How do I fix my Fatty Liver disease?

I have 200 members in a group on facebook who are dealing with non alcoholic fatty liver disease. They range in stages of the disease from very minor with few to no symptoms, to the extreme of swelling (ascites), and constantly being in the hospital.

There are a lot of recommendations for coping with the disease and helping the liver by avoiding certain things: High Fructose Corn Syrup, other sugars, MSG, Trans fats, excess sodium, and deep fried foods. These are the fun foods, they are the social foods, they are comfort foods and everyone has a fond memory associated with one of these no-no’s.

People in the group talk a lot about wanting to get a liver transplant and I understand that desire. This sounds like the perfect answer and relief to serious pain and late stage liver disease. They go through lots of tests and analysis to determine if they are a good candidate for the liver transplant and when they make the list it is a celebration! We are all happy for them and know they are getting a fresh chance at life!

I think the fresh chance at life is really the key message here for liver transplant patients. You can’t go back to the same habits that destroyed your liver in the first place. You can’t go out and celebrate with a beer, chicken wings and nachos and expect that this new liver will be any happier with your choices than your old liver. Those foods and beverages are still toxic. This new liver is vulnerable as it tries to fit in with all of your other organs that have been there the whole time. Those other organs have had to take the extra workload from the compromised liver for all these years and are also going through a bit of a shock!

So here is the point. Those banned foods do not change after a transplant. They are still hurting your liver and your other organs. A transplant is not an invitation to party. Think about driving home your first child. Do you remember how careful that drive home was? I remember bringing home my son Alex and my ex husband driving so incredibly slow, we were both so afraid we would hurt this new baby. Giving the baby the first bath, the first nail clipping. We are super careful and we would never take a newborn baby in an Indy 500 race! Think of your new liver like a new baby. Treat it with the respect and care you would give your child.  

For people who are dealing with Early or Mid stage liver disease my message to you is different. I don’t want you planning your road to your transplant. I want you focussed on helping the liver you were born with. Your goal is not a new liver.

Eating healthy , exercise, use supplements that work for you, that have been approved by your doctor or health care professional. Do everything you can to eat low carb(20 G per day), low sugar (15 g per day), low sodium(1000 mg per day)  with lots of veggies preferably raw!, good healthy proteins, and healthy fats.

Reading labels is something you need to do forever, everyone needs to do this. Everyone needs to wake up to the sad truth that the fun we were having with food is not without a price to pay in our bodies. Short term flushes and detox will not do the trick, quick weightloss will not do the trick, Those things will shock the liver and cause more damage even if they appear to be helping.

I want everyone in their yearly physical to ask to have your liver function tested in your blood test. If your AST or ALT numbers are higher than recommended levels you need to demand a stomach ultrasound to confirm that your liver is compromised.  You may not be dealing with symptoms but this is a huge wake up call that your liver is waving a white flag and begging you to stop what you are doing. Drive away from the drive thru, Back away from the nachos and wings, and just say no to alcohol. Give your liver the break it needs it desperately. Be gentle to your liver, treat is with the respect it deserves.

A liver transplant is meant for people who despite eating properly and following all the guidelines are still not able to get the original liver to function. You have to be healthy and fit, the rest of your organs have to be strong enough to deal with the surgery and the aftercare of preventing rejection of the new liver. Very few of us will make that list and be that strong and healthy. Your goal is to get that way without requiring a transplant.

Taking care of your liver is a life long journey not a short term fix!

Carbs ruling my life

I have been researching fatty liver disease and its causes and ways to improve symptoms for almost 4 years. In that time I have written many blogs with new ideas and concepts that catch my interest. I don’t want to discount the concepts of Low Glycemic eating, or lots of fruits and veggies, but I have learned that it is best for those with Fatty Liver Disease to limit grains and fruit.

2 weeks ago I would have told you that it was good for the liver to eat brown rice, brown rice pasta, spelt bread and steel oats. I would have told you to enjoy your fruit and a bowl of steel oats with a side of berries with a glass of lemon water would have been a perfect breakfast. Then I saw the videos on Youtube from Merritt Wellness and a lightbulb went off. Every Carbohydrate we eat is converted to a sugar. This has been just on the edge of my mind poking me to pay attention and I have ignored it knowing how drastically it would change my thinking.

http://www.merrittwellness.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RE4cXeX7Po

So if every 4 carbohydrate = 1 teaspoon of sugar then reducing carbs makes a lot of sense!

