I grew up in an Irish family and hated the potatoes. I was forced to eat them. My mother would make sit at the table until I cleaned my plate. She finally compromised and allowed me to get my own portions as long as I ate at least one spoon of potatoes.

In our house they were either boiled with the skins on, or peeled and mashed. I did not learn about French fries until I was in my teens and could not believe they were from the same vegetable.

Nestle makes an unflavored protein called Beneprotein and I believe it is available internationally.

Six months before my surgery, I gave up Diet Coke as well as all "white" carbs. I quit eating rice, potatoes, flour, sugar, cereal, bread, pasta, noodles, and pastry.

I learned to live on dense protein and low carb vegetables like spinach, lettuce, celery, cauliflower and broccoli.

After surgery, I followed my clinics plan. For my clinic there are never choices like cereal, mashed potatoes, or popcorn. Our program does not allow people from other programs to attend our support meetings. That is because people from other programs will come in and argue that things like cereal, potatoes, and popcorn are part of their guidelines.

The people in our program are unusually successful. One of the big complaints is from people who complain that they are too skinny.

I feel very fortunate to be part of a group that understands the nutrition needs and challenges of weight loss surgery patients. Most center prescribe a diet that a non-surgical patient will do well on. Those centers accept a 60% loss of excess weight as success. My center considers it a success if the patient loses 10, 20 or 30 pounds under goal during the honeymoon period.

At each group meeting and at each surgeon appointment, the we are educated about regain and how to best deal with it. Everyone on my surgeon's staff attends national meetings and continuing education. My nutritionist is very experienced in working with weight loss surgery patients and she recommends the eating that the vets here as telling you about.

When you talk with your surgeon, ask them to explain why regain occurs and how to avoid hunger and to maintain your loss after the first two years.

Washing your hair more often will keep the hair follicles from clogging up with oils and clear hair follicles grow healthier hair.

Nioxin does not make hair grow, but it cleans the scalp and makes it more acidic. A vinegar rinse is probably just as good, but Nioxin is a nice product and I have used it. Biotin have me serious facial and body hair growth and I threw it away. It did not help the scalp hair.

A shorter hair do is a great idea. The hair that went to sleep during surgery takes about three months to fall out. Most of the serious fallout starts about month four and ends by month seven. Some people lose from month three to month nine.

You will soon start to see new hairs sticking up where the old ones fell out. The new hair is often fuller and healthier than the old was.

You will be more likely to get responses to your questions if they do no contain SHOUTING CAPITAL LETTERS and swear words. People find that offensive and will skip giving you help. Clean up your post and ask nicely and see if people reply.

People do not come to these forums to be shouted and cursed at.

I tried it too. After the initial enthusiasm of thinking I had a new magic appetite suppressor, I regained my hunger and appetite.

The Bragg family has managed to create a lavish lifestyle for themselves by selling this vinegar. I still use it for salad dressing or anything that needs vinegar and is going to be eaten.

I keep a jug of white vinegar for cleaning purposes and a bottle of Bragg's for food purposes.

I am not Type 1 but still want to say that a pump would be easier than shots, because sometimes you will only need a tiny amount of insulin and it would be easier to pump than fill a syringe.

You can use glucose tablets for low blood sugar. I don't believe you will dump from them, but avoiding lows is better.

There is a new medical devise that is an artificial pancreas. A few people have them already and they were approved by the FDA last year. Ask you endocrinologist about the Medtronic.

Do everything you can to keep healthy with Type 1. There is new technology and each advancement promises a healthier life.

I saw a demonstration at a support meeting years ago. They filled a balloon with Coca Cola, tied it tightly and put it in a big pan.

During the meeting the balloon exploded with a loud noise.

That was to show what could happen to your pouch is you drank soda after surgery.

Later I realized that your pouch is open on both ends and is not going to explode. I do notice that some who drink a lot of diet sodas seem to have regain but others have no problem with it.

Like Kat, I see it as unhealthy. I did not go through the stress of surgery to screw up my body with lots of unneeded chemicals.

I ate lots of hot, spicy sauces the first year and then lost interest in it. I don't believe they did any harm, at least I never had heartburn, indigestion or ulcers. I never thought to ask permission to use it.

I do agree with a protein shake being better than a Snickers Bar. Good point.

Let us know how that works for you.

The last thing you need are protein shakes. They are a way to get in lots of calories right after surgery when you can't eat enough meat to get in your protein.

The companies that make protein shakes make lots of money from people who think they will lose weight from drinking them.

You need dense protein not liquid calories. The only way to lose weight now is to eat less calories than you burn.

There is one company that sells protein powder that does not taste and smell like sour milk.

BSN Lean Dessert and BSN Syntha 6 come in a red jar. Open the jar and smell the mix. It smells like cake mix. They are the only brand I actually liked.