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Phase 3 is what some call the Stabilization Phase.
When you arrive at the end of Phase 2 and have lost a chunk of weight on the very low calorie diet with hCG, your weight will be a little volatile for a short period of time, so you need to take some special measures to stabilize it.
Dr. Simeons designated a three week period for Phase 3 for this stabilization process to occur.
The key thing about Phase 3 is that it’s often kind of overlooked and this is the number one reason for weight re-gain from the hCG diet protocol. Let me say that again.
Taking Phase 3 lightly is the number one reason for weight re-gain after the hCG protocol.
Now that I’ve officially scared you, please don’t panic. You can do this Phase successfully and I have lots of help here to guide you through it. Let me just explain why phase 3 is so important.
It might appear like nothing is happening during this phase and therefore doesn’t seem as important, but actually the opposite is true. During Phase 2 the scale going down is a very visible guide as to what is going on inside your body. During Phase 3 the idea of the scale staying the same doesn’t seem like much of a goal. But getting your body to a point where it can handle a variety of foods and and calories fairly seamlessly without bouncing all over the place is a great way to live. Stabilization is all about getting you to that point.
There is one main goal for Phase 3
Get your weight comfortable in a certain range where it doesn’t easily move drastically up and down.
There are 3 main rules that Dr. Simeons outlined to help you get to this point:
- No Starches or Sugars for 3 weeks following Phase 2.
- Keep Your Weight Within 2 LBS of your LDW
(LDW = Last Dose Weight. Your weight on the scale the morning of your last dose of hCG) - If Your Weight Goes Above the 2 LB window, do a steak day to bring it back down.
Steak day = Eat nothing during the day but drinks lots of water, then eat a large steak and tomato or apple for dinner.
And I’ve added my own 4th rule that I think may be wise to consider:
4. Stay in Phase 3 Longer if you’ve had to do too many steak days.
The reason for this is, you want to have a good chunk of time where your weight really is fairly stable before you attempt to incorporate higher carb items again. If your weight is fluctuating a lot and you do a bunch of steak days, you get to the end of three weeks and you start incorporating carbs again – if your body really hasn’t been stable at any general weight for any length of time, it may be more challenging to begin adding carbs again successfully because you may not have really accomplished the goal for Phase 3 yet which is to become stable in a general weight range. This can happen because of overdoing it in Phase 3 (I’ve done it!) which then require multiple corrections.
IMPORTANT hCGCHICA NOTE:
While these are 3 main original rules for Phase 3 from the protocol, I have found that there are many special case scenarios to consider when it comes to WHERE you stabilize your weight (not necessarily within 2 lbs) and it’s important to learn about these or you may think you are failing when you’re really succeeding and just need to factor in your special case scenario.This is why I’ve created a whole section on my site where you can really research the nitty gritty of Phase 3 so you can approach it in the most logical way for you personally or troubleshoot issues that come up:
The Nitty Gritty of Phase 3
4 Additional Phase 3 Tips
Tip #1: If You Want To Be extra cautious
You don’t have to do these things, but if you want to be extra cautious, or are having trouble stabilizing your weight with the basic rules, these 3 additional things can really help.
a. Eat to hunger. ie. eating to be satisfied but not overly full.
b. Introduce calories and amounts of food gradually.
c. Introduce dairy, nuts, and fats slowly, or wait till Phase 4 to add one
or more of these food groups. The reason being, these are common food sensitivities.
More on this idea of being extra cautious in the Best Way to Do Phase 3 post.
Remember, this isn’t necessarily required to be successful in P3 – it’s just if you want to be cautious OR are running into trouble and need to tighten things up. There is also a Do-Able Way to Do Phase 3 that works for many (as this method worked for me).
Tip #2: If Remember the POINT of P3
Don’t allow yourself to get too sidetracked by a specific number on the scale so much as remembering the main goal for Phase 3.
There are times when you may choose to stabilize at a higher weight than the 2 lbs. the point of this phase is to become stable at a new lower weight.
Whether it’s 2 lbs, or 4 lbs higher, in the end doesn’t really matter. You might stabilize UNDER 2 lbs. Try to not to get too focused on a specific number so much as the goal of seeing your weight become steady.
Tip #3: Eat Real Food
It’s possible that before this diet you had some less than healthy eating habits. I did. Make this a time to continue the eating of REAL WHOLE FOODS with as little processing as possible.
I’ve been surprised at how much a difference additives, chemicals, and the like, while being “calorie free”, can make in our efforts to both stabilize and maintain weight.
