Diet and vigil

My current diet is a workout/rest day cycle.  Fewer calories on rest days than on the workout days.

I have been following this plan for a while now.  I've been bad in the last couple weeks about either tracking my food, or keeping within the limits I have set for myself.  Given that I know that the diet is the core part of my weight loss program, falling outside the limits seems like a good way to work at failing.

My diet is not restrictive - other than calories.  I can eat anything I want, whenever I want, and I don't worry too much about the overall percentages of protein to fat to carbs.  I know that with some careful planning and balancing, I could probably work out a decent carb cycling process, which is supposed to have very good results.  But I think I will hold on that one, as I am not in charge (usually) of the composition of meals.

My diet isn't going to be a fixed thing.  I'll be looking at it every week, and reviewing in more depth at 2 and 4 week intervals, looking for places I can make a change to try to improve the diet.  If I find I am loosing too fast, I'll bump up my calories, and if too slow, then I'll notch the calories down, and give some thought to throwing in either more NEPA, or perhaps a non-workout exercise set during the day.  Maybe even some cardio.

Generally, the level of calories I am currently eating is pretty good.  I am occasionally hungry (a good thing), but I am not starving for food.  Rest days are the most difficult, as the number of calories is lower than a workout day, which means that my body is constantly adjusting to eating less or more food.

There have been some benefits to this.  I have begun to find foods that I can eat which keep me full, but at the same time do not provide with massive numbers of calories.  I need to work a bit more on finding more of these foods so I don't end up just eating the same thing every day.

At the moment, I am trying to gear towards a 2 pound per week rate of loss.  This is on the upper end, but I believe it is sustainable.  I think I'm just a bit under that pace this week, but with some extra vigil, I should be able to get there.  Likely, I will be making a downward notch in the food allowance for next week.  A small nudge, but hopefully enough to start to offset the balance.

After all, a 50 calorie per day deficit accounts for 350 calories per week.  Effectively 10% of a pound, throwing in a bit of cardio or other NEPA should bump me to the right spot.