Yes, they do love to eat!!  I have a British Shorthair (no real proof that
she is, she sure looks like one though), and when I started fostering
kittens, she would be dying to get in the room with them.  I thought she was
interested in checking out the kittens, so once they were old enough, I let
her in the room.  She could care less about the kittens, it was the kitten
food she wanted!  When she did sneak in, she headed straight for the food
and chowed like she's never been fed before.
Anyway, my advice is the same.  Get your kitty to play, and feed a good less
active formula cat food.  Try to get your cat interested in a laser pointer,
something to get him/her moving!

Here's some pics of my tubby British Shorthair www.snittens.com/newcat.html
.  If you have any pics of yours, post a link!  I'd love to see them!