How do you help those that you love most? In addition to his extreme chronic body odor problem, my husband also has an eating disorder. He loves candy and pizza. He eats jelly beans till he gets a stomachache and inhales a large pizza in under ten minutes. Well, that was the first 29 years of his life. In the recent months though, he’s been experiencing severe heartburn to the point that he can no longer drink ice water. He recognizes that something needs to be done but it’s not going to be easy because his addiction is deep rooted.

We often become emotionally attached to the food we grew up with. If McDonald’s and pizza made you happy as a little kid, then you are bound to develop a warm and fuzzy attachment for them as an adult. When I think about pure evil, Happy Meals and McD playgrounds invariably come to mind. In contrast, I feel pretty lucky to have been raised on healthy and delicious Chinese food my grandma prepared for me every day. When I first moved to the U.S., the smell of high school cafeterias used to make me sick. Seventeen years later, I still haven’t gotten used to American cuisine. For better or for worse, I’m going to be a picky eater for life.

Over the last few years, my eating habits have rubbed off on Dan somewhat. He doesn’t eat Hostess Cup Cakes anymore and rarely binges on potato chips, but candy and Pizza remain the final frontier that have so far eluded all attempts at intervention. I do realize that if the tables were turned, I wouldn’t want the person I’m with to get too involved. I’d just want him/her to understand what I’m going through and be supportive. But Dan assured me that he needs all the help he can get. So I decided that I’ll go all out on it and create an obby. I will employ a multi-pronged approach and try to attack the problem on different fronts. It will be interesting to learn about the psychology of addiction specifically in relation to eating disorders. I’ll read up on nutrition, do some brainstorming and planning for him to avoid getting trapped in situations with no healthy food. Finally, I’ll cook and experiment with various recipes. If I come across any techniques of general interest, I will post about them. I’m pretty psyched about this project. The time has come, must save the Dan! (BTW, I was just kidding about the body odor. Dan smells wonderful for the most part.)

If you have any tips on overcoming eating disorders, I’d love to hear them!