Breathing, Planning for Weight Loss and Maintenance

I've been mindful of my breathing for the past few days. I'm trying to build a habit of relaxed, nasal, breathing--using my diaphragm, of course.  I had chronic nasal congestion when I ate SAD so I tend to be a mouth-breather. Correct breathing is supposed to be good for your blood pressure. I can't speak to that yet but I swear my fingernails look more pink.

Other than the fascination with breathing, I've thought a lot about my upcoming shift back to a weight-loss mentality as well as my eventual transition to true maintenance--as in, that point at which I decide my body weight is about right. 

Since I'm paying an unnatural amount of attention to my eating habits while pretending I'm NOT obsessed about food, I've noticed my appetite varies a surprising amount from day to day. Yesterday, for example, my food intake started with coffee (cream, honey) as usual. I ate a whole grapefruit in late morning and a while later I had 2/3 c. yogurt with a sliced banana. In the afternoon I ate a can of sardines and some fresh strawberries. And that's it. I had some lamb steaks thawed but never got hungry.

Today, on the other hand, at mid-day I've already had my coffee (cream, honey) and 2/3 c yogurt with a sliced banana and some strawberries plus bacon and 3 eggs. The bacon was ends and pieces, but I'd guess it was the equivalent of 3 full strips of regular-cut bacon. And I think that'll just be the first meal of two: I plan to make a nice leafy salad and eat that lamb. 

Tomorrow it's entirely possible I will have my coffee and call it a day. I've learned I totally thrive on a 3-day cycle of light intake, generous intake and fasting. Don't ask me about the biology behind it, but I am thriving and one or 2 such cycles each week may be my natural form of maintenance.

So here I am. I feel like I'm actually learning a lot during this interval. My weight-loss season will start Monday, Apr30th with a weekly routine of fasting on Mon-Wed-Fri with light intake on Tues-Thu. The weekends will probably follow 2-day cycles of light and generous food. If that feels too punishing I can adjust as needed but I think it will be just right. I'm planning to pick up my exercise level a bit and I'm shooting for an average of about a pound per week for 5-6 months. I won't be using a scale, but about 10 pounds of weight change is around one clothing size. I'm currently 2-3 sizes above my desired ideal.