Depressed though I was to see photos of myself at the camping weekend looking as big as ever, I think a lot of it's just loose flab now. It'll take a while to go.
After 3 weeks of near daily cycling on holiday in France and feeling great, I too was horrified at what I looked like in a pair of swimming trunks when i saw the holiday snaps. My apologies to other bathers...
2 months after starting the holiday, I have lost a stone, and my wife has lost 5 lbs. I'm now an indoor rowing lightweight (some might say in many senses...) at 75kg.
Muscles are appearing from under wraps...
Previously, if we ate before 6:30 I was usually hungry before bedtime, and partial to a glass of milk and a couple of digestive biscuits. I reckon that's at least 300kcal. We don't buy biscuits for us anymore (children have some in containers in their rooms; if they eat them all in a day, they won't get any more for a couple of weeks, and they seem to manage them well. They exercise a lot, rugby & BMX, and look well so no worries there).
We decided to eat no more after an evening meal, and drink non-caffeinated teas (redbush, peppermint, camomile, etc.) to fill up on, going to bed feeling slightly peckish and waking up ravenous. Lunch is frequently Waitrose Essentials fruit muesli; recommended, packed with fruit and very filling. This even works to easily fuel 20mile-each-way commuting some days. Also helping is the fact that I find cycling an amazing laxative...
So, just cutting out our unnecessary eating (plus 6 hours cycle commuting a week for me) has made a huge difference. I'm aiming for under 72kg; we'll see.