FrenchFit 

I watch NFL football in a theatre I bike to, about 20 miles r/t. I don't like sitting for 3 (now 4) hours watching a game, and if I ride before/after I can enjoy some fish sliders and a beer during the game without feeling like a glutton.

So, I'm coming home late last night and I ride past a big clyde sitting on a bench next his bike munching a burger. I thought to myself, 'not a good look...riding a bike isn't going to do much for ya' if your snack breaks are Big Macs'. But, then I realized I had done about the same thing, but my munching was indoors with others.

How many of us use biking as an 'offset' for food, meaning the logic is eating poorly gets erased to zero by getting on a bike and spinning for an hour?

Shellyrides

Not me. I keep track of all my calories in and out. I never eat the calories that I have "earned" back.

Doohickie

That's exactly what happened to me. Shortly after joining BF in 2008, I declared myself a Clyde Emeritus when I got under 200 lb. Labor Day weekend this year I started Phase I of the South Beach Diet because my weight had crept back up to 235. Why? Because I figured that since I was riding, I could pretty much eat what I wanted. It didn't all happen at once. In fact, I was doing good for a while. I was commuting and it was all happiness. Then my office moved and the one-way commute went from 7 to 17 miles. My commuting frequency decreased and basically I don't commute at all anymore. To get my miles in I started riding night-time group rides more often; unfortunately, they are pub crawl rides. I kidded myself that since I was riding, a couple beers were okay. So now I'm back on the straight and narrow, down 10 pounds already, shooting for about 180.

SeanBlader

*raises hand*

Since I started biking I decided I wouldn't limit what I want to eat, just watch the quantity, so if that means a visit to The Counter for a custom gourmet burger, so be it! Of course that means I probably either have to only eat half of it at a time, or I have to skip a meal later. That doesn't mean I'm going to ride to the nearest Jack in the Box for an ultimate cheeseburger and pound it onsite either.

Stop eating when you're no longer hungry, don't keep eating until you're full.

We have a guy at work that's been on a paleo diet for like 3 years, and while he's like 8% bodyfat, everyone else is convinced that I'm happier than he is because I eat what I want, I just watch the quantity. I believe that mental health is just as important as physical health, and if you can't and don't do what makes you happy, then you're just sacrificing one for another to your eventual detriment.

magohn

Im trying to reudce my 'awards' as I can feel a couple of pounds creeping on from over the summer (too many burgers and too hot for long rides). I want to stop it while its only 3lbs and not the full 40 its took me 2 years to lose.

What really irks me is that I ride at least 3x a week and constantly battle with weight and for me its super hard to lose it. Meanwhile, co-workers my age, eat burgers, fries, donuts, soda for lunch and are like rails. They admit they have zero interest in exercise and can tell you the storyline for nearly every TV show. I regularly get the comments "I dont get it, you bike everywhere, have a half-sandwich for lunch but maintain the weight". They are nice people. The comment is really that they cant understand why Im not 180lbs - neither can I.

Life ain't fair

Mark.from.Texas

It's what got me in my current slump.

I lost ~50 lbs from about last December to July and figured I could eat a few burger (so many awesome places to get a burger and ice cold Shiner here) and stay on target. I maintained my weight fine while I continued to bike, but didn't lose any more weight. Other then the HH100 I stopped biking in August due to the heat, kept eating burgers and gained somewhere between 5-8lbs back.

I busted a rim during HH100 so haven't biked since, either. Igot my bike back this week with set of Xero XR100's courtesy of Cannondale and hope to get back into it tomorrow.

Burgers & beer is dangerous, but oh so good =)

Edit: It doesn't help my son gave me a nice set of grilling tools and my wife got us a smoker for fathers day.

Sayre Kulp 

I don't use exercise and food as currencies, however I feel less guilty about the occasional indulgence if it follows a solid effort. For example - I don't eat fast food very often these days, though it is not 100% removed from my diet, mostly due to the convenience factor. And normally, I wouldn't feel really great about having to resort to it. Still, if I just rode 75 miles, or hiked 7 or 8 miles or had a decent run or lift session, I don't feel as guilty about the excess in calories.

himespau 

For me, it's after commuting to work that I feel the need for a snack. Heck, I'm always hungry at work, but when I ride in, I feel like I've earned the snack. I try to keep it healthy with mixed nuts or something, but still I'm more likely to snack (and go back for a second/third handful) when I've ridden in.

