Hans Henrik Loberg Jensen. 34 years old. Cand.scient. Works at SKAT, the Danish Customs and Tax Administration

In elementary school Hans was bullied. He was overweight, and his parents started focusing on his weight – not his wellbeing. But he wasn’t ready to give up food which was the only comfort he had at that time. So instead he started hiding what he ate. Since his parents thought he did what they wanted him too, they didn’t understand why he still was gaining weight. He was too afraid of telling the truth, so he just kept on hiding it.

“I have been eating a lot when I was alone. On my way home from the supermarket I knew exactly how much I could eat before I got home. But now I have made up my mind that I will no longer hide it.”

“What happens is that I buy something unhealthy that I want to eat. But then a thought appears in my mind. It says: “If you can eat this unhealthy food you should eat something healthy first”. Then I do that and when I am about to eat the unhealthy stuff afterwards the thought appears again: “But if you can still eat, then you should continue eating healthy food”. I remember days when I have eaten two kilos of oatmeal.”

In 2015 Hans had a gastric bypass surgery. He has lost about 60 kilos which has saved his life. But the surgery doesn’t mean that he now has a healthy relation to food: “I had a surgery in my stomach – not in the head”, as he usually says when people ask him if he is cured.