Hello Cassie! I am just returning from a long summer vacation so I apologize for the delayed response.
First congrats on getting to Phase 3! Thats amazing 🙂
As far as adding in Grains goes, first off what grains are you missing most that you would want to add back in? I know personally I still never eat pasta and processed breads as I don’t ever desire them so I don’t even try to “work” them into my diet. If you are wanting to add in brown rice or wheat bread do it very slowly as you body may not love those foods too much after having had them out of your diet for so long. As far as carbs go try first to work in starchier carbs such as sweet potatoes and butternut squash etc, before turning to bread etc. Overall I like living in between a Phase 2 and Phase 1 normal diet as I just feel better all around, but keep my calories higher than 1000 for sure!
Yes still stick to the 5 protein servings a day as this will help keep your body in balance and keep you satiated over the day.
As far as fats go keep them varied, avocados, a few nuts, olive and coconut oil as well as occasional butter.
As far as exact servings of grains or fats I don’t have any specific numbers to give you, but I suggest adding in only one “new” food per week to see how your body reacts to that food. You can see if you get any response from the foods you add, and if not then keep it in if you like it. If I were to give a number of servings of fat to add in and when I would say add in 2 additional fats to your day for a total of 4 servings daily, one at breakfast, lunch, dinner and a snack.
The main idea of Phase 3 is to keep from re-gaining the weight lost, but to also keep your energy up etc. Experiment primarily with your calorie count over the course of one week keep it at say 300-400 more than you were at Phase 1 and see how your body responds, track your weight and then add in even more the following week. You want to get your body to a comfortable calorie count that keeps you from gaining or losing to keep your hormonal balance.
I hope this answer helps and congrats on getting to Phase 3!
