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I still drink one as my morning snack and I'm almost six years out (or sometimes I drink them for breakfast if I'm not really in the mood for eating real food...). They're a vehicle for my daily capful of Miralax - plus I like them, too. I often make fancy coffee drinks out of them, too - like iced "lattes". Or I'll throw some frozen fruit in there and make smoothies out of them. I've gotten pretty creative over the years...

I love fresh green beans.

I was a junk food slave...loved the worst foods possible...and you're 100% correct about your tastes changing. I was skeptical about this and thought people were just saying this...to motivate themselves away from unhealthy food...I thought it was purely Dumbo's magic feather. Nope...it's the real deal. I still love and crave sugary things like donuts. Candy still tastes really good, particularly chocolate. But greasy stuff and fast food are just not what they used to be. Tons of things I used to love have absolutely no appeal. Example... I used to love lasagna. Now, if I had my choice between a plate of lasagna and a bowl of vegetable bean soup...I'd go for the soup every time. I used to love french fries. If I had a choice between an order of greasy fries and a baked potato with black beans dumped over the top with salt and pepper...I'd want the potato...with green beans and a side of corn on the cob. If I had to choose between an Egg McMuffin and a bowl of oatmeal with nuts and berries...I'd go for the oats. I used to hate beans and fish. Love them now. I used to hate sweet potatoes. Love them. It's super weird. If I were reading my own words three years ago, I'd think I was delusional and making crap up to sound reformed. LOL. But no, very honestly...I PREFER a lot of healthier stuff and it's wonderful to finally WANT what's good for me.

I also started using a scoop of collagen powder mixed with regular water and a mio water flavor to increase protein.

I just make my own - just substitute ground turkey for the ground beef, and if you want extra protein, dump some unflavored protein powder in. I did look at the ingredient list on their three versions of chili. Nothing jumped out at me that's notorious for causing G/I distress, but it sounds like your body is intolerant of SOMETHING in there...

If you feel it is too fast, then it may be too quick. One thing that I am doing is putting down my silverware for 20 seconds before moving on to my next bite. This helps to slow down my eating and I know when I get full. I also measure out how much I eat so that I don't eat more than I should.

wearing shorts again! oh how i’ve missed them. life is better with bare legs. my favorite part of this journey so far is that my legs have the most noticeable changes. i carried very heavy in my legs and belly and both are shrinking at a consistent rate. down 78 pounds in 5.5 months. 2 more lbs and i’ll be halfway to my goal weight. Enjoy the journey!!

All of this. I'm very proud of how far I've come, relieved that I don't get gawked at when I go out in public now (when I was almost 400 pounds people would stare. I hated that), and being able to fit in something that I buy off the rack without having to actually try it on and it looking GOOD! (that was rare before my weight loss. I'd try on a dozen things and be lucky if I like even one of those dozen things. Now everything fits and my problem is deciding what I want and since I'm still losing to try to not buy too much because I'm likely to go down at least 1 or 2 more sizes. I figure with the way my clothes are fitting right now if I lose another 5 pounds I'll be in a different pants size and another 10 for a different shirt size)

It really depends on the person. I've seen many on here whose scars have basically disappeared in a couple months (looking at you @sillykitty & @mousecat88)...and others whose scars stick around for what seems like forever (looking at me, lol). I have had scars stick around for 5-6-7...10 years but all eventually heal enough so they are virtually invisible. Takes a while but they all get there eventually....my breast reduction scars from 2005 had just healed to near invisibility around 2017 (12 years!)...and then I got a breast lift, and I restarted the clock, lol. But will toot the steroid shots horn again though: I had shots in November and then again in January and wow, the difference is amazing. I'll try to post a pic later when I'm not so lazy....