Kirsten Captures

Wednesday, October 10th

On the cruise we met an American family who has lived in Shanghai for several years. The wife mentioned that she is a member of the American Women’s Group in Shanghai and encouraged me to attend their events. Fate would have it that their monthly meet and greet took place just a few days after we returned. So I harnessed in my nervousness and took the metro to the Four Seasons hotel Wednesday morning.

Holy crap I was nervous but it was great! I connected with some great ladies and handed out my business cards like a pro. It was refreshing to meet other expat women and start networking in this massive city.

In the afternoon I went to our favorite local coffee shop for a sandwich and many hours of computer work. The decor of this place is so vintage and cute and their coffee isn’t too shabby.

In case anybody thinks I am a coffee addict, I limit my intake to one cup of coffee per day. I find that if I drink more coffee I get jittery, light-headed, and cannot sleep well at night. I mostly drink coffee after a big lunch to help with digestion and prevent an energy deficiency.

Let me explain.

First of all, coffee has a laxative effect that actually increases the production of gastric juices in the stomach. This creates an environment for better digestion of food already in the stomach. Cool right? Secondly, that surge of energy you get from coffee has to come from somewhere. If you drink coffee on an empty stomach, energy is taken out of your cells which creates an energy deficiency in the body. Can you say post-coffee slump? However if you have just eaten, that energy comes from the digesting food! Thus, the energy boost now comes from a surplus of energy in the body.

So next time you brew that cup of morning joe, drink it AFTER you eat your breakfast and see how you feel. If anything you might notice decreased dependance on caffeine for energy. Always a good thing right?

For dinner Peter took me to a great Korean BBQ restaurant where we ate a lot of kimchi and meat. Peter was the grillmaster. I was the eatingmaster. We balance each other pretty well.

For those of you who don’t know, kimchi is a traditional Korean dish of fermented cabbage usually dressed up with various seasonings and spice. Fermented foods like kimchi, sauerkraut, and yogurt contain beneficial probiotics that promote healthy digestion and better nutrient absorption. Fermented foods are a great addition to meat dishes since meat is very difficult to digest. So I made sure to each a lot of free kimchi with our platter of BBQ meat.

Doesn’t that look yummy?

Afterwards I was tired but had some pretty good digestion going on! Hah. The only thing missing in my day was some good old fashioned exercise. But I was determined to get fitness back into my life as soon as possible.

It would happen soon enough and more than I ever expected!