Shrimp provides nutrients such as vitamin B12, vitamin E, niacin and omega-3 fatty acids. Shrimp is also low in saturated fat making it a great dish to lose weight.

P2 Garlic Shrimp

• 100g shrimp (peeled & deveined)
• 4-6 cloves minced garlic
• 2 Tbs chicken broth or 2 Tbs MCT oil
• Himalayan Pink Salt and pepper, to taste
• Chopped basil

Heat nonstick pan over MED-HI heat. Mix of the broth with pepper, minced garlic, and other spices. Add to pan.
Cook less than a minute. Be sure not to burn the garlic. Add shrimp. Cook 3 minutes. Top with basil and serve.

Grilling instructions:

Preheat the grill to medium.
Grill shrimp for three to five minutes, until pink and curled. Be careful not to overcook. Larger shrimp take longer than smaller ones, of course! While cooking, baste shrimp with mix from above.

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Phase 3 Secret to Keeping the Weight Off

We have people ask us all the time about Phase 3 and tips for stabilization.  We have a special section on the blog dedicated to Phase 3 stabilization.  We strongly believe in stabilization before moving into any other phase, whether you are going back to Phase 2 or on to Phase 4.  The importance of resetting the hypothalamus is written in Pounds and Inches.  Dr. Simeons recommends a six week break between rounds and I believe this allows you enough time to get completely stabilized before moving on.   We were very careful to stabilize before adding in any starch or sugars to our diet.

I am 100% positive if you track you foods and see what is making you gain in the beginning of Phase 3 you will be able to correct this and modify your diet to stabilize.  There are some who see gains with milk or cheese, so it is best to see how your body responds to the Phase 3 basic foods by adding them in slowly and tracking the results.  Use Fit Day or something similar to journal your diet and keep good notes.  You should also check your calorie range for your current height and weight for maintaining at Calorie Council website.

The biggest reason we gain in Phase 3 is not tracking our daily diet, staying within our calories and cheating.  It is easier to cheat in Phase 3 when we are not as limited in our food choices or as disciplined.  Don’t let your hard work be for nothing and really concentrate on stabilizing correctly so you will not regain the weight.  It worked for all of us and it will work for you too!  Good Luck~ Shawna

Related Links:

Phase 3 Stabilization Section

Calorie Control Council

Pounds and Inches

Fit Day Website

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fitday.com Chart

In Phase 3 you consume at least 1500 calories a day (this varies, use the calculator to determine your exact calories) with no sugars and starches. If you are having problems stabilizing then check the calorie control link to get your maintenance caloric intake amount.

The purpose is to reset and lock-in your new base weight. Dr. Simeons states the importance of weight stabilization and when you can do another round of the protocol, if necessary, or move on to Phase 4 – lifetime maintenance.

Check out the Phase 3 stabilization resource guide for more tips and information.

Weight loss should not be the objective of this during phase 3 it is about re-setting the hypothalamus, so that we NEVER have to regain the weight.  The only way that happens is through STABILIZATION. Maintaining gives you the ability to become more aware of your body, and what increases your gains and losses.  You will see what carbs and sugars you can eat and what you need to stay away from. If you fail to follow the protocol during P3 you will most likely gain weight when you begin adding back other foods in Phase 4.

Phase 3 can be the most difficult and most important part of the whole process. Not only should it be done correctly to maintain your last dosage weight, but here are many other things phase 3 will teach you. It is important that you do not continue to lose weight in this phase because any loss in P3 most likely will be loss of muscle or structural fat.  According to  Dr. Simeons protocol in Pounds and Inches you need to stay within 2 pounds over or under your LDW.

You will need to make adjustments to your food choices and portion sizes to maintain your LDW. Learn how individual foods affect your weight as they are added back into your diet. Be careful of introducing too many new foods at once. Try to introduce foods one at a time – it will help determine if a certain food causes a gain or loss. Try to go with lean protein, fruit and vegetables during the first few days of P3 and then slowly introduce foods like nuts and dairy one at a time, so that if you react negatively it is easily identified.

