The different phases
 

Can someone explain to me the P3 and P4 length? I have heard conflicting reports. Is P3 three weeks long (stabilization phase) and then you go to P4 for life (maintenance phase). Someone said P3 is six weeks. HELP!!!

P3 is always 3 weeks.

P4 is 3 weeks in your first round. Between your 2nd and 3rd round, P4 is 5 weeks. Between your 3rd and 4th round, P4 is 9 weeks. Between your 4th and 5th, 17 weeks and between your 5th and 6th, P3 + P4 is 6 months (so P4 is 6 months minus 3 weeks of P3, however many weeks that is).

P4 is the phase where you slowly add back in sugar and starches. So technically, it is the way you will maintain your weight for the rest of your life and is the maintenance phase, so it really lasts forever after your final round, once you've added back in the types and amounts of sugar/starch your body does well with.

i'm sorry, i just don't get it.
so p3 goes for three weeks after p2. then if i want to do another round i need to do p4 for three more weeks?

thanks, this is like learning a whole new language, but i am so thrilled to be seeing results!

That's correct but lots of people never really add back sugar or starches and do a more paleo/primal way of eating. You just have to wait six weeks between round one or two. The wait gets increasingly longer between each additional round.