Fatty Liver.....how do you know if you've got it?

Last year I lost 21 lb going to slimming world. My eldest daughter has lost 5 1/2 stone since January last year at slimming world. She has also had a baby in that time. Have you thought of going to a slimming club?

Rowantree a good way to get support to lose weight is to join a group like Weightwatchers or Slimming World. I was just under 19 stones, size 28 skirt, in 2000.

By 2006 I was 8 stones lighter, with a few blips on the way. I began at SW and lost a couple of stones and thought I'd do it alone and not pay but began to go up. Then I joined WW and have been there since. They suggest a healthy and FILLING diet.I can eat chocolate and biscuits etc but need to keep track of what I eat. I've maintained my weight loss since 2009.

I had another blip when I went just over the goal weight, and at more than 5lbs over you can no longer weigh in free at meetings. I decided to wait until I was free but not going weekly meant I went up further and had to go back. I find the seeing the group leader weekly and getting advice really helps. You get tips on what is low in 'points' so you can substitute some nice things for others and enjoy treats and food generally while losing weight.

I eat bread, potatoes, very nice WW chocolate digestive biscuits and as much fruit and veg as I want daily. But I know how many points things are. You can also do it with just eating from free and healthy foods and not count points but I'm a pig and can't do the stop when you've had enough thing, so need to count points

I notice that you have a light breakfast and lunch, Romantree and then eat in the evening. that is what we used to do and would get hungry mid-afternoon and start nibbling.

I moved our main meal to mid-day instead of the evening and have our lighter meal then and that has more or less put an end to all snacking. The other thing to to do is simply not have any attractive snack food in the house. I have crisp bread and rice biscuits permanently in stock, but no sweet biscuits. You can now get marmite flavoured rice biscuits that have some flavour and taste to them.

If you have a tendency to eat too much of something you like. Cook less. If you love potatoes. Just cook about 4 - 6oz of potato and no more. You eat what you most enjoy but cannot overeat because there are no cooked potatoes to tempt you.

I lost 2 stone on the 5:2 diet, also Michael Moseley, I chose to divide my calories on fast days between lunch and supper and selected and devised meals that made up in bulk, what they lacked in calories. However I did keep my calories down to less than 1500 on non fast days, but if I went out for a meal or was at a party I ate what i wanted, but never pigged out. It worked like a dream. 2 stone lost in 4 months - and kept off.

The old adage:

breakfast like an Emperor
lunch like a King
sup like a pauper

is really still very much spot on.

Due to OH's job, we always ate latish in the the evening, about 7.30- and it would be hard not to nibble after I got home from school at aboug 5ish. Then we would be ravenous and woolf our food down! We now have our main meal at lunchtime, and much smaller meal, soup, salad, at around 69ish - much much better.

Still have 2, sometimes 3, squares of good quality dark 70% chocolate in the evening- sucked very slowly to get full flavour and effect.

Hi did you know that you can get 12 weeks for free at slimming world at the moment if you get a form from your doctor? That's how I started and have continued to go and pay myself now , I've lost 2 stone 9 pounds so far (since September), the groups are very supportive, and the one I go to is a lot of fun, do not worry about going on your own, they are very friendly and welcoming, the diet is easy to follow and there is some room for a few treats now and again.

No one has mentioned emotional eating when not genuinely hungry. This is the reason why so many people fail at slimming clubs because they cannot keep the motivation going. If you start dieting with a less than positive attitude, then you are destined for possible failure. Having some therapy including hypnosis often works so well. We know people who gave gastric bands often resort to eating too much again, or people who just drink soups and low cal flavoured drinks often fail.

If you ask yourself if you are genuinely hungry, and is it an appropriate time to eat, you may begin to start changing your eating habits Rowantree.

I find Bovril is a godsend. Only about 16 calories, and for some unknown reason tummy seems to find it very satisfying - because of the smell? There's also a chicken version that is delicious. Some people have an Oxo cube, but I've never fancied that.

If you're worried, certainly see your doctor - that's what he's there for! OH was diagnosed when he became jaundiced - I don'r know if it was a symptom of one of his other condiions or if it was a new condition in it's own right, but he now has check-ups for this when he has his flu jab/diabetic blood tests etc.

I have been diagnosed with fatty liver. I had gone to the doctors about chronic heartburn. He sent me for a scan and they found a large gall stone and fatty liver. When I went back to by GP he was quite dismissive. I said I wanted to do something about my liver, and he said "lose weight". I'm not obese,but a bit overweight. He didn't give me any advice or even suggest a follow up.

Good tip about Bovril. Thanks Sally. Gone on shopping list.

Rowantree get a fitbit or similar and start to walk every day. Set yourself target steps each day. Start off low and build up. Easy and nice to do as summer approaches. Drink a glass of water before each meal and serve up half portions. Once you see small results you will be encouraged to raise your targets. Good luck.

