Congrats on your 10k!!! I had a similar experience to you. I was trying to lose 15ish lbs for a couple of years and just yo-yo'd. I started taking running seriously last year and completely fell in love with it, then losing weight and tracking food became about fueling training. It's way more fun this way! I gained some weight back after my marathon last fall when I had to take some time off running because I ran the marathon with the flu and it took me forever to get well afterwards.

I started logging again this January and trained for a half that I just ran this Saturday over the first part of this year, while losing weight. I started in January at about 141, and am now down to 132. I set my calories to losing .25 lbs/week and have been religiously wearing a fitbit to track calories burned. It's worked really well for me. I eat back all of my exercise calories that fitbit gives me (on average- sometimes more, sometimes less). I tried to NET at least 1700 calories everyday and I had plenty of energy for training. I also always make sure to hit my carb macros.

With 20 lbs to lose you could probably do .5 lbs/week and be good to go, just make sure that when you are hungry, you eat! Food is fuel

Have a blast training for your first half!!

I don't mean to sound discouraging because I've heard people having success with it but for me since I've started running half Mary's or longer I have maintained or (God forbid) gained. I lost 100 pounds between June 2012 and August 2013 prior to increasing my run volume. My longer training runs and races were suffering at a deficit. I was also not diligent. I've started again trying to train and eat at a deficit as of last Monday. Good luck to you during your training in regards to health & nutrition!!

Congrats on your half and also your weight loss! I love that you did it slowly over time. What's up next for you? A full?

Yep I have my second full coming up in October!

I recently read the book "Racing Weight" by Matt Fitzgerald and it has really impacted the way I think about food and how to go about losing weight. The book is targeted for endurance athletes and stresses the importance of making sure you are making the best choices to help your running performance. He focuses on improving your diet quality instead of worrying about calories (emphasis on fruits, veggies, whole grains, lean proteins, nuts/seeds, and dairy). I'm still tracking calories, but I've stopped worrying about the number for now. I've only been following his guidelines for about a week and a half so far, so I can't really speak to how much it helps with weight loss in the long run. I have lost 2 pounds so far and my weight has been steady vs being all over the place for a good month prior to reading the book (I'm trying to lose about 10 pounds between now and my second full in October). However, I have felt better eating according to his guidelines (and less hungry) and my runs have felt more energized. I may need to start focusing more on staying within a calorie goal if I find that I'm not losing weight just using his guidelines. But part of my problem has been not really knowing what my calorie goal should be. For now, I'm just trying to experiment and see where it takes me after a month or so.

When training for longer races you are going to be hungry and you need to fuel your body to train properly. The trick is to try and eat foods that are not caloricly dense, ie food that takes up a lot of space but doesn't have a ton of calories. I found that fresh fruit and vegetables doe a good job of keeping me full without wiping out all the work I did on my run.

^----This. The Fitzgerald book is a good read also and has improved my approach. I have steadily lost a pound a month for over 18 months now. Losing it too fast never worked for me. The healthy eating (reducing unneeded sugars) has made the biggest difference for me. I have also grown fond of unsalted butter in my coffee, mixed with a blender. I start my mornings off with that and then head out for my morning run. Good luck. Congrats on becoming a runner.

I recently read the book "Racing Weight" by Matt Fitzgerald and it has really impacted the way I think about food and how to go about losing weight. The book is targeted for endurance athletes and stresses the importance of making sure you are making the best choices to help your running performance. He focuses on improving your diet quality instead of worrying about calories (emphasis on fruits, veggies, whole grains, lean proteins, nuts/seeds, and dairy). I'm still tracking calories, but I've stopped worrying about the number for now. I've only been following his guidelines for about a week and a half so far, so I can't really speak to how much it helps with weight loss in the long run. I have lost 2 pounds so far and my weight has been steady vs being all over the place for a good month prior to reading the book (I'm trying to lose about 10 pounds between now and my second full in October). However, I have felt better eating according to his guidelines (and less hungry) and my runs have felt more energized. I may need to start focusing more on staying within a calorie goal if I find that I'm not losing weight just using his guidelines. But part of my problem has been not really knowing what my calorie goal should be. For now, I'm just trying to experiment and see where it takes me after a month or so.

I'm using this book too and I love it. It's showed me how to fuel before my runs to perform well and how to eat at a deficit for weight loss the rest of the time. I think that this program works great with the mileage involved in training for half marathon.

This is a goal of mine.... I've been running for fun for the past few years, but without looking like a runner!

(time to get lean and LOOK the part!)

I'm pretty happy with my times for shorter distances (I'm consistently able to hold a sub 6 min/km pace for five and ten km races)

But all of this extra weight is holding me back!

I skimmed the racing weight book earlier this spring, but it's time to get serious!
(I'm aiming to set a new 5k pb in late June... and I'm competing in my first half ironman this year as well, so the motivation is THERE!)

Another vote here for Racing Weight! As a runner you have to fuel properly. 100 calorie cookie packs and Diet Coke aren't going to cut it.

I also lost a lot of weight when I started running and maintained/lost a bit more while half marathon training, and it was very helpful for me to "cycle" my calories day to day. I was still eating an average of 1400 goal calories per day (total 9800 per week), but modified daily goals based on my training schedule. E.g. 1400 Mon, 1293 Tues, 1444 Wed, 1400 Thurs, 1400 Fri, 1570 Sat (long run day), 1293 Sun. It worked for me for my 16-22 mile weeks and made it easy to get enough fuel on long run days.

Good luck and happy running!

ETA: Also if you're still enjoying alcohol, it might be time to cut it out of your diet.

I do like that Matt Fitzgerald lets you have a glass of wine without scoring it so you wont have to cut out all alcohol.

I recently read the book "Racing Weight" by Matt Fitzgerald and it has really impacted the way I think about food and how to go about losing weight. The book is targeted for endurance athletes and stresses the importance of making sure you are making the best choices to help your running performance. He focuses on improving your diet quality instead of worrying about calories (emphasis on fruits, veggies, whole grains, lean proteins, nuts/seeds, and dairy). I'm still tracking calories, but I've stopped worrying about the number for now. I've only been following his guidelines for about a week and a half so far, so I can't really speak to how much it helps with weight loss in the long run. I have lost 2 pounds so far and my weight has been steady vs being all over the place for a good month prior to reading the book (I'm trying to lose about 10 pounds between now and my second full in October). However, I have felt better eating according to his guidelines (and less hungry) and my runs have felt more energized. I may need to start focusing more on staying within a calorie goal if I find that I'm not losing weight just using his guidelines. But part of my problem has been not really knowing what my calorie goal should be. For now, I'm just trying to experiment and see where it takes me after a month or so.

I just bought the book the other day and I'm half way into it. It gives you a good perspective. Let me know how your progress is going. Add me