There is a common mistake many people make because it’s often advised to do this very thing in various pockets of the internet. The reason this method for P3 is suggested is because most people aren’t aware of what else works, so to be safe, they do this.
EATING ONLY P2 FOODS IN P3, JUST MORE OF IT.
You have been given this advice somewhere correct? Either had someone tell you this, or read it in a forum. Perhaps you have even done this yourself. Maybe it even worked. It probably will, because you can’t really go wrong eating plain chicken breast and onions and fennel.
So what's the issue then, if it will work?
PROBLEMS WITH THIS METHOD
PROBLEM 1: You will be lost when you get to the end of P3.
You may be “maintaining” with this method at the end of P3, but you will still have no idea what else you can eat beside chicken, fennel and radishes for regular life while still keeping that weight off.
We are all about long term maintenance here, so not knowing what more normal food you can eat in long term daily life when you are done with P3 is a big problem. So this method actually works against you because you aren't being taught a sustainable way to eat long term.
I have a theory. You know those super discouraging stats about the percentage of people who gain back weight they lost on a diet? We won't discuss those numbers here, I refuse to give them any power - I read them once and I think if someone had taken a video of me in that moment I would have looked like a literal balloon rapidly deflating.
My theory is this: I think the main cause of the higher percentage of weight regain is because most diets do not show people how to eat AFTER the diet is over. What does a maintenance diet look like? If there was something as strategic and organized and specific as the actual diets out there, my theory is that a LOT more women would maintain their weight loss, from just about any diet out there.
Here's my before hCG, after hCG, and 7 years after hCG pic. Despite my initial terror when reading those statistics, I can safely tell you to IGNORE THOSE STATS. We will get you a PLAN and you WILL maintain your hCG Weight Loss. It all has to do with learning how to eat after the diet.
PROBLEM 2 with "More P2 Foods": It's not enjoyable = you risk succumbing to your already strained willpower.
Most of us ladies who do the hCG protocol do this in either 3 or 6 week cycles. As we near the end of P2, the majority of us are feeling DONE with the diet.
We are DONE with so much food restriction. DONE with eating the same 12 foods day in and day out. You also might be starting to feel run down. The hCG protocol is effective yes, but also requires a LOT of willpower. By the end, your willpower muscle is feeling the burn.
If you decide to put yourself through yet more of these same foods, you risk screwing it up, because you are just burned out on it all already.
A lot of us tend to be all or nothing, and we find ourselves in that zone of either only larger portions of P2 foods, or faceplant in the pizza. When in a state of mental and emotional willpower fatigue, the chances you will not follow through on that "only P2 foods" idea goes down the tubes fast.
PROBLEM 3: It's simply not necessary.
Question for you: If something isn't fun, actually poses a threat to your success, and isn't necessary, then why do it?
Anyone?
The P3toLife program has over 2,500 members now. We have found this method of limiting yourself to only P2 foods in P3 is just not necessary. Ladies simply don't have trouble stabilizing, and in some cases continuing to lose, all while utilizing a MUCH wider variety of foods and fats, right away.
Examples: We have a spaghetti squash and meatballs dish that has 1 cup of cooked spaghetti squash per serving. We have a mango dessert smoothie with 1/2 cup of frozen mango.
HOW WE DO IT IN P3TOLIFE: By being creative about the amounts of the ingredients and macros (protein, carbs, fats) we use in a meal we are able to utilize a HUGE variety of ingredients right away in P3tolife, with no issues to weight maintenance. If you follow the macros, you really can eat a wide variety of foods and flavors. Like this dish in week 1 of the P3toLife program:
