Creative Dissonance

My body is at odds with what is going on in the world. This very cold weather creates the appetite for the very best foods. Stews, soups, warm pasta dishes with heavy sauce, all flavor the kitchen and the dinner table. This may be why I love this time of year. The dutch oven is my refound old friend. So far this past week or so, it has been chili, jolly girl's stew, and beef/vegetable soup. Of course all this has to be served with either cornbread (my mom's recipe, which she made at least 6 or 8 times a week and had to be stopped and measured by my bride and s-i-l to get the right blend; Mom never measured, she just threw it together and it was always good) or with really good bread and lots and lots of real butter. My eldest daughter insists on real butter. So the house smells great, the jeans fit a little snugger.

So my bride's solution is to work out. we started months ago heading to the gym at 4:30...AM. Yes, children there is a 4:30 in the morning. We have been very faithful in this. Three times a week I hit the elliptical for 30 minutes in "interval" or "sprint" training. The other two days are weights for upper body, legs, and back. It makes me feel good, it keeps my weight slightly under the morbidly obese level, and it is quality time with my bride where I am not wanted or expected to communicate. Of course at 4:30 in the AM what could we possibly have to discuss? So we roll out, get into our workout togs and head out.

Gym culture is a very different culture. We each prefer no one speak to us and we find it a huge burden and incredible gym faux pas to have anyone say anything other than, "are you finished with that machine?" We have a guy who is there every other week we call the "groaner" He makes a lot of noise working out, groaning while he lifts, belching loudly, and horror of horrors, talking to us occasionally. He hit on my youngest child once about running barefooted (yes, he works out barefooted, and doesn't wipe down the machines.) I have thought about discussing his lack of manners, but the humiliation of getting pounded by this lout keeps me quiet. More people are showing up recently and I'm hoping this puts him off enough to keep it all to himself. My quiet, sweet, non-confrontational bride just turns on the TV so loud that none of the rest of us can hear him half the time anyway.

So I am finding this dissonance about eating and working out a struggle to balance. My nature tends towards the eating, but my natural gift towards weight gain pushes me towards the gym, in the dark, in the cold, against all that is human. I just have to last until spring when the menus will hold things like summer hash, grilled meats, and fresh veggies. And my bride is off from the school year and we can make the trek at a more reasonable hour.

Godspeed to those out there who are density gifted and vertically challenged.
Don