Emily Halban was born in Geneva in 1983 and spent her childhood there before moving to England to study at Oxford University. She graduated in 2004 and moved to London where she still lives. Emily developed anorexia at the age of 16 and battled through 8 years with the disease. She is now happily married to her husband, Sam, and in September 2010 became proud mother to a little girl, Eloise.
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August 11, 2008 at 5:02 pm
Sam
Hi Emily,
I am currently in recovery stage and am reading your book at the moment and cannot tell you how much it is helping me.
SImilar to you and a lot of sufferers, I have the same perfectionist traits and although I never had issues around body image, it was all about obssessive ways of thinking and living my life by set routines/rituals.
I am making progress, although only little steps but it is so hard, the thing I am really struggling with is breaking out of my routines. I would really appreciate if you could maybe offer some advice on how to combat this and change set ways of thinking?
I just wish I could relax my attitude to food and be the person I was before all this but it feels like I have such a long way to go. Your book is really inspiring me tho so thank you so much for writing about your experiences and helping us all.
I hope you are well and happy and hope to hear from you soon.
Sam x
January 25, 2009 at 10:55 am
christie
i have just finished your book, it was an amazing experiance, a journey i was too scared to take. Your story forced me to take a deep and crippling look at myself, come to terms with my own battle that i never thought i could win.
maybe,one day,ill share my story,
but right now its my story,my fight,my battle
a battle i have not yet won,but am winning.
hopefully i dont fall.
but ill always remember your amazing journey
July 25, 2009 at 6:55 am
Soné
Dearest Emily and everyone whom is reading or has read this incredible book…
The day I bought PERFECT, I will never forget. After three years of fighting various eating disorders, but mainly anorexia, my life had taken a turn for the worst. I had also isolated myself from almost everyone I loved and knew that a change HAD to happen. Emily’s book was the first step towards living again. Everyone whom battles an ED will know that ANA, MIA or even bingeing does not allow much for living, or should I rather say enjoying life.
Emily not only inspired me to finally give up the self-destructive control, but her honesty gave me so much comfort and understanding of this disease.
I’ll always be grateful to you, Emily, and I do not think that you will ever understand the magnitude of what your book and courage has meant to me in my life.
Yes, I’m not over my ED, and still in recovery, but I have taken the important steps as to achieve a fairly normal life, free of my ED’s poisonous and constricting ways.
So THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU Emily!
Lots of love and stay strong everybody!!!
September 2, 2009 at 11:55 pm
Laura
Hiya emily…
well iv just started reading your book and never relised how much i could relate to someone, i think i have a problem… iv had it for a while i just havent had the courage to face it but your book is making me realise i may just have a problem!
i just wanted to say i love the book and its making me realise just through looking at myself im anorexic!
thanks! x x x x x
January 13, 2010 at 12:05 pm
Rochelle
Hiya emily
I have just finished reading your book and can’t begin to tell you how amazing it is and you are!
my story began in a simular way to yours, at 16 i was offered a modeling job, however back then i didn’t have the will power to stick to my own rules so fell head first in to bulimia that i managed to keep my “secerate” for 6years. however then the tables turned and my appendix burst so i was stuck in hospital where due to a mixture of my appendix and morphine i could not eat and then realised that i could stop all the sore throats etc by just not eating. a year later i am now classed as anorexic. it has caused iriparable damage to my family (my mum and dad are divorcing) and i have lost my business as i have been signed off work for the last 5months as i am too weak and faint quite a lot. Even after all this i am still denying that i have a problem. Then i read your book and have decided i must try to do somthing before that black cloud is all that is left. So i go to a support group (dont feel like i can say anything but do listen) and have started CBT. I have to go to the doctors once a week for blood tests etc and am on potassium tablets i was on antidepresants but have stopped them as really feel they have no benifit for me.