Keeping a daily food journal will also help you pinpoint problem foods and discover which ones work well for you. Use a journal that will help calculate your calorie, protein and fat intake. Learn what portion sizes you can eat without gaining weight. Everyone is different, so you need to find out what will work for you. Keeping a journal will help identify the foods that cause you to gain weight. It may be fruit, nuts, or just the amount of a certain food like dairy products. After you eliminate problem foods, you can slowly bring them back in to your diet in P4.

We have found that when we get to the maintenance phase we realize there is a change in our attitude towards food. We find ourselves not going back for a second helping of food, and we are satisfied with what is on our plate. We are not as hungry as we were before starting the protocol.  We find that we now eat because we need to eat, not because we have this overwhelming desire to eat. Some also find that they no longer have the emotional attachment to food they once had.

A good way to begin P3 is to keep your vegetable and fruit choices the same for the first several days and add additional proteins and fats. In this phase you should not be trying to limit your fat intake. You need to have your protein intake at about 60%. You don’t want to keep losing weight or go over the 2 pound range, so if you are still losing you can increase your vegetable consumption. Add green beans, broccoli, cauliflower and other low glycemic veggies into your diet. If you are maintaining nicely, then add  slowly introduce some new fruits. If you gain weight reduce the amounts or eliminate the latest foods you added for a few days and then try to add them again.

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Day of Last Dose:

You must follow the Phase 2 very low calorie diet (500 calories) on the last day of your dosage and for the next 72 hours.  Be sure to record your LDW as this will be your stabilization goal for the next 3 weeks.

Phase 3 – Maintenance:

In Phase 3 you eat normally with the exception of no sugar and no starch. Continue to drink plenty of water daily.  I also recommend continuing with tea daily.

During this period, starches (like rice, bread, pasta, and potatoes) and sugar are, by far, the most dangerous. You can add in fats (like oil, butter, cheese, yogurt, fatty meats like bacon and sausage) at this time, but please note that starch plus fat can spell trouble as it states in Dr. Simeons Pounds and Inches Manuscript. Read your labels and avoid any hidden sugars.

The goal of Phase 3 is to maintain your new set weight (LDW), not to lose more weight.  This is the most critical time for long term success. You do not want your weight to go above or below the 2lb. mark of your LDW.  If you do gain over 2 lbs at any point you need to restart your three week stabilization period over from that date.  We strongly believe in 3 consecutive weeks of stabilization with no gain or loss over 2lbs.

After your goal weight is reached, complete Phase 3 followed by the beginning three weeks of Phase 4 maintenance which is when you SLOWLY begin to add back in sugar and starch as you follow the requirement not to gain or lose more than 2 lbs. from your LDW. Weight is always controlled by morning weighing after emptying the bladder.  Once you have reached your goal weight you will find a huge change in your dietary habits.   Once you have worked this hard and learned to eat healthy you will find new ways and healthier ways to add natural sugars back into your diet.

Moving ‘SLOWLY’ is the key word to success.  You want to add new foods slowly and preferably one at a time to monitor how your body reacts to each food item.  Keeping a journal is a great way to reflect on what makes your body gain weight.  Everyone is different and, for example, cheese may make some gain weight while others can eat it with no issues.

If You Still Need to Lose More Weight: After completing the Phase 3 maintenance interval that follows each course of Phase 2, you can resume Phase 2 if additional weight loss is desired. This next round is commonly referred to as Round 2, Phase 2. (The first round is abbreviated as R1P2, and is progressively described as R2P2, then it is R3P2, then R4P2, etc.)

Helpful Phase 3 Suggestions:

Continue to keep a food journal.

Continue to weigh daily.

It may help to eat two apples and one grapefruit per day.

Be careful with very sweet fruit.

It may be helpful to sparingly eat nuts, seeds, cheese, milk, and yogurt, having a maximum of only one serving per day.

When People Have a Hard Time in Phase 3 it is usually:
Not eating enough food, especially protein – you should be eating a minimum of 1500 calories or if you are of short stature check this link to discover you maintenance caloric rate.

Eating sugars and starches (intentionally or not) – ex. Pizza is a starch!….Try this P3 Pizza recipe.

Important Phase 3 Information:

You do not need to watch your protein and best to keep your caloric intake at 60% protein, while dairy and higher carbohydrate fruits and vegetables should be watched very carefully.

