My wife talked me into growing it in the garden this year. It grows like weed. It is a good producer in this area. She uses it to make a soup using the recipe of Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana. It is a very good tasting soup.
We are similar in initial weight. The day after I returned from the hospital following surgery, I was 242.6 pounds. Ten days later I was 226.4 pounds. That is a weight loss of 16.2 pounds. So it sounds like you are on track.
