But I am also grateful to all of True Thai's customers. You are the reason I work so many hours. If you were not so wonderful I wouldn't want to spend so much time at True Thai.

I am also grateful for:

True Thai's cooks for fixing tasty, healthy meals

Mickey my cat who is also my therapist because he listens to me

All our customers who voted for us in the Zagat poll

All of our customers who did not vote for us

All of my blog readers

My family

My friends

America, my adopted homeland

And I am always grateful to Thailand, the country of my birth.

I hope you enjoy your Thanksgiving holiday. True Thai will be open as usual tomorrow, Friday the 27th. Stop by if you'd like to eat some food that does not have turkey in it, or just to say hi!

Lost

You may not recognize the person in this picture. It is me, and this picture was taken a year ago. While it is true that eating Thai food will not make you fat, I used to eat lots of other kinds of food as well, and eating at steakhouses, Italian restaurants and Boston Market was not good for my waistline.

Losing 40 lbs. helped motivate me to become a better blogger. Well, a more frequent blogger at any rate.

Eating more Thai food helped me lose weight, but most of the credit belongs to Carla at Los Campeones Gym. Since this is Thanksgiving week, I should probably say that I am very grateful to Carla for helping me lose that 40 lbs. through exercise and better eating habits.

They say that losing weight will change your life. Well, it changed mine. I have more energy for one thing. In fact, Susan Pagani's profile of me at The Heavy Table talks a lot about my energy levels.

Anna Prasomphol Fieser is indefatigable.

The woman is tiny, she’s over-worked by anyone’s standards, but at the end of a long week she seems to have more energy than a 2-year-old after a dozen powdered donuts.

....contagious energy and enthusiasm....

Believe me when I say that in my entire life no one ever called me tiny before! They called me short, but not tiny.



Thank you Carla.

I also don't remember people talking about my energy levels. How hard I work, yes. Energetic? Not really.

Thank you Carla.

I have always believed in eating the right food, but hanging out with fitness buffs I have learned a lot about food. I now better understand why I am healthier when I eat more Thai food, and heavier when I eat other stuff.

Thank you Carla.

If you would like to thank Carla for turning your life around, call Los Campeones Gym at 612 333-8181. Then you too can say, "thank you Carla."