Weighing in

So last time I talked about my weight was the weekend before Thanksgiving and I had hit my goal of 30 lbs. Since hitting that goal I started running more and also didn't stay as focused on losing weight.  Like many others, I find this time of year hard to manage.  There is a holiday party at least once a week.  There is always a luncheon to attend with amazing food and of course I crave Christmas cookies like it's my job (although I have not had one yet).  For a couple of weeks I took "off" from dieting.  I'm still making healthy decisions, keeping a food journal (on most days) and trying to avoid carbohydrate heavy food choices.  Some days I am still able to stick to 1200 calories a day, other's I'm lucky to stay under 2000.  Those days tend to be the days where there is a party.   Obviously I'm still learning how to not over eat.  It's hard.  I hadn't weighed myself since right before Thanksgiving.  The first time back on the scale was this morning.  To  be honest, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.  The result was that I had gained 2 lbs.   I'm not super surprised about this.  I'm not excited or happy about it, but I'm not at the point where I'm super frustrated with myself.  I'm using these two pounds as a happy reality check that I need to stay focused and continue to log my calories and make smart decisions in social situations. 

One thing that I'm still learning and trying to balance is how I fuel myself before hard runs.  Yesterday was a 3 mile recovery run.  I ran after work and at that time I had only consumed approximately 600 calories.  I was only running 10 minute miles and I felt like it was hard to just have the energy to do it.  This was so different from my long run over the weekend where I had consumed a burger and fries the night before and 2 eggs in devilled egg style for breakfast before hitting the state park for some fun running in the woods.  My long run, which included lots of hills and a faster pace, felt easier than a 30 minute easy run yesterday.  I think some of this will be the timing of when I eat.  I don't know the best way to handle this situation.  I'm going to try eating 100 calories right before I go for a run.  Maybe that will help.