I have had fatty liver for over a decade, and in that time, based on the research that I now know only followed participants for less than two years, multiple health care providers have advised me to lose *just* 7-10 percent of my weight as a way to manage my fatty liver. I tried, multiple times, but unsurprisingly (now) after a lifetime…
I have had fatty liver for over a decade, and in that time, based on the research that I now know only followed participants for less than two years, multiple health care providers have advised me to lose *just* 7-10 percent of my weight as a way to manage my fatty liver. I tried, multiple times, but unsurprisingly (now) after a lifetime of dieting and weight cycling, any weight loss was quickly followed by weight regain plus a few pounds.
I'm scheduled to see my latest HCP who follows my fatty liver in January. She has already advised me to lose weight several times, even though I have tried telling her about my personal history that makes that recommendation inappropriate. I've been working with IE dietitians and even the dietitian who works with this HCP applauds my IE, weight neutral approach.
If the HCP again recommends weight loss for me, in addition to the questions about how long the research that supports that recommendation followed participants, I will have pointed questions about whether the study accounted for patients with histories of chronic dieting and weight cycling, as I'm confident they did not.
I am not an "uncompliant" patient. I eat a healthy diet and exercise as much as my various chronic conditions allow, which, as I have pointed out to my doctors, are actual behaviors I can control (unlike my weight!). I do all that I can to support my health. But my genetics and personal health history mean that among other things, no matter what I do my liver's going to accumulate fat.
Your column and the IE dietitians I've been working with have provided invaluable support for me to advocate for appropriate healthcare. Each visit I have with my healthcare providers, I am better at declining to get irrelevant weigh-ins and advocating for weight neutral care. Thank you.
I'm so sorry that medical weight stigma is having such a negative impact on your care, and glad that you are pushing back and that I can provide a bit of support for that (though, of course, I wish is wasn't necessary.) There is a weight-neutral healthcare guide for Fatty Liver in the HAES Health Sheets Library if that's helpful: https://haeshealthsheets.com/fatty-liver-disease/
I have had fatty liver for over a decade, and in that time, based on the research that I now know only followed participants for less than two years, multiple health care providers have advised me to lose *just* 7-10 percent of my weight as a way to manage my fatty liver. I tried, multiple times, but unsurprisingly (now) after a lifetime of dieting and weight cycling, any weight loss was quickly followed by weight regain plus a few pounds.
I'm scheduled to see my latest HCP who follows my fatty liver in January. She has already advised me to lose weight several times, even though I have tried telling her about my personal history that makes that recommendation inappropriate. I've been working with IE dietitians and even the dietitian who works with this HCP applauds my IE, weight neutral approach.
If the HCP again recommends weight loss for me, in addition to the questions about how long the research that supports that recommendation followed participants, I will have pointed questions about whether the study accounted for patients with histories of chronic dieting and weight cycling, as I'm confident they did not.
I am not an "uncompliant" patient. I eat a healthy diet and exercise as much as my various chronic conditions allow, which, as I have pointed out to my doctors, are actual behaviors I can control (unlike my weight!). I do all that I can to support my health. But my genetics and personal health history mean that among other things, no matter what I do my liver's going to accumulate fat.
Your column and the IE dietitians I've been working with have provided invaluable support for me to advocate for appropriate healthcare. Each visit I have with my healthcare providers, I am better at declining to get irrelevant weigh-ins and advocating for weight neutral care. Thank you.
I'm so sorry that medical weight stigma is having such a negative impact on your care, and glad that you are pushing back and that I can provide a bit of support for that (though, of course, I wish is wasn't necessary.) There is a weight-neutral healthcare guide for Fatty Liver in the HAES Health Sheets Library if that's helpful: https://haeshealthsheets.com/fatty-liver-disease/