But looking at my life with my daughter this will be a huge shift in our eating.

She eats rye toast with peanut butter for breakfast

She eats a wrap filled with lean meat and veggies for lunch.

We eat brown rice, brown pasta or potatoes with dinner every night. Lean Meat and veggies to balance the plate.

Snacks are organic or gluten free.

She is allergic to Egg  – eliminates many breakfast choices

Fruit needs to be limited due to the sugar content.

No grain for breakfast . Wow what is left that she will actually eat!

She doesn’t like breakfast as a rule due to her limitations.  When we want it to be special I will make Spelt pancakes with organic maple syrup. Maybe some peameal bacon or fruit on the side. This is clearly a disaster even though I thought I was doing a good thing for her!

Lunch I guess she will need to stick with salads or veggie soups.  with a side of protein. This will not be easy for her!

Dinner Protein and Veggies and forgo the rice , pasta or potatoes. This will take some doing!

Snacks need to be unsalted nuts, veggies and a few fruits trying to limit fructose to 15g a day even from natural sources.

How do I explain this requirement to my 15 year old who takes comfort in the carbs. Gluten free cookies have been her saving grace.

For me I know it will also be a challenge but explaining this to her in reference to helping her health and reducing her weight is going to be my biggest challenge here!

Reminder to those with programs that can help, I am single mom with limited income and it would be almost impossible for me to invest in a program for Megan and I right now.

I need natural ideas that will allow a small level of  healthy carbs in the daily plan and 15g of  natural source fructose.  Sodium also needs to be reduced to protect her liver. So ideas please and thanks!!

 

Are you tired and have stomach aches a lot?

There was no way I thought liver disease when my child was complaining of stomach aches, all kids complain of stomach aches. What a great way to get out of going to school. Sometimes she would throw up and I would think it was a stomach flu, she ate something bad or had heat stroke. Never once did I think Liver disease.

She complained she was too tired to help out around the house, I thought she was just being stubborn or lazy. I never thought Liver disease.

She would take forever to get over any cold or flu bug, I thought her immune system was just weak, I filled her with vitamin C, supplements and chicken soup. I never thought liver disease.

She would have trouble sleeping at night, she would toss and turn, never able to get into a restful spot, I tried sleepy music, I tried calming her with words, I tried melatonin and gravol because she always had a tummy ache. I never thought liver disease.

In Fall 2008 ,When the pediatrician finally did an ultrasound of her stomach and had the blood test results he turned to us and said…you have a disease called NASH, go home exercise.and eat better.

I went home happy, I finally had a diagnosis for my daughter, the name of a real disease, she was not making it up!

I went to the internet and typed in NASH. I got a lot of Steve nash sites. Then i found one site that talked about it as liver disease.

I started reading and see that it can be fatal, that there is no cure and that its the 2nd stage of fatty liver disease.

Now I was angry, how could the doctor just turn to us and casually say this, no real direction no real help!

She could have cirrohsis next how close was she to that , I had no idea.

I then started searching for a diet for fatty liver disease. There was nothing. Out of desperation I started a support group on Facebook. Slowly I started getting people joining the group from all over the world. Some old, some young, some skinny , most overweight. Now I know how to deal with living with the disease and thats why I am doing this blog. I want everyone to know about and to start respecting this disease.

This is a global disease, with global ramifications. This is not going away, you cannot hide from it. Doctors are only now starting to research it and most know less than I do after dealing with over 200 people in my group with the disease over the last 3 years. I know the pains, I know the challenges with doctors, I know the ways to alleviate symptoms.

Stomach aches and fatigue are the symptoms of Fatty Liver Disease. 2 years ago it was estimated that 25% of the north american population has this disease. Now in 2011 that estimate is at 30%. Most people are completely unaware that they have the disease or that their child may have the disease.

