Phase 3 of the protocol is what we call the maintenance phase. This is probably one of the most important phases in the diet. When you reach the last day of your HCG intake, you must stay on the 500 calorie diet for an additional 3 days. This makes sure that all traces of HCG are out of your system before you begin to introduce larger portions of food back into your body.

When the 3 days are up you can now increase your daily intake of food, not increasing more then 1500 calories per day. This part of the phase is continued for 2-3 weeks after the last day of the 500-calorie diet. You will now introduce things like dairy products and other healthy fats such as avocados back into your diet. Protein is the most important part of this phase, and keeping it at a good working level for your body type. The average person needs about 80 grams of protein per day (Nutritional Value) not to be confused with 80 grams of weight, but actual nutritional content. When moving from phase 2 to 3 people can be excited by the new food choices open to them neglecting phase 2 foods such as steak and chicken that give them the proper protein content they need. Though phase 3 is less restricted with food choices it’s still important to keep up a high level or protein throughout your day. Adding things like eggs and cheese will help along the way. A little trick that I found is protein drinks or supplements. Making sure that you are not adding any sugar or high carbs, most protein powders are safe. A great tasting and also quality protein powder is Muscle Milk, there are pre-made drinks and also do it yourself powders available. These type of products are great for when your on the go and don’t have time to get the adequate intake of protein your body needs.

In this phase you must weigh yourself every morning after you have emptied your bladder and other bodily substances. Your weight should not increase 2 pounds from your last weight the morning before. If this happens you must have high protein day.

You can also have what is called a Steak day which consists of 2 eggs for breakfast a steak for lunch and a large helping of cheese followed by another large steak for dinner.

The reason protein days work is because protein is not something your body stores as fat so if all you consume all day is large amounts of protein your body has no choice but to burn whatever else it can find which is usually the fat you overate the night before. When you wake up the next morning you should find that you are now back to the weight you were before.

In phase 3 you are teaching your body stabilization which is why it is so important to stay on course. I know that once you are free to eat whatever you want temptation can become too powerful. But this is the phase in which most people tend to gain all the weight they lost back. I have failed at this phase more then once! Your body is getting use to it’s new weight and programming itself to keep that weight, so in the future when you start re-introducing fats and sugars your body will stand its ground and say “ Nope this is the weight I’m suppose to stay at!” which then tells your body that everything else must be burned and not stored. When you fluctuate your body is unsure what your weight needs to be and it will get confused on what items need to be stored and what needs to be burned which might not bring the best results.