Marginal Gains
When professional cyclists refer to "marginal gains", it's usually seen by most jaded observers as another code word for doping.
When amateur cyclists refer to "marginal gains", it usually comes with a huge price tag whose overall contribution to performance doesn't begin to justify the added expense. However, it's shiny and/or carbon and it makes us feel faster, and that's all that really matters.
My own experience with marginal gains relates to my futile attempt to keep my weight under control from season to season. I shoot for only gaining a couple pounds, and I end up packing on far too much. Then I start trying to hack away at the congealed lard pile that is my mid-section, little by little, until the self-loathing is replaced mere self-dislike.
This year my usual strategy for weight loss isn't working as well as it has in the past, and I'm beginning to get desperate. It's getting so bad that I've caught myself lingering over Lipozene infomercials. Like every other red-blooded American, I want a pill that will allow me to shove whatever I want into my face and still lose weight. Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way.
I think I may need a professional opinion here. They're going to tell me not to eat everything I love, as least not in vast quantities. I'll ultimately ignore them. I like fat. I like sugar. I like processed. I like scientifically-enhanced mega-flavor. I like it in vast quantities. If you don't, then you hate 'murica, and the terrorists win.
...but I need to do something to kick-start this diet. I need to find a plan that I can maintain, that will get me in the ballpark once race season rolls around. I want to move past the point where people say I look good/lean/healthy. I want people to ask me if I'm sick or otherwise dying.
Why? Because I want to be competitive in my own little bike racing pond. Isn't that more than a little sad? Probably, but it makes me happy, and the older I get the more I see that the stupid things are usually the most meaningful in life. I'm good with that, because most things I do are pointless or inane when viewed through the proper lens. As long as those pointless or inane activities have some marginally beneficial side-effects, I consider it a win.
These days, I'll take what I can get, even if they're marginal.
When amateur cyclists refer to "marginal gains", it usually comes with a huge price tag whose overall contribution to performance doesn't begin to justify the added expense. However, it's shiny and/or carbon and it makes us feel faster, and that's all that really matters.
My own experience with marginal gains relates to my futile attempt to keep my weight under control from season to season. I shoot for only gaining a couple pounds, and I end up packing on far too much. Then I start trying to hack away at the congealed lard pile that is my mid-section, little by little, until the self-loathing is replaced mere self-dislike.
This year my usual strategy for weight loss isn't working as well as it has in the past, and I'm beginning to get desperate. It's getting so bad that I've caught myself lingering over Lipozene infomercials. Like every other red-blooded American, I want a pill that will allow me to shove whatever I want into my face and still lose weight. Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way.
I think I may need a professional opinion here. They're going to tell me not to eat everything I love, as least not in vast quantities. I'll ultimately ignore them. I like fat. I like sugar. I like processed. I like scientifically-enhanced mega-flavor. I like it in vast quantities. If you don't, then you hate 'murica, and the terrorists win.
Why? Because I want to be competitive in my own little bike racing pond. Isn't that more than a little sad? Probably, but it makes me happy, and the older I get the more I see that the stupid things are usually the most meaningful in life. I'm good with that, because most things I do are pointless or inane when viewed through the proper lens. As long as those pointless or inane activities have some marginally beneficial side-effects, I consider it a win.
These days, I'll take what I can get, even if they're marginal.
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