Unless an adequate amount of protein is eaten as soon as the Phase 2 treatment is over, protein deficiency is bound to develop, and this inevitably causes the marked retention of water known as hunger-edema. A protein deficient diet makes the body retain water. We recommend eating 60% of your daily calories in healthy lean protein.

You should never gain more than 2 lbs. without immediately correcting this, but it is equally undesirable that more than 2 lbs. be lost after treatment because a greater loss is always achieved at the expense of normal fat. Any normal fat that is lost is invariably regained as soon as more food is taken, and it often appears that this rebound overshoots the 2 lb. maximum limit.

If you have more than a 2lb. gain in Phase 3 you must do a correction day the day the gain is noted:

Correction Day Recipe Posts:

STEAK & CHEESE DAY:

STEAK DAY:

EGG DAY:

CHICKEN DAY:

TO AVOID A STEAK DAY: This method is not meant to take the place of a Steak Day. It is only intended to drop some weight when you are getting close to a required Steak Day. If you see a Steak Day drawing near, you can do the following, which will usually bring your weight down a pound or so the next day. 1) Drink lots of water that day; 2) Don’t eat until lunch; 3) Have a whole can of tuna (water packed), or chicken with mayo on either lettuce or celery for lunch; 4) Have a big portion of protein for dinner with a small salad; 5) If you are extremely hungry, you could also have 2 eggs for breakfast.

Other Helpful Phase 3 Recommendations:

Eat a large breakfast.  Try the Country Skillet Recipe

Finish your dinner 3½ hours before bedtime.

Daily take 1-3 teaspoons (or 2 Tbsp.) of raw apple cider vinegar, diluted with water. Many resources claim extensive benefits, particularly increased weight loss.

Do not  overtax your hypothalamus

Buy organic when possible.

Try sprouted grains such as Ezekiel or Julian breads.

Add permanently Coconut oil and MCT oil to your diet.

Visit our Phase 3 Category Recipe page often as new recipes are added weekly.

Use the search tool at the top of the blog and the sidebar categories to look for certain ingredients i.e. chicken, fish, beef recipes etc.

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Here are a few tips to get you back on track:

1.  Immediately restart your 500 calorie diet and follow the strict protocol in Dr. Simeons Pounds and Inches

2.  Make sure you are getting at least 2 liters of water a day and add lemon to your water.

3.  Do a detox bath or try the Health Pro Detox Plan.

4.  Stress can hinder your weight loss so relax and get plenty of rest.

5.   I always kept melba toast in my car and an apple or orange in my purse.  If I was away to long they have saved me so many times to have that with me.  One of my favorite  TO-GO lunches is the Apple Chicken Salad.  This salad has saved me so many times when I had a lunch meeting or was going to be gone from home for an extended time.

Breakfast:

Tea or coffee in any quantity without sugar. Only one tablespoonful of milk allowed in 24 hours.  Some eat their fruit mid-morning if they cannot make it to lunch.
 

Lunch:
1. 100 grams of veal, beef, chicken breast, fresh white fish, lobster, crab, or shrimp. All visible fat must be carefully removed before cooking, and the meat must be weighed raw. It must be boiled or grilled without additional fat. Salmon, eel, tuna, herring, dried or pickled fish are not allowed. The chicken must be removed from the bird.
2. One type of vegetable only to be chosen from the following: spinach, chard, chicory, beet-greens, green salad, tomatoes, celery, fennel, onions, red radishes, cucumbers, asparagus, cabbage.
3. One bread stick (grissini) or one Melba toast.
4. An apple or an orange or a handful of strawberries or one-half grapefruit.

Dinner :
The same four choices as lunch.

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(Makes 6-8 servings) Phase 3 and Phase 4

Meat, Tomato, and Zucchini Casserole

2-3 med/large zucchini

2 tsp. + 2 tsp. olive oil (may need more, depending on your pan)

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

1 green pepper, finely chopped

2 T finely minced fresh garlic

1 lb. ground beef (10% fat or less)

12 oz. ground turkey (10% fat or less)

2 C flavorful tomato-basil pasta sauce, sugar free

2 cups mozzarella or other mild cheese

Preheat oven to 350F/175C. Chop onion and green pepper. Heat 2 tsp. olive oil in a non-stick pan, then saute onion and pepper for 3-4 minutes, until just starting to soften. Add minced garlic and saute about 1 minute more, being careful not to brown the garlic. Remove the onion, pepper, and garlic mixture to a bowl.