Mark Stone

I've learned to moderate but still enjoy foods I like. The biggest example is burgers: Before I started my weight loss (through WW) I loved burgers: Double and Triple meat burgers! And sometimes two of them! With huge piles of Fries! Now I still love burgers: but I've discovered I'm just as happy with eating a single burger rather than two or three at a sitting, and it only has one small patty instead of a "stack" of meat. My fave is a Wendy's single with Chili instead of fries. But one thing I've learned not to do is have "reward" meals after a good or long bike ride. I don't think "I rode hard and long! This time I'll have a double burger!!"

Black wallnut 

I don't use food or beverage as a reward. I do enjoy what I want to eat. My weight loss has slowed. The biggest change I made was eating more salads at lunch time than fast food. I generally eat less for dinner than I used to as well.

Doohickie

Boy, you got that right. Fred's is da bomb.

There's lots of lean stuff you can grill or smoke.

Doohickie

Might I suggest packing a lunch (including a morning and an afternoon snack)? I limit my intake to the stuff I bring to work; that way I can decide ahead of time, make sure I have healthy stuff on hand, and end up eating that healthy stuff.

I just started South Beach Diet again, and I'll tell ya, I was really in the habit of munching a Rice Krispies Treat every morning with my first cup of coffee. I still drink the coffee, but last week I was dying without that Rice Krispies Treat.

himespau 

My problem is I'm cheap so I will buy a big bag of a healthy (sort of) nut mix to keep at work and portion out as needed (cheaper than buying individual serving packets and if I pack some at home but am not hungry will eat it anyway just because that's how I am). It's just that the bag never lasts as long as I expect. But, if I don't have it or pack something, I sometimes wander down to the coffee stand on the first floor of my building and that's where the sweet delicious devil with all of his treats lives.

MadCityCyclist

I think a lot of clydes go through that, thinking "I'll just burn it off later." For me, the break came when I realized that there were a lot of bad, bad chemicals in fast food....the stuff that you can't burn off because your body can't get rid of a toxin like it can a simple calorie.

SeanBlader

I do avoid junkie fast food, haven't been to McDonalds or BK in years. Taco Bell I still tolerate, but then I can easily get by with one double decker taco. Usually if I eat anything it's semi-fast like an Una Mas burrito, or pizza by the slice. Last time I had Una Mas, I didn't even finish. Today it was a Chili Cheese Dog from New York Pizza & Dogs. Not too big, and definitely not a second one! That turned out to be smaller than any other fast food meal I get out, although realistically, I probably could've still had enough to get me through till dinner had I left off the chili and cheese.

seenoweevil

I'd lost over 30 pounds two years ago, then last year my daughter in law came to live with us. She cooks for 10, there were 6 in the house, and 5 rarely eat leftovers. You guessed it, I keep "cleaning up" the leftovers in the fridge, and I'm blaming mom for that ! Ha! Anyway, I just had another angioplasty(99% blocked) and am home alone so I'm trying to straighten out my bad habits. Riding to the gym in the morning!

Doohickie

Keep the mix at home, but it in snack bags (half the size of sandwich bags) for your snacks at work, one for the morning and one for the afternoon. And a healthy lunch for lunch time.

vesteroid

I think food as a reward has all kinds of flaws. I eat what I want and weigh the calories into the overall scheme...I will admit I tend to not eat the super high calorie foods, because I have found I can cook healthy foods and like the taste just as well....however...I just got back from a 60 mile hike and the only restaurant within walking distance of my hotel was a pizza parlor. I analilated a large
pepperoni pizza along with my wife.

That darn pizza didn't stand a chance.

Gravity Aided

Think of how bad it would be if you didn't bike .

unterhausen

a couple of years ago, I got down to 170 just through exercise. Last winter I was up to over 210. Mostly because I wasn't careful about snacks. I realized I was eating too much so I'm on a diet. I don't really diet on the bike, but my body really takes care of that. I simply can't eat that much, my body tells me when to stop. I wish that were true all the time.

I also started counting calories. I used to consider chips to be ok. One day, after a long ride I bought some chips for the salt, but didn't eat them until lunch the next day. My lunch was 300 calories, but so were the chips. That's the difference between maintaining weight and gaining weight. I also used to consider peanut butter to be ok, but a typical serving for me could be 500 calories. I really cut back on how much I use, and that seems to be working. It's annoying, when I rode as a kid I could eat 4000 calories a day and not gain weight. Now I'm counting calories.