Fresh Salad
How do you know if you should eat clean or do a correction day? Fairly often we tell individuals who struggle with a gain to “eat clean,” but few people understand what we are talking about, so I wanted to do a quick review of when and when not to do a correction day.
1. If you are in phase 3 and have gone over 2 lbs of the last doseage weight (LDW). Dr. Simeons indicates in Pounds and Inches that if you have gone over the 2lbs you must do a correction day on the same day that the 2lbs is registered. When you begin Phase 3 there may be a few times when you are adding new foods that this will happen. The goal of Phase 3 is to identify the foods that cause you to gain. In working with many individuals I have learned a few things that usually cause gains in Phase 3. There is usually an introduction of new foods that is too fast, hidden sugars (sucrose, sucralose), introducing too much dairy too quickly, or they have gone over the caloric intake. Also many get lax in Phase 3 and will cheat or drink alcohol which will cause them to retain water and gain. Click here for the correction days link.
2. Eating clean vs correction days. Eating clean is another option to help you re-stabilize. When we refer to this we want you to cut all dairy and fats out of your diet for a few days. Eat Phase 2 type foods, but just more of them, to reach your calories for the day. This will usually correct the problem within a few days. Why do we prefer this method? After you have been in Phase 3 for awhile or are in Phase 4, you can usually identify what we did to gain. Eating clean places you back in the conscious mind of eating healthy and you will make better choices once you have done this for a few days and will not introduce sugars or chemicals to your body.
3. Do you do a correction day if your gain is hormonal or because of TOM? In almost all cases, no. If you are tracking your gains you will see a pattern of when you have hormone related gains. It is very common for the body to retain fluid during this time to help you go through the normal process. This always corrects itself. Make sure there is no other reason for the gain and try to eat clean and get your vitamins and drink the recommended amount of water, and it will all balance itself.
4. Back-to-back correction days? We do not recommend this. If you feel there is a need for this then there is a problem that needs to be identified during Phase 3. Check the Phase 3 tab and see what you are doing wrong. Eat clean for a few days and get back on track.
5. Are there any other correction days for Phase 2? No- The only correction day in Phase 2 is the apple day which is its use is indicated for stalls only. If you cheat in Phase 2, doing a correction day will slow down your overall process. It is better to get back to following the protocol correctly and expect a 3 day delay due to the cheat. Click here for Phase 2 Basics.
Don’t stress over the gains. Eat healthy and get back on track in order to take it off and leave it off!
