Am I a food addict if I am not fat?

Can I be a food addict even if I am at a healthy weight? I obsess about food constantly and sometimes I eat until i get sick but because of my very physical job and a lot of exercising I have so far avoided getting fat.

Just listening to you, I am pretty sure that you know that there is a problem here for you, but I would like to talk about what lies behind it. I hear from you that you make big efforts, big efforts to work very hard physically, and that you spend a lot of time thinking about how to eat right, whatever right is for you in that moment, sometimes it is eating a lot and sometimes eating a little, but you work hard at everything you do and you would like a good result. Usually the good result you want is something that you can see and that can be recognised by other people. It is not unusual for you to be very strict about what you want to achieve and you may even be quite punishing if you do not achieve it.

So you have got a lot going for you in the way of doing well at things, but this good thing has gone wild. So what you want to do is "eaten up" by the fear of failure and some pretty bad thoughts about how you currently are. These are so bad, that they tend to drive "binge eating" and sometimes "binge exercising".

You will be helped by some counselling, which will raise you understanding of who you are, so you do not always use appearance as the benchmark, and in which you will learn what these negative and positive voices in your life are and to begin to challenge, the "requirements of how you have to be", and with some personal freedom, you will have the ability to grow a bigger life, put eating into a necessary but not pre-eminent position in your living and move on to other enjoyable life experiences.

It cannot be done in a day. I really suggest you find some counselling support, and if you cannot afford it or get it paid for, then you could consider contacting Overeaters Anonymous. I congratulate you on having the insight to see that this is something that you will really benefit from tackling. You may contact me if you wish.