When my maternal grandmother (a world class chef) was alive if I lost weight she'd say "What you don't like my food anymore?" I guess I'm more of the old Seven Eleven school. Ride hard and long, then find a Dairy Queen and scarf up the most ridiculous Blizzard you can get them to make.

Several decades ago, I was riding an annual event that had some serious climbing. It was not unusual to have 1/3 or more of the participants walk the steepest part of the hardest climb. I was one such person the first year. Before the next event I lost 25 pounds and climbed the hardest part with relative ease. It was almost like the first year I was carrying a Schwinn Varsity on my back as I tried to make my way up the mountain. Not much fun it was. These days I'm still carrying a bit more weight than I want, but better off than I used to be. I know I could be at an "ideal" weight and still not be a really good climber. I've got a pretty explosive sprint, but climbing just isn't going to ever be my strong suit. If anything, my strong suit is that I'm still riding a bike thousands of miles each year, and that's good enough for me.