Tip #4: Get More Detailed Info
I have a TON more detailed guidance here help you through this phase. P3 is just not as reliable or easy to navigate as Phase 2.
There are a bunch of “special case” scenarios as I already mentioned, depending on how you chose to do Phase 2 of the diet, that will affect where and how to effectively stabilize in P3.
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I’m at my wits end here. I’ve done HCG, this makes the 4th round. I was at 155lbs and got down to 137.4. I did a hair over 4 wks. I hardly had fruit or toast, just wasn’t hungry and had a really hard time the last 1.5wks of P2, I lost maybe 3lbs. I’ve read her articles on not eating fruit on P2 and not being in your true LIW. I’m just 6 days in my 1st wk of P3 and 3.5lbs up. I’ve adjusted my LIW from 137.4 to 139.4. This morning my weight is 141.0, so I’m half a pound away from 2lb mark. My hunger is crazy, I’m craving fat like no ones business and chocolate, which from research can be from hunger and needing supplements like calcium/magnesium. I don’t go poop easily, it takes 3 days and then assistance like a suppository or Vitamin C/other supplements. I found a no carb, no fat, no sugar protein, which I’ve taken 2x and when I eat it my cravings go away. I am down to a nice size and very confident in where I am, but I can’t continue having these feelings of hunger, stress and worry. But also I don’t want to blow up like a balloon. Please, any help?? 😭😭😭😭
Hi Dawnela,
This is Lucelle, Rayzel’s assistant. Nice to meet you! 🙂
I’m so sorry to hear you’re having a hard time. I would suggest that if you are hungry you should definitely eat more, it seems like you’re eating too little. Please read this more detailed article on how to do Phase 3 here: https://hcgchica.com/phase-3-hcg-diet-how-to-best-way Rayzel mentioned gradually increasing your calories there.
Magnesium really helps with constipation and here are some tips for that: https://hcgchicahelphub.com/what-can-i-take-for-constipation-on-the-hcg-diet/
Should one comply with the 2 pounds parameter if you are completing your round without fruit?
Hi Rae,
Rayzel has a blog post that would answer this: http://hcgchica.com/weight-gain-in-phase-3-2-no-fruits-in-phase-2-affects-p3/
Hope that helps!
Li-an
My LDW was 165. I am about to enter week three of P3. My weight fluctuates between 160-162. I had one day that I weighed 163, but that changed the next day.
Am I setting myself up for failure? I am steadily increasing my calories, but am not stabilizing within the 2 pound mark. It makes me nervous. I started this diet at 186.2 and I really do not want to chance putting it all back on.
Any advice or suggestions are appreciated!
Hi Christina!
Rayzel personally thinks losing during P3 is fine. Quite a number do this.
So as long as you’re following protocol then you’re doing okay.
Thank you, I was worrying about this too.
Can anyone comment on how to incorporate the supplements sold on the website? When and how to take?
Also does anyone use Apple Cider Vinegar daily?
I do take ACV daily!!
This is my second try at the HCG diet. The first time I did a 23day round and lost 17.5lbs. I messed up on P3 not that bad but I did gain back 7lbs. I just started another round Friday October 12th (ordered from one of the pharmacies you recommended) I’m going to do another 23day round and want to loose 10-15lbs. My concern is P3 because I don’t eat beef, and Dr. Simeon said to have a steak day on this phase to get back on track. Have you heard of any other HCG’rs that don’t eat beef and have a possible remedy to get back on track in this instance?
Hi Julia!
Yes, I’ve received some emails like that. 🙂
You can also eat chicken with a little bit of skin in place of the beef.
-Lucelle
Ehstabout if you don’t eat meat at all ????
Hey Connie! This is Rayzel. This is a bit more challenging- at this time, because I’m a meat eater and what I share on the blog mostly comes from my personal experience, I don’t know as much what to suggest for those who are vegan and vegetarian. I am endeavoring to find more of such individuals who’ve done this protocol successfully to find out what they did- I have a vegeterian interview coming up in a couple months, so stay tuned for that – I believe she ate veggie burgers/crumbles and quinoa and eggs on P2, and during P3 I think she did similar with more veggies and fats involved.
Hi hcgchica. Glad I found your website! This is R1 P2 D18 Vcld 23 day cycle down 12 though mostly water weight. My last injection will be this coming Sunday. But I have 3 challenges that I’m really nervous about and would love some advice. 1) tom coming later this week (th or fri). 2) I leave for a business conference in another state on Monday through Thursday and have absolutely no control over my food preparation for the four days after my last injection. 3) then on memorial day which is the following Monday I go out of the country for vacation for a week. Again, very little control over food preparation. I am terrified of gaining back what I’ve lost. Please help.
