For as long as Michael Prager can remember, he's battled with food. Once an overweight child, he became obese at age 10. His weight piqued at 365 pounds at age 34. Even after going on the Atkins diet and losing 100 pounds, he eventually gained the weight back.

"For decades, I thought I could fix my problem if only I tried harder," he said. "But I couldn't do it on my own."

That's because no one treated his food addiction, Prager firmly believes. Were there a diagnosis for food addiction, he argues, more people who have it would receive the help they need.

Prager tackles the myths and misconceptions about food addiction in his new book Fat Boy Thin Man, which comes out this Thursday. The author describes his book as a "memoir wrapped in an argument," and hopes his personal story will bring attention to the underrepresented eating disorder.

"Currently, the medical profession recognizes anorexia and bulimia, but not food addiction as an illness," said the Arlington resident. "Food addiction definitely exists and it's important for the medical community, society and those who suffer from it to recognize that fact."

Prager remembers there was nothing his food addiction did not affect. He felt shamed, was ridiculed as a child and did not have his first girlfriend until he was 36 years old.

Finally, a medical professional diagnosed him with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder so that Prager would have a psychiatric label that allowed him to enter a rehabilitation center and receive coverage under his insurance.

"Diagnosis determines treatment," Prager said. He points to cancer as a broad example, explaining no one would seek chemotherapy and/or radiation treatment unless they were told by a doctor they suffered from the disease.

Prager entered the eating disorder unit of South Oaks Hospital in New York. There, Prager said, he learned he needed to surrender to a higher power for assistance and take the guidance and advice from experts who had more success than he had overcoming similar problems.

"Recovery is far more than being about weight control," he said. "I had to face that my addictive eating was separating me from other, subtle feelings."

Once Prager realized he was covering his emotions by eating, he had to face his "demons," which he continues to do to this day.

"I am still subject to it every day and have to make an effort and maintain discipline constantly," he said.

That means following a rigid food plan prescribed by a registered dietician, maintaining his spirituality through prayer and asking others for help and support. He says personal vigilance, however, is vital.

"I am responsible for every bite of food I put in my mouth," Prager said. "The vast majority of the time, I do not go hungry."

But now that Prager has stopped eating to cover his demons, life is much happier.

"I have a lot more peace and serenity," he said. "And I have a much better idea of who I am, what is important and what is not."

Formerly a newspaper editor for such publications as The Hartford Courant and The Boston Globe, Prager is now a stay-at-home father and a freelance writer.

Fat Boy Thin Man will be available at Brookline Booksmith in Coolidge Corner, the Harvard Book Store in Cambridge, Book Rack in Arlington, Porter Square Books in Cambridge and through Amazon and FatBoyThinMan.com. There will be a book launch party from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Oct. 21 at Elephant Walk, 2067 Mass Ave. in Cambridge and a book signing from 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. on Oct. 28 at the Starbucks in Arlington Heights.