On weightloss

Running has been the only thing that has ever worked for me on loosing weight. I discovered it after I got married and had not have any babies yet. So, after I had my first baby I knew exactly what would work for me, and running it was. The weight would literally melt off my body. Not having to diet, but eating healthy was my favorite part. I have two babies. My youngest is 20 months now, and I stopped breastfeeding when she turned one last summer. My weight went down to what it was pre-pregnancy, and I was happy. Then the winter and the holiday season arrived. I took a 3 months break from running and the inevitable happened, I gained 8 lbs. Yes, guilty! No worries, I thought, I'll loose it all easily once I get back to training. I started running again at the end of January. I am training for my first half marathon coming up in three weeks. I have worked my way up to running 5 miles twice a week and a short 3 miler once a week and my last long run was that of 10.5 miles and all have lost in the last two months of running have been 2 lbs! I am running more miles per week that I ever had before. The only two things that I'm doing different is that I'm not pushing a stroller (I'm running in the early morning while my babies sleep) and I am not breastfeeding. I know the breastfeeding is probably the most significant change, but I still think I should be able to loose the weight running the miles that I'm running. I'm frustrated. I am not on a diet, instead I try to eat healthy. I don't do fast food. I am huge on fruits and vegetables. I mainly use chicken, and tofu, sometimes fish. I buy whole wheat pasta and bread. I have a major sweet tooth, so I avoid bringing any temptations home. I consider myself a healthy eater. I hate dieting. I even started taking a cleansing treatment about a week and a half ago, I think I have another week and half to go through it. So what is the deal? Anyone out there sharing the same frustration? Any advise on how to loose 6 lbs!

On a different note. Like I said, I ran 10.5 miles on Saturdays, that being my longest run ever. I was not doing very good by about mile 8, I felt pretty sluggish and tempted to walk. I think I might have been a combination of being dehydrated, running low on energy and that I was doing crazy hills (if you've ever run the Sugarhouse area, you know what I mean). My question is: When should you start carrying a water belt or something to help along the way. I've hear about those gels too, but I don't know if running 10 miles is already enough to use them. And should I think about getting some for my half-marathon?

I know you guys always come throught with great advise. Thanks in advance!