WhyFi

The problem with this approach is that your body is much better at counting calories than you are - add a work load and your appetite will adjust to compensate and you're left hovering in the same weight range. I'm intimately aware of this because I've gone through it myself. Sure, I'd go through the annual cycle of taking off 15 pounds or so during the summer, but it was never long before it was back. The only thing that changed that was close tracking of my input (eating) and output (activity) and maintaining a daily deficit; I did this with a calorie counting app (it's actually not as tedious as it may seem and it's enlightening to do, even if you only keep it up for two weeks or so), an activity tracker and a power meter.

Until you do it, people seem to think of tracking input/output as an exercise in self-denial. It was quite the opposite for me and I found it much easier to maintain than "just watch what you eat."

"Just watch what you eat," *is* an exercise in constant self-denial and I think that the vast majority of people will fall off that wagon sooner rather than later. Maintaining a deficit, though, allows even daily treats, as long as you're not completely sedentary and as long as you're not too indulgent. Some ice cream at the end of the night? Sure. A beer? Yup, no problem, even on days where walking is my only exercise. On a day when I ride three or more hours? ****, I can eat just about anything I want and not come close to threatening my 750 cal deficit.

But this is only what works for me. If something else works for you, kudos, but if you're not seeing the results that you want, give the above a try.