Another Round With hCG & Maintenance with Phase 3

Ahhhh, the New Year is coming. I'm so happy! For so many reasons. But probably the first reason is that I've committed myself to one final round with hCG. And I'm very excited. I've been at my current weight now for two months and have become marginally dissatisfied with the way I look. I know I could lose a little more around my middle and feel that much better about myself. And while I know I look good at the weight I'm at right now, isn't it every girl's wish to lose their vanity pounds? Not just the extra baggage we're carrying around - but ALL of the weight. Get back to their high school weight just once? Okay maybe not every girl wants to do that but I do. Just to see if I feel healthy and know that I am back to square one: starting over. Giving myself another chance at keeping the weight off.

A little recap of what my weight's been doing for the past two months and a few tips to those of you out there who are struggling with maintenance at any Phase. Make sure you check out my post on maintaining from Phase 2 to Phase 3 as it has very specific information about that transition.

My weight pretty much settled out at 130 which was about 1 lb from my last hCG weight. If I worked out 4-5x a day for 15-25 minutes of running, I was able to stay there fairly easily. I did my first steak day about 3 weeks after taking my last hCG in preparation for adding carbs in.

Adding carbs back in proved to be stressful for me. My body seems to prefer a much higher protein percentage and when the protein would dip, I would gain. I had many days of "being careful": eating salads, very few carbs (like about 40grams) and having a straight meat/veggie for dinner. Honestly, while it was still much better than Phase 2 taking hCG, and still better than strict dieting, I didn't love that I had to be so very careful. And then I learned a few things over the next few weeks and into Christmas that will help you and me next time. They are:

1) Take your first 3 weeks of Phase 3 (the adding carbs back in phase) and only add in complex carbs like bread, potatoes, pasta etc. Let your body adjust to these things first.

2) As soon as you start into Phase 3, consider taking a protein supplement like replacing your morning meal, or a post-workout meal with a protein shake. Adding the extra protein will give your body a big protein advantage on the balancing act of protein vs. carbs. This helped me a lot during Christmas when I was eating a lot more sugar than I normally could eat and not gain.

3) After your body has adjusted to complex carbs, start slowly adding sugar in. I know by this point you may be really jonesing for it but take it slow and you won't be sorry.

4) Work out - there's just no two ways about it. You want to maintain a healthy and lean body, you need to work at it a little. Do a hard, fast workout in the morning and you will be able to relax for the rest of the day. I jump on the treadmill and have a quick run. And since my mind knows it only has to do it for less than 20 minutes, I get less resistance there.

There, so those are my tips for maintaining for Phase 3.

If any of you out there are still waffling about whether or not to do this, listen up. For the past two months, I open my closet and every single thing I pull out of there to put on makes me feel fabulous. There's nothing in my closet that makes me feel fat, is tight or makes me self conscious. I look in the mirror and like what I see. I never feel like my weight is the first thing people see about me. My weight issues are finally a thing of the past and it's like my life has started over. Do you realize how much of your crappy feelings and issued are wrapped up in your weight? Just get rid of it and find out who you really are!