With the increase in Sodium, preservatives, pesticides, High Fructose Corn Syrup, and other chemicals in our foods our poor liver has no way to break everything down and it starts to give up. It takes this odd unnatural item and it stores it within itself as a fat cell. It doesn’t want to make the other organs try to deal with this intruder in your body. The liver is a martyr , the liver is the hardest working organ in your body. When its compromised the rest of your body has to work harder. When its comprimised you have no choice but to change the way you eat!

The next time you are at the doctors office, the next time you take your child to the pediatrician, ask them to run a blood test to check your liver levels. You need to know if you have this disease as early as possible to avoid the later stages and to avoid more complications.

So do yourself a favor get tested,  join my group on facebook to find people that understand and please share this blog with everyone you love.

Your liver will thank you

Michelle Clermont

Fatty Liver Disease Consultant

Angels in my life Brandon Krieger

I found Brandon on a Blog post. He was looking for one person to test his method of holistic coaching. I had replied that I was a single mother on limited income but that I wanted to lose weight to be a healthy role model for my daughter and he agreed to try his system on me.

He sent me about 20 pages of questionairres to fill out before we met. Some of the questions around sexuality and sleep patterns made me scratch my head. What on earth does that have to do with losing weight?

The office was a 30 minute drive west of where I live. but i decided that it was worth the drive if i was really going to see a difference.

So here I am a year and a bit later and I am the same weight! So how can I call Brandon an angel? How can I call his program a success?

Brandon is about holistic coaching…that means ensuring all areas of life are balanced. He taught me about chakras, about becoming selfish instead of giving all of myself to everyone else around me. 

We started working on my core muscles, exercises to build the centre so that it could support the rest of my body.

I was using using low glycemic eating as my food plan and he taught me that I am a protein based eater, my body requires 50% protein, 25% carb, 25% veggie. This made sense for me and I started incorporating that into my eating.

We had some successes, I was losing inches and had lost some weight. My core exercises were progressing but my balance was always off and Brandon knew i was too distracted by issues in my life.

Megans health crisis was weighing so heavily on me, I had lost my job, I was struggling financially again and I did not feel safe.

Our focus moved from weight loss to getting me to a safe place again.

Megan needed to get healthy that was on the critical path, Brandon worked with her food and finding exercises that she could do with the extreme vertigo. Jason worked on her organs to get them working correctly for her and ensure things were flowing through her system correctly.

I needed to find a new job asap and i was told to focus on getting resumes out and networking.

I was lost , I was scared, I felt hopeless. Brandon kept me moving forward despite myself. I would have been very happy to just roll up into a little ball and feel sorry for myself. This was not an option.

Brandon didn’t let me give up on me. After a couple months of not finding a new job, he made me write out my life goals, I wanted to help people be the best they can be. I wanted to instill in others the resilience i carry.

I broke down my goals into Financial, Learning, and relationships. Within each of these areas they were further broken down into 3 week goals, 3 month goals, 6 month, 12 month and 5 years.

It was not easy to see my life 5 years down the road when i couldn’t figure out how to put food on my table the next day! I decided to amuse Brandon and write them all out. I didn’t really think they would work but what did I have to loose?

I was to find a coaching client

I was to get 5 resumes out

I was to start my autobiography

I was to find a job within 3 weeks

I am very proud to say that I accomplished every item within the 3 weeks.

Debbie was my first coaching client. I found her at a networking meeting 2 days after I set the goal.

I started writing my autobiography and I am almost finished that now.

I got the job offer right at the 3 week mark!

Was it magic, nope it was having specific goals that were time sensitive and an awesome coach to keep me moving forward.

Here I am 5 months later, I am one month away from feeling completely safe with my new job. My daughter is struggling again but I am confident she will be doing better very soon.  I also no longer rescue people, this is a huge for me as I have done that all my life. Brandon helped me see how much energy that was sapping out of my life. I have shelved the coaching until I am past the 6 month mark at work but I am very excited about starting some new goals with Brandon once April 20, 2011 is under my belt. Safety and security is so close I can taste it. its all i really need to  take steps towards an even better life.

