Food at the Gym

Recently, I was at my parent's gym with them. (recently as in before I got super-ill and sat on the couch for a week) I went into the cardio room, did some stretching and jumped on a Precor. I started my 30-minute workout program and then I plugged my headphones into the machine and looked up at the two televisions. One of them had a March Madness basketball game on and the other...Emeril Live.

Now, I should probably mention that I had worked very hard that day and hadn't had the chance to take a lunch break, so I resorted to eating snacks from my office snack drawer. Basically, my food intake that day consisted of an instant oatmeal packet and a bunch of raisins. So, when I stepped onto my elliptical machine at 6 p.m., I was doing my best to ignore the growls coming from my stomach. But some woman was on a bicycle behind me and she was watching the FOOD NETWORK!!!!!! I made some faces and she offered to change the channel, but then I felt bad so I switched the headphones to a music station and kept working out. Unfortunately, however, it was unavoidable that I would have to look up on occasion and see the souffle Emeril was working on. It was maddening.

But, interestingly, I also kept seeing a band on the television. Every time I saw the musical ensemble, I thought maybe by some miracle the channel had been changed, but eventually I realized that Emeril has a live band for his cooking show. I get the whole New Orleans jazz connection, but I still can't imagine being in that band. It's cool to be in the Tonight Show Band or the Saturday Night Live Band, but the Emeril Band? Something tells me that foodies who tune in to that show aren't watching for the music. How do you tell your friends that you're in Emeril's band?

You are now thinking that I gave this entirely too much thought. I completely agree. It was the only way to escape the agony of basketball and food when I really wanted to be watching something more along the lines of Access Hollywood. Or, actually, I really wanted to be at a restaurant somewhere feasting on my dinner.

Rule of etiquette: Do not watch Food Network or food preparation shows on other networks at the gym where people are ALWAYS hungry. Weight loss and Emeril don't mesh.