1) Protein shakes: I find they taste disgusting unless I add peanut butter to kill the whey powder taste. On the package, it tells me the protein helps repair the muscle fibres damaged in my workout. Usually I'm famished and a protein shake made with the foul chocolate powder, a bit of peanut butter, and chocolate almond milk with a few frozen strawberries tossed in helps stave off starvation (or heading for a hamburger).
2) I'm not a big fan of fruit drinks. They are pretty expensive and it's easy to make your own in a blender, adding frozen fruit to juice.
3) Funny, I have the sweet tooth of a 5 or 6 year old... But eating fruit is a great way to satisfy the cravings. Odds are the extra energy you are burning is making you very hungry. Are you eating a snack during your rides? I swear by peanut butter and Nutella sandwiches on whole wheat. Raspberries and oranges are yummy but mostly water so you might want to consider bananas because they are heartier and easier to eat on a ride.
4) Congrats on throwing off your shackles! I did that 2.5 years ago and I still appreciate every moment when I don't have a customer staring me in the face and blaming me because the size 12 red shirt isn't in stock. The food log is my bête noire -- I record my intake for several weeks, I make progress, I get sick of logging it, I stop. Gain 5 pounds. I record my intake again etc etc. If it's been working for you so far, you may want to stick with it. The act of recording in the food log reminds us not to go pignut and eat a entire birthday cake. I returned to my food log again this past week and already I notice my attention to meal planning is much better.
Nicely done on the clown car clothes! Feels great, eh?