Because your body is trying to get the weight back. After weight loss, levels of leptin, the hormone that signals you have enough stored energy, drop, while ghrelin, the hormone that drives hunger, rises. Fullness hormones after meals tend to drop too. In one well-known study, these changes were still present a full year after the weight loss.
It's biology, not weakness
Your body doesn't know you chose to lose weight. It reads the loss as a famine and turns up the hunger to protect you. So feeling hungrier than you used to, at a lower weight, is exactly what you would expect.
What actually helps
- Protein at every meal. It's the most filling thing you can eat, calorie for calorie.
- Volume and fiber. Vegetables, salads, soups, beans, and fruit fill your stomach for very few calories.
- Fewer refined carbs. White bread, crackers, and sugary drinks spike your blood sugar and leave you hungry again soon after.
- Regular meals. Skipping meals often leads to overeating later.
- Sleep. Short sleep makes hunger hormones worse the next day.
- Keep your kryptonite out of the house. Hunger is much easier to manage when the easy option is a good one.
A little hunger is okay
Feeling mildly hungry before a meal is normal and useful. It's information, not an emergency. The goal isn't to never feel hungry again. It's to keep hunger at a level you can live with comfortably.
Read The Setpoint Problem for the science, and The Food Map for the most filling foods to build on.
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