Add 2 tsp. more olive oil to the pan. Crumble in the ground beef and ground turkey, season and cook over medium heat until the meat is well browned. Tilt pan to see if there is any extra fat, and remove with a spoon if there is, then stir cooked vegetables and garlic back into the meat. Add tomato sauce and simmer until the mixture has thickened and liquid has cooked off, about 10 minutes, then turn off heat while meat cools, cut zucchini into slices, discarding ends. Place in shallow baking dish. Stir 1 1/2 cups grated cheese into the cooled meat mixture (it doesn’t need to be completely cool), then spoon the meat-cheese mixture over zucchini.

Bake zucchini for 20 minutes, then remove from oven and use remaining cheese to top each one with a generous sprinkle of cheese. Put back in oven and bake 10-15 minutes more, until zucchini is slightly soft when pierced with a fork and cheese is melted and lightly browned. Serve hot.

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It’s key to have a high protein intake on P3. Protein requires more energy to digest than other foods and helps you to burn more calories which will help with weight loss in P3. Protein foods also help to slow down the absorption of glucose into the bloodstream which reduces hunger by reducing insulin levels and making it easier for the body to burn fat. Yipee for protein!

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Don’t overlook having fiber in your diet. Fiber helps to slow down, and sometimes even block, the absorption of some calories.

There are so many sources of fiber. Fruit is good, the best being an apple, but also blueberries, strawberries and raspberries. Green veggies such as broccoli and leafy greens. Other great sources are beans, although some stay away from beans while under maintenance as they are more starchy. Flax seeds and chia seeds are excellent sources of fiber, try adding them to yogurt, protein shakes or my steel cut oats.

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People often confuse dehydration with hunger. The next time you are hungry drink some Yerba Mate tea or a tall glass of water with Lemon. Dr. Simeons states that we can have one lemon a day while on protocol. A lemon can improve your digestion and increase your metabolism so don’t skip it.

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White Chili for Phase 4

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
1/4 C. onion, chopped
1 C. organic (or homemade) chicken broth
1 can green chilies
A few slices of jalapeño, chopped
1/8 – 1/4 tsp. ground cayenne pepper
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. dried cilantro
1 tsp. garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste
1 can Cannelloni beans, drained and rinsed
Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
2 green onions, sliced

Cook chicken and onions in coconut oil until chicken is cooked, about 5 minutes. Stir in rest of ingredients except beans. Simmer for 15 minutes. Stir in beans and simmer for 5 more minutes. Place in bowls and top with cheese and green onions.

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Grilled Steak
Onion
Cheese
Ezekiel Tortilla
Homemade Salsa

If you want to have a great lunch try this Taco.  It is made with the leanest meat, grilled with your favorite spices.
I used Ezekiel Tortillas and shredded cheese.  For toppings you can add homemade salsa and sour cream.   I made a small lettuce and tomato side.
You could use this recipe in Phase 2 VLCD Simeons protocol if you remove the tortilla and put on a bed of lettuce with the steak and homemade salsa.
I have been purchasing a great homemade salsa from the deli that is all natural and no additives and sugar free.

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Extra Virgin Raw Coconut Oil.

Useful for everything from hair conditioner to cooking, Coconut Oil is one of the few products permitted and recommended for dieters.

Benefits of Coconut Oil include promoting healthy thyroid function while reducing sugar cravings. Coconut Oil is a Medium Chain Fatty Acid, or ”GOOD FAT” that breaks down quickly, increasing metabolic rate and promoting natural weight loss. Coconut Oil also helps support a healthy immune system and digestion, helps to promote supple skin and healthy hair.

Use: Coconut oil is great for baking, cooking, sauteing, or in your favorite health shake. Also, amazing as a beauty product- for hair and body. Great supplement for butter. Adults may safely consume 1-4 tablespoons per day.

Nutrition value of Coconut Oil: Low in calories, low in fat, and nutritious, while providing the body with an energy source instead of carbohydrates. Typical stats for 16 oz. inclues: Calories (123 -), Protein, Total Fat (13.97 g), coconut oil (14 g) Coconut Oil Diet ”Gourmet Style” (Raw Organic) by Health Support.

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