Last week I was still upvoting profligately, as had been my practice from the get-go. However, I read the white paper (which, apart from some relatively simple math, is not too impossible) and learned that if I didn't reign in my voting, my VP would continue to be debased and never recharge.

It seems that voting until your VP is down to 70% or so, and then waiting for recharge is about the best you can do. Your read of the white paper will prolly give you a better answer than I can.