3 Diet Mistakes During the Maintenance Phase

If you are reading this article, then congratulations — you successfully completed Phase 2 of the diet! Most people are concerned they will gain all the weight back once they reach this phase because they are not sure what they should eat. Some people go right back to eating like they were eating before the diet. Excluding sugars and starches from your diet can be a real challenge, but it's important to carefully follow the maintenance phase guidelines. This article will give you a heads-up on the three most common mistakes that are made when moving on to the maintenance phase.

Eating Sugars and Starches

If you start eating starches and sugars, your success during the maintenance phase may be compromised. You may want to avoid pre-packaged foods because most of them contain added sugar. Although most fruits and vegetables are safe during this phase, it's best to avoid overly starchy fruits and vegetables like bananas and potatoes and to stay away from ultra-sweet fruits like watermelons and grapes. Be mindful of what's in the food you're eating, whether you make it from scratch at home, dine out at a restaurant, or use pre-made ingredients such as broths, canned goods, and spice mixes since they may contain added sugar.

Counting Calories Can Lead to Failure

Many participants restrict their daily caloric intake to maintain their weight after the diet. It is not necessary to count calories if you eat properly, are careful to avoid starches and sugars the first three weeks, add them slowly back into your diet the second three weeks, continue to journal what you eat each day and weigh yourself every morning. Some people try to continue to lose even more weight, but this is a major mistake.

Your body has become accustomed to using up to 4,500 calories each day. You certainly don't want to consume that many calories in food during the maintenance phase but limiting your caloric intake too much will cause your body to think it's starving. This result? Your body will start storing fat again and burning muscle for energy.

Determine how many calories you need each day based on your age, current weight, gender. Strive to consume at least that many calories per day. Otherwise, once you go back to normal eating after the maintenance phase, you'll likely gain weight.

Not Addressing Hunger During the HCG Diet Phase 2

If you find that you're hungry during Phase 2 and you're following the protocol to the letter, it's likely that you've either used up all your stored fat or you've developed an immunity to the HCG. If you've lost all the weight you need to lose, you can increase your caloric intake to 800 to 1,000 calories for the duration of the diet. You must continue taking the drops for a minimum of 23 days.

If you experience hunger at the end of the protocol but continue only to consume 500 calories, your body may be consuming normal fat which will be regained as soon as you start the maintenance phase. In this case, you should add two to three pounds to your weight on the last day you take HCG drops, and use this as your baseline “Last HCG” weight.