The weight is over

On Stephanie's blog I came across a challenge that seemed to call me: the 10:4 challenge, started by Carl V. Here it is:

"The rules: lose 10 pounds between May 1st and September 1st. That is 4 months, 2.5 pounds per month. That may not seem like alot. Quite frankly, that is the point, because the other rule to this challenge is that weight loss must be done in a healthy manner. The point isn’t so much to lose the weight but to improve health. That means no skipping meals or fad diets or impossible-to-keep decisions like “I’ll never eat dessert again”. This is about taking the next 4 months to make some lifestyle changes that should result in steady, consistent weight loss and increased health. The 10:4 Challenge is about baby steps. It is about no longer accepting the excuses we all make for ourselves and going forth as a group to accomplish small, but important, changes in our lives. I have tried this sort of thing before, alone, and it doesn’t work. My hope is that if we do this as a community and encourage one another on a fairly regular basis that we will all see steady results and will feel much the better for it. "

It appealed to me, because it doesn't encourage a crash diet. It's all about doing it the right way. That's the only way that works for me. I have to watch myself not to start eating less and less and/or binging. I want to lose weight, but not at all costs. I also have to take my underactive thyroid into account. And I want to exercise; I can't do a lot, but I can do more than I did the last months.
The amount in the challenge is not what's the most important. Convert-me told me that 10 pounds is 4.536 kilogram. That's attainable, but I need to lose more. I already started watching my weight and eating habits in the beginning of april. I was 110.2 kg (242.9 lbs) and that's BMI 36.8! Time to get a grip... I got a new pair of scales, that measures weight, fat, water and muscle percentage. I don't do a particular diet, because that's no good. I eat everything I want, but in moderation. It doesn't work to ban things. I try to make healthy choices, but if I really crave chocolate I better take some. Nothing wrong with that.

It's only fair to start the challenge now. In the first month I always lose a lot, but mostly water. I won't post too many numbers, but here are some:

• my start: 110.2 kg - 46% fat - BMI 36.8
• 10:4 start: 104.9 kg - 45% fat - BMI 35