I agree. If you are worried that you are not losing weight when fueling for riding, then you are not fueling enough for riding. It is a tricky balance. When I first started riding, I had to lose a small amount of weight. It came off in about 9 months (yes, it takes me that long to lose 15-20 lbs.) without doing anything but riding, going to step classes 2x a week, and eating my regular diet, which at that time probably was healthy, but a little carb heavy. I find my weight loss comes from small tweaks to my eating and adding in other types of exercise.
All I know is that when I am doing longer rides (+30 miles), I get very hungry and I know now exactly when and what I need to ingest, so my riding doesn't go to crap. I don't wait until I feel crappy, like I can't finish a hilly 40 mile ride to eat the Shot Blocks anymore...
2015 Trek Silque SSL
Specialized Oura
2011 Guru Praemio
Specialized Oura
2017 Specialized Ariel Sport