A few months ago, I struggled to put on a pair of socks because I was so fat and thought – you know, this is not the kind of life I want to be about. I did the math and realized I was on the lower end of obese and had been that weight for about 5 years. I also discovered that I have 2 bad genes in my PEMT pathway that mess up fat metabolism and makes me lethargic, sick, and inflamed.

For some reason I just thought there was a trick to losing weight, but it turns out it’s literally just math. I was eating way too many calories, so I switched to lean meats and skim milk, and started weighing and logging every meal.

I downloaded an app (MyNetDiary) and started tracking calories and within 8 weeks had dropped 19lbs. I’ve moved from obese to overweight, but will continue on this path until I drop back to my about 170lbs – the targeted weight loss is 60lbs. I should reach it between April and September of 2026.

I also realized with this genetic variant I need to keep an eye on choline intake and do liver panels regularly. Probably quarterly for the next 6 months or a year and every six months after.

I booked one through Ulta Labs and am set to go in for a blood draw 12 weeks from when I increased choline intake – as that is the minimum time it takes to see improvement, but for full reversal of liver disease it can take up to 18 months.

I really had no idea I had liver disease, I’ve been to a doctor so many times and told them about my symptoms but they never diagnosed it.

When I was 23, one doctor told me my liver was fatty and to stop drinking. That was it, no follow up, no explanation, no testing.

Ever since then my enzymes have been borderline or over the limit, and there has t been any information about it – just to test again.

I recently loaded my genetic results into Claude, an AI, that explained the connection between my genetics and my lab results. I learned that non alcoholic fatty liver disease is a silent killer that can slowly raise the risk of diabetes, heart disease, certain cancers, cirrhosis and liver failure.

I was already beginning to have issues with my gall bladder, and choline is essential for making bile, and when you don’t get enough bile flow, fall stones develop. I was likely headed for surgery, and hall bladder removal greatly increases the risk of pancreatic cancer.

There are so many ways figuring this out has improved my life, my brain feels better, my body is starting to feel better, and I’m on the right track to preventing some of the worst outcomes I could imagine.