Hi, I am coming to the end of my phase 2 and looking for ideas, so thank you for your site. Having read a number of discussions, it appears that my weight loss has not been as great as others…but you know what…I am over the moon with my success! I have dropped over 23 pounds in 5 weeks…the best I have done in ages…I am 45 with a slow thyroid (for which I take medication and have done continually through the course), I am also pre-menopausal…making weight loss an absolute nightmare. My target is only another 11 pounds, and I know that it will be harder as I start to introduce more exercise and training (muscle being heavier). I actually started to feel “slim” yesterday for the first time in years. The only thing I really miss is my crisps and wine…so the count down has started (don’t worry – only in moderation I know)
What I would really like advice on is moisturisers etc. Do you have any tips on when I can start using my normal creams/oils again? Do I just slowly introduce them? Maybe on my body first, and then back into my food? I know pure coconut oil is highly recommended…should I start with that first? Any comments or advise would be greatly appreciated.
I’ve been on the injections for ten days, and I’ve lost 24 pounds! I never thought it was possible as a 40 yr old male to lose this stomach, but it is nearly GONE!!!
This is my 19th day on the HCG protocol and your site has been the most helpful.. My start weight was 146.8 and went to 148.6 after the load days. This morning I was 136.2. So, 10.4 pounds in 19 days.
Trouble spots:
1.My prescription was to inject 150 iu a day but I started at 125 iu’s. I was losing weight but very hungry. Following your advice I increased my dose so as not to be hungry. I made the mistake of going to 140 iu’s. I continued to be hungry, not ravenous but a little uncomfortable. After 7 days I decreased it to130 iu’s and there was the sweet spot I skipped over. Now I’m hungry at all. It’s surprising how important it just a little tweak is. Adjusting up just 5 iu’s at time is good advice.
2. Stall: On day 10 my weight was down 8lbs from my start weight and I was loving the rapid loss and then it stalled for 8 days! Thanks to your site and all of the comments I was able to ride it out even though I felt panicky. Then I woke up to a 2 pound loss and have been at 136.2 for 2 days. If this is another stall I’ll be patient again.
Thanks for all your support. Just wondering what would Dr. Simeione say about the case for a Massage Therapist who uses baby oil for most of her treatments.
Baby oil if it was mineral oil was okay – that was in Dr. Simeons original protocol that the use of mineral oil was okay. I hope that helps! – Rayzel
Thank you so much…Yes it does! Here’s another question for you. You mentioned using Cytomel for Hypo thyroid…I have the same condition as do 60 million other people in the US. Who recamended cytomel to you and how were you told it was different than Levithyrox? Cynomelplus was recamended to me but its been difficult to regulate. So what I’m wondering is if you took the thyroid med while on your P2? The book pounds and inches says not to take any such meds and that having been on Thyroid meds sometimes makes the HCG work more slowly. Perhaps there are more recent finding or your own experience that you can share. Thanks again for your response.
Hi again @folkwoman1234:disqus my naturopathic doctor, a fairly widely known alternative health practice, is the one who initially discovered my hashimoto’s and hypothyroid state through testing and prescribed me cytomel. It was only after I went home and started researching hashi’s and thyroid medication options that I realized he had given me the good stuff! 😉 So glad I didn’t get put on t4 meds as I’ve read so many bad stories about this not really helping through places like the stopthethyroidmadness.com website. I did take the cytomel (when I was on it) during P2. I wasn’t taking thyroid meds every round though- my thyroid function has gone up and down over the past few years as I’ve treated myself for lyme and stuff like that, so one round I was very healthy and off all adrenal and thyroid treatment. But I think for at least 3 of my rounds I was on the cytomel. To be honest, I do not think it’s at all clear about the advice on removing medications like thyroid meds from his protocol, so that is why most people keep it in because it’s not usually at all safe to just stop taking thyroid medication- I think most docs would feel very uncomfortable with this without knowing how the hCG was going to make things better. So the answer is I don’t know! :)- For me, it seems that those with hypothyroid conditions that are untreated are the ones who lose more slowly- that’s just my observation. Those who have metabolisms where they should because of thyroid supplementation seem to lose better. But whether or not this changes the idea about the body healing itself and doing better on it’s own, I just don’t know. I hope that helps a little! – Rayzel