Written Sept 27th, 2026, but published Dec 2025 on my blog to keep this more hidden. I worry it's a tad obnoxious, so I want it more hidden. It might be more of a diary journal entry I fear. Maybe this only works for me, I don't know.
What do you do after you've hit your goals? My goal has been for my new max weight to be 220lbs, but ideally to stay in the 210-215lb range. If I see 220 or higher, I'll work on cutting calories until I'm back in the 210-215 range. I've been here for a couple months now (August & September 2026).
Maintaining weight long term is the tricky bit. Yup, a very "Captain Obvious" statement I know. But, I feel like this is where I always failed in the past. Yet, I'm feeling more hopeful this time.
When I'm home, I'm going to continue weighing myself each morning and keeping track on my
google weigh-in spreadsheet No more living in denial, hoping I'm good. Others may maintain based on how they fit in certain clothes. Do whatever helps you stay on track best. Honestly though, I'd rather track my weight so I only have to deal with losing 1-2 pounds instead of 10 or more.
This time around, I didn't have a "dieting" mindset to drop the weight. I was figuring out recipes and portion sizes I could enjoy and live with long term. Food that tastes good, made me feel good, and most importantly feel full!
For me that means mostly high fiber, plant based recipes. That's what I actually prefer eating now. I'm not reverting back to deli meat subs, chips, frozen pizzas, factory made cookies. NO! to Ultra Processed food. It's not healthy, and it's literally engineered to make you overeat.
I still eat a burger once or twice a month. More often, I get a slice of pizza from the Wegman's food court after biking there. I'll even splurge on a donut or a cookie for dessert too. It's totally ok occasionally.
Most days I just eat veggie stuff, a serving of 2% Greek yogurt, and a tiny bit of egg in my mexican black bean burger recipe. Before I made all the changes, I really didn't believe a low inflammation diet would actually make your joints feel better, but it does for me. I remember my knees aching a lot more when I biked in my 20's, I don't feel that now, even after biking all day when touring. Tbh, I'm biking slower now, so that could be part of it too. I'm sure my 20 year old self would fly past me and leave me in the dust if I met him out on the road.
I like how his podcast focuses more on the mental challenges of maintaining a healthy weight and how he talks to people just getting started. It's such good advice to start small, and figure out changes to a healthier you, one thing at a time for a week or two until you master it. Then start the next thing.
There are so many different ways to go about losing weight; there's no magic fix. People obsess way too much about what diet to follow. Vegan, Keto, Carnivore, Weight Watchers, Mediterranean whatever. Figure out what you like best; it doesn't matter that much IMHO. My one caveat is that the different diets likely do have a significant impact on longevity and aging (per epidemiology studies); but regardless, you'll live longer and better at 200lbs eating Keto than at 500lbs eating ultra processed food. Keep perspective. Do whatever works for you long term.
For weight management, I believe the key thing is actually figuring out your particular mental health issues driving the overeating (excluding people with metabolic or health driven issues of course)
Ethan Suplee's podcast and guests have given me some interesting insights. He's my age, so I think it helps me relate to him more. I haven't had the drug/alcohol addiction issues he's had, but if I'm honest, food was always my drug of choice. If I had a rough, stressful week at work, I'd go pig out with half or 5/8's of a large supreme pizza and half a bag of chips. Or, Jacqui and I would go out to eat somewhere, and I'd easily consume 2,000-3,000 calories in one meal. Now, I see that behavior like a drug addict getting a fix. When I get those binge eating urges, I just imagine myself as a drug addict sneaking off to somewhere awful to shoot up heroin. Visualizing it that way really got me to stop, and I don't get the cravings nearly as much anymore.
