If you do it right, you can lose weight without being hungry all the time. The key is to run a moderate calorie deficit, eg, 500 calories a day, and eat often so you aren't hungry. High fiber food and protein also help curb hunger. Tracking calories help you learn how much to eat and control portions. It's easy to overeat if you exercise a lot. That's partly because it can stimulate hunger but also because many of us (me included) tend to think you can eat whatever you want because you exercised. You can't, if you want to maintain or lose weight.

My wife likes this one. Apparently, so do I. http://www.gidiet.com/
Maybe not exactly what you're asking for but the recipes in those books helped me drop the 17lbs I needed to start riding my Dahon (max rider weight 230lbs) then drop an additional 23lbs during the first few months of riding said bicycle. So far I've managed to keep it off (the last four years). Give or take five pounds.

This is pretty much me as well. Same length of time commuting, same length of commute, and similar amounts of weight loss - as well as still drinking plenty of beer! :D

I originally lost around 50 lbs. 30 through just riding. 20 more after diet modifications. Since quitting commuting due to working from home I have lost 10 more.

Steely Dan - cool pictures. Looks like two different guys.
Sadly, at 54 I need to ride just to maintain my weight. No ride = weight gain, even if I eat reasonably healthy.

My commute is 20 miles RT. I started over 2 years ago at about 195. Now I bounce around between 163-166. If I really try to eat well I drop to about 160.

I think it's also easy to undereat if you exercise a lot --- IF you're counting calories, trying to run even a moderate deficit (not extreme), yet forgetting to account for the calories burned by all that exercising.

I wonder if that's what Steely Dan was experiencing. I can't tell if his 1400 cal/day is "gross" or "net" calories, but his post reminded me of other guys I know who also tried to eat that little while exercising heavily every day and ended up feeling like crap.

For example, I did some cardio this afternoon that my Garmin claims burned just under 400 calories. If I tried eating just 1400 calories, I've got around 1000 left to do everything I need to do during the other 23 hours of my day -- and that's really not a whole lot when you think about it.

When I was using LoseIt! religiously, it guesstimated that my daily calorie budget would be 1800-1900 calories. If I exercised, I could afford to eat more; if I didn't exercise, I had to eat less. If I had a big workout or a long, fast bike ride (or shoveled snow for six hours :D), I ate nearly 3000 calories.

Once I made it a habit, and after six months of doing it every single day, I didn't feel crappy or hungry, I felt... well, I felt great. 30 pounds lighter, more energetic, and just plain happier.

I went down to about 1500 calories (some days less) but I made sure to eat a balanced diet with plenty of nutrition and no artificial ingredients at all. I didn't feel bad, and I was riding 350+ miles a month. I was hungry, but not starving.

Your body has plenty of calories in reserve, it just needs nutrients. If you're getting the vitamins, fiber, enzymes and enough protein, you don't really need many calories at all. Talk to your doctor, do your homework, and see what works. An all-natural/organic balanced diet did the trick for me.

This! I'm just that much hungrier and haven't lost anything. But at least I won't keel over from a heart attack (I hope!)

Have you tried eating a banana or two during your ride home? This may help stave off the food attack...

I'm 5'8", 150 lbs and only lose weight on tour doing 60-80 miles/day for months on end. Being a vegan isn't conducive to putting on weight either :/

Started my car-free life three and one half months ago and have lost 16.5 kilos (37 lbs) since (my counter below started from a diet before commuting), I feel much better all around and have also lowered my stress levels (former road rage).

Nope. I weighed the same when I started commuting by bike two years ago as I do now. Riding did help with my weight loss, but it was long before I started commuting by bike.

It seems like most of us plateau after a year or so of continuous riding and diet adjustments. When I started riding I dropped about 40 lbs. in about 9 months. I had adopted a vegetarian diet a couple years earlier but the weight did not come off until I was riding just about every day, mostly from commuting. I still ride almost every day, but my average weekly mileage has tripled with the addition of fun/training rides. I still eat about the same amount as I did back when I only commuted, eating only fresh foods, but I cannot seem to get below an average 155-160 lbs. Not that I really care to, I am quite happy with my weight. I just think it is interesting how most of us seem to find some weight at which we plateau at, and it is different for each person. It probably has to do with acclimation to the particular type of exercise, and more efficient use of calories from cycling, or something like that.

I haven't lost much weight, but I think that's because my muscles got built up. I have a 4 mile commute, so about 40 miles per week, plus whatever bike errands I do (carfree here).

I have noticed some clothes fitting a lot better, I had one sweater that was in line for the donation bin but it fits again!. I think a big problem was that when I saw this happening, I went back to my old bad habit of having a beer after work. Basically, biking allows me drink what I want and not get fat. It's a good life.