Brandon thank you from the bottom of my heart for being flexible enough to adjust my goals as the life challenges changed. Thank you for beleiving in me and always supporting me and pushing me forward when i wanted to give up. You are an angel in my life and I will always be thankful for you!

A February New Years Resolution

This year my daughter and I both really want to focus on getting healthy and leaner. We could have started this as a January resolution like the rest of the world, but we chose to forgo that tradition.

My daughter was experiencing her very first exams and also provincial testing at school in January. This was extremely stressful for her and food does provide comfort for her in stressful moments. YES we know that eating food to resolve stress in turn creates its own stress and guilt as we try to squeeze into clothes that are too tight and think ahead to summer and bathing suits!

You can’t discount the pressure of wanting to be able to wear fashionable clothes and look great on a teenage girl! For her this is the key motivation. She wants to feel pretty and she has every right to feel that special after 2 years of nasty illness stole her social life.

For me the motivations are all health related. I am very comfie with my curves and do feel pretty! However, climbing the stairs to work everyday makes my chest tighten, a night of dancing makes my body ache. I want to fully enjoy life and all it has to offer.

I do not want to feel too big to go into a regular bathroom stall, sit in an airplane seat, go on a rollercoaster, or hundreds of other examples. I don’t want to be that person that is walking down the aisle on the bus or plane that makes people cringe and pray I don’t sit beside them and take some of their personal space in the process.

I am at a good spot in my life to make these changes. I love my new job, my kids are healthy and successful, I have a new sweetheart , and I have lots of people that will love me and cheer me on.

WII Fit will be our choice of exercise for now and it will monitor our progress. Making a list, checking out recipes and then grocery shopping tonight to arm us with lots of healthy snacks and make them fun.

February will be our starting point, just as others are giving up on their resolutions we will be charging up ours!

Wish us luck and deterimination!

Under 250lbs first time in 5 years!

Wow on January 18 ,2010 I weighed 264lbs. This is the weight I have hovered around for at least 3 years and I suspect 5 years. My life has been full of stress, A divorce, losing my 13 year career, losing family members to death, losing family members due to mental illness stealing their abilities to be healthy influences in my life. Being unemployed for 9 months in 2009 and dealing with a child with a mystery illness that has essentially stolen her social life from her. My personal relationships have had major heart aches, sad decisions to end a friendship that I cherish due to her bad choices and essentially turmoil.

But through this I have stood strong and moved forward, focussed on them for too long and not focussed on myself. This is the first time in years that I have done something to truly improve my health. It always seemed to be on the back burner. When my fighting to get my daughter into the best childrens hospital in Ontario resulted in shrugged shoulders and no direction I knew I had to refocus my energies.

In order for me to be able to cope with her illness, be strong for everyone who needs me, to be around for grandchildren and maybe great grandchildren I have to be healthy.

I can feel it in my soul, I am doing it this time, nothing will derail me no matter what attempts my life throws my way.

Its Feb 16, 2010 and I weighed in at 249 lbs this morning.  15 lbs gone in one month, I looked back at a weight watcher journal i started in Nov 2007. I started at 266 lbs and 6 weeks later the only thing i had acomplished was 264 lbs.

I know my heart was not in it, I know unless you are truly prepared to live a new lifestyle and stop relying on the crutches of convenience foods, drive thru’s and junk food you will never truly beat this animal. The addictive nature of these foods is too strong and we indulge and then hate ourselves for being weak, eventually accepting that we are a failure and walk away! No more for me, yes of course I will occasionally indulge in wings at the bar with friends, nachos with my kids…but it will not be a regular choice. I will choose healthy to put my body first over the temptations as a rule!

I went shopping on Saturday at plus size consignment store and bought 5 items in size 22, they are a little snug, but not for long and I will be able to bring these clothes back when I drop to Size 20 to resell to other ladies! Its the perfect solution and no more droopy pants at work for me!

I ate out 4 times this week,

once a steak salad with dressing on the side and did not indulge in the bread basket

once  a healthy stir fry with basmati rice and small bowl of mango sherbert

once a Roast beef club sandwich on whole grain bread with salad. I ate half the sandwich and then removed the bread of the other half and ate the inner items that were the proteins and fats that i needed.

