jerbear

You could try a Fage Day if you would rather not fast all day. I have used both a Fage Day and a Steak Day and actually had better losses with the Fage Day: 3 lbs. with Fage verses 1.5 with steak. My blog from a week or so ago has more info about the Fage Day if you are interested.

Also, I know it is so frustrating to see the scale fluctuate, but I try to remind myself that Dr. Simeons actually wrote that it was expected to have to do a steak day in P3. I read people writing on the forums about not having to do a steak day as if it is some kind of badge of honor. However, Simeons was clear that part of the stabilization process in P3 is to fluctuate over 2.2 and then correct the body with a steak day. I think it is more normal to need a correction day than it is to not need one, if that makes sense. (Of course, I'm jealous of those not needing correction days! LOL.)

Good luck!

Agree. P3 is a little frustrating trying to figure out what will or won't cause weight gains. How much is actually water weight, how much might be food sensitivities, how many calories are okay and what combo of protein/fat/carb ratios. I'm just trying to take it one day at a time as long as I don't get over that magic 2+.

I couldn't find the original posting but Grammy/Colleen posted this sorry for the length

This post is also from Grammy, and one that I really thought hit home for the problems on P3 for most of us! So I am copying and posting here....again, protocol just says NO STARCH NO SUGAR for this phase...so EAT UP PEEPS! lol


Here is the discussion I was remembering:

okay i will quote from page 45 of linda prinster take on Dr. S. protocol. "Please note that most participants are successful going immediately to a minimum daily intake of 1500 calories with the correct foods (no bad-for-you sugars or straches) because of the following calculations:
HCG releases about 1500 to 4000 calories per day into your system (per Dr. S.'s manuscript) + 500 calories that you are eating on the vlcd = 2000 to 4500 calories per day.
So, to come off the VLCD (very low calorie diet) and enter maintenance (P3) with less than 2000 calories is seriously cutting the number of calories your body has been using every day with the HCG. Therefore, your body kicks in to starvation mode.
For example, if you go from 2000 calories (on HCG) to even 1200 calories, you have not increased by 700 calories (1200 calories on maintenance - 500 calories on HCG); instead you have decreased by 800 (2000 calories on HCG - 1200 calories on maintenance), sending your body back into starvation metabolism that got you here in the first place. This is very difficult mentally for many life time dieters, so understanding is critical."
while on HCG our bodies are living on and getting a lot of calories even tho we are not eating the calories. If we lose 1/2 pounds a day, that is 1750 calories (3500 calories = 1 pound), plus we are also burning the 500 calories we are eating, that is 2250 calories per day, plus our bodies need calories just to survive.
on the same page I quote "most partcipants need to eat a MINIMUM of 1500 calories, you are setting up your system for the future. For example, most people do NOT want to be able to eat ONLY 1500 calories a day in the future. Eating less calories than your system is willing to handle may encourage your system to require less, which in turn would support less calories as you move into the future." end of quote.
I take this to mean we need to eat as many calories as our bodies can handle without going over the 2 lb LIW mark. As long as the foods are no starch and no sugars, and we are not going over the LIW by 2 pounds, we need to eat a lot of calories. Our bodies are being reset. In P2 we give our bodies 2000 to 4500 calories per day, in P3 we also need to give our bodies as many calories of the right foods (without going 2 lbs over the LIW) so that we reset our 'system for the future' so that we can stop being life-long dieters and not have to count calories.
On page 49 she goes on to say that "When people have a hard time on the maintenance Phase it is usually one of 3 reasons:
1. Not eating ENOUGH food, especially protein........if you are a lifetime dieter, you may try to keep eating too little to avoid gaining back the weight you just lost. This is a MAJOR, COMMON mistake....your body has been revved up to handle 2000 to 4500 calories PER DAY. Going into maintenance phase and cutting back to 800 to 1200 calories would send your body back into the 'grab everything and hold on to it, starvation mode.
Colleen

Colleen, Thank you so much for providing this information. I'be been looking all over for somethig about this. I definately agree and I think I have been starving myself. That makes a lot of sense now. I don't know why I had it in my myset that my metabolism needed to be slowly turned up by slowly increasing calories. I guess it just seems so odd from going from 500 to 2000.