Eating to Run?

When I first started my journey, all of my food choices were based on what would most effectively allow me to drop weight.  I was not necessarily making the healthiest choices, but I was staying within my allotted calories and for the most part I was eating much better than I had been prior to starting the weight loss journey.  A good example - my kids were still eating a lot of fast food back then, when I bought them a kid's meal I would steal a chicken nugget and a few fries to get the satisfaction of eating something that I craved.  Then I would eat a "healthy" meal when I got home.

Now... I still have cheats, I don't believe I would be successful without them.  In fact, just today I ate cheetos! (YUM!)  The key for me is to control the portion of what I am craving.   This weekend after my half marathon, I plan to have a nice lunch out with the family where I order whatever I want and I plan to follow it up with a cupcake from a gourmet cupcake shop down in Indy.  It may be what gets me through the half marathon!

The struggle?  I don't want to feel like I am running to eat, I want to feel like the food that I eat is fueling my running.  That is it positively fueling my body to accomplish the things I throw at it.  That being said, I am trying to lose 10 more pounds.  I have been "stuck" at my current weight for the most part since last August.  I have gone up some and down some, but I always seem to settle back in at 185 pounds.  I am 5'11 and a pretty large bone structure, so I know I will never be "skinny" but I want to get to 175 so that I can say I am officially not overweight per the BMI standards.

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Anyway, back to the issue at hand.  I am struggling to know what is the right thing to do with my food choices. Obviously, I am focusing on eating vegetables and fruits as well as low proteins.  I haven't been eating many carbs in an effort to keep my calories low.  I know that I probably need to increase these especially as I get into my marathon training schedule come June.  However, what I don't know is how many calories to eat!  I started using myfitnesspal.com and it tells me to lose 1 pound a week I should eat 1570 calories.  And, when I exercise it tells me to eat back those calories.  However, I know that there are alot of people who say you shouldn't eat them back if you are attempting to lose weight.

I have a feeling its going to be a fine balance, between making sure I am getting enough calories to fuel my running and not eating too many calories which would cause me to bulk up (which definitely won't  help me run a  marathon).  I have been contemplating going and seeing either a nutritionist or a registered dietitian but even they can't seem to agree on what is the "right" thing to do!

I am going to try something for a few weeks and see how it goes I guess and go from there... my goals the next few weeks:
 - keep my net calories around 1200 per day
 - continue to drink 8 x 16.9 ounce bottles of water
 - limit diet coke intake to one per day
 - lean protein
 - lots of fruits and veggies
 - adding some bread and pasta to boost my carb intake

Does anyone else find it a struggle to balance the nutrition you need as a runner with the calorie restricting you need to lose weight?

I am not doing so well with my goal to reach $750 before Saturday - in an effort to get the donations flowing again, I have a creative idea.  If I reach $750 by the end of Saturday May 5, I will draw a winner to receive a prize!  I will be giving one entry per $10 you donate.  And to make things a bit more fun, if you share this somewhere, please let me know and you will get a bonus entry! Please visit my fundraising page and make a donation if you can ---> My Fundraising Page