The HCG diet is an amazing weight loss plan that will help you shed weight quickly but like any other diet, it’s not immune to failure. Phase 3, in particular, is as hard as the very low-calorie phase that’s why many dieters make mistakes. It presents many opportunities for mistakes. So, many dieters are tempted to go back to their old ways as they start to include more foods into their diet. It’s also calorie-restricted like phase 2, but some neglect the calorie restriction and eating up way more than what is allowed on the protocol. Eventually, they slip and gain all the weights back.
Top 10 Mistakes during the HCG Diet Phase 3
- Too many or too little calorie intakes
- Too many calorie intakes can cause a sudden spike on weight. The recommended calorie is between 900 to 1500 calories a day. During your first week doing the P3, start with 900 to 1000 calories a day. Gradually increase your calorie intake from 1000 to 1200 calories in the second week and from 1200 to 1500 calories in the third week.
- If your calorie intake is too little, your body will go into starvation mode and will hold on to the foods you eat instead of using it to fuel your body. Better count your calorie intake at all times.
- Not enough protein
- Not having enough protein on your diet will make it harder for you to keep your weight off compared to those who eat proteins regularly.
- Increase your protein intake in every meal. Have at least 200 grams per meal instead of the usual 100 grams on the very low-calorie phase.
- Try including tasty protein snacks into your diets such as protein smoothie or perhaps protein bars and supplements.
- Excessive exercise
- It’s perfectly fine to incorporate exercise on phase 3. Exercise during phase 3 of the HCG diet will help you transition on to a happy heart-healthy life. However, if you exercise to the point of muscle soreness your body will produce too much lactic acid that will allow your body to retain water.
- When you exercise, make sure that you don’t gain or lose more than 2 pounds otherwise you’ll mess up with your weight set point. In your 3rd week, you can lose or gain more than 2 pounds. You just have to be careful that it is truly muscle gain or weight loss that’s causing you to leave the 2-pound range.
- Too many cautionary food intakes
- Continue to be selective when it comes to choosing fruits and veggies because not all of them are good for you as soon as you enter phase 3.
- Avoid those that are high in starch and sugar like banana, melons, grapes, potatoes, corn, and peas. On your second week, slowly introduce some sugar and starch back. Start with those that contain natural sugar and carbs before jumping straight right into table sugars, pasta, and bread.
- Having hidden sugars and starches
- Some dieters unknowingly add starch and sugars such as sugar coating vitamin supplements, seasoning that contains sugar or protein options coated with cornstarch.
- Avoid canned fruits or veggies. Canned fruits have extra sugars in it while canned veggies are high in sodium and preservatives.
- Hidden sugars can cause weight gain and is an extra source of empty calories. Canned veggies and fruits won’t have as high nutritional value as the fresh ones.
- Cheating while on phase 3
- Since this phase is hard, many dieters end up cheating. Cheating, as you all know can be detrimental to the overall weight loss progress and should be avoided at any cause.
- Remember that this phase is as important as the very low-calorie phase. It’s hard because you’ll start introducing foods back into your diet without injecting the hormones. As a result, you may end up hungrier because the appetite suppressant effect is already lost.
- Guessing your food portion
- The biggest thing in phase 3 is portion control. You are suddenly given the freedom to eat almost anything whenever you are hungry but that doesn’t mean to say you can just guess your food portions.
- The HCG Diet requires careful measuring of portions even on phase 3 to prevent you from overeating and slipping back.
- It’s very crucial not to guess your food portion. Eat around 900 calories to 1500 calories while you’re on phase 3.
- It’s also very important that you eat adequate protein while in this phase. Instead of the usual 100 grams of protein during the second phase make it 200 grams per meal. Along with your protein, you still need one fruit and about 2 cups of veggies as well for every meal. Eating this size of meal twice a day along with breakfast will get you somewhere around 1500 calories per day.
- Skipping meals
- Skipping meals while on phase 3 is a BIG NO. This phase again is not about losing weight but on redefining your diet so you can maintain it for good.
- Skipping a meal will not accelerate your losses. Your body might go into a starvation mode and will hold onto the foods.
- Remember that your goal is to stabilize your weight and not to lose weight any further.
- Your job here is to stay within the 2-pound range.
- Track everything you eat
- Tracking your daily food intake can be very useless in identifying trigger foods. Trigger foods are foods that cause weight gain.
- You can use your HCG diet journal or an app maybe if you’re not the typical pen and paper thing.
- Once you identify the trigger foods, which are written in your journal or apps, you can easily eliminate them.
- Not weighing every day
- Getting your daily weight is a very important aspect so you can have a steak day once your weight goes over the 2-pound range.
- Keep track of your weight just as you keep track of your food portion.