We also ordered pizza. My daughter really struggles with Pizza lunch at school making the temptations very difficult for her to deal with. I order a thin crust, with no cheese and used ham, pineapple, onions and peppers.

I am going to be able to deal with the real world and will not live in a bubble. You just have to chose differently! 

I am adding a holistic coach from Mississauga into my mix , he will be refining my nutrition choices, designing my exercise routine, reviewing my overall health, posture and metabolic information to fine tune my approach and keep me successful moving forward. I will keep using USANA supplements and I hope all of you take the time to find vitamins that work for you and are pure and manufactured consistently! Please see my blog for more details on that, plus all the other challenges I dealt with last week! http://gettinghealthywithmichelle.wordpress.com

Hugs

Michelle

My sponsors will be getting an email with my complete measurements and instructions on how to fulfill the first month of sponsorship!

Wohoo dropped a size!!

I will be weighing in Tuesday with my one month official results. I knew a couple weeks ago I would have to replace my work pants as they were really getting droopy!!

This week I could feel them slipping as i walked and I knew I was heading for being part of the song “pants on the ground” My jeans , and top clothing are still ok and I expect I will get another 10 lbs out of the rest of my clothes.

Certainly a challenge when you are losing to but transitional clothes. I found a consignment shop in my area that caters to plus size women and I did get some great deals in there this morning.

The real positive of using a consignment store for this will be when I drop another size I can return these clothes to be resold to another lady!

I will not spend a lot of money in the transition, I will find the best quality I can for the cheapest amount I can, I am a single mom and there is nothing easy about budgeting this in but I really have no choice right now!

So YEAHHHHH MEEEEE I have dropped to size 22 from size 24.!!

I love the foods I am eating and I am NOT craving junk or processed foods at all!

Hey if you have some great clothes in size 22 or 20 that you might be willing to lend me please get in touch!

hugs

Michelle

Do you think you couldn’t eat like me?

I want to share a bit of my weight loss history and how I was eating up until a month ago.. I hope lots of you can relate and then can see that this is not an impossible change just one that is a different lifestyle choice!

I first knew i was heavy in about grade 8, I started getting teased for that, I remember at age 15 being told by a boy that i was pleasantly plump! I broke up with him and started losing weight for the first time. I stayed slim from 15 – 19 years of age, I was very popular with the boys and I loved the attention I got!

 At the age of 19 I met the man I would marry and started gaining the comfortable in a relationship weight. Got married at 22 and before I walked down the aisle I lost about 20 lbs on a 800 calorie diet…after the pressure of being perfect for my wedding was done, I gained that 20 back very easily…10 of it on honeymoon! I got pregnant at age 25 and I was about 185 lbs.  With the pregnancy I gained about 35 lbs . After my first baby I lost about 10 lbs after the baby and then stayed at around 200 lbs… At age 27 had my daughter and gained about 30 lbs with her…that time i lost another 10 lbs. 

I was working full time in a great career and I had the perfect house, seemed like the perfect marriage, the perfect career. I realized I was unhappy and I decided I had to lose weight to be happy…So I joined Weight Watchers at a starting weight of 225 lbs. In 6 months I lost 30 lbs by eating well and exercising. I was on the treadmill every morning and focussed!  About a year later I was starting to gain it back and I was still unhappy. I realized it was my marriage but with 2 young kids I didn’t know what to do about it…so I ATE!  At age 35 my marriage was over and I was 225lbs. 

I faced the dating world at age 36…was so terrified that men would not be attracted to me! I decided I would take my  chances and face online dating at my current weight…if a man could not love me at my worst he did not deserve me at my best!

Very interesting fact about men, a large number of them are attracted and prefer bigger girls! They may not want to tell their friends about that, but online I was always chased!!

I hit a bout of depression at 37 that totally threw me off track…I had to be put on anti depressant and I gained another 25 lbs during that time.

I stayed at around 250 lbs for and tried weight watchers a number of times, i just couldn’t get my motivation together.

