By now, you should be finishing Phase 2 of the HCG Diet, and you are now curious about what will be involved in the HCG Diet Phase 3. You’ve spent weeks now taking your HCG supplements and sticking to your 500 calorie diet. You should also by now start noticing the effects of the diet on your weight. Phase 3 of HCG diet is now your next step!
HCG Diet Phase 3: Maintenance
Phase 3 of HCG Diet is what is called the “Maintenance” phase, which should last for about 3 weeks. This means that now that your body has become accustomed to the HCG intake and the low-calorie diet, it is now time to put a halt to the HCG intake, and allow your body a few days to flush the HCG out of your system. You will stay on your 500 calorie diet for three days after stopping your HCG intake. This will allow your body to remove the remaining HCG from your system. Once your body is ready, you can then boost your calorie intake up to 1500 calories per day in HCG Phase 3.
What You Should Do on Phase 3 of the HCG Diet
HCG Phase 3 will help train your body to start boosting its own metabolism without the help of HCG, which is why you will need to stop your HCG intake and flush HCG out of your system before proceeding. It usually takes about 3 days to make sure that all HCG has been removed from your body, and of course, during this time you’ll need to maintain the diet that you’ve been following since Phase 2.
Once those three days are over, however, it will then be time to start the HCG diet plan Phase 3. HCG Diet Phase 3 should last around three weeks, and during this time your body will start training itself to keep the boosted metabolism without the help of the HCG intake. On top of that, your body will now have more energy to burn with the increased calorie intake. Adding in exercise to your daily routine should also help with maintaining the increased metabolism.
During Phase 3, HCG Diet plans call for an increased amount of protein, so it will be very important to add more protein to your diet. You will have more food choices available in the HCG Diet Phase 3 meal plan, but it is very important to continue to eat high protein foods, such as steaks and chicken. Protein intake is very important, as this is what will help your body continue its boosted metabolism. Just think of your portions of much of the same meats that you ate in Phase 2, but now bigger, and you should get the idea.
Another important thing to do during the HCG diet Phase 3 is to weigh yourself every morning. This is an absolute necessity, as you need to keep track of your exact weight on a daily basis during your HCG Phase 3 diet. You will need to make sure that your weight has not increased by more than 2 pounds since your previous day’s weight. Of course, you will want to do this first thing in the morning, after your usual morning trek to the bathroom. Emptying your bladder and bowels should be done before you weigh yourself.
If by any chance you see that your weight has increased by more than 2 pounds during your HCG Phase 3 diet, then you will need to have a higher intake of protein than normal. This can be done by eating larger portions of high protein foods, or using protein supplements (ones often used by body builders, such as “Muscle Milk”). These can be added to your meals, or taken as a shake. Just make sure that you are NOT introducing sugar into your diet, as you need to stay away from this. Read the labels of any foods or supplements that you are adding into your HCG diet meal plan. It’s important to stick with the necessities of the diet.
Daily Meals
Let’s talk about some of the meals and various HCG Phase 3 foods that you can have during Phase 3. HCG diet meals should now be well known to you from Phase 2, but your HCG Phase 3 food list going to change a little. Some of the foods that were banned in Phase 2, such as dairy products and some higher calorie fruits will now be allowed in your HCG diet Phase 3 food list. Dairy products, such as cheese, in particular, are a good addition to your HCG Phase 3 diet as they will add some much-needed protein. Make sure you add plenty of protein in your HCG diet Phase 3 meal plan.
If you were using eggs as a substitute for meat during Phase 2, now it will be important to add them in your HCG Phase 3 food list as an addition to meat, rather than just as a substitute. Eggs will be an important source of protein in your HCG diet plan. Phase 3 will be important for increasing your protein intake, so don’t forget this!
The HCG Phase 3 food list will remain similar to how it was previously, but as stated above, you can now add some items to your HCG Phase 3 food list, such as dairy products, avocados, and other higher calorie fruits. HCG Phase 3 foods really do need to be high in protein, so we can’t stress enough how important it is to maintain a high protein intake in your HCG diet Phase 3 meal plan.
Having said the above, it’s important to keep your HCG diet meal plan to no more than 1500 calories per day. Going above this limit can help ruin the progress that you’ve made so far. Your HCG Phase 3 diet is important to maintain, so stick with it.
HCG Phase 3 foods to avoid will be similar to the same ones that were avoided in Phase 2. Anything with sugar must be avoided at all costs in your HCG diet food list Phase 3. Make sure you’re well aware of the HCG Phase 3 foods to avoid, stay away from them while sticking to your HCG diet food list Phase 3, and you should be all set!
Exercise during HCG Diet Phase 3
We haven’t talked about exercise much so far, but along with the HCG diet Phase 3 food list mentioned above, it is important to start a daily exercise regime. However, you don’t need to kill yourself with this. All you really need right now is to spend about 15 to 20 minutes every day walking, jogging, doing aerobics, or other forms of similar exercise. You really don’t need to strain yourself with this. All you need to do is start making this a daily habit. With a combination of your diet, exercise, and following all of the steps outlined above, you should be able to complete Phase 3 without any problems!