I dieted all the time in the Sixties, but we had no idea what dieting meant - we thought it meant not eating anything.
I guarantee you that's what Jeff Gordon does. He uses everything the fans throw at him to stoke his fire and it drives him to be better at what he does.
This bloody past suggests to us that enemies cease hostilities only when they are battered enough to acknowledge that there is no hope in victory - and thus that further resistance means only useless sacrifice.

