Right, but elite marathoners don't have 10-15 pounds of excess belly fat at the start of training, either.
It's not that I care about whether I weigh 170 or 180. I just want to strike a good balance between ideal training and not having to haul a bunch of unneeded baggage for 26.2 miles. And quite frankly, the reality is that to get to 181.4, I've eaten enough to feel completely stuffed to the point of mild discomfort a few times. I don't feel hungry eating 2200 calories per day. I've just been enjoying myself a little too much. I probably had close to 3500 calories yesterday, for example. We'll see how it goes.