I was a single mom with a sick kid and working full time. So exhausted every day, my blood pressure went high and I was put on drugs to cope with that!  I was always good with eating breakfast and i did that every day….of course sometimes that was a tim hortons muffin , egg mcmuffin from mcdonalds , or donuts but generally cereal…. I would usually have fruit in the morning and a lunch…sometimes packed and brought in and sometimes fast food! Dinner by the time i got home usually too tired to do any real cooking so liptons noodles and sauce, uncle bens fast and ready rice packs, frozen veggies and shake n bake chicken or pork or spaghetti loaded up with a ton of pasta and a little sauce, friday nights were pizza night and weekends usually tried to get out for a dinner with my kids in a restaurant and wings were always a favorite. Dessert often icecream and chips for snacks at night.

My son, my doctor , my stepdad all told me they were worried about my weight and that I had to try to focus on it. With a daughter who has been so sick for 2 years i just kept putting it off until my life was under more control!

In January 2010 , my life is still crazy, my daughter is still sick, finances are still difficult and dating world is still a challenge!  BUT I now know that unless I get healthy I will not be here for my kids and grandkids, they NEED me. I need to enjoy life more! 

I have done the yoyo dieting, I have lived through more than I will share on here, I know it seems impossible to throw out all your habits and start over! But I have done it and its forever! If I can do it SO CAN YOU!!!!

Hugs 

Michelle

Dealing with PMS Advice Please!

Well, I know I am doing well considering the fact I have been dealing with extreme cramps and slight headache and I am exhausted at night…I have been making the meals I need to make but did have some chocolate chips yesterday to cope with the first craving I have had in this new eating plan.

I tried exercising more by taking 16 flights of stairs down yesterday and forcing extra walks during the day, I hoped it would reenergize me and distract the cramps. 

This morning I have sore thigh muscles and calf muscles and still cramps!! I just want the bleeding to start so I can move on from this stage!! So I am looking for advice on coping with PMS better next month, what foods should I focus on , what exercises will help me cope better next month?

I can so see why our eating habits get totally derailed at this time of month, its like we have little lions inside of us roaring for relief and the only way to calm the lion down is to feed it lol!

I know dark chocolate is good for health but how good and what percentage of cocoa is the minimum we can consider healthy?

Should I be using a Magnesium supplement? Should I be using a different herb?

Any advice is appreciated and I am staying positive depsite the lion!

Hugs

Michelle

Week 3 Lifestyle changes take time!

The weight is coming off so nicely. After 3 weeks of healthy eating I am proud to report I have lost 13lbs. My daughter struggles with understanding why I am not having cravings for all the junk and processed foods we no longer eat. That is an easy answer for me I am eating lots of food that is keeping me full and doesn’t make me feel like I am missing anything! Thats the secret really, eat until you are full of the veggies, the fruits, the proteins, complex carbs and your body will thank you by not being hungry for a few hours. No sugar spike to crash from making you long for more processed foods! I know so many ladies that try to trick their bodies during weight loss efforts by not eating much food, but by limiting their portions, they are actually causing their bodies to go into starvation mode. Your body will hold onto that fat worried that you will not be feeding it again soon! You will also have more cravings and more struggles with sticking to any plan this way!
Good supplements work better with food in your stomach, if you have an empty stomach you will get sicker from the toxins that are being released in your body as you are not giving the vitamins anything to absorb into for your stomach and I can easily predict headaches, stomach aches, and dizziness when the supplements are digested on an empty stomach!
Please help yourself by feeding yourself lots of healthy foods! Trust me its working for me!!
Having a food plan last week helped a lot, however I am still finding its taking a lot of extra effort to learn all the new recipes and cook differently than I have in the past, I used new cookbooks this week “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Glycemic index cookbook” and “The New Glucose Revolution Low GI Family cookbook”. Overall, my grocery bills are higher right now as I stock my cupboards with the basics for low gylcemic cooking, I do expect that to drop over the next month. This weekend I will focus on making some snacks that can be stored for use over the week beyond fruits, veggies, dips and nuts! I will be posting recipes and meal plans here  http://gethealthywithmichelle.wordpress.com/
You can subscribe to my updates there and get more information as I add links to the details you might want!

Check in next week for my journey into buying transition clothes…..

Your low glycemic friend Michelle