I have a crap load of weight to lose. Excerise is good and easy for me but eating really sucks.

I lost about 15 lbs after I started daily commuting 12 miles each way. When my commute went to 3/4 mile each way last March I gained 10 lbs. I'm finally getting that back under control.

Paul

Lost 45 pounds in about 10 months. Happy.

My commute is 50 miles roundtrip. When I started two years ago I commuted two days a week. Worked up to 5 days a week this year. Dropped 65 lbs along the way, going from 250 down to 185 lbs. I'm stilll losing weight, though now much slower than when I first started commuting.

I started out this past summer at around 255lbs. After commuting, I've lost maybe 5lbs but I've definitely slimmed down or toned up, or whatever, and people notice a difference. The scale refuses to comply. I guess it's lost fat but gained muscle, at least I hope so.

Whatever the case, I feel great. I haven't change the diet at all, though, pretty much eating what I want. So, if I want to move forward, I'm going to have to put the fork down, as our kind roadie friends say.

Steely,

Congrats on the weight loss. The before/after pictures seriously look like two different people. Amazing.

I lost quite a bit of weight this year from commuting (starting in April). I don't know the exact amount as I stopped counting calories long ago when I stopped body building, but went from a 38 waist to a 31 waist.

Another important factor to consider is intensity of your ride. I can ride 20 miles as a comfortable pace and not go through as many calories as a 10 mile when kicking it into high gear!

I lost 15 lbs in 2 months in my 8 mile commute. Then in september, I started school and stopped biking altogher I gained FAT all in my belly. So keep biking my friend

Sure about this?
High intensity burns more calories per minute. However, riding half the distance at a quicker pace will take less than half the time, so you'd have to be burning more than double the calories /minute on the short/fast ride.

for example
20 miles at 10 mph takes two hours
10 miles at 20 mph takes half an hour.

You'd have to be burning four times the calories/minute on the shorter ride to have burned the same total calories. Is this so?

edit: You may well feel more tired after the shorter ride, but this doesn't necessarily equate into more calories burned.

One of the reasons why I STARTED commuting by bicycle was because I noticed that I was putting on weight as a result of work cutting into my gym time. I started out at 195 pounds with approx. 26% body fat. After commuting for about a month, 3 miles each way, I definitely noticed that I was feeling healthier and that I was looking leaner in the mirror. I probably lost about 5 pounds that month, which I'm perfectly happy with. Unfortunately as a veteran of "yo-yo weight loss", I knew that as soon as I stopped biking every day the weight would come back. Seeing as how I started commuting in October, once the real winter weather set in, it did!

Once the warm weather comes back and I can commute regularly by bike again, I intend on designing my fat loss plan around my commute. Eventually, I hope to drop down to 175 pounds with a body fat percentage of around 15%. One interesting obstacle I've noticed is just the switch of mentality from other sports. As a former offensive lineman, I was always taught to eat as much as possible, go 100% sprint all the time, then take a break to catch your breath. After speaking to some more experienced bikers, I've realized that the mentality that I had ingrained into my brain may have worked for during weight lifting sessions in the football days, but only made me a "masher" in the bike world! I'm trying to spend my all-too-rare winter rides working on technique. Once spring comes around, I'll hopefully have my cadence and technique mastered and I'll be ready to tear down my body and rebuild! However, I'm interested in hearing about any diet or supplemental weight lifting plans that have worked for others in the past. While dieting and cycling may go hand in hand, weight lifting doesn't seem to enjoy the same crossover appeal. Unfortunately I can't give up weight lifting due to my own vanity, so if anyone wants to share their workouts I'd love to see them.

I have no idea why, but I only commute (actually to school) about 2 miles a day, but I'm currently 5' 3 and 103 pounds, lost about 15 pounds since I started commuting after 3 months, then the weight didn't change since. It's been almost 1.5 years since weight loss stopped..

In my experience with other cardio workouts, alternating high intensity/short duration workouts is the most effective method of achieving fat loss. I know for a fact that this applies to running, swimming and plays a huge role in the effectiveness of speed rope as well. Though I'm not on expert, I don't see why this wouldn't apply to cycling as well.

My question as to the comparable calorie burning of shorter vs. longer workouts was just that, a question.

I am no weight loss expert either, and you guys that have practical experience surely know more about it. It was more the math in CrazyWally's post that got me wondering, rather than any real world experience.

Maybe it all depends on how much effort you put into your rides.

But at the end of the day, you are still moving and movement burns calories. And calories in, calories out.

I lost muscle mass in my legs when I stopped. my bike shorts are no longer snug. my weight did not change

I sure hope to lose weight by commuting