Hey there - just want to add my two cents and respond to @Bergfruehling’s reference of “don’t diet on the bike.” It’s true that out of context that statement can sound like a cop-out, but the point is that you don’t want to create your calorie deficit while you’re on the bike. (Doing so can seem like a good idea - it’s easy because you’re distracted and not near the fridge.) You want to fuel pre/during/post-workout, then use other meals in your day to create a deficit. As an example, during base training, I would eat a carbohydrate (CHO) rich breakfast (800-1000 kcal) then ride 4-5 hours, eating 200-300kcal per hour (more if possible) of CHO, then have a recovery drink with CHO and protein (200kcal). During the ride I might burn 4-5000kcal. For the rest of the day (lunch and dinner), my meals would focus on nutrient-density (lots of veggies, grains), fats, and protein, but I would create a 300-500kcal deficit for the day by keeping those meals a little smaller and focused on nutrition rather than calorie density.
You can use the same principles for shorter rides, because your intake pre/during will be proportional to the intensity and duration (i.e. caloric deficit) of the ride. The recovery shake will ensure you replenish muscle glycogen for the following day’s training session. Then you can create a reasonable deficit with whatever else you eat that day, making sure you get good nutritional value from those meals (you’re not eating veggies to fuel your training, so you need to get those in your other meals).
Creating a 300-500kcal deficit on a daily basis won’t significantly compromise your training if you:
a) fuel your workouts well,
b) get easily-absorbed CHO into your system within 30min post-training (e.g. with recovery drink), and
c) get the nutrition you need in your other meals (protein, vitamins/minerals/micronutrients from plenty of good produce, and quality fats like EVOO/Omega-3s).
The beauty of “don’t diet on the bike” is that it reminds you to avoid the trap of creating calorie deficit on the bike just because it’s easy to do with the fridge out of reach; moreover, the big bonus is that fueling the workout and having a recovery drink will dramatically decrease your appetite for the rest of the day. You won’t get that zonked starving feeling a few hours after your workout, so it will be that much easier to create a calorie deficit.
The consistency you create though training well, fueling well, and recovering well will supercharge the training adaptations that will lead to better fitness and a body composition suited to the training you’re doing. Be patient with the numbers on the scale, because a shift in body composition (i.e. adding muscle and losing fat) doesn’t always translate directly to decreasing numbers on the scale. And remember that weighing yourself daily will often reflect more of your hydration status than changes in body comp. Weighing weekly in consistent conditions is probably better, and a pound every couple of weeks is good progress. Keep in mind that this creates a positive feedback loop - where more muscle mass and more activity will increase the kcal you burn during normal daily activities, so your early progress may feel slow, but it will pick up steam if you continue to be kind with your body and give it what it needs to adapt well.
On another note, having a little protein before bed can help - keeps you from feeling too hungry when you sleep, and it can help you sleep through the night. Getting plenty of good sleep is a major key to enabling body composition-related adaptations. A small handful of almonds or cashews, or a serving of non-fat plain yogurt can do that for you.
Best of luck!