Yesterday (11/19/2017) marked my eight week post-op anniversary, and as I look back over the course of the past two months, I have come to embrace the many successes and failures I have encountered.

To say it has been trying is an understatement. Having undergone VSG surgery six weeks after my wife had her VSG found me in the mindset that I can consume whatever I so choose within the parameters of the VSG diet. I couldn't have been more wrong. I found myself getting physically ill, dealing with bouts of nausea, and experiencing sharp stabbing pains within my abdomen area that led me to believe that there might be something terribly wrong. There wasn't. What I found is that my diet to date is very restrictive (soups and protein shakes were my staple foods), and that many of the acidic foods that I thought were deemed "safe" were in fact at the root of my problems.

When I approached my doctor about this, I was told the vomiting, nausea, and pain I am feeling would eventually pass. Well, here I am, eight weeks and one day post-op, and I still feel the ramifications of what I now deem to be poor food choices, despite the fact that they are on the approved edibles list. Granted, with each day passed, these symptoms lessen, however, it serves as a constant reminder that I need to pay attention to what my body is telling me - something I should have been doing all along.

As with many things in this life, there is a learning curve. Some days it is a much more sharp and less direct turn in a different direction, while other days is a straight forward journey. It's anyone's guess as to which one I will encounter, but one thing is certain, I am hell-bent and determined to see this through to a thinner and healthy lifestyle.