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

Carrots or celery, virtuous though they are, are no match for a large bar of C******'s Dairy Milk, a tub of Smarties, a box of Creme Eggs or Walnut Whips :-(

A book arrived today though: Michael Mosley's Blood Sugar Diet thingy. I have no intention of being on an 800 cal very low-carb diet for 8 weeks but I do like the idea of cutting out sugar as far as possible and eating a Mediterranean diet.

So I will give it a try - we're halfway there anyway as we already eat loads of veg and use extra virgin olive oil to bath in

I've had no carbs today so far and I'm famished. Chicken casserole in the oven, about to bring it out and eat it with...quinoa (looks like frogspawn though!)

Watch out with too many carrots- one of my neighbours in the UK was obsessed with her weight and ate carrots all the time- first her hands turned orange, then the rest of her- and she was diagnosed with carotinanemia- and was told to STOP eating carrots!

I wonder how much is genetic though. Angela Rippon is not overweight and is very fit- and yet as fatty liver. And quite a few of our friends too.

I am definitely overweight- but fit and with good genes. All my recent pre-op tests showed I had perfect heart and lungs, and all the blood tests were tickety boo.

Snacking on carrot sticks or celery, I find they take away the desire to carry on nibbling.

It is so hard to lose weight when it is a longstanding problem. One idea is to eat what you like, but just go for smaller helpings, and put that on a smaller plate, so it looks like the plate is full. Chew every mouthful at least 10 times and drink loads of water with your meal to fill your tummy up. If you get the snacking urge, then have water instead - or a fruit smoothy, which can be quite filling but not fattening.

I wish you lots of luck with this - I can understand how difficult it feels.

Lots of excellent support and advice here, so thank you :-D Ice lollies sound a good idea - could make them from fruit juice or nibble frozen berries. I am not going to buy any more biscuits. My OH loves my baking so I will bake flapjacks for him - I'm not that keen on them though so won't be tempted.

Walking after a main meal is an excellent idea but we tend to eat late in the evening, but I could run up and down stairs instead!

Jingl - rice cakes I have but had forgotten about them, so thanks for reminding me! Apples I've just got in and plan to eat those when in need of a snack.
We usually eat loads of veggies and salads, especially on fast days but other days too - except for yesterday's dinner which was extremely silly!

Must increase my efforts, drink more as advised, buy in celery, apples and cucumber to nibble on, eat smaller portions...tonight I'm making a chicken casserole with vegetables, and I plan to cook it with barley or quinoa if I can work out how, rather than with rice or potatoes (I love the latter so would eat too much of them)
Italiangirl - will try and look for that book. How was your fatty liver diagnosed and what do you do about it?

I had a scan 18 months ago, as my IBS was troublesome. The Consultant later told me that it looked like I had a fatty liver. I am not overweight, walk everywhere, and eat healthily with little fat or dairy products. He didn't seem particularly bothered by it.

I hid nice things further down the freezer[still do] and chocolate etc was moved out of the kitchen to a cupboard further away.
I also read a lot more calorie labels.

Nearer the end of the day, I have more cups of tea and coffee[sometimes decaff]. I offer myself something that I dont particularly want to eat to see if I am really hungry. If I dont want it, then I am not really hungry. I also eat iced lollies. They take a while to eat and dont have that many calories.

When I needed to lost 1and 1/2 stone years ago, I gave myself a time frame of 1 year to do it[it took 9 months]. I saw it as a longer term project as we all have days when we succumb.
The process was bad enough, that it kept me on the straight and narrow ever since.
Oh, and I weighed myself once a week and wrote it all down, date and weight. And showed people. On bad days, I could see that my progress was slow but progress neverthe less. I could also see that there were a few weeks when I put on weight, but overall it was all working and worthwhile.
hope this helps.

So yes, dust yourself off!

Start off with a good filling breakfast, then eat sparingly (but don't starve yourself, that won't help) for the rest of the day. Put plenty of vegetables on your plate. Drink a glass of water or eat an apple if you get hungry between meals or in the evening.

After your main meal, spend a quarter or half an hour walking - outside if the weather is good, inside just going round the rooms if it is pissing down out there. That is 2 to 4 miles a week and will help burn it off, more exercise will help even more.

Avoid the chocolate eclairs and white chocolate (just as fattening as the brown sort) and remember that to burn off the calories in a glass of beer you would have to spend "13 minutes running on the treadmill or playing football; 15 minutes cycling or 20 minutes swimming or half an hour on the golf course."

If you take in more than you burn off, it will be stored for the next famine.

Thought I would add to the discussion ,I have been told I have a fatty liver never drunk much jus t read a book by Anne- Lise Miller Too young to grow old she has in one of her anti aging plan page 80 where she list this ,ist mention I've found in what seems to me a book full of advice that appears Sound,and full of commomsense .If any one else had read this I would be interested in their feedback.

Rownatree don't have anything chocolatey in the house! And try to get your curry as low fat/calorie ready meals. Just as delicious. Rice cakes are very helpful at warding off hunger pangs without being calorie laden. And buy little apples - the kind they put out for kids. Easy to munch through one without guilt.

You can buy scales that measure your body fat, including the internal stuff, and give it to you as a percentage.

I was wondering about seeing my GP but fear being sneered at for being one of the Worried Well (I've heard my former GP use this term generally rather than specifically to me) and wasting their time. But I think I'll make an appointment soon, once DD and DGD have gone home at the end of next week.

It's my own fault I'm so overweight, I know - and only I can do something about it. But it's like emptying the sea with a thimble. I start the day well, as yesterday, with healthy breakfast and a salad for lunch. By late afternoon I'm nibbling or worse. Then we had a very unhealthy dinner of curry and rice, half a pint of beer and a chocolate eclair and I topped that off by eating a packet of white chocolate chips! Utterly, completely stupid, without a doubt. But now I don't know whether to eat nothing at all today or to brush myself down, eat sensibly and try again to have a balanced eating day...:-(

Yes, get your GP to order a blood test.

What has made you suddenly think this might be a problem? If you are worried then you should see your GP.

Agree with Liz. Our surgery is very keen for 'mature' people to have an annual blood test which does include liver function. Otherwise I would have thought if you explain you struggle with weight management one would be offered to check general health and things like thyroid function along with general advice. No harm in asking.

You won't know until you've had a blood test for it, rowantree. I echo what absent said: if you're worried about it go to your GP and ask for a test to be done. Tell him/her that you're worried.

I generally have a blood test every year to check liver function, cholesterol level, blood sugar etc. I think this would be quite easy to arrange with your doctor.

Galen, our "Gransnet doctor", will certainly be able to advise you if/when she sees this thread.

I'm no expert but I think, if you are worried, which you seem to be, you could ask your GP to do a test. Not all liver problems have early symptoms.