If fueling during the activity stops you from overeating afterwards and possibly allows you to exercise a bit longer it is worth it, even though it seems counter productive.

Dang… I was hoping for some cheat level wisdom :)

Running will absolutely help your health, but on its own it's unlikely to get you thin. It's hard to burn enough to make a big difference without it chewing your body up in other ways - especially if you're overweight and out of condition to begin with, and so a bit more susceptible to injury than skinny runner types.

Thinking of it as a calories in/out equation is counterproductive for most people, if it boosts your cardio health, gets you more active and maybe converts a bit of body fat to leg muscle, that on its own is a win.

Certainly no harm in having a swig of Gatorade every couple of km if it helps you go further, anyhow.

Unfortunately time hasn’t been on my side for a while now, so my daily running has slipped back to no running in the past year!

I’ll get back at it, but yes… will need to improved diet too