On the other hand when I did my VTXL bike tour, I had to face the reality that when you're burning an extra 3,000 calories per day bike touring, you NEED to eat dense, high calorie food to fuel your body. I felt so much better on the tour once I started eating a dense homemade blondie/brownie/crumb cake each day, as well as eating bigger meals. After I finished the VTXL ride, I was down to 212.6 lbs, and I think if I do bike cross country my weight could easily go even lower. A few weeks after VTXL, I went back up to 216-217lbs, but then my weight dropped 1-2 lbs and leveled out again. I don't see this as a bad thing at all. I had the same issue after the Erie Canal ride last year. You eat high energy food for a week, and it takes another week or two after you get home to fully shift back to healthy food and reasonable portions again.
So I guess, I see food more as fuel or medicine now, not a party drug to shoot up for a "reward" or stress relief.
More specifically, I like putting food into the following categories
- Fill up Food
- Tasting Food
- Crack/Heroin
- Riding Fuel
Raw Broccoli, beans, lentils, apples, plums, lettuce etc are Fill Up foods Eat as much as I want
Ranch dressing with some chili crisp is Tasting Food. I often have some with raw broccoli. A few tablespoons of that mix is likely as calorie dense as a full crown of Broccoli, but after eating a ton of broccoli, I'll feel full off the 400-500 calories combined for a long time.
A single serving bag of chips is Tasting Food, a spoonful of Ben and Jerry's is tasting Food. Stuff you eat to just enjoy the flavor/taste, but shouldn't "fill up" on. Honestly, who feels full after eating ice cream? I've never felt full/satisfied eating ice cream, hot dogs, chips, etc.
For me, my Crack & Heroin are Doritos and Diet Coke. Be careful here, there should be very few foods you label this way. Crack/Heroin foods should only be foods you can't stop yourself from binging. I don't think categorizing anything containing Sugar as crack/heroin would be sustainable long term. People like to ban way too much from their diet, and then they fail at some point.
Riding Fuel. When touring or doing some massive ride or hike for a day, you need fuel. I just try not to binge it all at once; I just eat an extra 200-250 calories per hour when hiking/biking a long time. I'm burning an extra 400-500 calories per hour, so meals have to be bigger too.
The main issue from here on is probably going to be social gatherings. But again, it's more a mental issue I think. Don't be an obnoxious, "holier than thou" jerk if you've found your way to be "healthy". Be understanding, be calm, be accepting, but don't compromise on what works for you to make others feel better. It's just food, not love. Everyone is responsible for their own feelings, but don't be a jerk either (goes for both sides). Your Gramma won't be happy when you say no to 2nd helpings.
At gatherings, I'll enjoy whatever is offered in Tasting Food portions, but I'm not going to "fill up" on a super calorie dense casserole or lasagna if that's what's offered. 500-800 calories worth, sure. But heck no to 1500-2000 calorie portions (or more). 1750 calories = half a pound of fat. 3500 = 1 pound. My only exception would be if I'm bike touring and need the Riding Fuel.
And finally , be open minded and LISTEN, if your loved ones are worried you're sliding into unhealthy eating behaviors. It's tricky though. I come from farm country, and honestly a lot of beliefs on what's healthy is way off because just 1-2 generations ago it was a far more physically demanding job. On both sides of a conversation like that, just approach it from a medical, what does a body actually need, point of view. Are you way off a typical BMI weight range? Etc. On the other hand, gently push back as needed. No one would pressure an alcoholic to just have "one drink" at their party; similarly, no one should expect you to binge eat at a holiday dinner if you have struggled with overeating most of your life.
People need to understand that not everyone can feast during a family/holiday meal without risking a big relapse. Or if you're working on losing weight, they also need to understand that even if it's just pigging out for 1 meal, a calorie hit of 1500-2000 calories can set you back 1-2 weeks from reaching your goal. It's a bigger ask than people realize, and they shouldn't assume that their special meal is the only one you're going to during the holidays. People often give in to the peer pressure and gain 5-10 pounds over the holidays, it's nuts.
Oh well, enough blah blah blah. Before my next annual checkup in January, I might splurge and pay for a Dexa Scan somewhere. It's the most accurate way to determine muscle mass and body fat, and it's a great way to make sure my bone density is ok. I'm jogging and hiking more to keep the bones strong (I hope), but it would be nice to know for sure.
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