Dr. Atkins diet phase three is meant to:

• make ketosis disappear (it was induced by purpose on Induction phase)
• increase carbohydrates level, still under control.

Still No Carbs

At this stage, dieters have found their personal CCLL and almost met their weight goal. They have to keep carbohydrate intake at this level for about a month.

After weight is strongly stabilized, an incremental increase of 10 grams weekly is suggested. If gaining weight appears, the 10 grams are dropped back. Another try is recommended by Atkins diet until dieters identifiy their ACL (the number of grams of Net Carbs you can eat without gaining or losing weight).

What Can You Eat?

Pre-maintenance phase has been introduced to “train” dieters, get them ready for low-carb living which finally occurs in Lifetime Maintenance. During this phase, ketosis diminishes until it disappears. That is why most of the bad carbohydrates are still banned. Still, some starchy vegetables are allowed, but in small amounts:

• carrots
• belts
• parsnips
• peas
• acorn squash
• yams

Whole-grain bread and forbidden carbs (a slice of pizza, a baked potatoe), are also allowed, but only once a week. All these potential trouble foods are suggested as an attempt to reach what Dr. Atkins called Atkins Carbohydrate Equilibrium.

The fruits accepted in this phase are:

• ½ apple
• 11 cherries
• 1 peach
• 12 grapes
• ½ grapefruit
• 1/3 cup mango
• 1 kiwi
• 1 cup watermelon
• 1/3 cup mango

Each portion contains roughly 10 grams of net carbs. A glass of white wine or a light beer can be drunk once in a while.

Some dieters claim that Pre-maintenance phase is a nightmare: though they have already met their weight goals, they are not allowed to liberally eat carbs. They are still told to count their carbs and this might be hard to achieve. But they are they wrong because:

• they forget that they can't return to their old eating habits
• they don't realize that their apetite is lower, which is good as they no longer eat large quantities of food.

If by accident, the ideal usual carbohydrate intake is highly surpassed, dieters should know that they are able to redress this mistake. Unlike usual days on Atkins diet — when carbs are supposed to be divided among all daily servings — now the carbohydrate intake can be averaged per week.

How? Dropping out allowed carbs, in favor of fats, proteins and fibers. Thus, the total intake of carbs per week won't be more than the personal CCLL, already fixed.

Finally, if correctly followed, this phase is crucial as it establishes the way Atkins dieters will eat for the rest of their life.