Anyway thats enough of me moaning on and on! i just really wanted you to know that your book will help so many people in so many different ways. I want to wish you all the luck and strenght in the world! you are an insperation and hope that some of your strength will rub off on me.
love Rochelle x.x
August 17, 2010 at 9:31 am
Sarah
Hi Emily I’m reading your book right now , I only started reading a couple of hours ago but im finding it hard to put down. As a 16 year old i can really relate to some of the things you struggled with when you were my age. This book is inspiring and is great for anyone who has seen someon with anorexia. Well done on how far you have come 🙂 I will deffinitly recommend it to my friends ❤
August 11, 2011 at 8:59 pm
Maria
Hi Emily,
I just finished reading your book Perfect and I just wanted to say thank you. My story is very similar to yours and I find so much comfort knowing that there are people out there who are going throughout the same things I am. I think you are one of the bravest people I know and I admire you a lot. I have been in recovery for 2 years now, and I am slowly making progress.
I live in Mexico city, and I am planing in going to London for a few months, however my parents told me that I need to find someone who can check my weight over there. I was just wondering if you knew anyone that I could get in touch with who can help me.
Thank you so much, and congratulations on your baby! To be able to have one is one of the things that remind me to keep fighting.
Love,
Maria
August 28, 2011 at 3:55 pm
Danielle Parr
Hi Emily, firstly i want to congratulate you on your recovery, i have been struggling for a few years with anorexia and after thinking i was ‘recovered’ i realise it does not simply disappear and am now in its grips again. I have been an inpatient in hospital and tried speaking to different people but have not found anything that has helped me. However, in your book you mention Louise, a humanistic therapist, is it possible for you to give me her contact details or tell me how you found her? i am really hoping she may be able to help me overcome this disease.
Thank you
Danielle
November 27, 2011 at 1:59 pm
Tanya Galloway
Emily,
I am in the process of reading your book and I cannot tell you how much I relate to all the things you have to say. It is incredible. I know the nutritionist you saw and I too have found recovery through seeing a nutritionist. It is amazing how far you have come and it makes me realise just how far I have come too, and how I am still recovering. It would be amazing to meet you if you are planning on doing any book signing or if you ever do talks etc? Please let me know,
Thanks
Tanya
August 14, 2012 at 2:46 pm
Lynsey
Hi Emily
I’ve just read your book and it struck me for so many reasons. It could have been my story. I remember how bleak my existence was – it was no life, and I felt utterly alone. It took over a year for me to admit I had anorexia, and 3 and a half years later I’m a lot better, but still sometimes struggle. I don’t think it’ll ever leave me but I know how to deal with it better.
I’ve been reading your book on the tube and have cried a bit, but you know what? The book gave me more hope than I’ve ever had. You’re an inspiration. I’m so glad you are happier and healthier.
Lynsey
August 15, 2012 at 11:10 am
Caroline Laneville
Dear Emily,
Could you please contact me regarding your book and something you did for LGB a few years ago please? Many thanks, Caroline
January 21, 2013 at 2:45 pm
Ruth Heron
Dear Emily,
I am reading your book at the moment. I work in a library and it has sat there and finally I have started to read it. Never before have I felt so understood. I always thought that because I don’t fit certain stereotypes of the disorders I could never find solace as my experiences differed so much. But then, the emotions, the mindset, the voice in my head… it is all the same. The feelings, the guilt, the way I feel around people, rituals, self esteem, life events, social life. All of this is mirrored in your words, to the point that I feel my insides begin to soar when I read your words because it is shows to me that maybe, just maybe, it isn’t my fault. That these things can be worked through. I haven’t yet finished and feel like I am on your journey with you. Or that your book is part of my journey. I thank you for your words, for your bravery, for you resilience. I thank you for giving me faith. I try so hard, every day. I fail a lot but I keep going. I don’t know where this comes from but I can only hope that all of what I read and what I live comes together to build me up to a place I can sustain recovery. I have a long road ahead of me and limited help as have struggled with health care and finding people to help me but your book has helped me a lot. Especially the conundrum between dealing with food vs. dealing with emotions and how they are interlinked and nobody seems to get that or find a way to help me with both. And the problem of genuinely wanting a healthy wholesome diet, not filled with processed food – but this is sometimes highlighted by people, quite adamantly, as being “wrong” or “listening to the disorder”. But I don’t want that in my diet every single day because my aim is for a healthy balanced diet. Granted, I also don’t want to be afraid of the food, too. It is a conundrum I struggle with.
I’ve probably written too much.
Main thing is – thank you. I will remember your words when I feel like giving up… Thanks for being so brave. I hope one day I can be like that and find the strength.
Ruth