Kickboxing and Spicy Soup Part 1: The Incentive

Over a year ago ago we started kickboxing at a martial arts training center in Hollywood. My friend Randy is an instructor there and he offered to give us individual lessons so we could learn the basics before starting our three-day-a-week group classes. So what does this have to do with food? Very simply, location.
We kickboxed across the street from Palms Thai (the venerable home of Thai Elvis). I'd eaten at Palms at it's original spot (referred by my friends at Dublab many years ago). It was tasty, Americanized Thai food.
So we were kickboxing three days a week in the evening. Class ended at around 9 o'clock, at which point our instructors would venture across the street to Palms. They ordered a spicy soup that Palms simply calls Spicy Seafood Soup (but is often referred to as Tom Yum. Click link for further description. There are many variations on the Tom Yum recipe and many different English spellings of the Thai names for chicken, shrimp, etc. We like it without chili paste or coconut, but we'll get to that in future posts.
Here's the non-scientific theory: after working out, the soup replenishes lost liquid/salt and the spiciness purges the toxins that weren't already sweat out. Thus it's a healthy end to a good workout.
It's been said that exercise increases the production of endorphins in the body, and as a result causes you to feel good. The same is said for spicy food. In combination they can produce an almost addictive quality. So we were addicted to kickboxing and spicy soup (although we'll both admit that the soup was the bigger draw). As quickly as this theory made us consummate exercisers, it ultimately lead to our downfall.
(...to be continued...)