After years of treating my body badly, I now treat it well

Dylan Simkin, 49, had been overweight since his 20s and had a liver transplant in 2021. But after the op he hit 19 stone, so the maths tutor, from Atherstone, Warks, turned to his local Slimming World for help

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Trying to take in the doctor's words as calmly as I could, inside I was reeling. Was I really facing a battle with liver disease? While my condition wasn't a direct result of my weight, it was a result of my heavy drinking, and I knew I wasn't helping matters by living an unhealthy lifestyle and being unfit.

I'd carried extra weight since my 20s, eating and drinking whatever I wanted more focused on having fun than my health.

Although I knew I probably needed to lose weight, I told myself I was just a big guy so didn't need to worry too much. This lifestyle caught up with me though and I became very ill in December 2019, which was when I received my life-changing diagnosis. I ended up needing urgent hospital treatment and eventually had a liver transplant in 2021. While the transplant was what I needed to feel well again, I found the recovery very tough. It was major surgery that kept me off my -feet for a long time.

As I couldn't be active post-surgery it made it even easier for me to gain especially as I weight was cheering myself up with sweets, chocolate, cakes and pies.