If you're an eater and love food it's always a bit of a battle with weight, unless you have a metabolism which allows you to eat what you like with impunity. I've been told these people can often have fatty livers but because they are slim are unaware of it. I would certainly concur with those who say have the main meal at lunchtime. It's made a big difference to my weight. Be careful with smoothies as there can be a lot of sugar in them. At least 50% veg is the way to go with them apparently.
Yearly medical checks are a good idea but I must admit I don't have them. Maybe I ought to.

I have Non Alcohol Related Steatohepatitis, (aka Fatty Liver) and have had for the last ten years but the medical emphasis was on the type 2 diabetes that I was diagnosed with at the same time. I am the first to admit I have always used food badly - from childhood on it has been my comfort in life and as a consequence my liver has fibrosis, cirrhosis (no, you don't have to be a p***head to get that), I have to have an ultrasound and gastroscopy every six months because varices (swollen veins) can develop in the liver blood system and cause internal bleeding if the pressure gets too high. GPs and practise nurses don't seem to realise the seriousness of the condition and in some circumstances haven't heard about it at all. A liver function test doesn't always show the condition - my consultant describes my LFT results as "wonderful" but my liver as "shot". The best advice I can give to anyone diagnosed with this condition or worried about it is to go to the British Liver Trust website who offer some excellent leaflets and advice on all matters hepatic. From my own observations it seems that if type 2 diabetes is the health cataclysm of the age, Fatty Liver Disease could well be the aftershock.

Rowantree,I am diabetic and by going on the diabetes society site I discovered Diet Docter.It recommends high fat low carb.I couldn't believe it but it worked.My first breakfast was bacon egg mushrooms fried in butter (heaven) and tomatoes .In a few months I had gone from 9st 11 lbs to * 8t 6 lbs.I know a lot of people will not believe it but just have look for yourself.Best of luck,

Rowantree, do visit the LCHF thread. There is lots of very helpful and knowledgable advice there.

I was diagnosed with non-alchoholic liver disease one year ago, following an abnormal liver function result when having my annual diabetes blood tests. A liver biopsy revealed I have NAFLD. I have never had any symptoms. I was told there is no treatment at present, although there is a lot of research going on at the moment and there may be a pill available in the not too distant future which could perhaps prevent deterioration. I was told to lose weight (I am obese), and this is all I can do to help. I will be having another biopsy in six months, to see if there is deterioration or improvement.

I do, but I prefer the real McCoy - and I'm trying to wean myself off the taste of sweet things (some hope!)
I'm trying nuts and fruit and hoping that will help. Celery too when it's not gone soft in the fridge!
Determined to lose some of this horrible blubber. I look dreadful and wouldn't impose the sight of myself in a swimsuit on anyone. I'd be better getting measured for a niqab...:-(

That answer was to the poster who asked if I liked drinking chocolate, sorry!!

starstella that's what the Michael Mosley low-blood-sugar diet recommends :-D but are you allowed bread? I'm two days in and I miss bread and oats :-(

Cambia I have a pedometer I wear all the time, but I rarely, if ever, reach 10 000 steps. If I am in all day it's not even 1.000! I'm trying to walk more, but do the steps all have to be fast walking? We go to National Trust gardens locally, some of which are quite hilly.

But I must try drinking more water and eat smaller portions - that would help.
Eating lunch as a main meal wouldn't fit in at all with our lives, unfortunately - one or both of us often out somewhere and busy doing things. We might manage occasionally, but not enough to make a difference.

You and me both rowantree! Slimming World helps me stop piling on more weight, along with as much walking as I can muster. My mobile phone has a 'steps' app and I try to aim for the 10000 a day. I'm not losing weight quickly, just keeping steady, but I'm feeling much better without hunger or feeling deprived. After a lifetime of calorie controlled and crazy diets, I'm being a bit kinder to myself.

I'm puzzled how you do 10, 000 steps a day. What happens when the weather's foul or you don't feel like going out? Do you go anyway and walk your ten grand and then come home?

rowantree here's my straight talking advice for what it's worth. Start again with Dr Mosley's book and read it right through from beginning to end. There are two places where oats are recommended, which makes me think you've maybe just dipped in and out, 'cherrypicking'. You say you are worried you might have fatty liver disease but you don't seem to be worried enough. Today, right now is the time to tackle your weight. Be determined. When you are tempted to eat chocolate or drink beer, tell yourself 'No!' and distract yourself by doing something that occupies your mind like reading, watching TV, walking etc. You can do it but you really have to want the weight loss more than you want the kind and quantity of food you are currently consuming. Do you want it enough? If not, you won't commit to it.

And to get 10,000 steps, get a dog and a simple, cheap pedometer from a sports shop or online. Good luck!

It's easy to average 10,000 a day if you don't give in to 'don't feel like going out'

I deliberately say 'average' as there's days I do less and days I do more. Today my total is 13, 278, yesterday it was only 6,479. Yes, there are days I have to force myself to get off my backside especially when I first upped my walking, but now it's much easier.