Originally Posted by
erig007
Extra food costs? So you count extra food as a cost like doing some fitness is a cost.
What about the health benefit as we usually need to do some fitness to stay healthy?
Staying healthy means eating less or equal calories equivalent than the calories spent doing some exercise as we usually eat more than we need. So overall the balance should be a gain not a loss.
Saying it is a loss is like saying that buying a good bottle of wine for collection purpose is a cost. It isn't it is an investment. On the short term you spend money but you gain money on the long term.
But i will agree with you in a way because from studies i have read there is no need to exercise 5 days/week to stay healthy. It's more like a quantity per week. And exercising too much is not better for health neither from what i have read.
So i would say you're right in a way that every food spent exercising which is beyond the strict minimum to stay healthy is a cost minus the health benefits related to bicycling (stress level, fun etc...)
I think about it like this:
I don't usually eat more than I need because I'm 6'2" and 165lbs, which is pretty average. I do get a little exercise without the bike, because if the weather is good (not raining) I leave work and sneak in a nice 1.5-mile walk to a different subway line. I also do a little rock climbing for variety and the gf tonight suggested that we start playing badminton
However, if I ride and don't eat the extra food, I lose some weight (5-7 lbs at one point) and generally feel uncomfortable, so I made it a point to eat the extra food to stay at a healthy weight.
I see the value of exercising in terms of life quality. However, it doesn't save me any money. If I never get sick, or I have a chronic disease that requires me to see the doctor one per week with various tests (renal failure for example), the monetary cost would be exactly the same (roughly 8% of gross pay.) Also, medications are free and everyone pays the same for old age insurance (think nursing home, 2.2% gross.)
I see many benefits to cycling and I enjoy it, but it should be viewed as a luxury because I take a monetary loss on it both in the short- and long-term even with only buying an entry-level MTB and with minimal expenses in clothing (mostly my old XC ski clothes.)