You need to watch what you eat and how much when you return from your ride. You should also be doing some intake during the ride. Yesturday, my wife and I did hard miles, most of it into a stiff wind and it felt harder than the 50 we did the weekend before. Before leaving, we had a light healthy lunch. About 1/2 through the ride we stopped and fueled up on a cliff bar each. When we got home, we split an orange and I also ate a small peach. About an 1 1/2 hours later we ate dinner - about 4 ounces of sliced steak (protein) and some grilled veggies.

You need to train yourself to not listen to your stomach and use food as fuel and think about how much fuel you need. It takes about 10 to 20 minutes for your brain to realize you are full after you already are. So you might be chowing down more food than your body really needs. A really good approach to eating, not just after a ride is to take out the portion of food you want to eat, and it shouldn't be any more than the size of your fist. After you finish, wait 20 minutes before eating something else and see if you are still hungry. If after 20 mintues you need more fuel, eat something else, that is 1/2 the size of your last portion, or a fruit, which should fill you up! Like others said, make sure you are eating the correct foods! Also increase your water consumption. I am drinking 10 to 12 glasses per day.

Setting goals is also really important, as is a reward. You need to set your main end goal but small goals in-between at 5 or 10 pound intervals. Your rewards could be something like a new bicyle jersey when you hit a certain weight (you will need smaller clothes anyway as you go along). When you hit a major milestone, say getting under 200, have a larger reward set, something you really want and will work hard to get! When you get to your end goal, you should have a larger reward!

I also have heard of people putting money away towards the reward for each pound they lose. If your end goal is a weekend away that will cost you $500, and you want to lose 50 pounds, sock away $10 a pound!

BTW - I am down 9 pounds in the past 4 weeks from my start of 244 and hit a mini-goal today of 235. My next goal is 225! My major milestone is hitting 199 and my end goal is 180!