I'm on Day 3 of PI and now have a worthless cache of snacks in the bottom drawer of my filing cabinet at work - except for the popcorn...Does anybody know if Redenbacher's 100 calorie mini bags (94% fate free and whole grain) is kosher?

And while I'm on the subject, does anybody else feel like the detox stage is a high wire act? I feel if I have one micro-ounce of salad dressing more than I should or a flake of oatmeal over a 1/2 cup and the Fat Smash Police are going to repel through a window and kill me.

Other than actually feeling a little run-down (which friends have told me may occur in the early stages) and missing my Jersey bagel in the morning, this isn't too bad. I've lost 10 lbs in a couple days (which may be deceiving because I went on a bender the weekend before I started and gained 10 lbs), which is pretty good for me. I've always had a quick metabolism and gained/lost weight easily so 10 lbs is likely just getting back to my previous weight. I used to be a professional athlete with a playing weight at 195. Fast forward 5 years and I'm an attorney relying on summer softball as exercise on a 260+ frame. Needless to say I needed a change and I'm hoping this is the vehicle. OK - back to work.

I can now answer my own question....I'm in week 2 of Phase 2 and have had this popcorn as a snack a couple times. It hasn't slowed down my progress (which has been pretty steady) and is actually pretty filling. I dip the popcorn in hot sauce and sprinkle a little garlic salt on those bad boys. If anyone can find this, I recommend it.

Yeah, I know you can have popcorn, but I think he said that it has to be like the air-popped butter-free kind. But I feel like Dr. Ian's kinda vague most of the time, and as long as it's not hindering your progress it should be fine.

That's my thought process as well. Upon further inspection there does appear to be some butter flavoring -- but as long as I keep shedding lb's I'm not going to obsess on it. Another fantastic snack I found are these Wasabi Almonds from Target. Made by Archer Farms and it takes discipline to just eat 10-14 (or whatever the allotment in the book is). I keep them under my desk and swear I hear them calling me some days (but it could just be the other voices in my head trying to use an accent). They're also great because some afternoons I just don't feel like eating and pop a couple around snack/meal time to keep my metabolism firing as suggested.

I've had popcorn but never in PI only in PIII. You really have to watch the salt too its not included in PI.

Glad you are losing the weight thou. Just try to stick as closely to the plan as you can and don't sweat the fine details. A couple grains extra brown rice won't put a lb on you!!

I went on this diet last year and lost a lot of weight and gained a lot of energy. Unfortunately I went off the diet and so I am glad I found this forum and I started PI again this week.

JAF - are you doing Fat Smash or Extreme Fat Smash?

Doing the regular fat smash diet. I've always been the type to do something 100 mph or not at all and considered the extreme version -- but wanted to be realistic about incorporating my work schedule into an exercise routine.