Seriously.. one of the most enlightening and simple weight loss principles which my coach shared with me was this:
"Don't eat until you feel full.. instead eat until you are no longer hungry."
I may be repeating myself here.. but that's okay because it's worth repeating. Lately I find myself eating every 1-3 hours, instead of every 5-6 hours. (and no, it's not Kozy Shack or Shift bars or yogurt..) My office is well stocked with snacks such as fruit and pretzels and Powerbars (the "Nut Naturals" kind.. original Powerbars make me gassy) Stoking the fire every couple of hours keeps away that overwhelming hunger which makes us tend to overfill to the point where we can no longer breath as freely as we did before eating..
As bike racers, we often feel that all the calories we burn (according to out PTs and HRMs), is a license to stuff ourselves until we can't eat another bite.. No.
Keep the meals small and frequent. Avoid fried foods and fast food.. eat less bread.. add more protein.. moderate the fat and the carbs a little bit. weight loss will be yours.
Of course riding your bike at least 2 hours a day helps too.
When I returned from California, I weighed a surprising 180 pounds! That's after five days of training and a day of racing at Long Beach.. I weighed less before I went out there!.. Kind of bothered me, but some of this was from the bloating which eating at restaurants causes, all the salt they add to the food to mask staleness and add flavor..
Sure May was a huge month for me, with the addition of a coach, a Powertap, 60 hours of training, over 1000 miles etc.. But the frequency and amount I ate in that time was a very big factor.
Eat until you are no longer hungry... Try it.
I'm down to 167 and still losing... and I don't look like this in my skinsuit anymore: